"For this I am called?” The Agasi's surprise was unfeigned. “Whip them. Compel them to obey.” he shouted, working himself up into full disgust. “For this you interrupt my afternoon divan?” The eunuch shook his head in disbelief. “Perhaps I should have you flogged, woman."
"Have mercy, great one.” The mistress flung herself prostrate before her superior. Her words tripped over themselves in her panic to exonerate herself. She cried, clutching at his robes, “I am at a loss. The Sultan ordered no severe punishments for the three English girls. I have already punished them with five lashes and two day's fasting ... and still they refuse to cooperate.."
"The English girls, you say?” asked the eunuch as he rubbed his smooth chin. “I have heard of their beauty and spirit ... hhm-m-m ... Oh, get up.” A sharp kick to the ribs had Niaya scrambling to her feet. “Prepare the harem.” the Master of the girls ordered. “I shall make a progression."
* * * *
The harem was all atwitter.. The three English women continued to resist the orders of the Sultan. His Serene Highness demanded the girls be taught the hundred and one ways to please a man that they might be readied for their presentation before the young Emir Jamal. They flatly refused. Even after a punishment of five lashes and several missed meals, they remained adamant in their stand. Now the Kislar Agasi had bestirred himself and was coming to deal with their insurrection personally.
Laihla avidly watched the drama surrounding the three English captives. They fascinated her. They were so different from what she was used to. In a world where every day was virtually the same, where boredom and inactivity threatened to unravel the thin strands of sanity, the three women's reactions were a source of wonderful diversion—especially this latest, juicy scandal.
Laihla found it hard to believe the three captives had refused the will of the Sultan. Such rebellion was unthinkable to her for no woman in her right mind would challenge the way of the harem. Shaking her head in baffled disbelief, she nevertheless sidled closer to where the three sat talking quietly to each other. She strained to hear their muffled conversation, not wanting to miss a thing.
"I am not interested in learning the ten different names of the male sex organ.” Seana declared in stinging tones, her Turkish surprisingly good after five months of intensive study in the language. With hands balled tightly at her hips, she mocked, “The jade stem, the pillar of power, the ivory tower ... really. ‘Tis disgusting and sinful, and I'll have no part of it.” Her thickened Scottish brogue, while sounding hilarious with the Turkish, betrayed her agitation.
"I confess I am not comfortable with the situation, either,” Susan stated quietly, “but shouldn't we save our energy for the battles more worth fighting?” She paused in her pacing to face Seana and Merridyth. For all she had walked the perimeter of the room several times, she'd yet to notice the rich beauty surrounding her.
Merridythseemed to deliberate carefully before entering her comments. “Secretly, I've always been curious about the differences between women and men. I'm amused by the fact that now, far from being denied the information, we're actually being forced to acquire the knowledge. Personally, I cannot see the harm in learning such information. Being forced to use it would be a different matter."
Seana looked horrified at Merri's answer. Her lips tightened in a thin, disapproving line. “I am a good and devout Catholic,” she said, “and I'll nae be endangerin’ ma verra soul with sich goin's on."
Laihla was perplexed as she eavesdropped on the women. They must be fools. Only fools would choose to remain ignorant when knowledge was life and advancement.. The three were obviously intelligent; look how quickly improved they had in their use of the language. Also, they were adept at all the other tasks they attempted, yet they refused the very lessons that could make them truly powerful.
Tsking in disgust, Laihla decided she should take a hand in this situation else the women were going to get themselves killed early on, and the excitement would be over before she had a chance to really enjoy it.. Emerging from her hiding place, she boldly confronted the women where they sat near her secluded corner of the public apartments. “Allah's greetings to you, my new sisters,” Laihla greeted, bowing slightly, palms pressed respectfully together.
The three women turned sharply, startled from their self-absorption by the sudden appearance of an outsider. Suspicion darkened the red-head's features as she took in the uncompromising alienness of the woman standing regally before them. Laihla knew the English girl saw smooth, unlined skin dark as cherry wood, Eyes deeply brown, almost black, and slanted just a bit at the inside corners and hair full and heavy, a rich charcoal wave flowing like lava to her shoulders. Her body was lushly curved: high, full breasts; small waist; hips a wide delta sweeping into long, firm legs. Laihla knew she was the most exotically beautiful creature Seana had ever seen.
"What do you want?” Seana'svoice was rife with hostility.
Merridyth placed a restraining hand on her friend's arm. “Let's not take our frustrations out on the innocent,” she cautioned. “How do we know this woman is not in much the same bind we are facing? Also ... a knowledgeable friend could prove an asset."
The two others nodded in agreement. By mutual, unspoken agreement, they remained silent, allowing Merri to carry the conversation. “Susan and Seana are both more fluent in Turkish than me, due to my illness while on the ship; however, I manage to understand and make myself understood.” She spoke slowly now, hoping the woman would take the hint and respond in kind. “So,” she intoned softly, hands folded politely together as she had been taught, “may we ask the name of the one who speaks with us?"
"I am gözye Laihla. I would be your friend,” she offered, her eagerness childlike and earnest.
"A friend here would be welcome,” Merri said with a bittersweet smile. “Tell me, Laihla, what does your title mean?"
The Ethiopian woman smiled. “To be “gözye” means to be “in-the-eye” of the Sultan. It designates a woman who has been called to the Sultan's bed more than once, yet has not conceived."
Merri drew back. “We are not worthy of the honor you offer."
"You do not wish my friendship?” A frown marred the dark beauty of the patrician face. “I can be of much help to you,” she suggested, “for I have many contacts, and access to much information ... in fact, to prove my usefullness...” She looked furtively about before beckoning them closer to whisper, “The Kislar Agasi is to make a progression of the harem. The Mistress has complained of your behavior, and together, they plan to bring you under control."
"We do not spurn your friendship,” Merridyth explained in her slow Turkish, “we welcome it. Also, our thanks for this information you give, though—,” she spread her empty arms indicating herself and her friends ... and their lack of possessions, “we have nothing with which to repay you."
"In the harem, knowledge is power,” Laihla instructed sagely, hoping the women would take that bit of information to heart. “In return for my meager help, I would like you to teach me your language."
"Why would you want to learn English?"
Laihla shrugged. “I have nothing else to do and it may one day be a useful tool. Do you agree?"
The friends exchanged secretive glances. “Agreed.” The three said together. Merri smiled at Laihla. “You don't want much, and knowledge is the onlycoin we are rich in."
* * * *
"Now,” Susan mused aloud, “if only we could find away to deal with this man ... what did you call him...? Oh, yes. The Master of the Girls."
Laihla's eyes grew large. “One does not deal with the Master,” she warned. “He will deal with you. The Kislar Agasi's is the highest voice in the harem beside the Sultan's—may he live forever. You will be made to submit, or it will go hard on you.” Lowering her voice, she continued, “Is it not possible ... preferable to give in over the lessons in sensual matters? Is there not wisdom in seeming to submit before a greater force, thereby maintaining an illusion of obedience?"
>
"I am not so devious as that.” Seana exclaimed angrily.
"You had better become so, then,” Laihla shot back, fast losing her patience with this bitter woman. Did she think she was the only one here against her will?
"Or do you choose death...? For that is what it will come to. How long do you think they will tolerate disobedience from you? You are but a lowly female, and what is there to recommend you? Beauty? Look around you, there are many here whose beauty rivals yours, so there is no protection in that. High birth? There are princesses here who serve as laundry maids, so how could you imagine your noble birth would buy you privileges? Purity? Know that we all were pure when first we entered this harem. We have all learned, as will you, that having our maidenheads taken is not a fate worse than death—,” Laihla broke off with a frustrated sigh. The varied looks of dismay on the three faces before her stumped her. Most women entering the “curtained world” knew these things intrinsically. These western women knew nothing. How could she get through to them?
"Can you not understand that training brings status? Right now, you are naught but a possession. You possess nothing, not even a name—"
"I am Lady Seana Brigitta MacCarris."
"No,” Laihla said, not without some pity. “You have no name here. Your former life ended the moment you entered these quarters. The woman who was Seana died. She is no more. Your name is now kis, “girl", until you are named by the Sultan or the man you are ultimately given to. You might receive a temporary name from the Master of the girls, or the Mistress, but until you are recognized, you are a non-person."
She softened more as she saw the shock of reality on the girls’ faces. Pity moved through her, yet she knew they could not afford gentle treatment now. If they were intent in challenging the forces of power in the harem, they needed to be strong in their anger, resolute in their stance. Even then, she feared they had no real hopes of winning in the end.
"It is the way of the Seraglio, and has been for many hundreds of years. It will be so when we are dust. How can you hope to prevail?"
Seana attempted to explain, “Whatever I am called, the woman that I am ... she exists here.” A finger touched her forehead. “But if I do what you tell me ... if I give in ... give up, then the woman in here—” again she touched her temple, “will truly die. So I do not have a choice. I must fight against what I know to be wrong ... for me."
"They will torture you.” The whispered words fell with an eerie clarity into the pool of silence Seana's impassioned speech had created. “They will break you. I, myself, have seen this. Once, a new slave—she had been a royal princess in her land—refused as you do now. She was punished with the whip ... as you were. She continued to rebel, and they cut off her button; she was no longer able to feel pleasure. Her petals were sewn shut around a straw so she could be as an eunuch. They cut off her pillows—” Laihla unconsciously cupped her own generous breasts in sympathetic memory, “because, they said, no master would rest his head there. They cut out her tongue for refusing to say pleasing words to her masters. And we were all made to watch, so we would not dare to do as she did."
Laihla starkly met each woman's horrified stare. “She is the mute slave belonging to the Mistress of the laundry. Shall I take you to see her?” While she was speaking, she kept her eyes trained on Seana forcing the other woman to meet her gaze. “If they do these things to you, will the woman in here—” her forefinger lightly stroked Seana's pale, sweat-sheened forehead, “still survive? Could she endure such things? Or will both she and you cease to exist?"
Seana mutely shook her head, unable to answer. Her limbs quaked as she stumbled up and fled this new, implacable friend who had just stripped away her fantasy of control. She moved only a few feet before she shakily collapsed onto a low bench. As had become habit, she looked back to Merridyth and Susan, her eyes beseeching help, and both immediately rose from their seats and came to her.
Seana's trembling hands crept up to cover her mouth as if she could stop the keening, high-pitched moans from leaking out from between her fingers. She had survived a neglected childhood, the harsh knock of her brother's betrayal, the loss of everything familiar to her: home, society; her very future. How could she survive the loss of herself?
Now, the truth became her breaking point for this last she could not countenance. Her mind twisted away from what it could not endure, and she felt herself dwindling, withdrawing ... and tried to cry out to her friends. She could produce nothing but the animal-like moans that rose in volume until the whole room echoed with their chilling noise.
Sighing and shaking her head, Laihla watched as Susan and Merridyth both embraced and comforted her as best they could stroking her hair and soothing her, witnessed them attending to the stricken girl who rocked back and forth in an agony of denial. They were a closed circle; the three of them together. And the red-haired one had a closed mind.
Laihla did not believe the girl had it in her to act upon her warnings, yet it hurt her to see the girl so distressed. She fervently wished for them all to survive the harem, but she harbored no foolish hopes. Her heart was sorrowful as she watched the English women. Those who could not bend were often broken by the relentless pressures that the harem inflicted upon its inhabitants.
Chapter Nineteen
...Dearest, thank you for the birthday gifts. How unusual they are. I wore them to Lady Overton's affair and everyone was atwitter over the striking pair. The peacock fan is so brilliantly feathered ... I am sure no one has ever seen one like it, let alone possessed one. And the tiara fashioned in the likeness of a spread peacock tail is marvelous. Tell me, is it truly lapis lazuli that forms the deep blue eye of the feathers? I believe it is, however Raeburn claims it is too costly a stone for them to be genuine. I informed him I was your favorite mother, and nothing was too costly for me. He laughed, the scoundrel. Have you heard of the possibility of another war with the colonies? I am not sure what has stirred up the government now—I am not so well informed as I used to be when I had you to keep me up to date. Ferdie visited again, wanting to know if I had any news of you. He warned me to have a care for myself ... said something about evil lurking close to home. He always was a strange one, with his father being so religiously fanatical. Oh, well. At least he believes in your innocence, and has remained a true friend. He misses you. I miss you, also—Mum
Chapter Twenty
Merridyth could not sleep. She lay awake in the last hours of the night, her burning eyes resting unseeing on the colorfully patterned cloth over her head. In the close confines of the private room they shared, she could hear the soft broken murmur of Susan's uneven breaths still catching in the occasional sob. Recalling her cousin's public and tearful loss of control, Merri gave silent thanks for Laihla, who had generously given over the use of her curtained quarters so that Merridyth and Susan might do their grieving and regrouping in private.
Susan had finally succumbed to the uncertain blessing of sleep, and while wishing she could also partake of that comfort, Merri turned restlessly, knowing it was not to be. Whenever she attempted to rest, whenever she closed her eyes, she saw Seana's body hanging in the bathing-room, slowly twisting to and fro as if a careless hand had set a child's spinning top in motion. She swallowed sickly, fighting an upsurge of bile, unable to stop her mind from replaying the horrific events of three nights ago...
The summery night was too warm, and Merri, more accustomed to the cooler English climate, had trouble dropping off to sleep. Thinking she might cool off by taking a quick dip in the bathing pool located in the bathroom complex, she rose from her thin pallet, suppressing a groan at the twinges of sore muscles and bruised skin. She had not yet grown used to sleeping on a hard floor with only a thin mattress between her body and bare planks.
She hesitated at Susan's pallet, then moved on; she couldn't bear to awaken her. Even in sleep, her cousin looked worn and was obviously in need of her rest. It would be selfish to rouse Susan just so she might keep her company. Sean
a, however, loved the water. She would probably enjoy a late-night swim especially as she did not like to undress before so many others, and the rooms were always crowded during the day.
Merri quietly tiptoed over to Seana's bed and straightened in surprise. Seana's pallet was empty. “That is strange,” she thought for Seana insisted either Susan or Merridyth be with her at all times; even a trip to the necessary was undertaken with an escort.
Merri had never had a premonition, and she wouldn't have recognized the feelings of dread inundating her and turning her blood to ice as being her first. Panic overwhelmed her. Her heart skittered to a stop, and when it resumed, it had left the hollow chamber of her chest to pound frantically in the cave of her belly. Something was terribly wrong.
Merridyth rushed back to Susan's side, crying, “Sue, get up."
She yanked the covers off her startled cousin. “Seana is missing. Help me find her.” Merri grabbed the sleep-slowed Susan by the hand and pulled her up and around to face her. “I'm frightened, Susan ... and I don't think we have much time. Hurry."
Susan shook off the last remnants of sleep, her eyes growing wide in dread. “What do you want me to do?"
"Go to Laihla. Maybe Seana is only trying to escape. Laihla might have some idea of where a person could squeeze through the guards. Hurry.” she urged again, unable to control the rising tide of unease within her.
As Susan rushed off to awaken Laihla, Merri began a frantic search of the adjoining rooms moving in ever-widening circles. She was breathing hard, almost winded by running through a dozen rooms when she came to the hall that opened onto the bathing rooms. Hearing a sudden uproar behind her, Merri assumed Susan had gained Laihla's help and was searching in the other direction. She stepped through the ornate doorway of the main baths and froze.
Feathers in the Wind: The Cygnets Page 14