The Sultan's Eyes (24 page)

Justinian tore his sword out of its scabbard before I could speak. ‘Who are you?’ he demanded. ‘I’ve seen you — you tried to follow me just the other day.’

Al-Qasim drew his weapon, too, and held it steady.

‘Ask your friends,’ said Brother Andreas. ‘I’m sure they remember me.’

‘He’s an Inquisitor from Venice,’ I said, not taking my eyes from Brother Andreas’s face. ‘One of the men who forced us to leave.’

‘That’s not true, Mistress Hawkins,’ said Brother Andreas. ‘We would have been happy for you to stay. Fra Clement, in particular, looks forward to your return.’

‘I’m sure he does,’ I said. ‘But, sadly, he’ll be disappointed.’

‘I think not. Thanks to your silly friend.’ He pointed at Willem, who stood beside me, dagger in hand. ‘My men have been watching
you for months. But it seems I have arrived just in time. Now I have the perfect excuse to report you to the Divan and have you deported straight back to Venice, in chains if need be.’

‘That will never happen,’ I said. ‘I am the Sultan’s Eyes.’

‘But what if the Sultan blinks?’

‘A pretty metaphor, but unlikely.’

‘Paul.’ Willem stared at his friend, his face pale. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I told you,’ said Paul. He set the lantern down on the bench. ‘I warned you. I will have nothing to do with those pagan works.’

‘So you betrayed us to Papists?’

‘What are the Dutchmen saying?’ Justinian asked.

‘Paul is telling us that he is a liar and a traitor,’ I said. ‘Though I have no idea why.’

‘Do you really wish to know, Mistress Hawkins?’ said Paul.

‘Ah,’ said Justinian. ‘So now he finds that he can speak in languages other than his own, after all.’

‘You have treated me like a fool,’ said Paul. ‘But I have listened to you and your blasphemies for long enough.’

‘That sounds a great deal like Fra Clement,’ I said. ‘You two would get along very well.’

‘Indeed we do,’ said Paul. ‘We always have.’

‘You?’ Willem shouted.

‘All this time?’ I asked.

‘Did you really have no idea?’ said Paul. His mouth twisted into a grin.

‘You burned Master de Aquila’s house,’ I said. It was as if a rain cloud had suddenly cleared and I could see for miles. ‘That’s how you were able to rescue the press.’

‘Very good, Mistress Hawkins. Although it’s taken you much longer than I expected.’

‘You destroyed our workshop?’ Willem said, incredulous. ‘My home? All those books?’

‘Only the profane books,’ said Paul. ‘The others —’

‘The others you stole and gave to Fra Clement,’ I said. ‘The Torah scroll of Seville, all Master de Aquila’s treasures.’

‘Safe in the Inquisitor’s chambers in Venice, I believe,’ said Paul. ‘Not that I care what happened to them. Papist rubbish. Hebrew doggerel. But he paid me well enough for them.’

Willem’s dagger slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor. ‘I don’t believe you.’

‘It’s true enough,’ said Brother Andreas. ‘But perhaps it will become clear to you when you are safely in the dungeons of the palace.’

Behind him, the door opened silently, just enough to let in a glimmer of dawn light. Al-Qasim’s eyes narrowed.

Paul didn’t notice — he glared at Brother Andreas. ‘You promised no harm would come to the boy.’

‘That was before he took this ridiculous action this morning,’ said Brother Andreas. ‘Now, no power on earth can save him.’ He turned to us with a smile. ‘The rest of you will enjoy the more Christian hospitality of the Doge’s Palace, though I regret to say that the lodgings may not be any more comfortable.’

‘You won’t be able to smuggle us onto a ship,’ I said, rather more loudly than I intended, trying with all my might not to let my gaze stray towards the door. ‘The janissaries are watching the docks.’

‘You are wrong, as always,’ said Brother Andreas. ‘Once I hand over this slave girl and her misguided lover, the soldiers and their prisoners will return to the palace.’

‘I don’t think that will happen.’ Valentina’s voice sounded like a bell in the night. A fist came out of the darkness and knocked Paul to the ground. Another pair of hands grabbed at one, then another, of the strangers and flung them into the wall. Justinian dashed forward and punched the third in the belly, so he slumped face first to the floor.

Someone laughed. ‘Good work.’

Al-Qasim gasped. ‘Luis!’

‘Of course.’ Luis and Paco, drawing swords, stepped into the light. ‘You didn’t think we’d let you leave Venice all by yourself, did you, Andreas?’

Within minutes, Paul and Brother Andreas had been bundled into the empty oil vats, and the other three men, trussed and gagged, had been shoved into the storeroom behind the sliding shelf.

‘We can’t just leave them here,’ said Justinian.

‘Why not?’ said Luis. He grinned. ‘They would have done worse to you.’

‘But seriously —’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Luis. ‘We’ll hide them elsewhere and tell someone how to find them. But not until we are well on our way.’

‘You’re leaving?’ said Justinian.

‘I’m afraid we will have to,’ said Al-Qasim. ‘And quickly.’

‘I have a ship ready,’ said Luis.

‘Naturally,’ said Al-Qasim.

I glanced from one to the other: this Spaniard who had saved my life not once but many times; this Arab who had taught me so much about the world and the stars — and myself. I threw my arms around both of them and buried my face in Luis’s cloak.

He patted my back. ‘It’s good to see you, too,
bella
.’

Al-Qasim stroked my hair and tucked a stray curl behind my ear. ‘I knew Luis would come,’ he said. ‘He always does.’

I turned to the others. Valentina and Justinian sat on a bench talking quietly. Suraiya and Willem stood to one side, their hands clasped.

‘Will?’ I waved him over so that we stood either side of our press, where the others couldn’t hear us. ‘What will we do with you now?’

‘I know what I need to do,’ he said. ‘Get married, somewhere safe, as quickly as possible. Then nobody can take her from me.’

‘But you hardly know one another.’

‘Is that what you think? We spend hours together, every day, while you’re reading to your precious Sultan.’

‘But I thought …’ I stopped.

‘What? That I was sitting there all that time by myself, waiting for you?’

‘That’s what you told me.’

‘No. That’s what you assumed.’

He was right, of course.

‘But, Will —’

‘There’s not a thing you can say about all this that I haven’t imagined you saying over and over again,’ he said.

I took a deep breath. ‘It’s marvellous. I’m very happy for you.’

‘Except that.’

‘You thought I’d be angry?’

He looked a little crestfallen, if anything. ‘She’s a slave. A heathen.’

‘It’s certainly complicated,’ I said. ‘And dangerous. But you’re my dearest friend. So if you’re happy …’

‘That’s it?’

‘If you’re happy, and Suraiya loves you — she does love you, doesn’t she?’

He nodded.

‘Then that is the only thing that matters.’

‘Rubbish,’ said Willem.

‘That’s what I feel.’

‘I don’t believe you.’

‘It’s true.’

‘How can you say that?’

‘But you’re in danger,’ I went on. ‘Both of you. All of us. We need to talk about —’

‘Isabella —’

‘— what we should do.’

‘Isabella —’

‘You can’t hide here.’

‘Look at me!’

I did. I had to. He grabbed at my arms and forced my face close to his. I gazed into those familiar blue eyes.

‘Isn’t there anything else you want to say?’ he whispered.

‘Well, it does all feel rather strange,’ I said. ‘As if, somehow … as if …’

But I couldn’t say it. That it felt as if he was lost to me now, vanishing into a life of his own in which I had no part. As if our youth and our years together were ending. As if he was standing on a cliff, about to jump, and I had no idea whether he could land safely.

He pushed me away, but gently. ‘God in heaven, you try my patience. But then, you always have.’

I smiled. ‘I always will, I’m afraid.’

He chuckled and shook his head. ‘You will try, anyway. I know that.’

‘If you two are fighting even now,’ said Valentina, coming close, ‘I will bang your heads together until your brains rattle.’

‘We aren’t fighting,’ I said. ‘Not at present.’

‘No,’ said Willem. ‘We are the best of friends.’

‘Truly?’ said Valentina.

‘Truly,’ I said.

‘If only I could believe that. But never mind, we have to make plans. Come.’

We gathered around the lantern, talking in hushed voices. Suraiya sat with her hands folded in her lap.

‘Don’t even wait to pack up the house,’ said Luis. ‘We must go, all of us.’

‘But my father will do everything he can to protect you if you stay,’ said Justinian.

‘It is not enough if Clement knows where we are,’ Luis argued. ‘He will send others, more men. They could be out there right now. Next time, we will not be so lucky.’

‘Willem is in danger, I see that, and the girl,’ Justinian said. ‘But I don’t see why the rest of you have to leave.’

‘There’s one thing I don’t understand,’ I said. They all turned their faces to me. ‘Why would anyone want to hurt Suraiya? Why all the fuss? In their eyes, she’s just like any other slave, easily bought and sold.’

‘Or is she?’ said Al-Qasim.

‘What do you mean?’ said Willem.

I reached out a hand to Suraiya. ‘Who are you?’ I asked. ‘Really?’

‘I am Suraiya,’ she said. ‘That is all. Suraiya is all I have ever been.’

‘Where were you born?’ asked Al-Qasim.

‘Here.’

‘In the city?’

‘In the palace,’ she said. ‘In … in the harem.’

Luis glanced at Al-Qasim. ‘Is that unusual?’

‘It’s interesting.’

‘So you weren’t purchased like the other slaves?’ I asked.

‘No,’ she said. ‘I was never like them.’

‘Look at her eyes,’ said Al-Qasim.

‘Beautiful,’ said Valentina. ‘Like lapis lazuli.’

‘They are indeed a very rare blue,’ said Al-Qasim. ‘I’ve only ever seen such eyes once before, and then very briefly. But, Isabella, they will be more familiar to you. You have been inside the harem.’

‘What are you all on about?’ said Willem.

‘But that means …’ Valentina caught her breath.

‘It could mean any number of things,’ I said.

‘In another city, yes,’ said Al-Qasim. ‘But in the palace, where the world is enclosed and visitors are rare, I’m afraid it means only danger.’

‘But why?’ said Suraiya. ‘What have I done?’

‘You have done nothing, my dear,’ said Valentina. ‘You were born guilty of this crime.’

‘That’s enough,’ Willem snapped. ‘I don’t want to hear any of that Original Sin nonsense.’

‘Forgive me,’ said Valentina. ‘I was not being Biblical. I was speaking quite literally.’

Then I knew. I remembered Turhan Hadice’s dark blue eyes blazing at me, and the warm eyes of her children, of my friends.

‘The eyes of the Sultan are brown,’ I said. ‘Deep brown. The same as his sister’s.’

‘What are you raving about?’ said Willem.

‘Forgive me for asking, Suraiya,’ said Al-Qasim, ‘but do you know your mother?’

She shook her head. ‘I have none. I was orphaned at birth, so they said, but the washerwomen took pity on me and raised me as their own.’

‘In the household of Turhan Hadice?’

‘No. As a child, I was never allowed near her. Until I came to work for you, I always worked for the Valide Sultan.’

Valentina took a deep breath. ‘That does make things rather more complicated.’

‘Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?’ said Justinian.

‘Suraiya is in terrible danger,’ said Al-Qasim. ‘That’s all you need to know.’

‘But why?’

Al-Qasim spoke through clenched teeth. ‘It may be that Suraiya’s existence casts doubt on the virtue of a very important person.’

‘Who?’

‘The Sultan’s mother.’

Willem let out a whistle. ‘Did you know this?’ he asked Suraiya.

Tears filled her eyes. ‘I suspected it,’ she said. ‘There were hints, whispers and, every so often, anonymous gifts more lavish than any slave deserves.’

‘How is that possible?’ I asked Al-Qasim. ‘A woman couldn’t even sneeze in the harem without everyone knowing, let alone have a baby.’

‘There was a rumour,’ he said, ‘many years ago now, that Turhan Hadice had a baby that was hidden from the Sultan. A story went
around that the child had died at birth. I always assumed that it was merely to protect the child from Ibrahim, who was, after all, a monster. But perhaps not.’

‘Do not speak of it,’ said Suraiya. ‘It means death, to me — to her.’

‘So,’ said Willem, placing one finger gently on her cheek to wipe away a tear, ‘you are a princess?’

‘She is a threat,’ said Al-Qasim. ‘That’s what she is. In the world of the harem, such secrets can be deadly to anyone involved. Suraiya is right. An illegitimate child would normally be killed along with the mother. She has been protected her whole life by someone very powerful, but now …’ He rubbed his eyes, and took a deep breath. ‘The Valide Sultan must never know of this.’

‘Perhaps she already does,’ Justinian said. ‘That’s why Orga and his troops are scouring the city.’

‘So now will you believe me?’ said Luis. ‘We have to flee Constantinople, and quickly.’

One by one, we slipped out of the workshop: Justinian to report to his father; the rest of us to go about our business pretending it was a normal day, then to pack what we could and meet again after dark. Al-Qasim, Luis and Paco bundled our prisoners out of their hiding places and led them, knives pressed close under their cloaks, to be locked up in the cellar at home until we could make our escape. Willem and Suraiya were to stay hidden in the workshop and bar the door behind us.

‘You can make yourself useful while you wait,’ Valentina told Willem. ‘Teach Suraiya how to use the press. She will need to know if she’s to be a printer’s wife.’

‘That would be a waste,’ said Willem. ‘She doesn’t know how to read.’