happened. She had ridden out with her father often at home, and
she had missed the exercise and the exhilaration of being on
horseback.
‘I am glad that you have enjoyed the outing,’ Suleiman
replied. ‘We should return to the palace now, my lady, for it
wants but an hour to sunset and there are stil bandits roaming
these hils.’
‘Yes…yes, I suppose we must, my lord,’ Eleanor replied
with a stifled sigh. ‘I wish we could just go on riding forever.’
Suleiman nodded, and there was a thoughtful, regretful
expression in his eyes as though he too felt as she did—but
surely that was merely her imagination? Yet Eleanor was
beginning to know him, to sense his moods, and she knew that
there were many facets to this man’s character.
They rode back to the Caliph’s palace side by side as the sun
began to sink over the hils and darkness fel. It came quickly at
this time of year and by the time they regained the safety of the
palace gardens it was almost dark. Suleiman led the way back to
his apartments.
‘You must change now and return to the harem,’ he told
Eleanor. ‘Say nothing of what we did this afternoon, my lady.
We shal keep such outings a secret known only to a trusted
few.’
‘It shal be as you wish, my lord,’ Eleanor replied. ‘But may I
‘It shal be as you wish, my lord,’ Eleanor replied. ‘But may I
ask my lord why? Surely you are free to do as you please?’
‘I have enemies within the palace,’ Suleiman replied gravely.
‘It was because of one such that I was not able to take you on
our hunting trip.’
‘Wil my lord not tel me more?’ Eleanor had sensed a
darkness in his mind al the time they were out with the hawk. He
had enjoyed the outing, but she knew that something was
troubling him. His dark eyes seemed to reflect pain—and a
deeper distress as if he questioned his very existence. ‘What has
brought those shadows to your eyes?’
‘I was forced to order the execution of my half-brother
Hasan during the hunting trip,’ Suleiman replied, his eyes intent
on her face as if he wished to see her reaction. ‘Abu and he
plotted to kil both the Caliph and myself by stealth as we slept.
Hasan planned to rule in my father’s stead, but he was weak and
Abu would have had the real power. I was warned of the plot
only hours before we were due to leave the palace. I could not
take you with me once I knew, Eleanor, for your presence
would have made me more vulnerable—yet had I told you of my
reasons for leaving you behind the traitors might have learned of
it and taken flight.’
Eleanor understood how he was feeling; it was evident to her
that he had found it difficult to order the death of a brother. She
knew that Abu must also have been executed. Suleiman had
spared Abu’s life once, but he could not do so a second time,
because the attack had been against his father and must be
punished.
punished.
‘I am sorry, my lord,’ she said softly, and then without
thinking she moved towards him, reaching up to kiss his cheek.
Her action was one of sympathy, but when Suleiman caught her
to him, he kissed her fiercely with a hunger that stirred strange
longings deep within her.
His eyes sparked with mockery as he released her. ‘You play
with fire, Eleanor. Do not tempt me too far or you may discover
you have lit a flame that cannot be controled.’
Eleanor’s cheeks flamed, for she had been foolish to imagine
he would want her sympathy or understanding. He desired her,
but he did not love her—he did not understand the quiet
moments lovers shared, or that she had meant only to comfort
him.
‘Forgive me, my lord. It was an impulse—and kindly meant.’
His eyes glowed like hot coals. ‘Do not offer me kindness,
my lady. I want much more than that from you—and you should
be prepared for your fate. This evening I shal send for Karin and
set the preparations in train for our wedding. You shal be my
wife, Eleanor.’
She moved away from him, her heart racing wildly as fear
returned. ‘Do not force me to this, my lord. I pray you wait a
while longer. Give me more time to become accustomed to you.’
‘No, there is to be no more time,’ Suleiman replied, his eyes
sparking with anger. ‘I have been patient with you long enough,
Eleanor. I wil have no more of this nonsense. I have shown you
that you need not fear your life here. You wil be almost as free
that you need not fear your life here. You wil be almost as free
as I am myself, and that is al I can offer you.’
‘Please, I beg you—do not…’
‘Go before I lose my temper,’ Suleiman said and now he was
angry. ‘I have given you more than any other woman, Eleanor. I
would that you would give me a little in return—but if you are
stubborn in your refusal you shal discover that I am not to be
denied. If you wil not give, I shal take. You are mine, and if you
would but look into your foolish heart, you would glory in what
you find there. Together we shal find that paradise known only
to a few—but there is no escaping your destiny. It is bound with
mine.’
Eleanor’s cheeks burned as she turned away, and she knew
that she was foolish to resist him stil. He spoke only the truth
when he said they were bound together, for she had cast her
own chart as wel as his and the stars showed that they were
inextricably linked one to the other.
As she returned to the harem, Eleanor looked into her heart
as Suleiman had bid her and discovered that it was no longer her
own. She loved him despite herself; though a part of her stil
fought against the inevitable, it was already too late.
Eleanor shook her head in denial as she struggled to come to
terms with her own thoughts. No, no, it was not possible! She
respected Suleiman, liked him despite her resentment at being
made his slave—but love? She could not love him! He was the
very symbol of al that she had disliked in men of her own race:
arrogance and the assumption that men should always rule, that
women were somehow inferior. Yet Suleiman never made her
women were somehow inferior. Yet Suleiman never made her
feel inferior, even when he was at his most lordly. Indeed, he
seemed at times to treat her as though she was the most special
of beings. Her mind raced as she tried to rationalise her feelings,
but her heart told her there could be no other reason for the
emotions that were raging through her.
She was in love with this fierce, strange man of contrasts, and she could find no happiness in anything that was not shared with
him—so why had she not told him that? Why must she struggle
and fight against her own desires and needs?
If it was a matter of religion and custom—she knew Suleiman
wel enough to know that they could reach some compromise. It
would mean spendi
ng her life in this palace except for the times
when her lord took her on some expedition, but something he
had said to her had made her think that he was no freer than she.
Surely that was not the case? And yet she knew that he held
his father in great respect, and the Caliph needed him—he
needed Suleiman’s strength and cleverness to outwit the enemies
that surrounded them.
Chapter Nine
Eleanor spent what was left of the evening talking with her
friends in the harem. She braided Elizabetta’s hair, and Anastasia
painted her toenails for her with a red dye. They laughed and
talked together, but no one asked Eleanor what she had been
doing, though Anastasia did mention that she had a fresh colour
in her cheeks.
Fatima was holding court in another part of the hal, but she
did not speak to them or they to her. Most of the other women
stil seemed to folow the favourite, though Suleiman had not sent
for her since before his hunting trip.
No word of the plot to kil the Caliph and Suleiman, or of the
subsequent executions, seemed to have filtered through to the
harem, and Eleanor felt it best to keep her knowledge to herself.
If Suleiman and the Caliph wished it known, Karin would be
informed and she would tel the other women.
Karin did not come to the harem that evening, and Eleanor
wondered if Suleiman had, after al, decided to wait before
announcing his intention to take Eleanor as his wife. She was not
sure whether she wanted the announcement to come or not, and
spent a restless night going over al the reasons why she should
not wish for this wedding.
She was a Christian and he was a Muslim, and she had a right
to be free. As Suleiman’s wife she would spend the rest of her
life in this palace—but what was the alternative? There was no
possibility of her being rescued, which meant that she was never
going to leave the palace anyway. Surely it was better to live as
the favoured wife than as one of the concubines?
She slept fitfuly at last, having reached no sensible
conclusion. It did not matter what she thought, for Suleiman had
made up his mind and she had no choice in the matter of her
future.
Yet there was no word from Karin, nor did Suleiman send for
her that afternoon, though towards evening one of the eunuchs
came to tel her she was needed. She folowed him through the
passages to a part of the palace she had never been before, and
was ushered inside an apartment that she believed must belong
to the Caliph’s own harem.
Karin was lying on a bed, her face white and beaded with
sweat. She looked terrible and as Eleanor came to her, she
reached out her hand to her. Eleanor took her hand, holding it
and looking at her anxiously.
‘You are il, Karin?’
‘Yes. I have been very sick during the night, Eleanor. And the
pain in my stomach has been terrible.’
‘Has the physician been to see you?’
‘Yes, several times. He says I must have eaten something that
did not agree with me.’ Karin gasped and bit her lip. ‘I think
someone has tried to poison me.’
‘Oh, no, surely not! Who would want to do such a wicked
thing?’
‘I think…I think it may have been Fatima,’ Karin replied. ‘I
spent some time in the harem when you were with Suleiman
yesterday, Eleanor. Dinazade offered me fruit and I ate a little of
a peach she gave me. Had I eaten al of it I might have been
dead by now.’
‘Oh, Karin, this is terrible. Have you told anyone what you
suspect?’
‘No…I wanted to warn you, because I believe I was meant
to die first so that you could be kiled without fear of discovery.’
‘But why…?’ Eleanor looked at her sadly. ‘I am sorry that
you have suffered, Karin. I can understand why Fatima wants
me dead, but that you should have been harmed! I am distressed
and angry that this has been done.’
‘Fatima knew that I favoured you, and hoped to see you as
Suleiman’s wife. Perhaps I was wrong to think that…’
‘No, you were not wrong,’ Eleanor replied, and stroked the
damp hair back from Karin’s brow. ‘This is my fault. Had I not
resisted, Suleiman would have made his intentions known before
this—and Fatima’s anger would have turned against me, not
you.’
‘If this is true, you must be very careful,’ Karin warned. ‘She
wil stop at nothing to be rid of you and regain her lord’s favour.’
‘Fatima is a foolish woman, but I understand her fear,’
Eleanor said. ‘She wil not be a danger to either of us for much
Eleanor said. ‘She wil not be a danger to either of us for much
longer, Karin. My lord wishes to know which women I would
keep as my friends and attendants, and which I would have sent
away. He was to have asked your opinion on whether marriages
might be arranged for those who cannot return to their homes.’
Karin nodded weakly. ‘Suleiman sent word that he would
like to see me last evening, but I was already unwel, and when
he knew that I was il, he sent his own physicians to me. Had
they not treated me I might have died.’
‘I am very glad that you did not,’ Eleanor said. ‘Is there
anything I may do for you, my friend?’
shal send word to Suleiman and he wil arrange it.’
‘He has not sent for me today…’
‘I think he is waiting to see what happens to me,’ Karin
replied. ‘I have not told the lord Suleiman of my suspicions
concerning Fatima, but he must have some inkling himself.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘I have heard stories concerning Fatima,’ Karin said. ‘If they
are true…any other master would have dealt with her by now,
but he is waiting for her to betray herself.’
‘Of what is she accused?’
‘That I may not reveal, even to you,’ Karin replied and
sighed. ‘She is a foolish woman, but I would have no il come to
her through me. I could have gone to Suleiman long ago, but had
I done so she would have been severely punished. That is not my
wish—merely that she is banished so that she can do no harm to
others. I wish that I was not laid in my bed. I fear what she may
others. I wish that I was not laid in my bed. I fear what she may
do while I am not there to restrain her.’ She gave a little moan of
pain.
‘May I not bathe your face and hands?’ Eleanor said, looking
at her in concern. ‘I would make you more comfortable, Karin.’
‘Thank you, Eleanor. My own women wil attend me. I am
comfortable enough—but I cannot rest…’
‘You must rest,’ Eleanor replied. ‘Fatima wil not harm
anyone else but me. It is me she is jealous of—and I am warned.
Please do not worry for me, Karin. I do not think she wil dare
to harm me once it is known that I am to be my lord’s wife.’
‘But he has made no announceme
nt…’
‘He wil once I have spoken to him,’ Eleanor said confidently.
‘He waits to please me—but I shal ask to see him, and I shal
tel him that my doubts have been put aside. I see what I must do
now, Karin, and I shal accept my duty.’
Karin took her hand and squeezed it gently. ‘Ask him to
banish Fatima,’ she advised. ‘He must send her away before she
does more harm.’
‘Yes,’ Eleanor promised. ‘As soon as I see the lord Suleiman
I shal ask that she be sent back to her homeland.’
‘She wil see to it that I am sent away!’ Fatima screamed in
rage and struck the servant across the face viciously. ‘How dare
she presume to think I can be got rid of so easily?’
Dinazade stared at her resentfuly. ‘You bid me folow and
listen, my lady. I can only tel you what I heard. The lord
listen, my lady. I can only tel you what I heard. The lord
Suleiman intends to take the Englishwoman as his wife. She is to
have her choice of the women she desires about her—and she
intends to ask that you be sent away immediately.’
‘Get out!’ Fatima threw a cushion at the servant. ‘Get out! I
shal punish you for teling me lies. It cannot be that my lord
would send me away.’
After the servant had gone, Fatima began to pace the floor of
her apartment, her feet bare against the coolness of the marble
tiles. She was angry and frustrated that the poison she had
rubbed into the skin of the peach had merely made Karin sick
and not kiled her. She had hoped that with the older woman out
of the way, she would have complete control over the harem.
While Suleiman continued to favour Eleanor she would find it
difficult to dispose of her—especialy now that Abu had been
moved from his position in the harem.
Fatima had sent word that she wished to speak with him, but
he had not answered her summons. She was angry that he
should ignore her, for she believed that he stil had access to the
harem if he chose to come. Had he done so, she would have
asked him to smuggle Eleanor out of the harem. He could then
have disposed of her as he wished, and Fatima believed she
knew what he would do to the upstart Englishwoman.
With her gone, Suleiman would send for Fatima again. The
last interview she’d had with him had been very strange, for he
had asked her curious questions, which she had pretended not to