The Hakawati (65 page)

“They’re in love,” I said lamely.

“Don’t be stupid. That bastard doesn’t know what the word means, and Lina is just being brainless. He’ll ruin her life. Your mother wants her to get an abortion. Your sister won’t listen. She wants his child and doesn’t want to raise a bastard. She’s nuts.”

I didn’t say anything. The receiver felt heavy. “They’re boarding,” I said.

“And if you ever come here again without visiting me, I swear I’ll roast you in a big Italian oven.”

On the journey out of Jerusalem, Maria lay within her litter, but she relaxed the curtains and smiled at her husband, who was riding beside her. Happiness made Ma
rouf sit up in his saddle. He rode close to his bride and beamed. Ma
rouf led the entourage past the turnoff toward Jaffa, and the vizier of Genoa inquired where they were going. “To the Fort of Marqab,” Ma
rouf replied, “so you can be my honored guests.”

A feast was held in the Fort of Marqab upon their return. And on
the wedding night, Ma
rouf visited his princess. The following morning, he left her chambers and took his usual seat among his men. The Genovese vizier said to Ma
rouf, “You have been most kind and generous to us. We are grateful. And now we must be on our way.”

“Return to your home, and tell the king of Genoa that his daughter has become a Muslim and has married Ma
rouf, the chief of forts and battlements.”

The vizier blanched. “Have you entered her chambers?”

“I surely have. She is my wife.”

The vizier moaned, slapped his face, and beat his breast. “Kill me now, sire. I cannot return to Genoa without her.”

The king of Genoa heard the wails and lamentations of Maria’s attendants before they walked into the court. The vizier, haggard and pale, announced, “Your Majesty, the princess has given up her faith and married a Muslim. She did not wish to return.”

The king turned wrathful. “Send a letter to King Saleh and kill this messenger.”

Back at the diwan, King Saleh’s judge read him the letter. “This cannot be, Your Majesty,” Arbusto said. “The king of Genoa trusted God and you with protecting his daughter’s honor. You entrusted Baybars, and he and his good friend Ma
rouf betrayed you. A scandal of this magnitude I have never witnessed.” The king called Baybars to the diwan and demanded an explanation. Baybars said, “I have received a letter from Ma
rouf saying that the princess chose the true faith and was not forced into it. God gifted her. Ma
rouf has a fatwa from the imam of al-Aqsa confirming the gift of God and the princess’s choice of Ma
rouf for a husband.”

King Saleh said, “That is a true story. Islam is a bequest from the Almighty. My judge, send a letter to the king of Genoa explaining what happened. Be gentle. His daughter’s choice to live so far from him will surely be difficult to hear and bear.”

The king’s judge was not gentle. “King Saleh has allowed his protégé, Prince Baybars, to kidnap your daughter,” the letter said, “and sell her to Ma
rouf’s harem. If you send me a ship to Jaffa, a full money chest, and a battalion of men in disguise, I will return your daughter to Genoa myself. The king is ill in the mind, and I do not wish to remain here and witness the realm’s demise under his successors.” The king’s
judge sent the letter to Genoa by messenger. He packed his belongings and all the goods he had stolen through the years. Arbusto discarded the robes of judge and abandoned the fair city of Cairo.