Alamut (37 page)

“If you’ve thought of that too, then you’re Satan incarnate,” Abu Ali said, laughing.

“Look! One of the fedayeen is awake!” Buzurg Ummid exclaimed.

All three of them held their breath. Through the glass roof they could see the girls surrounding the youth, who was apparently telling them something.

“That’s Suleiman,” Hasan said, instinctively lowering his voice, as though fearing he could be heard from the gardens. “He’s the first mortal who has ever awakened in paradise.”

A deathly silence fell around Fatima when the eunuchs brought Suleiman into the pavilion. Wordlessly, they took him by the feet and shoulders and laid him down on some pillows. Then, just as noiselessly, they left with the empty litter.

The girls barely dared to breathe. They stared at the body, which was draped in a black coverlet. Zainab whispered to Fatima that she should uncover their sleeping guest.

Fatima approached him on tiptoe, bent over him to pull the coverlet off and remained there, motionless. However much she had expected, she hadn’t imagined Suleiman would be this handsome. He had rosy cheeks like a girl’s, and just barely covered by a light down. His cherry-red lips were slightly open, and a row of pearl-white teeth shone through them. His eyelashes were long and thick and cast finely articulated shadows on his cheeks. He lay on his side, with one arm under his body and the other hand lightly clasping the pillows.

“How do you like him, Halima?” Khanum asked in a subdued voice.

“I already don’t care for him.”

“Careful! The two of you are about to devour him with your eyes.”

Sara quietly grinned.

“You would have already, if only you could,” Zainab teased her.

“Look who’s talking!”

Fatima picked up her harp and began plucking its strings. When she saw that Suleiman was still asleep, she grew bolder and began singing half-aloud.

“Go ahead and talk as if you were alone,” Fatima said. “We may have to wait a long time yet before he wakes up.”

Being able to converse in a normal voice put the girls at ease. They started joking, teasing one another and laughing at each other.

Suddenly Suleiman began to stir.

“Look, he’s about to wake up!” Zainab called out.

Halima covered her eyes.

“No, he’s just having a dream,” Sara sighed with relief.

Halima looked again.

“Just don’t you cause me any trouble,” Fatima threatened her.

Then Suleiman rose up on his arms, opened his eyes for a moment and then shut them again. Then he opened them up wide again and stared dully at the girls’ half-frightened, half-curious faces. Then he shook his head, murmured something unintelligible, and lay back down where he had been.

“Do you suppose he thought he was dreaming?” Aisha whispered.

“Go to him, Fatima, caress him,” Zainab advised. “Maybe that will rouse him.”

Fatima noiselessly sat down on the pillows beside him. She hesitated for a few moments, then very gently stroked his cheek.

Suleiman twitched. He turned over and his arm slapped against Fatima’s thigh. It stung as though a flame had touched her. She held her breath and listened in shivering anticipation.

Once more Suleiman sat up. He forced his eyes open and stared at Fatima, who was trembling in front of him. Without a word, like a machine, he put his arms around her and pressed her close. Just as unconsciously and dully, he took possession of her.

Fatima wasn’t sure what had happened to her. Just as absently, she asked him, “Do you love me, Suleiman?”

Suleiman was bent over her. He gazed impassively at her face. He murmured, “Go on. You’re beautiful, but I know this is just a dream. Damn, if even these have to get spoiled.”

Fatima flinched and shook off her rapture. Embarrassed, she looked at her companions.

Suddenly she became aware of her duties. She envisioned the horrible
punishment that the supreme commander had promised if the experiment failed. She pushed Suleiman away from her and spoke reproachfully.

“Aren’t you ashamed, Suleiman? You’re in paradise and yet you swear!”

“Paradise?”

He hurriedly rubbed his eyes. Then he looked around. His eyes widened in amazement.

“What, what is this?” he stammered.

He began to touch himself and the things around him. He picked up a pillow and fearfully touched Fatima.

Then he got up. He stared at the splashing fountain, walked up to the pool, and dipped a hand into it.

“Oh, praise be to heaven!” he whispered. “I really am in paradise.”

The girls watched him timidly and with bated breath. What if he saw through it? They’d lose their heads. But would they be able to deceive him all night?

Fatima was the first to get her bearings.

“You’ve come a long way. Are you thirsty?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m thirsty,” he whispered.

She nodded and Sara brought a dish of cold milk. He took it out of her hands and greedily emptied it.

“I feel reborn,” he said, and a smile passed across his face.

“Come. Let’s bathe you,” Fatima said.

“All right. But look away.”

They obeyed him. Sara and Zainab giggled furtively.

“What are you laughing at?” he asked mistrustfully as he undressed.

“It’s the custom here!”

He slid into the water.

“How nice and warm it is,” he reveled.

His dizziness had passed. He was still amazed, but at the same time felt more relaxed.

“Give me a towel,” he asked out loud.

In an instant he had what he wanted.

“I’d like to see you bathe too.”

Fatima nodded. They unwound themselves from their veils and climbed into the water. Halima hid, but Sara led her to the pool. They began splashing each other. Shouts and laughter began echoing through the pavilion.

Suleiman pulled on his robe and lay down on the pillows.

“This place is really fun,” he said, smiling.

He felt weak and enormously hungry. He looked with covetous eyes at the food waiting on the tables in the corner.

Fatima dressed and approached him.

“Are you hungry, Suleiman?” she asked with angelic charm.

“I’ll say.”

They served him quickly.

He lit into the food like a starved wolf. His strength visibly began to return.

“Pour him some wine!” Fatima whispered.

He drank it in huge gulps. He looked at the beauties who were serving him. Their skin gleamed through their veils. He started getting dizzy with desire.

“Is all this mine?” he asked.

As a test he seized Aisha by the hand and pulled her toward him. She didn’t resist.

Right after her, Leila snuggled up to him.

“Get him drunk, charm, seduce him,” Fatima was telling the girls in a whisper.

The wine gradually went to his head.

“By the beard of the martyr Ali!” he exclaimed. “Sayyiduna was telling the truth. He really does have the key to the gates of paradise.”

He hugged and kissed them all, one after the other.

“I just hope I haven’t died,” he suddenly worried.

“Don’t be afraid,” Fatima reassured him. “Tomorrow you’ll be back at Alamut serving Sayyiduna.”

“Do you know him too?”

“We’re in paradise!”

“Then you also know that we gave it to the infidels this morning?”

“Of course we know. You pursued the Turks and ibn Tahir seized the enemy flag.”

“Allah is great! If I told this to Naim or Obeida, they’d laugh in my face.”

“Is their faith so weak?”

“By the beard of the Prophet, I wouldn’t believe it either, if the two of them told me something like this. Where are ibn Tahir and Yusuf?”

“Also in paradise, like you. Once you’re back in the other world, you can meet and tell each other what you’ve seen and experienced.”

“It’s true, in Allah’s name. Strange things can happen to an honest Muslim.”

Feeling pleasantly tipsy, he began to tell them about Alamut, about his teachers and comrades and about that morning’s battle with the Turks.

The girls sat around and listened to him, their hearts smitten. His was the first manhood they had felt in these gardens, and he was a magnificent boy, on top of it all. One after the other, they each fell in love with him.

Fatima sat down with her harp and began plucking the strings and humming softly. Now and then she cast a loving glance at him.

“Fatima is composing a poem,” Khanum whispered.

Halima was hiding behind her. She had her fingers over Khanum’s shoulders and stole a glance at Suleiman from time to time. She liked him very much. His confident storytelling, his forthright, hearty laughter, his boldness—all of this charmed her. She was angry at herself for it, but she was already quite bedazzled.

From time to time as he spoke, he caught the admiring look of her eyes. Besides that and the fingers on Khanum’s shoulders, he couldn’t see a thing. He thought for a moment and realized he hadn’t touched her yet. He already knew Fatima, Sara, Zainab, Aisha and Leila by name.

“Who’s the little one hiding behind your back?” he asked Khanum.

“Halima.”

They all laughed.

Suleiman looked around in confusion. The fingers and big eyes had suddenly disappeared behind Khanum.

“Come closer, Halima,” he said. “I haven’t even seen you yet.”

Khanum, Shehera and some others grabbed her and pushed her toward Suleiman. Convulsively, she clung onto carpets and pillows and dragged them all with her.

“Is the little scamp still so shy?”

“Yes, she is. She’s even afraid of lizards and snakes.”

“But you won’t be afraid of me, will you? I’m not a Turk or some other infidel. They’re usually the ones who are afraid of me.”

He tried to kiss her. But she slipped away from him and stubbornly hung her head.

“What does that mean?” he was perplexed.

Fatima made some noise in the corner. Halima at once put her arms around his neck and hid her face on his chest.

“I can’t stand having them around me,” she whispered.

“All of you go join Fatima,” he ordered.

How wonderfully alluring she is
, he thought.

Her arms clasped onto him tighter and tighter. Her face was as hot as forged iron.

“O Allah, how sweet she is,” he whispered and pressed her close.

Then Sara offered him wine. While he drank, Zainab quickly changed the pillows.

“It’s strange, none of them has been this lovely or this sweet,” he murmured.

Halima crept off into a corner and buried her face in some pillows. She dropped off to sleep immediately.

Fatima cleared her throat.

“I’m going to sing a song about this evening,” she said with a charming smile. Dimples showed in her cheeks.

“Excellent!” Suleiman approved. He stretched back on the pillows, cradling his head in his hands.

“Now listen!”

Fatima began, to the accompaniment of her harp.

Shouts, laughter and loud acclaim greeted Fatima’s song. The girls drew Suleiman toward the center and began dancing around him. They called out to him and cheered him.

He was barely able to get away from them. He ran over to Fatima and hugged her exuberantly.

“What an excellent song!” he said, smiling. “You have to write it down for me. Will Naim and Obeida ever be impressed.”

“But you can’t take anything with you from paradise,” Fatima cautioned. “You’ll have to learn it by heart.”

The noise finally woke Halima. She looked around, puzzled.

“What happened?”

“Fatima composed a song,” Sara replied. “And you were in it.”

“Then it must be silly.”

She burrowed into the pillows again and tried to go to sleep.

Then Suleiman spotted her. He came up and shook her by the shoulder.

“How can you sleep when there’s a guest in the house?”

He sat down beside her and she snuggled up to him. He could feel the pleasant warmth of her breath, and its rhythmic regularity soon put him to sleep.

“How adorable they are,” Aisha said.

“Let’s let them rest.”

Fatima called to Zainab.

“Let’s compose a song about them,” she suggested quietly.

The other girls drank up and continued having fun. They danced, jumped into the pool, cracked jokes, and laughed.

The song was ready, and Fatima told the girls to wake Halima and Suleiman. Both of them opened their eyes at the same time, saw each other, and laughed.

“Boy, if old Yusuf could see me now!”

Suleiman was enormously happy. The girls offered him more wine. He refused a cup and drank straight out of the jug.