Emissary (5 page)

Again Ana looked down and Herezah knew
the girl understood. ‘It is not from choice, Valide. I do not encourage it.’

‘And still it happens, Ana. Are you dangerous for the harem? You may stand.’

Ana rose in a fluid movement and once again Herezah was struck by the golden beauty and grace of this young woman. She certainly had filled out in the past few moons and looked ripe for the plucking, as the Grand Master Eunuch had observed. He was right, Boaz could be used unwittingly to bring this threat to Herezah’s status to an end.

‘Dangerous?’ Ana queried.

‘Your innocence is always convincing, Ana, but it does not fool me,’ Herezah commented, again carefully covering her rancour with a soft tone as though she were merely making an observation rather than an accusation. ‘It will serve you well. I’m sure the Zar will love it.’

Now Ana dared to raise her depthless green eyes and regard the Valide, her gaze serious, and Herezah felt impaled by the stare.

She affected a coy laugh as if embarrassed. ‘Oh surely you realise that my son will want to bed you soon, Ana?’ Not all of the mockery was disguised in the tone. She wanted Ana to hear it. ‘And I for one will be delighted when he takes his first virgin between his sheets,’ she continued.

Ana stammered some sort of reply but although the words were lost on Herezah, the effect of her
baiting the girl was not. She smiled inwardly. This was where she wanted Ana—unsure, hesitant.

‘Anyway, let’s not talk about that,’ she said in a more friendly manner, waving away the previous conversation. ‘I brought you here today to discuss Zar Boaz’s picnic for the harem.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yes, you see, I imagine some of the younger girls are going to be a little fearful of being taken out of the harem. They’ve been here now for a year so this is where they feel secure.’

Ana had regained her composure to some degree and answered without thinking. ‘No, Valide, I think everyone in the harem is very excited. I sense no fear.’

Herezah blinked slowly, as if talking to someone too dull to understand. ‘Nevertheless, while you may think most are looking forward to it, I assure you some will be reluctant.’

Ana nodded, quickly appreciating her lack of tact in answering back so quickly.

Once again Herezah found and fixed a friendly smile to her face. ‘I am hopeful, Ana, that you will counsel the youngsters, dissuade any hesitation, and especially show them not to fear their Zar.’

‘How do you mean, Valide?’ Ana asked, frowning.

‘Let’s take a tour of the garden,’ Herezah suggested, even linking arms with Ana, and despising the feel of her young and unblemished
silken flesh next to her own. Herezah could sense her anger rising at the unfairness that this beautiful creature had so much going in her favour. The Valide understood that she, too, had once enjoyed similar qualities but that freshness and vitality had gone now. Oh yes, she remained a beautiful woman but she was an older woman now, a Valide no less. No man was going to come looking for her these days—no man would dare—but she missed being able to use her body to render a man helpless. It was such a powerful feeling, one Ana had not yet known…or had she?

Lazar had been totally in Ana’s thrall; Herezah had seen it in his hungry, desperate gaze when he was lying through his back teeth to save the girl from the harem’s imprisonment. During the Choosing Ceremony when all the purchased girls were first presented to the Valide, he had argued persuasively for access to Ana. Herezah suspected it was a lie that the mother in the foothills had demanded as part of the sale that Lazar act as some sort of ongoing mentor—he made it sound credible—but nevertheless, adroit though the Spur was, he could not hide…not from her anyway…the helpless ardour he possessed for Ana. Her hackles rose just thinking of this fact. Not only did Ana seem to have Boaz focused on her but the girl had somehow managed to win the heart of the only man Herezah had ever desired and yet never so much as touched.

She remembered now Lazar half-naked, standing tall at first against the whipping post in the Courtyard of Sorrows, but it didn’t take too many bites from the Viper’s Nest to savagely open up his back and for precious blood to flow all too freely out of Lazar’s hard, proud body, to leave it slumped and lifeless by the end of the twenty strokes. She felt a keen pain as she allowed the frustration and anger she normally kept so securely buried to have free rein in her mind that this man had never laid a finger on her, hated her in fact, not that she could ever have fully told what he was thinking.

What she would have given for one night with Lazar. She knew he paid prostitutes for their services and that riled her. She would have given him all of herself for free; risked everything for a single night. And Ana had had several nights with Lazar at Herezah’s expense; from travelling with him from her home in the foothills to a carefree evening the girl had spent with him in Percheron prior to Lazar presenting her at the palace. Herezah had discovered that on this final night of Ana’s freedom, she and the Spur had wandered the bazaar—hand in hand, no less!—had shared a meal and sat close together around a fountain. Her spies reported laughter, tenderness and even sorrow when the time came to leave the alley of gold—where he had bought her a present—their last call prior to wending their way to the palace. Her fury, a year on, still burned.

Herezah had only two men in her life, two
men on her mind and Ana laid claim to both of them. It hurt like a savage wound and it took all of the Valide’s willpower not to pull her arm from the young woman walking carefully beside her.

The silence between them had lengthened. Herezah pointed to a bench seat beneath a fig tree. She swallowed her despair and her voice came out bright and steady. ‘Let’s sit, shall we?’

Ana did as asked, maintaining her silence, unsure of what was coming.

‘Do you ever think of Spur Lazar, Ana?’ She felt the involuntary movement next to her, knew she had hit a nerve.

‘I do, from time to time, with sorrow that he is no longer striding around the city.’

‘Is that how you remember him?’

Ana hadn’t meant to shrug but she did. ‘I don’t really know how I remember him. My time with him was limited,’ she said carefully, her intuition serving her well. She had long ago sensed the Valide’s unhealthy interest in Lazar.

‘But you admired him?’ Herezah prompted, unable to help herself.

‘Yes, I did. I thought he was a fine man and a loyal one to Percheron. It was not right, what happened on account of my indiscretion.’

Herezah heard the pain in the girl’s voice as she tried to shape well-chosen words into something less revealing than they actually were. ‘No-one could know that Lazar would be quite as gallant as he was, child. He was very protective of
the youngsters he brought in and it was a terrible thing, I agree, but no-one’s fault.’

‘Someone’s fault that the whip was tipped with poison, Valide, surely?’

Again Herezah felt the breath catch in her throat at Ana’s audaciousness in answering as she did. ‘And he paid the price.’

‘My uncle Horz would never do such a thing, Valide. I did not know him as well as you, perhaps, but I knew him to be a faithful and proud servant of the harem. We were distant relatives—I’d met him only twice in my life before I was brought to the palace and it is coincidence that two of the same family lived here. He never treated me any differently and he was loyal to the Elim.’

‘And still coincidence that you both became embroiled in the drama that led to Lazar’s death?’ The Valide watched Ana nod unhappily.

‘Then who, Ana?’ Herezah asked innocently, interested to hear what the girl might say. ‘Who poisoned the whip?’

Ana turned now and worked hard to stifle the glare she levelled at the Valide.

Zarab save us,
Herezah thought,
she thinks I contrived it!
‘What does that look mean?’

Ana hung her head. ‘I…I mean nothing by it, Valide, my apologies. I just thought you might know something more than has been explained.’

You lie well,
Herezah thought,
but not well enough to dupe me.
‘I know only what you do,
odalisque,’ the Valide replied in a rare moment of honesty. ‘He cannot be brought back no matter what the truth is.’

‘He should never have gone, though, Valide. It is my fault and I can never forgive myself.’

‘Perhaps you have learned your lesson, then?’ Herezah asked, not quite believing the lovely pathway in conversation that Ana had led herself towards.

‘Definitely,’ Ana replied unequivocally.

Herezah was not yet satisfied. She would remind Ana of this conversation in time to come. ‘So nothing could persuade you to escape again?’

Ana held the Valide’s gaze defiantly. ‘Nothing.’

Herezah smiled. It was too perfect. ‘Thank you, Ana. I appreciate this. You know, I chose you as the finest odalisque of the exquisite selection of girls on offer. I have high hopes for you. Perhaps you see yourself as a Favourite? Possibly Absolute Favourite, as I was?’

‘No, Valide,’ Ana answered gravely. ‘I have never thought about such things.’

‘Well, you should, my girl. You have the intelligence and there is no doubting your suitability as a mate for the Zar. Doesn’t producing heirs to the throne of Percheron excite you?’

Ana shivered, despite the warmth, and shook her head. ‘I know what happens to spare heirs, Valide. No, I would not wish that on any mother. I will happily remain barren to avoid such trauma.’

Now Herezah did gasp. ‘You must not talk like this, Ana. You have a role now in the harem. Even if you can’t see it, we can. You are the most likely first choice of the Zar. I can’t speak for him but I can see what he sees.’

‘Beauty is not everything,’ Ana whispered.

‘So you’ve said, but it is vital as an odalisque. You have little else to recommend yourself to the Zar.’

‘It will not matter to me if he does not choose me, Valide. If you’ll forgive my candidness, I think this is where you and I differ.’

The courage of the girl to speak so forthrightly to the most powerful woman in the palace had to be applauded, and Herezah forgave her the couched insult—for Herezah had never made any secret of her own ambition—and quietly admired Ana her spine. It reminded her painfully of her own determination, even though they seemed to want different things. If Herezah was honest, she had still not clarified what it was Ana would want if she could have it. Freedom probably—what every odalisque would take over all the riches and pampering.

‘I’m pleased, Ana, that you will stay faithful to the harem and not test us again, with any further escape attempts from the palace. Your dash for freedom from the harem after the Choosing Ceremony was gravely ill-advised, as you’ve now discovered in the harshest possible way. I put it down to a fearless nature combined with your
immaturity. It must never happen again, though. Let that fearlessness manifest itself in positive ways in your duties as odalisque. You have led a blemish-free existence these past thirteen moons, as I understand it.’ Ana nodded, staring at the ground. ‘This is wise,’ she reiterated, wanting to get back on the track of her plan. ‘Which is why I am asking you to take charge of the picnic next full moon. The girls are still very frightened of me so they will find it far easier to follow your lead.’

‘I understand,’ Ana replied.

‘And, as a reward for your help, I am recommending that you be allowed to visit the Grand Bazaar.’

Ana looked up sharply, her eyes wide with consternation. ‘Leave the palace?’ she asked, her tone filled with disbelief.

Herezah smiled again, indulgently. ‘Fully veiled, and with Elim escorts, of course.’

‘Valide…I…I…’

‘It’s all right, Ana. I know what you’re trying to say. I think you forget that I, too, have been a prisoner of the harem as a young woman and wanted nothing but to escape its smothering ways. I still am a prisoner. I still yearn for freedom but I have learned to accept, as you will. But I don’t want you to suffer as I did. If I can allow you to enjoy some rare moments of independence—such as the boat picnic but, more importantly, such as this trip into the city—then I will allow
it. I feel it will keep you less troubled, shall we say.’

‘I really don’t know what to say, or how to thank you,’ Ana stammered, truly shocked at the indulgent gift being given to her by someone she thought held only hate.

‘Thank me by being true. Keep your promise not to try anything silly and help me to give these girls a good time out on the water. Help me in the harem itself by being co-operative, less sullen, not so withdrawn. This is your life now. I want to try and make it easier to live but I can’t save you completely. You must accept, as I did, embrace your role as odalisque and do the very best you can. Ana, you’re so bright, I’d like to see you studying more. Is there anything you really enjoy?’ Herezah already knew the answer to this.

‘Well,’ Ana began, ‘I believe I’m good at language, Valide. Perhaps I can concentrate fully on that.’

‘And not embroidery?’

Ana actually smiled and Herezah could see how any man would be instantly captivated at the way her eyes sparkled when she was happy. ‘I don’t care much for sewing,’ she admitted wryly.

‘And who could blame you,’ Herezah replied, arching her eyebrows, feeling the fragile bond forming between them. ‘All right, I think focusing on language is an excellent idea. We always have a need for translators. Any particular one?’

‘Galinsean,’ Ana gushed, then reined in her enthusiasm. ‘And of course, Merlinean.’

Herezah really was amused now. ‘Galinsean! It’s an impossible tongue, child! And we don’t need Galinsean.’

‘Since losing the Spur I would suggest that we do, Valide. He was the only person who spoke Galinsean fluently as I understand it. And although I know he was Percheron’s army head—and I’m merely a slave—it may be handy to have someone, other than the Zar, who understands the language. I must admit to you that I’ve actually been teaching myself the language for the past year. But I’d like to devote more time to it; perhaps a tutor can help with my accent?’ This last suggestion about a tutor was a lie. Ana needed no help with her accent but she’d far prefer to just keep working in language than show she had time for anything as tedious as sewing or dancing.