Emissary

by Fiona McIntosh

  He would have to ponder this further and put Lazar beneath Salazin’s watchful gaze. Maliz roused himself from his private thoughts with the recollection that he, too, would be a member of the party that departed Percheron city at nightfall. He, too, had preparations to make.

  25

  Ana was escorted back to the harem, where she was met by cheering and excitement from the girls, who had stayed up late to welcome her.

  “They haven’t yet grasped that she is their enemy,” Herezah murmured to Salmeo when he joined her.

  “Oh, but they will, Valide. Most are still barely out of childhood, excited by the novelty.”

  “How did she seem directly afterward?”

  “No weeping, if that’s what you mean, Valide.”

  He noticed how his news disappointed her. “Boaz finds it hard to hurt an insect,” she retaliated, her words sour even. “So, tell me, how was she?”

  Salmeo took a moment to consider his response. “Calm, dignified. There was definitely something between them.”

  “Be specific, Salmeo—what?”

  “It’s hard to say, Valide. I only delivered and collected Ana, so my time with them both was limited to barely moments. She appeared visibly nervous on the way to the Zar’s chambers, but she struck me as sedate and entirely in control, with her usual sneer for me, when I reclaimed her.”

  “She doesn’t appear flushed or too disheveled.”

  “No, but she did ask me for a few moments to tidy herself and I suspect one of the mutes helped.”

  “One of the mutes?”

  Salmeo nodded. “That very serious one, who never smiles: Salazin’s his name. When I was summoned, he met me, prevented me from entering the chamber, and then slipped into the suite himself. Bin met me and asked me to wait because the Zaradine had requested this time to dress herself, brush her hair.” He shrugged. “Is something amiss?”

  Herezah’s frown eased. “No, I just remember my first time.” She smirked. “Joreb made sure I could barely walk.”

  “As I recall, Valide, Zar Joreb kept you for many hours. Boaz lay with Ana for less than one.”

  “He’s young, probably still a bit shy, unsure. The main thing is it’s done. So how did they receive the bloodstained sheet in the Throne Room?” she asked, looking to where the girls were admiring that same satin sheet. It was the harem’s turn to follow its traditional custom. She watched the girls take the four corners of the sheet, billowing it up into the air over Ana’s head and dancing around her. A particular song about marriage, the spilling of blood, and fertility was sung with great enthusiasm.

  “Oh, it was an inspired idea of yours, Valide, with excited applause and celebration—as you can imagine—and with quiet relief for those of us who realize what’s at stake.”

  “And Boaz, how was he?”

  “Looked rather pleased with himself, Valide,” Salmeo lied, knowing that this was what she wanted to hear, even though he was confused by the Zar’s circumspect manner. This moment was surely tied to any young man’s greatest sense of achievement, and although the Zar had carried himself with tremendous dignity, Salmeo felt the young man didn’t display the usual expression of quiet triumph.

  “Excellent,” the Valide said, cutting across his thoughts. “As much as it galls me that she is the Zaradine and Absolute Favorite, we should be glad that things have fallen into place as they have.”

  This surprised the Grand Master Eunuch. “How so, Valide?” he asked politely, knowing that things had, in fact, gone utterly against their original intentions.

  “Well, Salmeo, she is no longer in quite such an unpredictable position. Her duty is now directly to the Zar and I suspect our feisty Ana will not be as inclined to try her tricks to defy Boaz.” Salmeo thought differently, felt that Ana obeyed rules only with herself, but he kept his own counsel. “But she remains very much under our control in the harem. I think if we take things slowly, carefully, we can begin to use Ana for our own ends.”

  Salmeo couldn’t imagine that Ana would ever put a grain of faith in either of them again. He could not hide his surprise. “Ana’s not gullible enough, Valide. She knows we manipulated her toward her own demise. I can’t imagine how you will use her to your own ends.”

  “Can’t you, Salmeo?” was Herezah’s haughty reply. “That’s because you lack imagination. Ana can always be controlled. We simply have to ascertain what she cares about.”

  “But, Valide—”

  “Don’t be disingenuous with me, eunuch. I know your mind is as cunning as my own,” she snarled in her soft, feline way. “There is no undoing what is done. She lives—it is not my choice but it is how things have turned out. We move on. Because of the Galinseans—Zarab save me!—Ana is now the wife and Absolute Favorite of my son. I cannot change this. But I can learn to live with it and see how best to work with her new status to achieve what I want.”

  He could only admire her. Her whole careful plot had drowned, sunk into oblivion like the young black eunuch. Salmeo knew that the pain of that failure would be intense for Herezah and yet her survival instincts always emerged to restore her resilience, fuel her creative spirit to begin plotting anew. “What do you want, Valide?” He was careful to keep his query innocent and utterly polite.

  “Nothing more than you do, Salmeo. I simply want control of a regime that is rightly mine—and I shall have it. It may take longer than I had originally planned. Incidentally,” she said, obviously finished with that discussion, “whose inspired idea was it to have Boaz and Ana married? Did the Zar come up with the clever plan?”

  “From my understanding, it was the Spur’s, Valide. I gather Lazar suggested it when all else seemed lost. Ana speaks the language fluently but no one would take her seriously enough as a concubine. She needs status to enter the Galinsean court.”

  “I see,” Herezah said mildly, her perfectly shaped fingernail tapping against her teeth. “That does make it more interesting.”

  “How so, Valide?”

  “Because it means our Spur, who is so clearly besotted by the one who is now my son’s wife, is planning time alone with her out of the harem. Makes for good sport, don’t you think, Salmeo?”

  “But you’ll be there, Valide, as chaperone,” he warned.

  “Exactly. And I cannot wait for him to make his move.”

  “How can you be so sure he will?”

  She laughed, although it came out as a sneer. “Intuition. I’ve told you before, Salmeo, you may be more woman than man but you cannot think like one of us.” With this insult, she left his side and glided elegantly toward the center of the room, where the excitement for Ana had at last quieted.

  “Ana, my dear, how do you feel?”

  Ana met the Valide’s eyes with a fierce stare. “Empowered.”

  Salmeo was sure Herezah had anticipated a certain amount of defiance, but he wondered if she was ready for such immediate rivalry. She did not show her surprise, however, and continued in the same tone, as though Ana had not said anything confrontational. “You must be a little weary…and sore.”

  “I all but drowned today, Valide. My body is certainly tired.”

  She tinkled a laugh. “But you’ve lain with a Zar—surely you feel energized, triumphant?”

  “Neither, Valide. I remain a prisoner of the harem. Until that status changes, triumph is not mine.”

  There was a shocked gasp from the girls as Ana so directly challenged the woman who scared them all.

  “Indeed,” said Herezah lazily, seemingly unflustered, but Salmeo knew her too well not to know that she would be inwardly fuming beneath her calm facade at such a public rebuke. “The Zar is young, he’ll need lots of attention, unless, of course, he chooses others quickly.”

  “He is free to choose whomever he wishes, Valide. I’m sure you of all people understand this.”

  Salmeo noticed as a pulse began to throb at Herezah’s temple. Ana was certainly hitting a nerve with her wintry defiance and it seemed she wasn’t finished.r />
  “I for one will not fret over it. He has taken my virginity now, as you can all see—perhaps he will enjoy more virgins before he returns me to his bed. Certainly he’ll have a long wait for me, as I must make a journey to help Percheron avoid war. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that this interests me far more than the vacant pastime of being a concubine with no other role in life than to pleasure a powerful man.”

  Every word of Ana’s quiet but pointed speech was a bark of disdain directed toward the Valide, each sentence an accusation, a sneer for the life Herezah had carved for herself. Perhaps Ana didn’t feel the gathering storm, or perhaps she did and pressed on regardless. Salmeo sensed the eruption moments before it occurred, hardly dared breathe as he waited to see if the Valide would lose her nerveless control in front of the entire harem.

  Herezah struck fast, her slap across Ana’s face claiming the shocked silence the Zaradine’s words had created. Given the sharpness of its sound, it was surely a painful blow to its recipient. Ana’s face snapped sideways from the force but she steadfastly remained on her feet and turned straight back to face the Valide again. Her green eyes glittered darkly above the smile she wore openly.

  “Welcome to my new world, Valide,” Ana uttered, loading her rival’s title with scorn. “We are now equals. You will never again lay a hand on me or lure me into your dark schemes. You are at the end of your power, Herezah. I am just coming into mine. Both of us enjoy this status because of your son. I wonder which one of us he would choose if he had to?” Her smile widened, lifting the cheek with its livid hand mark.

  The festive atmosphere had changed entirely to something dangerous, threatening. Some of the younger girls began to weep. Herezah looked oddly bereft of any pithy response and Ana’s left cheek was turning bright red—Herezah touched it now and nodded. There was something knowing in that gesture, Salmeo believed, and he moved as fast as his huge body would permit.

  “Valide! Zaradine Ana! Enough.” His voice had lost its usual high, breathy quality. Now it sounded lower, angry. “This behavior is unseemly for the harem.” If he was shocked by Herezah’s being baited into acting so completely out of character, he was more stunned by Ana’s response. Her words had chilled him. It appeared that they were no longer dealing with a broken young woman, driven to the point of wanting to die. Before him Ana stood proud, defiant, and utterly confident in her own new status as wife of the Zar. There seemed not so much as a speck of fear reflected in those once wide, unsure eyes. Something had happened in that bedchamber with the Zar. It appeared that in taking her virginity, Boaz had given her something very precious in return. “Valide, we must get you prepared for travel. Zaradine Ana?”

  “Yes,” she said, turning her gaze for the first time in a long while from the Valide.

  “You, too, must prepare for a long journey. I shall send some slaves.”

  “Do I return to my chamber?”

  Salmeo almost laughed. Already Ana was, despite her carefully couched inquiry, suggesting that she should be based in her own wing of the harem—as was fitting for the Zaradine and Absolute Favorite.

  He cleared his throat. “I know you can appreciate that there has been little time since this morning—”

  “In preparing for a death and a wedding, you mean?” she said, her voice hard.

  He nodded, determined not to be intimidated. “Precisely. There has been no time to set up your new accommodations. And there is no point, as you leave tonight anyway. I would appreciate it if you would return to your old chamber and guide the slaves in what to pack. You will need warm as well as light clothing. The desert is contrary at best.” He gestured to Herezah. “Come, Valide. Girls, amuse yourselves.” His last words he spoke brightly, although no one could take their eyes off Ana and the Valide, or break the cold silence that washed like a winter stream between them.

  BOAZ SIGHED AT BIN. He was in no mood, not after the day’s events. He thought again of Ana, wished he could be with her. “Yes, of course, show her in. Bring some apple tea.”

  The servant bowed, and closed the door, which opened again momentarily. The Valide swept into the chamber. “My Lion,” she said, affection oozing from every pore.

  “Salutations, Mother.” He looked at her quizzically. “Shouldn’t you be preparing for your journey?”

  “Oh, I’m letting Salmeo handle all of that,” she said dismissively. “I wanted to see you. Are you sure I should be going on this adventure?”

  It was not like his mother to pass up any opportunity—and this was by far the most generous chance she’d had in her life-time—to slough off the restrictions of the harem and taste a sense of freedom. “Very sure. My wife needs a female chaperone. I can’t think of anyone more suitable or wise.”

  She ignored the compliment. “‘My wife.’ How enchanting that sounds. How do you feel?”

  Boaz felt instantly on alert. Her voice sounded too innocent, her tone too chatty, and there was normally nothing sickly sweet about Herezah, yet here she was displaying the breathy interest of a mother with nothing else on her mind but domestic concerns. She was here on a mission and he would just have to do the dance until she got to the point. He opted to be evasive, which he knew would irritate her. He had learned this past year of his reign that deliberately provoking the Valide tended to bring her to her point rather fast. “About what, marriage?”

  “Of course. What else could I mean?’ She paused, then exclaimed, “Oh, I wasn’t referring to you losing your virginity.” She tinkled a coquettish laugh.

  He knew she lied. A knock at the door sounded. “Come,” Boaz answered, distracted by his mother’s odd behavior.

  Bin ushered in a servant bearing a tray with the apple tea. The man placed the tray on a nearby table at Bin’s instruction before both servants bowed and removed themselves.

  “I feel delighted,” Boaz continued. “She was always going to be my first choice, but I’m sure you knew that. Surely you were not surprised?”

  “Only in the timing. It came so suddenly.”

  “Do you refer to the marriage or to the choosing, Mother?”

  “Both, if I’m honest. May I pour?” Her voice was light, almost carefree, as if she were indifferent to his responses. He knew differently. Boaz nodded, watched her elegant movements as she prepared the porcelain cups of apple infusion, whose soft scent now permeated the chamber, relaxing him.

  “Then I’ll be honest,” he said pointedly but not unkindly. He needed his mother working for him now and Ana needed his mother’s guidance whether she thought so or not. He took the cup and sipped before placing it before him, giving himself time to think about how best to respond. “I chose Ana when I did because I was angry. The timing of your shopping trip to the grand bazaar was just too perfect—even for my normally generous tolerance levels.”

  “Oh, my darling boy, a mere coincidence. Had I known it would spark such a reaction—”

  “Don’t, Mother, please. Nothing in your life isn’t planned and carefully thought through. I’m your son, remember. I know you better than almost anyone in this palace, save your fat eunuch, who covers your every movement.”

  “What are you implying?” Her tone was injured, though Boaz knew the hurt was feigned.

  “Only that he would never contradict anything you do or say.”

  “That’s his role, son. Grand Master Eunuch and Valide have traditionally worked closely.”

  “And plotted closely, too?”

  Herezah’s face was the picture of innocence. “What do you mean, Boaz? I’m really not understanding you. I come to see you, to congratulate you, and you turn on me like an angry dog.”

  “It’s not like you to be quite so dull, Mother. It insults me that you think I am gullible enough to believe that you didn’t plan your trip to the market in order to prevent me from seeing Ana. I know you didn’t want me to marry her—” He raised a hand to stop her interrupting. “Yes, she is very suitable and I know you were the person who picked her originally, although
perhaps Lazar might have that claim. But you have despised Ana since you first came to realize that she was not to be cowed by the harem—and that she posed a threat to your superiority.”

  “I think you’ve got me wrong,” she said, lifting the cup to her lips. “I’ve always rather admired her.”

  “Possibly, but you’re also jealous of her, Mother, although I am baffled by that. You are one of the most beautiful women the harem has ever seen. You have intelligence, elegance, status, and power. I find it altogether ludicrous that you have single-mindedly made the life of a young orphan so very miserable. You’ve forced her into taking extraordinary risks and on both occasions her life has been threatened. You nearly won today and I was powerless this morning. But I am no longer power-less—the threat of war overrides all rules…even those of the harem. So Ana may still belong to the harem but I have now bestowed upon her equal status to yours. I’m presuming that this is what you came to see me about?”

  Herezah took a deep breath and he knew she was weighing up her situation. She found no sympathy with him and he anticipated that she would likely change her approach. “I came only to offer my sincere congratulations to you, Boaz. I don’t care much for Ana—it would be pointless for me to deny it—but I do admire her and I think she makes you a fine Zaradine. I just question her motives and indeed Lazar’s.”

  This Boaz had not expected. “Lazar’s? What in Zarab’s name are you talking about?”

  “Well, it’s just that this trip gives them the cover they so crave. It legitimizes leaving the harem.”

  “Mother, you’d better quickly explain what you mean.”

  Once again Herezah gave an innocent, wide-eyed shrug. “Well, is it only me who knows that Lazar is in love with Ana?”

  Boaz felt his throat tighten—he wasn’t sure whether it was from fright or anger, but he was convinced that the cause of that sensation and the sudden chill in the room was driven by jealousy. He struggled to retain his composure. “I’m not sure why you would say such a thing.”