The Panther and The Pearl (28 page)

“Are you sure?” Roxalena asked sharply.

“Yes. Turhan Aga was present at the audience Kosem granted to her cousin James, and she told James that her grandson had set off alone to rescue his ikbal. Turhan repeated this to me himself when I met him at the bazaar in Bursa.”

“Then Sarah has a chance,” Roxalena said with relief. “If anyone can bring her back, Kalid can.”

“I thought you didn’t like him,” Osman said, feeling a twinge of jealousy at her confidence in the other man.

“I didn’t want to marry him any more than he wanted to marry me, but I have the utmost respect for his abilities. He’s very determined when he wants something.” She paused. “And apparently he wants Sarah very much,” she added thoughtfully.

“Your friend must be tougher than she looks. She already survived a poisoning by the pasha’s former favorite.”

Roxalena sighed. “Sarah wanted to learn about harem life. I think she knows about it now.”
 

“Turhan said the rumor at Orchid Palace is that Kalid Shah was planning to execute the poisoner and her accomplice in the old fashioned way, but the valide pashana persuaded him to merely banish them.”

“Why would he listen to Kosem?”
 

Osman shrugged. “Supposedly Kosem told the pasha that Sarah would not like it if he killed them out of hand.”
 

Roxalena nodded. “Sarah would
not
like it. In America they have trials about such things, no one is ever executed on the word of one man.”

“What is a trial?”

Roxalena shrugged. “A group of Americans sit in a box and listen while the authorities discuss the case and examine witnesses. Then they decide if the prisoner should be punished or go free.” 
Osman made a disbelieving face.

“It’s true. Sarah told me all about it. She thinks it’s a system far superior to ours, and I have to admit, I’d rather trust the judgement of several average Turkish citizens than the whim of a man like my father.”

They both drew back as a guard on patrol passed within a few feet of them, his rifle on his shoulder. They held their breath until they heard his footsteps fade into the distance.

“You’d better go,” Osman whispered. “I’ll see you tomorrow night in the Bibighar.”

Roxalena stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, then drew her feradge over her face. She stepped out of the shadows and slipped onto the path that led through the Garden of the Kadins, heading back to the harem.

“I think you should go to see Secretary Danforth again,” Beatrice Woolcott said firmly.

James took another sip of his Boodles gin before replying irritably, “I’ve told you before, Bea, that man is not going to help me. He is only concerned with not making waves and keeping his job. The last thing he’s going to do is buck the local authorities over an insignificant tourist like my cousin Sarah.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Wait for some news from the valide pashana.”

“Do you really think that old woman is going to tell you what’s happening? If the pasha wants to keep Sarah, as it appears he does, you won’t hear another word even if he does bring her back from the bedouins.”

“If you have any other suggestions, Bea, I would certainly like to hear them,” James said wearily, draining his drink. “I’ve already spent three days just getting inside Orchid Palace and the only information I was able to obtain I’ve just told you.”

Beatrice fell silent, glancing around their parlor as if she might find an idea hidden in one of its corners.

“I’ll wait a week and try again,” James said, relenting.

Beatrice nodded.

The stillness in the room was overpowering.

“Welcome home,” Kosem said, embracing Sarah warmly. “You look very well for someone who has survived such an ordeal. We were so worried about you.”

“I’m feeling very well, thank you,” Sarah replied, stealing a glance at Kalid, who smiled at her. Sarah colored faintly.

Kosem did not miss the interchange.

“Would you like to have a bath and a rest in the harem?” Kosem asked. “Memtaz is waiting for you.”

Sarah nodded.

“I will see you in my quarters after the evening meal,” Kalid said to Sarah, who looked at him, and then away, almost shyly.

“Take the ikbal back to the harem,” Kalid said to the waiting eunuchs.

He watched Sarah depart the audience room with her escort and then threw himself onto his throne, one leg over the arm of the chair, grinning at Kosem.

“I gather it went well,” Kosem said dryly.
 

“She gave herself to me,” he said.

Kosem nodded sagely. “Yes, I can tell. She follows you everywhere with her eyes, touches you as often as she possibly can, and behaves in every way like an initiate wildly in love with her instructor.”
 

He closed his eyes. “I can think of nothing but her.”

Kosem withdrew a slip of paper from her capacious sleeve and held it out for him to see.

“What is that?” Kalid asked.

“The Constantinople address of her cousin. He was here while you were gone and I gave him an audience. I promised to contact him if I had any news of Sarah.”

“Give me that,” Kalid said sharply. Kosem handed him the scrap of paper. He glanced at it and then tore it up, flinging the bits on the carpet.

“Why did you admit that man to the palace?” Kalid demanded furiously of his grandmother. “He already sent me a letter through the American Embassy and I replied that I wouldn’t be able to see him for some time.”

“I was distraught, Kalid! I didn’t know if I would ever see either one of you again, and I could understand very well how Sarah’s cousin feels. How can you let that poor man go on wondering if she is all right?”

“You’ve just seen her! Does he look ill or unhappy? Just when I have finally won her, you expect me to bring in this relative who will try to persuade her to leave with him?”

“If she loves you, she will stay.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. The pull of her old life is very strong. I need time, time to bind her to me, time to make her see that she will have no future without me.”

“So you will not tell her about her cousin’s visit.”

“No. And I forbid you to say anything about it to her.”

Kosem opened her mouth.

“I forbid it, do you understand?” Kalid said, rising and shoving his forefinger under her nose.

“I advise against this,” Kosem said quietly.

“When I want your advice I will ask for it,” Kalid said tersely. “Now go.”

Kosem stood before him regally, staring him down, her raisin eyes boring into his.

“Go and leave me to think,” he said, and she obeyed reluctantly, looking back over her shoulder at him.

Kalid saw a fragment of paper on the rug and kicked it away from him viciously.

Nothing would stand in the way of his life with Sarah.

Nothing.

“Ah, you are so beautiful, mistress. My master will be very pleased.”

Sarah was wearing a smock of fine white silk tissue, with wide sleeves and mother of pearl buttons down the front, the sleeves and hem edged with gold, her body visible through the gauzy material. Over it she wore a rose brocade caftan with a satin girdle of deep rose pink, fastened with an amethyst clasp. A cap of wine velvet embroidered with pearls perched on her hair, which flowed down her back in a silken profusion. Pearl earrings falling from amethyst studs and white kid boots completed the ensemble.

“Such lovely clothes,” Memtaz said. “Though I think you will not be wearing them for very long.” She giggled.

Sarah smiled and shook her head. Nothing was secret from Memtaz.

“You look so happy, mistress. Why did you resist the pasha for so long?”

“It’s... complicated, Memtaz.”

“What means complicated?”

“It means that there were many issues involved and I...oh, forget it. Just call the eunuchs to take me to the mabeyn.”

Kalid was waiting for her in his austere anteroom. When he saw Sarah come through the door he opened his arms and she flew into them.

“Go, you’re dismissed,” he said over her shoulder to the servants, who fled, exchanging knowing glances.

“I missed you,” Sarah sighed.

Kalid was already unfastening the girdle at her waist. “Why so many clothes?” he asked.

“Memtaz insisted that I be properly dressed,” Sarah replied, laughing.

Kalid tossed the girdle and the caftan on the floor, removed her shoes and began to unbutton the silk shift. As soon as one creamy breast was revealed he had the nipple in his mouth. He wrestled with the smock for several seconds, shoving it down to her waist to allow him access. Then Sarah gasped as he grabbed the shift by its open neck and ripped it from her body impatiently, flinging the rent garment aside.
 

He lifted her quickly into his arms and carried her into his bedchamber. He set her on his sleeping couch and tore off his shirt, but before he could undress any further Sarah stood up and put her arms around him.

“Let me love you,” she whispered, kissing his chest, then the line of dark hair that bisected his torso, disappearing under the waistband of his trousers. He leaned back against the wall next to the bed as she worked her way down his body, finally kneeling before him and undoing his trousers. His head fell back, his eyes closed, his fists clenched on his thighs, as she took him in her mouth, acting on instinct rather than knowledge. She caressed him until he was groaning, his breath coming in short bursts, his body so tense she could feel an immediate reaction to her slightest movement. Finally he sank his fingers into her hair and pulled her head back, his chest heaving.

“I want to be inside you. Now,” he gasped, lifting her bodily and putting her on the bed. He stepped out of his pants and joined her, turning her face down and embracing her from the rear.

“Kalid?” she said questioningly and he said, “Follow me,” as he pushed her knees up gently and then slipped his hands under her, lifting her to him. In the next second he entered her and Sarah closed her eyes, transfixed with pleasure. He was so deep inside her that she seemed to feel him at the mouth of her womb.

“All right?” he gasped, moving, taking her with him.

Sarah moaned helplessly in response.

“Do you want me to stop?”

Sarah whimpered in wordless protest. Then, “Don’t stop,” she managed to say.

He didn’t, and by the time they were finished they were both covered with a light film of sweat, exhausted like long distance swimmers at the goal line. They lay supine for several minutes as their breathing slowed and heartbeats returned to normal. Then Kalid rose and pulled on his pants, pushing open the doors to the terrace. Sarah listened for several seconds but heard nothing further. She got up and slipped into Kalid’s discarded shirt, since her silk shift was in tatters on the floor. She followed him outside and found him leaning over the stone balustrade, looking down at the tiled courtyard below him.

“Kalid?” she said, and he turned to look at her, holding out one arm to embrace her. She came to him and he enfolded her, standing with his arms crossed over her breasts and her head tucked under his chin, her back against his chest.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked. “It’s so chilly after sundown.”

“Desert climate,” he responded. “Hot all day, cold at night. Do you think you can get used to it?”

“I’m already used to it. Boston isn’t exactly paradise, you know.It’s humid in the summer, freezing in the winter.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Not anymore.”

Kalid closed his eyes in relief at her response. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, saying, “What is this thing you are wearing?”

“Your shirt. You didn’t leave me much else.”

“You’re trembling, kourista. Should we go in now, are you chilled?”
 

“No. It’s just...I don’t think I have recovered yet. My legs are still weak.”

“I like to make you weak, kourista,” he said, his lips moving in her hair.

She was silent for so long that he finally asked, “What’s wrong, Sarah?”

She shrugged, but when he said quietly, “Tell me,” she responded by turning around and looking up at him.

“You’ve made many women feel the way I did tonight. I can’t help thinking about all of your past lovers, wondering how I fit in with them.”

“None of them were like you.”

“But surely they were...better at it?” she asked.

“Better at what?” he said teasingly, but when she didn’t smile he said, “No, they weren’t.”

“But they were trained, skilled in the art of love...”

“And that’s why it’s so different with you. Can you imagine what it does to me to know that I’m the first man who has touched you this way? That I’m the first man to receive your intimate caresses?”

“But that’s what I mean, Kalid. I don’t know what I’m doing.”