“It is to be considered,” Besma responded. “And we might recoup some of my gold too. But then I might need him again one day, so perhaps I will let him live.”
Hadji Bey did not yet know of Besma’s intentions towards Prince Amir, for she had shared her thoughts only with her minion. The Agha had taken it upon himself to make a rare and secret visit outside of the palace, leaving quietly in the dark of night when even the most curious eyes and ears slept. He traveled in the company of only one man, Captain Mahmud, whom he knew the prince had come to trust. They traveled quickly.
Their arrival at the Moonlight Serai was greeted with great surprise by Diya al Din, who practically fell over his own silk slippers when a slave came to tell him of the Agha Kislar’s presence in the house. “My lord Agha!” he greeted his guest, and he bowed respectfully to the great man.
“I have come to speak privily with your master,” Hadji Bey said.
Diya al Din hesitated a moment. He didn’t know whether he should run and fetch the prince immediately or settle his two guests in the salon first. Finally he decided on the latter. “Come,” he told them, leading them into the charming light-filled chamber with its view of the gardens beyond the windows. “Let me make you comfortable before I go to fetch my lord Amir.” He signaled slaves to come with fruit sherbets and sweet cakes and a bowl of pistachio nuts even as he settled them. The Agha Kislar looked weary to Diya al Din’s sharp eye. How quickly had they traveled?
Satisfied that the guests were comfortable, Diya al Din ran for his master. He found him in his own small privy chamber planning the next year’s voyages of his three ships.
“My lord, my lord! The sultan’s great Agha Kislar has just arrived to speak with you!” the eunuch burst out, unable to keep the excitement from his own voice.
Amir jumped up. “Hadji Bey himself? Allah! What has happened? Where have you put him? Quickly! Quickly! Take me to him!” He swiftly followed Diya al Din to the salon where his guests waited. Seeing Captain Mahmud with the Agha, the prince’s eyes grew wary. “What has happened?” he asked them. “No, my lord Agha, do not get up. Stay seated and be comfortable.” He joined them. “Tell me my uncle is well.”
“The sultan is healthy and well,” the Agha responded, impressed that the prince’s first concern had been for Bayezit. “I apologize for startling you, but I could not send a message ahead of my coming, for this trip has been made in the utmost secrecy from all but my master. You and your family are in grave danger, my lord prince. It is the sultan’s wish that you be relocated in secret from your home here to El Dinut, where its dey has agreed to welcome and shelter you.”
“Why are we in danger, and why is that danger so great that we must leave in a clandestine manner?” Amir wanted to know.
“There are those who have the sultan’s ear who do not trust in your goodwill, my lord. They would have your uncle dispose of you and your family in a more traditional manner,” Hadji Bey said quietly.
A small wry smile touch Amir’s lips. “Kill me, in other words,” he said.
The Agha Kislar nodded in the affirmative.
“But I have done nothing to cause anyone to be suspicious of me,” Amir pointed out. “I have served my uncle with honor, and all I wish is to live peaceably.”
“Your uncle knows that, my lord. The suspicions are not his, but others continue to carp on your near presence. You know that the sultan prefers settling these family matters in a pacific manner. The dey of El Dinut is an old friend of your grandfather’s. He is ready to welcome you and your family to his small kingdom. Captain Mahmud and a troop of his Janissaries will be stationed in El Dinut at the invitation of the dey. It is on the sea, and you will simply be another merchant to the citizens of El Dinut. To forgo any curiosity, you will not use your title. You will be known simply as Amir ibn Mehmet, a wealthy merchant who has settled himself in El Dinut.”
“This is not a request, Hadji Bey, is it?” the prince said.
“No, my lord, it is not,” the Agha Kislar replied with a sigh. Then he added, “There are many advantages to making this great change in your life. You are able to take your whole family with you, and all of your possessions, your slaves, your animals. But most important of all, you will be as far away as you were when you lived in Florence.”
“In other words, once I am out of sight you will be able to divert those who are fearful and irritated by my near presence from causing my uncle any embarrassment by creating an unseemly carnage. Such an unfortunate event could be made public, thereby tarnishing his reputation as a just ruler,” Amir said shrewdly.
The Agha nodded. “Indeed, my lord, indeed,” he said with a faint smile. “But, of course, your exodus must be quick and discreet. Your whereabouts must be kept secret from all but a few. Are your own ships available to transport you?”
“It can be arranged,” Amir said. “I am only just now setting the voyage schedule for the year ahead. It is a long and difficult journey you are asking me to make with three women, and a child barely out of infancy.”
“Would you rather see your women murdered, or carried off into slavery? And what of your daughter? She is an Ottoman princess even if she never knows it,” Hadji Bey said. “Does she not deserve to be raised by her mother in a safe place?”
Amir felt a flash of anger, but he restrained himself from any outburst. It was not the fault of the Agha Kislar that they must leave the Moonlight Serai. Hadji Bey had not said it, but Amir knew without being told it was his uncle’skadinBesma who was responsible for all of this trouble. It was the Agha’s duty to make certain the sultan’s household ran smoothly, and that hiskadinsbrought Bayezit pleasure. Besma’s ambition for her only son was well known.
Amir had never before cared one way or another for power other than the power over his own life. Today, however, he wished he had the authority to make Besma disappear. The woman was a thorn in everyone’s slipper. Her madness and her ambition were beyond impossible. That she had the ability to wreak such havoc with his own life and the lives of his small family infuriated the prince. However, as he was not a man for murder himself, he knew he must accept his uncle’s will in this matter as the best solution.
He held no animosity for his cousin Ahmed. Ahmed would never rule, no matter what his mother thought. She had ruined him in her efforts to bind him to her by indulging his vices instead of teaching him to control them. Ahmed preferred forbidden wines and sating his lustful nature to the possibility that he would one day rule his father’s and his grandfather’s expanding empire. He had no interest in governance, as the province he was charged with ruling showed by its disorder.
And yet his ambitious mother could not see it. What Besma saw was Ahmed as the next sultan, and herself ruling through him. And to foster her ambition, Amir and his family must now flee to the tiny fiefdom of El Dinut. He must uproot himself and leave the home he loved to protect them all. Amir ibn Jem was not happy, but he also knew that he really had no choice.
“How much time do we have?” he asked the Agha.
“I would send your women away as quickly as possible,” Hadji Bey said. “While we were traveling to reach you, Captain Mahmud told me of a rumor that reached his ear just before we departed Istanbul.” He looked to the Janissary.
“The corps has spies everywhere, as you know, my lord,” Captain Mahmud began. “Recently one of them, knowing my friendship with you, came to tell me that a man in the city who is known as a broker of all things—his name is Sami—has sent out a call for a troop of Tartars.KadinBesma’s personal eunuch, Taweel, was seen coming from Sami’s place of business just before that request was circulated. I feel those Tartars are meant to attack the Moonlight Serai. You have no defenses for this palace, my lord. You are vulnerable to such an attack.”
Amir could no longer control his irritation. “You are the most powerful man in the palace, Hadji Bey,” he said angrily. “Can you do nothing to stop this damned woman? My wife is only just now recovered from childbirth after almost eight months, and Atiya is not even a year old. Now I must expose them to the rigors of a long journey! Certainly my uncle knows how duplicitous thiskadinis.”
“Shepleaseshim in his bed in a way no other woman does,” Hadji Bey said candidly. “He believes he needs her, and depends upon me to control her. Short of cutting out her tongue or slitting her throat...” The Agha shrugged. “Your uncle’s responsibilities are great, my lord prince. He must have what pleases him, and it is my duty to see that he does.” Then he reminded Amir, “And it is your duty to obey the sultan’s commands.”
