by Anne Herries
Eleanor laughed. He would always be the master of her heart,
no matter what concessions he made to her—but he loved her
and that was al she wanted of life.
‘You look wel, sister.’ Richard seemed uncomfortable. He
had been brought to the lord Suleiman’s apartments wondering
what to expect and was confused by what he found. Eleanor
was richly dressed in cloth of gold and wearing jewels fit for a
queen. ‘Are you better? They told me you were il for a while.’
‘It was nothing much,’ Eleanor replied carelessly. ‘I had a
fever, but I have recovered. Are you content, Richard? They are
treating you wel at the school?’
treating you wel at the school?’
‘The discipline is harsh,’ her brother replied. ‘Most of the
students are beaten for disobedience every now and then—but it
is no more than a tutor would do at home. I enjoy it when they
give us training in the courtyard. I saw you at the tournament.’
‘I did not notice you. I am sorry.’
‘You were watching the lord Suleiman.’ Richard frowned at
her. ‘They say he is to take you as his wife in three days…’
‘Yes, that is so…’ She hesitated. ‘Suleiman has told me that
you wil be given passage to Cyprus after our wedding. He has
been arranging it.’
‘So I am to be free…’ Richard’s eyes narrowed. ‘What price
have you paid for my freedom, sister? Are you his harlot? Yes, I
see it is so—and it wil never be any different. This marriage
ceremony has no meaning. You are not of his faith. You wil stil
be a whore in the eyes of the true church.’
‘Richard…’ Eleanor’s face had gone white. Richard’s scorn
hurt her, al the more because she had always loved him dearly.
‘You are unfair.’
‘He has bewitched you…turned your head with fine gifts,’
Richard said sourly. ‘You have sold yourself to him, Eleanor.
You are his property now—his thing to do with as he wil.’
‘You do not know of what you speak,’ she replied, her lovely
eyes mirroring her hurt. ‘Suleiman loves me, and I love him. I
want to be his wife.’
Richard stared at her, his manner hostile and disbelieving.
‘Then you are a fool,’ he said. ‘He may promise many things
now, but wait a while and he wil put you aside as any man puts
now, but wait a while and he wil put you aside as any man puts
aside his whore when he tires of her.’
‘Why do you want to hurt me?’ Eleanor cried, tears slipping
down her cheeks. ‘Why do you say such terrible things to me?
Do you hate me?’
Richard’s face twisted with anger. ‘I hate them, Eleanor. I
hate the men who kiled our father, and those who sold us—and
I hate him. I hate and despise the man who wil be your
husband.’
‘He has not harmed you.’
Richard gave a harsh laugh. ‘He bought me as another man
might buy a dog. I have been beaten and humiliated in his house,
treated like dirt. Do you expect me to love him?’
‘No…’ Eleanor’s heart contracted with pain. ‘No, I do not
expect you to love him—but you could try to understand his
ways, as he does ours.’
Richard scowled. ‘It is easy for him to understand. He made
me his slave, now he wil release me to please his whore. Should
I grovel at his feet to thank him?’
‘No—but you might respect what he has done. This is his
country, Richard, and he lives by his customs. They may seem
harsh to us sometimes, but he seeks always to be just.’
‘I shal never respect him or his way of life. Nor you if you
stay here wilingly, Eleanor.’
‘Then you must forget me,’ she said sadly. ‘Please leave,
Richard. We have nothing more to say to each other.’
His eyes gleamed, then he turned and left without another
His eyes gleamed, then he turned and left without another
word. Eleanor blinked away her tears as Suleiman came to her
and opened his arms to receive her. He had been standing
behind the screen, where he had retired to give her privacy with
her brother.
‘You heard?’ She looked at him anxiously as he drew her
close to comfort her. ‘He is so bitter, my lord. He knows not
what he says.’
‘Richard hates me and my world,’ Suleiman replied. ‘He is
not alone in this—many of his faith and ours have been sworn
enemies for too long. I have often wished that we might begin to
build a bridge towards a new understanding and peace, but I
fear it may be too great a divide. Men like your brother wil
never try to understand us.’
‘Yes, I know you are right’ she said and sighed. ‘It makes me
sad for him, Suleiman.’
‘I had hoped that he might have returned to visit you one day.
I could have arranged for him to travel freely in our land and on
the seas. It is not as difficult as you might imagine. I had thought it might be the start of understanding…’
‘Perhaps he wil relent one day,’ Eleanor said. ‘He is stil raw
from the grief of his father’s death.’
‘You have suffered as much as he in this.’
‘Perhaps more. I was closer to my father. It may be that he
resents that he was never given a chance to know Father better.’
Suleiman nodded agreement. ‘Yes, perhaps. The relationship
between father and son can be difficult. I have been blessed, but
it was not thus for Hasan. Had my father shown him more
it was not thus for Hasan. Had my father shown him more
favour, it might have prevented his treachery—and punishment.’
‘That hurt you, my lord.’ She moved towards him, reaching
out to touch his cheek with the tips of her fingers. ‘I saw it in
your face when you told me what had happened…’
Suleiman puled her close, his lips against her hair. ‘We have
both felt the sting of a brother’s scorn, my love—but we have
each other.’
‘Yes, my lord. We are blessed indeed.’
As he drew her to him, Eleanor closed her eyes, shutting out
the grief Richard’s rejection had caused her. It would ease in
time as did al such pain.
Eleanor sat with the other ladies. For this special occasion al
the women had been alowed to mingle in the Caliph’s own hal.
Some of them were heavily veiled, but most wore a simple
headdress with only gossamer of gauze to cover their faces if
they so chose.
Several eunuchs were present, also the lord Suleiman, his
younger brother Bayezid, who had been persuaded to leave the
seclusion of his studies for the evening, and the Caliph himself.
It was the eve of Eleanor’s wedding, and in what she believed
was a departure from custom, she had been formaly presented
to her lord’s father and brother. She herself wore only a pretty
scarf over her hair, for the men present were family, and
Suleiman had told her it was permissible to show her face to
them if she chose.
them if she chose.
‘You show favour to those who are to be your family by not
wearing the veil,’ Suleiman had told her. ‘And I am happy for
you to do so at a private gathering.’
The Caliph had smiled on her, nodding and welcoming her to
his family. ‘My son has chosen wel,’ he told her. ‘And though
you are yet strange to our ways, I hear good things of you.’
In the strictest adherence to custom, Suleiman would
probably not have met his bride or seen her face until the
wedding ceremony was over, for often men of his standing
married women who had been chosen for their own nobility.
However, the Caliph himself had taken a concubine to wife and
saw no reason to quarrel with his son’s decision.
Caliph Bakhar had long been aware of Suleiman’s
restlessness, but could not bring himself to give him permission to
leave. Perhaps now his son would find content at home.
That evening, Suleiman entertained the court with his singing,
while one of the eunuchs accompanied him on a lute. Eleanor
listened entranced, for the husky, sensual notes of her lord’s
song were deeply moving.
He sang of unrequited love and a young man dying of a
broken heart because the woman he desired had been given to
another man.
Eleanor’s eyelashes were wet with tears as the last notes died
away. She met his sultry gaze and knew that though he had sung
at his father’s request, his song had been for her. He was teling
her that his heart would break if they were ever parted.
Since the unpleasant, hurtful meeting with Richard, Eleanor’s
Since the unpleasant, hurtful meeting with Richard, Eleanor’s
mood had veered between happiness and near despair. She
loved Suleiman, but her brother’s cruel words had hurt her.
Would she truly be her lord’s wife? They were to marry
according to his religion, but in her heart she stil believed in her own faith. Did that make her the whore her brother had named
her?
After Suleiman’s song, there was a display of dancing by
beautiful girls who wore the scantiest of clothing, which revealed
their charms. Then a little later, a eunuch juggled with bals and
also ate fire. It was late in the evening when the ladies were
escorted back to the harem.
Eleanor said goodnight to Suleiman, but they did not kiss or
touch, because it would not be seemly before the court. She was
to spend the night with her friends in accordance with custom,
and would be heavily veiled when she went to her lord as a bride
the next day.
She slept but little that night, wishing that she lay beside her
lord so that he could hold her close and banish the doubts that
plagued her throughout the dark hours.
Oh, she was foolish to doubt him! Eleanor had proof enough
of his love, and he had been more than generous. She knew that
she had only to ask for some boon and it would be granted.
She fel asleep just before dawn, but her dreams were unkind
and she thought herself at sea again, witnessing the way her
beloved father had been struck down.
Eleanor could not blame her brother for his bitterness. She
Eleanor could not blame her brother for his bitterness. She
too felt anger when she remembered the way they had been
captured. Yet in her heart she knew that her destiny lay with the
man she was to marry. And at last she was at peace.
The ceremony of the bath, and the sweet oils that were so
gently massaged into her skin, were very soothing. Eleanor’s hair
was braided like a coronet around her head, and the rest left to
fal in shining waves to the smal of her back. Then a heavy silk
veil was placed over her head; she was just able to see through
it, but it would not be possible for others to see her face.
Her robes were of white silk heavily embroidered with gold
thread and encrusted with jewels, and she had been told that
Suleiman would wear much the same.
Eleanor was trembling inside as her ladies dressed her,
fluttering about her like tiny humming birds. Their laughter and
happiness for her was easing the knot of anxiety inside her. She
laughed and blushed as they teased her, making her promise to
have many children so that they could al enjoy looking after
them.
Her fear and doubt had dissolved as though it had never
been. This was a very different life to the one she had been born
to, yet it was a good one. As long as Suleiman loved her she
knew that she could be happy here.
The time for the ceremony had arrived, and Karin came to
conduct the ladies to the Caliph’s hal, where the marriage was
to take place. Six eunuchs preceded them, al richly robed, and
to take place. Six eunuchs preceded them, al richly robed, and
another six folowed behind. The traditional music of the
marriage dance sounded strange and slightly discordant to her
ears, but also stirring.
Eleanor was showered with rose petals every step of the
way, her ladies leading her as though she could not see—which
was indeed difficult through the heavy veil. She held out her hand
to Karin as they halted outside the hal, while her coming was
heralded inside.
‘You know your responses,’ Karin whispered and smiled at
her encouragingly. ‘No one expects more of you.’
Eleanor’s heart beat very fast as she saw how handsome
Suleiman looked in his ceremonial robes. He usualy preferred a
simple mode of dress that any man might wear, but today he was
clothed richly as befitted the Caliph’s son on his wedding day.
The religious chanting had begun. Eleanor moved as if in a
dream, folowing the words and ritual in her head. She had
memorised them and was aware of al that was going around her,
even though it had an unreal quality. She could scarcely breathe
as she was led slowly towards her lord. The time had come for
her responses; she made them flawlessly, bowing her head as a
ceremonial garland of flowers was placed about her neck. She
gave him a garland in return, and then she placed her hand in his
as the words that would make them man and wife were intoned.
It was as he was about to raise her veil that the interruption
came.
‘Stop! In the name of the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, I
forbid this marriage. It is not legal, for the bride is a Christian and forbid this marriage. It is not legal, for the bride is a Christian and was brought here against her wil.’
Eleanor was as startled as everyone else present. Surely she
had misheard? How could this be? Who would dare to intrude
on them at this time?
She peered through the thick veil, trying to discover what was
happening and then, as she saw the men coming towards them, a
gasp escaped her. The man who had commanded the ceremony
to cease was Count Giovani Salvadore. But that was not
possible! How could he be here? And how had he gained access
to the palace?
‘How dare you intrude?’ Suleiman started forward angrily but
even as he did so, several guards moved to surround him.
Eleanor saw that they were wearing
different colours to the
Caliph’s own men. ‘Who gave you permission to enter here?’
‘We are the Sultan’s personal guard,’ one of the Janissaries
replied harshly. ‘It is at our master’s command that we prevent
this marriage. Suleiman Bakhar, you are under arrest for
treachery—and Miss Eleanor Nash is to be taken to the Sultan’s
palace at once.’
‘Suleiman!’ Eleanor looked at him, her face white with shock
beneath the veil. ‘Can they do this?’
‘It is a mistake,’ Suleiman said. ‘I shal speak to the Sultan
myself. Do not be frightened, my dove. We shal be together
again soon.’
The guards had laid hands on him and were hustling him away
from her. Eleanor tried to folow him, but the count took hold of
her arm, preventing her.
her arm, preventing her.
‘There is no need to be afraid,’ he said. ‘I believe we were in
time to halt the ceremony. It took some hours of negotiation or
we should have been here yesterday. I have come to take you
and Richard to Italy, Eleanor.’
‘No! I shal not go with you. I am the lord Suleiman’s wife.’
She drew herself up haughtily. ‘Pray take your hand from my
arm, sir. It is forbidden that another man should touch me.’
‘This ceremony wil not stand,’ he said, frowning at her.
‘Your father did not consent.’
‘My father?’ She stared at him, eyes widening in shock. ‘But
my father is dead…’
‘No, lady.’ The count smiled. ‘He was struck unconscious by
those rogues who attacked your ship, but he was alive when the
Spanish war galey reached him. Instead of continuing to Cyprus,
he was brought back by them to Italy and now awaits you at my
home.’
‘My father is alive?’ Eleanor stared at him. She was
conscious of a feeling of joy that her father was not dead, but
there was also pain. ‘Does Richard know that our father lives?’
‘He is being taken to the Sultan’s palace under separate
escort. We shal see him there. Come, we must go. I do not like
the look of things here.’
Eleanor had been too stunned to realise what was going on
around her. Now she saw that the eunuchs were muttering
angrily amongst themselves at this intrusion—and the Caliph had
disappeared. The women who had gathered to witness the
ceremony were being quickly ushered from the hal. The
atmosphere was tense and uneasy, for an insult had been offered