was patient and Firousi eventually succeeded, to her pride and delight.
As the weeks went by, each made her own adjustment to the situation. For Zuleika it was easiest She was accustomed to the cloistered existence of the imperial Ming court, and only the burning memory of her true identity and the betrayal of the shah’s concubine still rankled in her memory. Gradually she pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind—although never forgotten, they did not intrude on her everyday consciousness.
Used to the openness of her mountain home, Firousi might have found the transition difficult had she not been enchanted, amazed, and overwhelmed with all the sights, sounds, and luxuries of her new existence. Though she had lost everything—her home, her family, and her bridegroom—she was sensible enough to know that nothing she could do would bring them back, and when she thought of what her fate might have been, she thanked God and accepted the situation. Her own ebullient spirits did the rest.
For Cyra it was the hardest Raised in freedom-loving Scotland and used to coming and going as she pleased, she chafed at the restrictions of the harem. Her world now consisted of her oda, the baths, the women’s mosque, and the gardens. She would have given anything for a horse and a long gallop across an open field. Like Firousi, she accepted her situation, but there were times when she thought she might go mad.
Lady Refet noted this and tried to ease the young girl’s restlessness. She assigned a eunuch to Cyra with orders that when the girl wished, she be allowed long walks in the gardens provided she was suitably clothed.
This meant that Cyra must wear a loose-sleeved cloaklike garment of pale mauve silk called a feridje. It covered her from neck to ankles and had attached at her shoulders a large, square cape that hung nearly to the ground. With it she also wore the yasmak, a veil consisting of two pieces. The first was placed across the bridge of her nose and fell to her bosom; the second lay on her head and extended as far as her eyebrows. The rest of it fell behind her. In this costume no one could have told whether she was young or old, fair or ugly.
This was proved one day—much to the terror of Cyra’s eunuch. They were walking in the gardens when around the hedge came the sultan and his retinue. The eunuch went gray and almost fainted, having been warned by the agha that Cyra’s presence in the harem must remain secret; but Cyra reacted quickly. She bowed low, and the sultan, who might have stopped had he caught a glimpse of this muffled creature’s fabulous green-gold eyes, passed her by without so much as a glance.
Cyra gave a great deal of thought to the incident Until now, the sultan’s power had not seemed real to her, but one look at the terrified eunuch’s face had changed all that I must spend the rest of my life in this strange world, she thought I can be either a frightened slave like my poor eunuch, or I can be the willing and loving wife of a future sultan. Under Prince Selim’s protection I need never be afraid, and I shall have power. Perhaps I shall even love this prince. From that moment on, her periods of restlessness became fewer, and her attitude genuinely cooperative.
“What can have caused this change?” Lady Refet asked Hadji Bey.
“I do not know,” he replied, “but our young Cyra is a thinker. It is obvious that some incident has given her pause for thought I could not be more delighted. Her cooperation is vital to our plans, for it is she whom I have chosen to be Prince Selim’s first ikbal and, Allah willing, his bas-kadin.”
“My nephew will not be told whom he must love, my lord agha.”
Hadji Bey smiled. “I shall not have to tell him. He will choose to mate with her first Selim has become very astute where women are concerned. Both Zuleika and Firousi are beautiful, but the girl from Cathay is proud, and deep within her heart she is bitter. She will be fiercely loyal
As the weeks went by, each made her own adjustment to the situation. For Zuleika it was easiest She was accustomed to the cloistered existence of the imperial Ming court, and only the burning memory of her true identity and the betrayal of the shah’s concubine still rankled in her memory. Gradually she pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind—although never forgotten, they did not intrude on her everyday consciousness.
Used to the openness of her mountain home, Firousi might have found the transition difficult had she not been enchanted, amazed, and overwhelmed with all the sights, sounds, and luxuries of her new existence. Though she had lost everything—her home, her family, and her bridegroom—she was sensible enough to know that nothing she could do would bring them back, and when she thought of what her fate might have been, she thanked God and accepted the situation. Her own ebullient spirits did the rest.
For Cyra it was the hardest Raised in freedom-loving Scotland and used to coming and going as she pleased, she chafed at the restrictions of the harem. Her world now consisted of her oda, the baths, the women’s mosque, and the gardens. She would have given anything for a horse and a long gallop across an open field. Like Firousi, she accepted her situation, but there were times when she thought she might go mad.
Lady Refet noted this and tried to ease the young girl’s restlessness. She assigned a eunuch to Cyra with orders that when the girl wished, she be allowed long walks in the gardens provided she was suitably clothed.
This meant that Cyra must wear a loose-sleeved cloaklike garment of pale mauve silk called a feridje. It covered her from neck to ankles and had attached at her shoulders a large, square cape that hung nearly to the ground. With it she also wore the yasmak, a veil consisting of two pieces. The first was placed across the bridge of her nose and fell to her bosom; the second lay on her head and extended as far as her eyebrows. The rest of it fell behind her. In this costume no one could have told whether she was young or old, fair or ugly.
This was proved one day—much to the terror of Cyra’s eunuch. They were walking in the gardens when around the hedge came the sultan and his retinue. The eunuch went gray and almost fainted, having been warned by the agha that Cyra’s presence in the harem must remain secret; but Cyra reacted quickly. She bowed low, and the sultan, who might have stopped had he caught a glimpse of this muffled creature’s fabulous green-gold eyes, passed her by without so much as a glance.
Cyra gave a great deal of thought to the incident Until now, the sultan’s power had not seemed real to her, but one look at the terrified eunuch’s face had changed all that I must spend the rest of my life in this strange world, she thought I can be either a frightened slave like my poor eunuch, or I can be the willing and loving wife of a future sultan. Under Prince Selim’s protection I need never be afraid, and I shall have power. Perhaps I shall even love this prince. From that moment on, her periods of restlessness became fewer, and her attitude genuinely cooperative.
“What can have caused this change?” Lady Refet asked Hadji Bey.
“I do not know,” he replied, “but our young Cyra is a thinker. It is obvious that some incident has given her pause for thought I could not be more delighted. Her cooperation is vital to our plans, for it is she whom I have chosen to be Prince Selim’s first ikbal and, Allah willing, his bas-kadin.”
“My nephew will not be told whom he must love, my lord agha.”
Hadji Bey smiled. “I shall not have to tell him. He will choose to mate with her first Selim has become very astute where women are concerned. Both Zuleika and Firousi are beautiful, but the girl from Cathay is proud, and deep within her heart she is bitter. She will be fiercely loyal
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