“Then agree to whatever they ask you, Meg. God knows what is in your heart, and who is to know if you pray to our Lord Jesus in secret?”
A young eunuch came up to them, and said in soft French, “My ladies, I have been ordered to escort you to the baths. Please to follow me.”
“We are to go to the baths,” said Aidan to Meg, and taking the girl’s hand she followed the eunuch from the little room where they had been kept.
The baths in the dey’s harem were spacious, and cool. The walls were pale gold marble, and the floors were blocks of green and gold marble. The room was crowded with women of all sizes, shapes, and colors, all nude, and all being bathed or otherwise cared for by an army of slavewomen. Their arrival was greeted with curiosity for there was not a great deal to do in the dey’s harem. A lovely older woman with dark hair, just beginning to silver, came up to them, and Aidan bowed saying to Meg, “This is the lady Zada, the dey’s first wife. My lady, this is the maiden who was with me on my voyage. Alas, she does not understand any language but our own, but I will attempt to teach her in my time here.”
The dey’s eldest wife smiled at Meg. “She is lovely. Tell her we welcome her to our house. Now you will wish to bathe the filth of your long journey from your bodies so I will not keep you. The slaves have been ordered to give you the best of care, especially to you, my lady, for you are going to our master, the sultan.” The lady Zada touched Meg’s cheek gently, and then passed on her way out of the baths.
“The dey’s wife welcomes you,” said Aidan.
“That was his wife?”
“His first wife. His second wife is that young woman with the long dark hair over there.” Aidan pointed discreetly. “The one with the little girl. The child is their daughter.”
Meg said nothing more, but Aidan could tell that she was considering her position. None of the women surrounding them looked unhappy or abused. There were several small children with their mothers in the bath, and there seemed to be no distinction between wives and concubines or their children.
They were bathed carefully, and a pink paste smelling of roses was smeared over their body hair. When it was washed off some time later they found themselves totally smooth-skinned. Aidan didn’t bother translating the rather ribald remarks she overheard in the baths. The dey, it seemed, enjoyed his ladies, and was considered quite potent a man. It had been some time since he had acquired a female for himself, and the women of his household speculated on the chances of Meg’s finding favor with him. If she did her life would be a joy, but if she did not one of two things could happen. She would be left alone and ignored for the rest of her days, or she would be quickly resold. That much, Aidan thought, she would warn poor Meg about. The girl was timid by nature, and would therefore want to stay where she was rather than face another unknown future.
When they were once again in their little room Aidan explained this to Meg. The young Kentish girl looked distressed.
“But how shall I go about pleasing the dey so that he will not sell me again? I know nothing of men.”
“Surely you’ve seen the animals mate on your father’s farm,” said Aidan.
“Is it like
that
?” Meg seemed shocked.
“Well not quite,” Aidan admitted. Lord, she had to help this poor girl to understand. After all, hadn’t Skye helped her? She drew a deep breath, and explained the procedure of passion between men and women as far as she knew it. “There may be some pain the first time,” she warned Meg, “but it’s not severe, and it goes away quickly. I can only tell you from my own experiences for a year ago I was as innocent as you are now. You should like it. I do.”
“Why?” said Meg disconcertingly.
“Why?” Aidan laughed. “Because it makes you feel so wonderful, so incredibly marvelous; so like nothing you have ever felt before, and don’t ask me to explain that for I can’t. No woman can. There are no words to really describe what it is like between a man and a woman, Meg. It simply is.”
Late in the afternoon they were served a meal, their first since they had entered the dey’s palace. There was a small chicken for them to share, and saffroned rice with bits of fruit in it, and the ever-present flat bread, and a bowl of both green and ripe olives in oil, and a bowl of figs. They were given water flavored with some sort of fruit that reminded Aidan of oranges, but wasn’t. When they had eaten, and bathed their faces and hands, the young eunuch assigned to them told them that they should rest.
“It is rumored that our lord will call the blond virgin to him tonight, but I have not yet been informed officially,” he said.
“Are we to be given any clothing?” Aidan demanded boldly.
“When the blond virgin finds favor with our master she will be rewarded suitably. As for you, copper-haired woman, a wardrobe is even now being prepared for you to take to Istanbul with you. For now, however, you can remain as nature intended you.”
Aidan passed all of this on to Meg who said with surprising insight, “It is obvious that everything depends upon the will of the master here, my lady. I can see I am really going to have to please him. When do you think he will ask for me?”
“Perhaps tonight,” said Aidan, “and since we are both in the same position, Meg, I think it is now time that you called me by my given name, which is Aidan.”
“Tonight!” said Meg. “It is so soon!”
“If you are still afraid then it is better to get it over with sooner than later,” Aidan remarked wisely.
They came for Meg as the moon rose over the city of Algiers. She was garbed in pale pink pantaloons that were edged with silver at the ankles, and at the waist which actually fit low over her hipbones. A tiny bolero edged in silver and crystal beads was her only other garment, and it was extremely skimpy being sleeveless, and ending just below her breasts. The eunuch brushed her pretty silvery-blond hair, and darkened her eyes with kohl to make them stand out even more. Then he fastened a sheer piece of veiling across her face which fell from the bridge of her nose to just below her chin. Her feet were left bare, and they made a lovely little sound as they followed the eunuch off down the corridor.
Well, thought Aidan, there is nothing more I can do for her. Hopefully her innocence will please the old man, and he will be kind to her. It was her own situation she was going to have to worry about now. Having been considered just barely pretty her entire life she had never really taken to heart Rashid al Mansur’s ravings about her value. She had expected to be purchased by some rich man who would welcome the opportunity of growing richer with her ransom. A ransom that would have brought him much in exchange for the tall, rather plain girl that she considered herself. She was more than startled to find herself considered a rare beauty by these people, and more than distressed to learn that she was to be sent even further east than she already was. Did she dare to offer the dey a ransom for her person, but on reflection she knew she couldn’t. It wasn’t money the dey wanted, it was favor with his own overlord, the sultan. What was she going to do?
“Lady.”
She started for she had not even heard the young eunuch come into the room. “What is it?” she asked, looking up at him.
He handed her a garment. “Please to put it on, lady. You have a guest. The great astrologer, Osman, has come to plot your stars so the dey may be certain that your future is with the Shadow of Allah upon this earth.”
Here was a possibility, thought Aidan. With luck this astrologer would find her incompatible. She arose, and slid the shapeless garment over her. It was really quite lovely, of a pale green silk embroidered in darker green and gold threads about the neck, and on a wide band that encircled the sleeves. She smiled wryly at herself in the mirror that the eunuch held up for her so she might see herself.
The eunuch smiled himself. “Properly garbed,” he said, “you are even more beautiful, lady.”
Aidan chuckled. “I don’t think anyone has ever called me beautiful in my whole life,” she said.
“Are the men of your land blind then, lady? I cannot understand that. You have a delicacy of features that is rare, and in your face is strength, another rarity. You will be a great woman one day.”
He left her for a moment, and she awaited his return with the astrologer he called Osman. She didn’t know what it was that she had expected, but the man who came through the door was not it. He was a man of medium height and build with a totally bald pate and a round moon face. She had expected a large and blustering charlatan, not this kindly looking man with warm golden-brown eyes.
“Good evening, my lady,” he said in a quiet, yet surprisingly commanding voice. “I am Osman the astrologer. Here in the city of Algiers I have some small fame, and the dey has asked me to consider your nativity in the stars with relation to our gracious lord, Sultan Murad, the third of that name.”
“Is it proper to ask you to be seated, Master Osman?” said Aidan.
“It is, and if you will instruct this young eunuch, he will bring us coffee, and perhaps even some sweets.”
Aidan looked at the eunuch. “Let it be as he says,” she ordered, and then as the eunuch left the room she said, “How is it that you speak French, Master Osman?”
“Many here in Algiers do, my lady, but in my case, my wife is French. She was a captive many years ago. She was given to me on the occasion of the marriage of two of my dear friends. They wished to celebrate their happiness with their guests.” Then Osman arose, and going quickly to the door, opened it, and looked outside. Seeing nothing he closed it again. “There is no time for me to be subtle, my lady. Tell me quickly before the eunuch returns. Why did you shout the name of O’Malley this morning on your way to the jenina?”
“My husband was born Conn O’Malley,” said Aidan, and her heart began to pound. Why was he asking her this thing?
“Does your husband have a sister named Skye?”
“Yes!” breathed Aidan. “Oh, Osman, how is it you know this? Have you consulted the stars in my behalf already?”
“Skye O’Malley is an old and dear friend of mine. Now tell me swiftly how it is you came to be here.”
The words tumbling frantically over one another Aidan told Osman her tale, and when she had finished the astrologer groaned. “What a coil! What a coil!”
“Please, Master Osman, can you help me? I will pay the dey any ransom he so desires!”
Osman shook his head. “There is rarely ransom for women from Barbary, and in your case the dey plans to send you to his master in Istanbul. There is no amount of ransom that could assuage his disappointment should he be denied his desire.”
“Can you not tell the dey that my stars are not compatible with those of the sultan?” Aidan begged.
Osman smiled a small smile at her hopeful tone. “No, my child, I cannot, for I am an honorable man, and the dey trusts me. You must go to Istanbul as I suspect it is your fate, but I will promise you that I will inform Skye of where you are. She is not without power, and I believe that your queen is even now seeking to establish formal relations with the Sublime Porte as the Sultan’s government is known. If anyone can work the miracle that you need it is Skye O’Malley. Now, tell me your name, my child.”
“I am Aidan St. Michael, Lady Bliss. My husband, Conn, took my name upon our marriage for my father had no sons.”
Osman nodded. “I understand,” he said. “Now, Aidan, we must do what I promised the dey I would do, and that is chart your stars. Tell me your birthdate, my child.”
“I was born on the nineteenth of August in the year of Our Lord fifteen hundred and fifty-four.”
“Do you know what time you were born, my child? By that I mean the hour.”
“Yes, Master Osman, I do. I was born at dawn, just a few minutes before five o’clock in the morning, at
Pearroc Royal,
which is just a few miles west of Worcester. My mother always told me that she remembered pushing me forth from her body, and seeing the sun crawl above the horizon at the same moment. She said that she was watching the sky for it helped to take her mind from the pain of childbirth.”
“Excellent!” said Osman. “Knowing the moment of your birth helps me to make a more exact chart of your stars for you. I can be far more accurate this way, and there is less chance for error. By chance do you know when your husband was born?”
“Why do you want Conn’s birthdate, Master Osman?”
“For comparison, my child,” he answered her without hesitation, but in truth Osman sought to learn if Aidan and Conn were meant to be reunited, and hopefully a comparison of their natal charts would tell him this.
“My husband is a year younger than I am,” said Aidan. “He was born on Innisfana Island, just after ten o’clock in the evening on the twenty-third of June, fifteen hundred and fifty-five.”
At that moment the eunuch chose to return with tiny cups of boiling hot coffee in thin eggshell cups, and a plate that held tiny gazelle pastries which were confections of ground nuts, sesame seeds, and honey. Osman showed Aidan how to drink the coffee, adding small chips of ice to it to cool it should she not like it hot, and adding sugar to it to sweeten its sharp, bitter taste. Aidan had never tasted coffee, and she wasn’t certain that she liked it. Osman, however, gulped his little cup down after lacing it liberally with sugar. When he had finished he arose, and said with grave courtesy, “Now that I have the proper information I can prepare your natal chart, my lady Aidan. Should it be favorable then you will indeed be the most fortunate of women.” His words were for the benefit of the attending eunuch. His golden-brown eyes said another thing. It was almost as if she could hear his calm voice reassuring her; easing her fears.
“Thank you, Master Osman,” she said softly.
“I will not fail you,” he said, and then he was gone through the door of the small chamber.
“Do you know how fortunate you are?” said the eunuch excitedly. “He is the most famous astrologer in all the East. Kings come from beyond the great southern desert to gain his wisdom! The dey will not make a serious decision without the advice of Osman, yet for all his influence he is a modest and well-liked man. When the sultan learns that you come to him with not only fine clothes and jewels, but a natal chart prepared by Osman himself, your value will increase even more!”