The Kadin - Bertrice Small [154]
They embraced, and he watched as she walked slowly from his sight Like his mother, Suleiman questioned the quick passage of time. Only yesterday Sarina had been a slim maiden, her chestnut curls shaking, her golden eyes flashing as she scolded and chased him from her tulip beds. Now the chestnut hair was steel-gray and the lovely golden eyes faded and sad. Lines of grief and age marked the once-smooth face. She was growing old, and he had not noticed it until today.
Aside from his mother and Firousi, Sarina was his last link with the past His father, his grandfather, Zuleika Kadin, the lady Refet Hadji Bey, and his brothers were all dead. And the silvery-blond Firousi, like Sarina, had gone from the serai to live with her daughter Hale.
Sighing, he realized that he, too, was growing older—he would be thirty-two on his next birthday. It was early in the year 1526, and the battle for Hungary loomed ahead.
38
AS USUAL, the princes of Western Europe were embroiled in their own petty quarrels. Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, had trouble on three fronts. In Spain, the Moors were regrouping and stubbornly resisting the church’s efforts at conversion. In Germany, Martin Luther had not only the peasants but the landed aristocracy on his side, and all was in turmoil. To the south, France fought the emperor’s troops for possession of northern Italy, and only the capture of the French king, Francis I, ended the conflict.
To the east the Hungarians had held off the invading Turks for five years. Exhausted they now appealed to Charles V, but despite the fact that Charles’s sister Mary was married to the Hungarian king, Louis, the Holy Roman Emperor demurred and dragged his royal feet He was far too occupied with his own troubles to be overly concerned with those of his brother-in-law.
In August 1526, Suleiman led his men against the Hungarians at the village of Mohács. He won a sweeping victory which he quickly followed by taking the Hungarian capital of Buda. The Ottoman Empire now reached to within one hundred and forty miles, as the crow flies, from Vienna. The pashas counseled pressing onward into the soft underbelly of Europe, but winter was coming, and Suleiman returned home to Constantinople instead.
Earlier in the year, the sultan had received a letter from the queen mother of France, who asked his help in gaining the release of her son. On learning of this, Charles V released Francis, but not without gaining heavy concessions, claiming he had been forced to sign them. He also disavowed his friendship with Suleiman and declared he would lead a Crusade against the infidel Turk.
Still, Suleiman demurred on pressing further into Europe. The young diplomat who had become such a great soldier was again becoming a diplomat Cyra disagreed. Only if he took Vienna would the rulers of Western Europe view the Ottoman sultan seriously. But Suleiman was adamant He hoped to gain the friendship of the West by remaining at peace.
Unfortunately, the less sophisticated rulers of Christian Europe could not see the wisdom of an alliance with the Ottoman Empire. In the name of their religion they insulted and harried the Turks until Suleiman was forced to march on Vienna in order to protect his western boundaries.
For several weeks he had attempted to lay siege to the city, but for the first time in his military career he was faced with a well-trained Christian army. Fortifying Vienna, its defenders retreated within and held the sultan at bay for twelve days.
Arriving at the city