The Kadin - Bertrice Small [42]
“Yes, my lord.” She turned and, pointing at a slave, said, “Can you ride?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Saddle one of the Moorish geldings and then come to me. I will have a note for you to take directly to Hadji Bey.”
The slave ran off to do as he was bidden.
“Lady Refet will you write for me? My written Turkish is not yet perfected.”
“Of course, my dear. What shall I say?”
“Tell Hadji Bey what we have found. That we need men to repair the buildings, the water pipes, the kitchens and baths. We need gardeners for the grounds, furnishings for the palace, and many more household slaves. Tell him it must be done within the month. That we are camped here like savage nomads.”
Lady Refet called to her maid to bring parchment and pens. As she wrote, Cyra walked over to the other girls.
“Well, my sisters, this is a fine mess we find ourselves in today.”
“I notice you were quick to offer a solution to our lord,” sneered Sarina. “Why should you be in charge?”
“It was Lady Refet who offered my services to our master. Oh, Sarina, let us not quarrel. There is so much to be done. Have you ever run a large household? If so, I will be happy to turn over my responsibility to you. Do you want it?”
“No.”
“Well, then, I must shoulder the burden. Before I came to the seraglio, I helped my grandmother to run my father’s castle. Were I not here, I should now be running my own. We must all help so that when our lord returns he will be pleased.”
Sarina turned away. “My father was a gardener in the house of a great lord,” she said. “I know much about plants and their care.”
“Wonderful! Then you must take over the rebuilding of the gardens. Turks love their gardens, and the prince is no exception. Will you do it?”
“Yes,” replied the Spanish girl. “I could do it.”
Cyra put an arm about Sarina’s shoulders. “Then, sister, the gardens are your responsibility—and your domain.”
The Spaniard gave her a little smile. “See that the palace is as beautiful inside as my gardens will be without,” she said.
Cyra looked startled. Then, seeing that the girl was teasing, she grinned back. They burst into laughter.
When the note had been dispatched to the capital, there was nothing for the prince’s maidens to do. Cyra asked permission of Lady Refet to explore the grounds a bit It was granted, and she strolled off.
She quickly saw that with work the property could be magnificent. Set on the cliffs high above the Black Sea, it had both fields and wooded areas. Wandering among the trees, she heard the bubbling of a spring and, following the sound, found a clear, sandy-bottomed pool that was filled by a little waterfall at one end, flowing out and down the cliffs between two small rocky hillocks at the other end. The banks surrounding the pool were thickly carpeted with moss, and the warm sunlight filtered through the trees. Kneeling, she dipped her hand into the water. It was invitingly cool, and Cyra was hot and dusty from the journey.
I will tell the others later, she thought, but first I am going to bathe by myself. It had been so long since she bad had the privacy of her own bath. Stripping her garments, she left them where they fell and, pinning her long hair up, waded into the water. Before long she was happily swimming and then leisurely floating about the pool. The late-afternoon sunlight dappled the water, and she felt freer and more relaxed than she had in months. Turning to swim back to the shore, she was horrified to see Prince Selim sitting by her clothes and regarding her with amusement. Her feet touched the bottom, and she stood regarding him, half-perplexed, half-angry.
“Come out, my little Ondine. You will shrivel your lovely skin.”
“I cannot, my lord.”
“Why not?” His face grew worried. “Do you have a cramp?”
“My lord.” She struggled, trying to find the right words. “My lord, I am not accustomed to appearing naked before a man.”
“I will change all that” He grinned at her.
“Please, my lord—” Her eyes pleaded with him,