The Kadin - Bertrice Small [35]
In her unimportant little oda, Lady Refet closely inspected her three prize pupils. It amazed even her to think that for six months she and Hadji Bey had managed to keep these girls from the sultan’s eyes. There would be questions tonight about that, but Lady Refet trusted Hadji Bey to handle the situation.
“You are exquisite,” she said to Cyra. “You will outshine every other female at the reception.”
“You’re sure the colors are right?” asked the girl “We spent hours yesterday choosing them.”
Lady Refet nodded approvingly. She knew who had bribed the mistress of the wardrobe to allow her girls to choose their costumes a day early. That lady owed her position to Hadji Bey and was completely loyal to him. “Look at yourselves, my little birds. You are all lovely.”
They gazed at each other again. Cyra wore sheer, pale-green silk pantaloons with a matching bodice that was shot through with golden threads and fringed with small pieces of jade; a wide gold girdle encrusted with jade rested upon her hips. Her red-gold hair had been brushed until it glistened. Held back by a simple gold clasp with a pearl tassle, it fell straight down her back. On her feet were green-and-gold brocade slippers. Lady Refet slipped a matching green pelisse lined with gold-colored satin about her shoulders.
Zuleika wore lavender silk pantaloons and a matching bodice trimmed in purple velvet A beautifully worked girdle of gold and amethysts, brocade slippers, and a purple silk pelisse lined with lavender velvet completed her costume. Her blue-black hair, pulled severely back from her face to best show off her delicate Oriental features, was braided with lilac-colored ribbons and pearls.
Firousi’s pantaloons and matching silver-threaded bodice were turquoise, to match her eyes. Her girdle was heavy silver set with rare Persian lapis. On her feet she wore turned-up brocade slippers, and about her shoulders a turquoise-blue pelisse lined with creamy satin. Her silvery-blond hair fell in luscious curls about her plump pink shoulders.
Lady Refet handed each girl a little tassled cap—cloth of gold for Cyra and Zuleika, cloth of silver for Firousi. “Hadji Bey will be very pleased,” she said, smiling. “Now sit quietly while I inspect my other girls.” She moved among the others, bestowing a word of praise on a costume here, the suggestion of a bit more red on the cheeks there, a comforting pat to a frightened girl.
A eunuch came to call them. It was time for the reception. The gediklis formed two straight lines.
“Now, remember,” said Lady Refet speaking softly to her special charges, “separate as soon as you reach the Great Hall. Do not be seen together. Firousi, when the maidens begin to approach the sultan and the prince, be among the first You, Zuleika, wait until half the girls have passed, and you, Cyra, be in the last group.”
Bajazet’s royal residence had been the former home of the Byzantine emperors, and the Turks called it the Eski Serai, or “Old Palace,” to distinguish it from the Yeni Serai, or “New Palace,” which had been begun by the sultan’s father, Mohammed the Conqueror. The Yeni Serai was used by the Ottoman ruler for state functions, and also for privacy when he wished to escape his household. No women were allowed to live there.
Entering the Great Hall, Cyra caught her breath at its loveliness. It was domed in gold leaf; its walls shone with blue-and-gold mosaic tile; the floor was made of great blocks of pure, cream-colored marble. Although it was autumn, large jewel-studded porcelain pots containing small palms, roses, azaleas, and tulips filled the room. Decorative cages of canaries and nightingales hung everywhere. Musicians, carefully hidden behind carved screens, played softly. Moving discreetly through the crowd, slaves passed small cakes, sherbets, candied fruits, and nuts.
Then, suddenly, the great gilded door was flung open, and there came