The Kadin - Bertrice Small [34]
This was proved one day—much to the terror of Cyra’s eunuch. They were walking in the gardens when around the hedge came the sultan and his retinue. The eunuch went gray and almost fainted, having been warned by the agha that Cyra’s presence in the harem must remain secret; but Cyra reacted quickly. She bowed low, and the sultan, who might have stopped had he caught a glimpse of this muffled creature’s fabulous green-gold eyes, passed her by without so much as a glance.
Cyra gave a great deal of thought to the incident Until now, the sultan’s power had not seemed real to her, but one look at the terrified eunuch’s face had changed all that I must spend the rest of my life in this strange world, she thought I can be either a frightened slave like my poor eunuch, or I can be the willing and loving wife of a future sultan. Under Prince Selim’s protection I need never be afraid, and I shall have power. Perhaps I shall even love this prince. From that moment on, her periods of restlessness became fewer, and her attitude genuinely cooperative.
“What can have caused this change?” Lady Refet asked Hadji Bey.
“I do not know,” he replied, “but our young Cyra is a thinker. It is obvious that some incident has given her pause for thought I could not be more delighted. Her cooperation is vital to our plans, for it is she whom I have chosen to be Prince Selim’s first ikbal and, Allah willing, his bas-kadin.”
“My nephew will not be told whom he must love, my lord agha.”
Hadji Bey smiled. “I shall not have to tell him. He will choose to mate with her first Selim has become very astute where women are concerned. Both Zuleika and Firousi are beautiful, but the girl from Cathay is proud, and deep within her heart she is bitter. She will be fiercely loyal to Selim, but he will never be able to get truly close to her. And behind the little Caucasian’s smile is a deep sadness. She, too, will be loyal, but she will always carry with her the memory of the boy to whom she was wed on the day of her abduction, and who died in her defense. Selim will sense these flaws, and though he may love them and beget sons with them, he will never feel completely at ease with either of them.”
“But does not Cyra have her memories? She has told me that she was betrothed when she was abducted.”
“Cyra is younger than either Firousi or Zuleika, She was in love with love, not with her young fiancé. Besides, she is—whether she realizes it yet or not—far too realistic. She has been with us now for several months, and during that time her mind has been busily absorbing all we can offer. Her senses have been awakened and stimulated. She is ripe for love, and once that love is returned, she will mature, using not only her body to please her lord, but her mind as well, There is not another maiden in the harem to compare with her. Selim is already besotted by her beauty.”
“He has seen her?” Lady Refet was incredulous. “By Allah, Hadji Bey, you risk our very lives!”
“No, my lady, I do not Overlooking the baths is a small hidden room I had installed by my mutes when I became agha. No one knows of it—not even the sultan. From it I can observe the girls without embarrassing them. It allows me the opportunity to cull the wheat from the chaff—for the most beautiful face can have an unfortunate bodily imperfection. No girl of this sort may go to the sultan. I took Selim there several days ago to see your charges in order that he might identify them at his birthday fete.”
“How I long for that occasion to come,” said Lady Refet. ‘This secrecy is beginning to get on my nerves.”
Finally the great day dawned, and pandemonium reigned throughout the palace. The crowded baths hummed with excited chatter. The hairdressers, in constant demand, rushed from one girl to another. The mistress of the