“He could add other women, such as concubines, to this harem,” Shahdi explained. “He wouldn’t have to give them the status of wife as he has given the three of us, but he may have other women. You must learn how to keep him happy, Azura, for all of us.”
Agata snorted at this, and spoke in their native Florentine dialect. “They would put a great deal of responsibility upon you,” she grumbled. “I do not know if I would trust these two. What is it they wish to teach you? Will it be proper behavior, or will it shock the prince, causing you a loss of his favor?”
“I think I can trust Nadim to guide me,” Azura replied. “I believe these two mean well. They have no illusions about Amir’s love for them or his love for me.”
“What is it your woman says?” Maysun asked.
“This new language is difficult for her,” Azura explained. “She wanted to know exactly what it was you were saying to me. She has been with me for many years, and did not have to follow me here, for my younger sister would have taken her into her service in Venice. But she came, and like a mother is protective of me.”
“Ahh,” Maysun said, smiling and reaching out to pat Agata’s arm reassuringly. “You need not worry, faithful one,” she said. “We mean your lady no harm.”
Agata nodded enthusiastically, smiling back. “I understand now, lady,” she told the first wife in halting Turkish. “Thank you! Thank you!”
It was a very credible performance, Azura thought. As far as Maysun and Shahdi were concerned, Agata was a devoted retainer, even if she was not too clever.
“In a few days’ time when you have settled yourself,” Maysun said, “we will begin to teach you the many ways in which a woman can pleasure and please a man.”
“I will be happy to have my ignorance corrected and hope to be a good student of your wisdom,” Azura assured the first wife.
Over the next few days Maysun became more reassured by the respectful attitude exhibited by the new third wife. Bianca was a kind woman at heart. Shahdi, however, remained wary and suspicious. She had secretly hoped one day to win Amir’s heart, and especially now that he seemed to be home for good. Azura’s arrival had given her pause for thought. Shahdi wondered if she could win Amir away from the lovely Azura, or if he might come to share his heart with her as well. She must rethink her strategy.
Both women might privately resent the fact that their shared husband called Azura to his bed each night, but her manner was so sweet, and the truth was that Amir was the master of the house. They had no choice in the matter at all. But Azura was sensitive to the two other women who had struggled against their own jealousies and fears to welcome her. She could see that Shahdi in particular was having a difficult time despite the gentle Maysun’s efforts to keep her calm.
“You cannot keep calling only me to your bed, my love,” she chided him several nights later as they lay together recovering from an enthusiastic bout of passion.
“Yes, I can,” he said. “I respect their position in my life, but you are the woman I love and adore, beloved.”
“You are behaving like a child with a new toy,” she replied, scolding him further. “All women need tenderness. They have made your home a pleasant place to live. And before I came into your life they gave you their bodies to slake your lusts. You cannot simply ignore them now. If not for their sakes, then for mine, take them to your bed as well, my dearest husband. If you do not, they will one day resent you. They have no children upon which to lavish their love and attentions, Amir. They never will. Be kind to Maysun and Shahdi, for they have been good wives to you.”
“I have spent more time in your world than my own these last few years,” he said. “My own mother was English, and my father’s favorite. I have come to see that there is as much wisdom in having one wife as in having three,” Amir admitted. “Yet you, beloved, raised in your strict society, have a more open heart than I do. When your moon link breaks I will entertain the other two. I promise.” He caressed her face with a gentle hand. “Will you give me a child, beloved?” the prince asked her.
“If God wills it I will most gladly,” Azura answered him.
“A daughter,” he told her. “Do not give me a son.”
“All men want sons,” she said, surprised.
“Not I,” he told her. “I would have a daughter as beautiful as her mother.”
Azura could not help but repeat his odd request to Maysun and Shahdi. “Why would he not want a son?” she asked them.
“Ahh,” Maysun replied, “if he were anyone but the sultan’s grandson he would want a son, but the blood running through his veins is ambitious and warlike. The Ottoman rulers always fight for their throne. Our own sultan has two sons who quarrel over which of them will inherit. Our husband’s father, Prince Jem, is a skilled warrior who leads his own men into battle. His half brother, Bayezit, however, is wiser. He delegates only the best generals to lead his troops.
“Prince Bayezit already has several sons, of whom one, Selim, is also among his grandfather’s favorites, as is our husband. Our prince believes his uncle Bayezit will inherit Sultan Mehmet’s throne. When that happens, he could follow a family tradition and slay all other male claimants to the throne but his own offspring; sometimes even a troublesome son is strangled. This is why Amir ibn Jem wants no sons. A princess of the royal house has value to the sultan. Another prince is but a rival for the throne.”
“Then Amir could be killed when the old sultan dies,” Azura said fearfully.
“Our husband is safer than most princes,” Maysun replied. “He has never shown any ambitions. His uncle is also fond of his brother. Our lord husband is cleverer than most. If he thought he was in danger, he would flee.”
“Then I shall pray for a daughter,” Azura said.
“What kind of a world is this we are now in?” Agata grumbled in her own tongue.
“It is no better or worse than the worlds we have known in Florence and Venice, where poisoning and assassinations are almost an art,” Azura answered her.
“But to murder your male relations when you gain a throne is barbaric,” the servingwoman responded.
“I think it is probably very efficient,” Azura said slowly, thinking about it. “You don’t want to waste all your time and resources quarreling and fighting with your relations over your throne. A ruler wants to rule, and for his people’s sake he must. Removing the troublemakers is probably best, although I would at least give them a chance before I did.” She chuckled. “We must both pray if God gives me a child that it be a little princess, and not a troublesome prince.”
