The Drowning Guard: A Novel of the Ottoman Empire (24 page)

“ ‘Tonight is the Sultan’s moon—the most urgent of the sexual responses curse a woman at this mark. The Sultan knows it, and he tries to double his schedule of concubine visits to ride the wave of their urges. This is when a woman is at her ripest.’

“I scowled at him. ‘That shows how little you know. My little sister Sophie is being bathed at this very minute to lie in his bed. She is stiff with terror. She has no urge.’

“The eunuch dismissed my remark with a slight flick of his hand, and I again contemplated having him beheaded. How saucy a gesture to make before an Ottoman!

“ ‘Sophie is only a girl,’ he said. ‘Of course she has no womanly urge. This is an indulgence of the Sultan, for no girl should be taken before her first menses. The Ulema and Mufti look the other way to satisfy the curious urges of a Sultan. It is a sin against Allah.’

“I gasped in spite of myself because his words could easily have cost him his life. But he had said exactly what I had been thinking all night.

“ ‘So, why do you not show me where you were going, Esma Sultan? I shall tell no one of your destination, if you will allow me to accompany you.’

“I realized that he would follow me no matter what.

“ ‘I will show you if you follow me. But if you breathe a word I will say you made improper advances towards me and you will be beheaded.’

“The eunuch drew in his breath at the threat, stretching the fabric of his garment to its capacity. He nodded his head, though his eyes began to gleam with mischief, for surely a Princess who slipped out of her bedchamber at this time of night was up to no good.

“And without a word, I led the eunuch to the thick tangle of bushes and as he held his lantern high, we descended into the depths of the earth.”

“I could see my father clearly from the spy hole, and smelled the piquant breath of my companion at my side. Emerald smelled of tumeric and cloves as he breathed heavily after the exertion of scrambling through the dark tunnel.

“I was in time to watch as the Head Eunuch escorted Sophie into my father’s chambers. She trembled, but approached the bed and knelt as she had been told.

“ ‘Kucuk,’ he said, ‘my little one. You do not have to approach my feet. Come to me here to my breast and I will comfort you.’

“Sophie gasped. She had prepared herself for the ritual my mother had described and was ready to obey mindlessly, refusing to think of what she was doing. To have to respond to kindness was too unsettling.

“She stood near him but did not move.

“He lifted the sheets and when she did not approach, the eunuch gently took her arm and led her to the bed.

“ ‘Come, lie next to me and do not tremble so.’

“Sophie could not help herself. She shook as she crept into my father’s bed.

“I saw his hands, huge, crusted with rings, mottled brown against her pale skin. The bones beneath her flesh were so delicate, so fine. Then his hands turned her over onto her stomach. She disappeared beneath him, a swimmer drowning beneath a wave, and I heard her whimper. A tiny sound. I can hear it still. I saw the look of pure animal lust on his face as he took her.

“And I hated him.

“I felt the eunuch reach for my hand.

“ ‘See what beasts men can be,’ he whispered in my ear. ‘Is a woman really freer than a eunuch?’ he asked. ‘Even a princess?’

“ ‘Never,’ I whispered, my voice so hoarse, I had to swallow hard to utter the single word. ‘I’ll never let a man take me like an animal.’

“Sophie whimpered again and my father laughed. Triumph, not joy.

“ ‘Revenge and to Hades with all men!’ I said, biting my hand to keep from screaming.

“ ‘And when the time comes, enlist me to enforce your will,’ cooed the eunuch. ‘I shall serve you well, for my revenge will find comfort, nestled in yours.’ ”

In the silence, Postivich studied Esma Sultan’s face. And he saw something new there, a new kind of sadness—somehow sweet and vulnerable, yet still angry.

Then she took a deep breath and only the anger remained.

“Sophie was lifted from the Sultan’s bed by the eunuch. She was too sore and mortified to move and my father had lost interest in her once he had taken his pleasure.

“ ‘Take her to the harem,’ he commanded. ‘Have Saliha cleanse her. The girl is not to see any of the harem nor receive their congratulations until she can compose herself.’

“The eunuch craddled her in his arms. She covered her face with the blanket he wrapped about her, sobbing silently into the woolen folds.

“I ran ahead of the stumbling Emerald, making my way back through the darkness to the Serail. My cloak flying behind me, I raced across the courtyard and into the corridor just as the palace eunuch delivered Sophie to my mother’s embrace.

“My mother received Sophie from the eunuch’s arms.

“ ‘I will prepare the hamam,’ he said. ‘She is to be cleansed thoroughly. She shall use the private hamam and not the communal baths.’

“I stood behind my mother, who pressed Sophie’s face deep into the flesh of her bosom. The girl’s face was contorted and deep red. She convulsed in her weeping so that I was certain she was going to choke and die.

“ ‘She will be all right, Esma. Summon the eunuch to carry her to the bathhouse.’

“Within minutes we were in the private hamam, reserved for special ceremonial ablutions. The candles had been lit and the water trickled from the pipes into the pool of water.

“The eunuch set Sophie on the wooden stool and tried to take off the blanket.

“ ‘No,’ she screamed. ‘NO! NO!’

“ ‘Myrrh,’ said my mother to the eunuch. ‘Let her keep the blanket about her for now.’

“ ‘But I must witness the ablutions.’

“ ‘NO!’ screamed Sophie and she began to choke again.

“ ‘If you remain in her sight, she will wake every woman in the harem and bring shame to the Sultan. I know of what I speak.’

“The eunuch looked anxiously at the sobbing girl and nodded.

“ ‘I will have to inspect her before she returns to the apartments,’ he said, moving away. He disappeared into the corridors of the hamam.

“My mother dipped the sponge in the copper bucket and pressed it to the girl’s genitals.

“Sophie whispered. ‘Not there,

“My mother looked at her incredulously.

“ ‘Not there,’ Sophie repeated, her voice trembling.

“My mother gasped, realizing what she meant. ‘The demon.’

“With the softest touch, she turned Sophie over, as if she were going to spank her like a toddler. She dabbed the sponge between her buttocks and drew it back again, bloodied.

“ ‘Go instruct the eunuchs to light the brazier and make up a warm divan close to it,’ said my mother in a cold voice. ‘I need to speak with Sophie alone.’

“My mother carried Sophie to the divan almost an hour later. I could tell by the smell on their clothes that she had given the girl opium and may well have taken some herself. Clutched in Sophie’s hands was the toy horse I had given her.

“ ‘Let her sleep, Esma,’ said my mother, stroking her hair. ‘Let her sleep as long as the angels will allow her rest.’

“The Valide Sultan summoned Sophie the next day. My mother tried to protect her.

“ ‘Please tell the Valide that the girl is not well. She will remain in bed today under my care.’

“ ‘The Valide Sultan instructed me to bring Sophie to her,’ said the eunuch. He did not move from the doorway.

“ ‘You will have to make her understand that she is very ill. It would be a mistake to move her.’

“The eunuch reluctantly left and an hour later, the old Valide came to our door, leaning on her cane. She was dressed in midnight-blue silks and looked like an old peacock standing on one leg.

“ ‘I have been told that Sophie is ill. I must see her at once!’ she snapped.

“The Valide poked her cane through the doorway and thrashed it vigorously, so that we all staggered clear. She hobbled through the apartment to the small room with the brazier still glowing bright, its fiery coals warming the girl who lay next to it.

“Sophie lifted her head weakly, bewildered by the sudden burst of activity as the Valide and her entourage of eunuchs entered the bedroom. She was recovering from an opium stupor and blinked hard, trying to focus her eyes.

“ ‘What ails you, girl?’ the Valide demanded.

“ ‘I—I… ’

“ ‘Well, what is it?’

“ ‘She is still—unwell—from last night,’ said my mother, folding her arms across her chest.

“The Valide Sultane turned on my mother, scowling.

“ ‘This girl has been made a concubine and the praises and congratulations of the entire harem and the city itself are waiting to be received. The women wait in the hamam to comb her hair and braid it with pearls. Their hands are full of petals to strew in the ceremonial baths to welcome their sister as they have already welcomed the newly favored Rushdah, who has been bathed and is now resting. The seamstress waits to make her new clothes appropriate for her status!’ said the Valide.

“My mother’s face fell as she slowly comprehended. ‘She is a concubine, but this ceremony is reserved for—’

“ ‘The Sultan has prepared special apartments for her that are adjacent to his own. Yes, she is declared his “favorite,” along with Rushdah and shall receive all
special privileges that are befitting! He will see her many nights for apparently she has given him great pleasure.’

“This was a particular jab at my mother, who once had lived in those same apartments when she was the Sultan’s favorite. But my mother was stronger than the Valide gave her credit for. She pushed back her auburn hair, now streaked with grey that even the strongest henna couldn’t hide.

“ ‘I am sure that Sophie will appreciate this reception more when she has had enough rest. We must tell the women of the harem to expect her when she is ready to accept their congratulations by this evening.’

“ ‘Phhhst—I will tell them what I wish, without any advice from a used-up sponge like you! He means to make her a wife! Though I do not understand how my son could waste his ardor on a girl who is not prepared to give him a child! One night is an indulgence, but to be made a wife before she has become a woman is a blasphemy! Night after night of spilt seed. I have trained so many women to give him pleasure who are ready to conceive sons for the Ottoman Empire. Bah! I cannot stand to look at her, the bewitching little whore!’

“I stood in horror, listening to my grandmother. I could not understand how she could be so blind to a man’s wrongs, even if he was her only son and Sultan of the Empire. It was this moment when I realized a man’s word could poison woman against innocent woman if she surrendered to its violence, and indeed a woman could be the uglier beast.

“I was aware Sophie was moving now, raising herself out of the divan, her nightclothes clinging to her small frame. Her face was no longer frightened, but contorted in anger, a blind rage I had never seen before in a woman, nor seen since.

“ ‘I see the lazy girl has enough stamina to get out of bed after all,’ said the Valide, poking her cane viciously at the girl. ‘I want to know—how could my son prefer you to Iris, the Armenian dancer I brought to him last week? You who have no breasts, no hips, no womanhood at all. I cannot abide this decision, yet he insists that you must be moved to the favorite’s apartments. His precious seed will fall on a barren womb, night after night’

“ ‘The Sultan’s seed has not dampened my womb, Valide Sultan,’ Sophie said, her voice growing strong with her fury.

“ ‘What?’

“Sophie straightened, looking the Valide in the eye—which was the most disrespectful gesture I have ever seen in Topkapi. All except the royal family look at the floor when addressing the Sultan or his family.

“Her voice clear and steady, despite her pallor, Sophie said, ‘I am still a virgin.’

“ ‘Virgin? What are you saying, you little fool?’

“ ‘Hush, girl,’ warned my mother, in a low whisper. ‘You do not know what you are saying. She is the fire and you are a stick!’

“ ‘Of course you are not a virgin, you whore!’ said the Valide, turning to the eunuch, who nodded affirmatively. ‘I’ve seen the sheets and they were wet with blood.’

“ ‘The Sultan did make me bleed. But it was not where a virgin bleeds. It was where the little boys bleed—the little boys he prefers.’

“The Valide thumped her cane hard on the floor and the Head Eunuch brought her a stool. She collapsed and looked around the room dazed.

“ ‘You accuse my son, the Sultan, of beastly acts?’ gasped the Valide. ‘You little wretched slave, I will have you strangled for treason!’

“ ‘I am not a boy and I am still a virgin. He who is the protector of the Koran, God’s Shadow on Earth, should remember the first suras.’

“ ‘You will be silenced by Allah and the Prophet, I swear it! Eunuch! Silence her!’

“ ‘Madame, I cannot! She has been declared the Sultan’s favorite and it is not within my power—’

“ ‘Silence her, I say! Strangle the infidel, a demon possesses her!’

“ ‘I know the first sura. I was forced to learn such suras by heart, Valide Sultan.’

“Sophie opened her mouth and pronounced the words in Arabic as she had been taught by the Iman. Words that forbid exactly the act the Sultan had committed with her.