"She could be married now, but not given to her husband until she matures. There are several men who would be suitable and whom I would like to bind closer to the empire."
"Never will I allow you to use my daughter as a political p.a.w.n! Would you deny her the freedom of choice that you allowed Firousi"s daughters?"
"It was different for the twins. They have been close all their lives and would have suffered terribly if they had been separated. It is for this reason alone that I allowed them to choose whom they would wed."
"You cannot wed Nilufer to a stranger. She already loves a certain young man, and has since she was a child."
"How can that be? Whom have you allowed to break the sanct.i.ty of my harem to meet secretly with my daughter?"
"No one. They first met when we lived at the Moonlight Serai."
"But she was just a child then, and aside from her brothers, there were no men allowed in the harem at the Moonlight Serai."
"You are forgetting young Ibrahim."
"Nilufer loves Ibrahim? Impossible! She has not seen him since she was seven."
"I beg to correct you, my love, but she has. You permitted our daughter the freedom of Suleiman"s court, and Ibrahim was a frequent visitor. When you sent our son to govern Magnesia, Ibrahim went with him. Nilufer has been heartbroken and sullen ever since. She loves Ibrahim!"
"It is but a childish fancy. She will get over it."
"If she is childish, then you will agree that she is too young to be wed," said Cyra quietly.
Selim threw up his hands. "You have trapped me as neatly as the hunter the hare, beloved. I bow to your wisdom and cleverness."
She leaned over and kissed him. "And you will consider Ibrahim as a suitor in a few years" time?"
"Perhaps."
"You have named Suleiman your heir. Ibrahim is his best friend, and someday-may Allah grant it be many years hence-our son will be sultan. I am sure that he will name Ibrahim his grand vizier. If Suleiman"s sister-his full full sister-is wed to his grand vizier, our son"s interests will be well served." sister-is wed to his grand vizier, our son"s interests will be well served."
Selim smiled slowly. "Were you a man, my beloved, I might make you you my grand vizier." my grand vizier."
"I am far happier being a woman, your bas-kadin, and the mother of your children."
He softly stroked her long hair. "Ah, my beloved! If only I had a friend like Ibrahim to serve me. me. Perhaps I was hasty in dismissing my vizier, Cem Pasha." Perhaps I was hasty in dismissing my vizier, Cem Pasha."
"Dismissing him? You had his head lopped off-which was just a bit ungrateful, considering how well he ran the government while you were in Persia."
"Perhaps, my sweet, but when I returned, the late vizier was loath to relinquish his power. I forgave him, but he continued to try to usurp my power. He had to be punished. Beheading him seemed the quickest solution. Now I discover this old man that I replaced him with is a doddering fool!"
"Ali Akbar has served the government well over the years. Retire him honorably, my lord. You have had five grand viziers since you took up the sword of Ayub. Four have been beheaded. This old man"s only fault is his many years. Do not overlook the many good services he has performed. Already the people speak openly in the streets of your harshness."
"What do they say?"
"I will tell you only if you will grant me forgiveness beforehand."
"It is granted."
"A most popular curse these days among our people is "May you be vizier to Sultan Selim!""
He grimaced. "I will retire Ali Akbar with honors, but whom shall I choose to replace rum?"
"Piri Pasha," she answered.
"Not another old man! Never! Piri Pasha was in Constantinople when my grandfather, the conqueror, captured iL He has seen more than sixty winters."
"Piri Pasha is no Ali Akbar. He is an administrative genius. He is a man without vices, has no delusions of power, and has always put his duty to the government above everything-even his personal life. You need him, especially since you plan to go to Egypt"
"Will you come with me?"
"No, my love. Not unless you command it On campaign you are a different person, not the Selim I know and love. My lord is the poet the father, the gentleman-not the stern sultan and fierce soldier. The soldier has little need of my softness. I can be of no use to you if I go with you to Egypt but here in Constantinople I am your eyes and ears. Who can tell you the truth as I do?"
He kissed her lightly. "And what will you do besides be my eyes and ears?"
"Why, see to the harem and the children. Nilufer will be thirteen come spring, and there are things I would teach her that her tutors cannot. My little Karim has not yet reached the age where he can do without his mother, though he grows more each day."
"He is so like you, beloved. Of all my sons he is the least like a Turk, but we shall change that as he grows older. Has he not already accompanied his father on one campaign?"
"If he grows older," she said softly.
Selim, however, did not hear her, for his mind had turned from Cyra to the second step in his plan to become the head of all Islam. He would shortly take his army out again, and this time his objectives would be the holy cities of Mecca and Medina; then on to Egypt and his "rescue" of the caliph. He would take Cyra"s advice and appoint Piri Pasha as grand vizier. Her instinct about people was always good. Free from worry on the home front he could concentrate on the campaign.
Knowing how secure he felt Cyra let him go without telling him about Hadji Bey.
The agha kislar was dying, and all the residents of the Eski Serai knew it, and wept There was no one in the harem from the humblest slave girl to the bas-kadin who did not love and honor this wise old man. Hadji Bey had served the House of Osman since the age of nine. He was now seventy-one years of age. He had lived through the reigns of Mohammed the Conqueror, Bajazet and Selim I, and had hoped to see Suleiman rule. Now he knew that Allah had not wished it so, and he sent for Cyra.
For the first time in all her years in Turkey, she entered the apartments of the grand eunuch. She was surprised to find them so simply furnished, for the agha"s taste in clothing had always been elegant if a trifle flamboyant.
The bedchamber was dimly lit and the curtains drawn. Hadji Bey lay on his couch. Unlike the average eunuch, he had never become fat and now his lean body seemed to have shrunk beneath the coverlets. An attendant set a stool by the agha.
Seating herself, Cyra told the slave, "Disturb us only in case of emergency." The man nodded and left them.
"Well, my daughter," said the agha, his voice weakened, "it is almost time for the thread of my life to be cut ..." She made a small gesture of protest but he took her hand in his and patted it Cyra noted the once-slim fingers had become like a bird"s talons. "No, my daughter, do not grieve. My only regret is that I shall not live to see Suleiman sultan. This is what I must speak to you of now. There is danger ahead for him. He has too many brothers."
"How can you say this, old friend? My beloved lord Selim once had ten sons, but Omar is dead, Kasim and Abdullah killed at Chaldiran, and now my son Murad fallen in Syria. Only six remain. Selim needs his sons."
"But Suleiman does not" replied Hadji Bey. "My child, you, the brightest of my pupils, cannot see the truth for the secure and rosy mist before your eyes. Selim will live only a few more years. Yes! It is true, Cyra! The thing that eats at his guts will soon have gorged itself, and the sultan"s life will be snuffed out. Suleiman is heir, but once Selim is dead, this bond that has kept the kadins united all these years will dissolve. Mohammed is but four months younger than Suleiman. He is charming, gay, and popular. Do you think little Firousi would not advance her son"s cause? And the fierce Zuleika? You think her incapable of the same thing? Sarina with her one son is as capable as the other two. When Selim joins his ancestors in Paradise, all his sons but Suleiman must be there to greet him."
"No!"
"It must be done, my daughter! This advice is my only legacy to you."
"Have you forgotten my little Karim, Hadji Bey? Do you think I could destroy him? Do you think I would permit either Selim or Suleiman to destroy him? Never! Never! We did not bear our children to have them murdered to insure the succession. The slaughter of brothers must be stopped!" We did not bear our children to have them murdered to insure the succession. The slaughter of brothers must be stopped!"
"You will destroy Suleiman, Cyra. As bas-kadin, you have power. As sultan valideh, you will have more power, but even that power has its limits. You will not be able to prevent malcontents from using Karim and his brothers against Suleiman-and they will! You must begin to act now!"
"I cannot, Hadji Bey! I cannot!" She began to cry softly.
The old man raised himself slowly and painfully. "I did not pick you off the auction block in Candia, protect you, train you, and raise you to such heights to have you fail me now. For all but nine years of my life the House of Osman has been my house! I saved it from Prince Ahmed and his mother. I will not let your sentimental weakness destroy it! I am not asking you to dispose of Selim"s sons personally, but they must go! If they do not, Suleiman will be forced to destroy them himself. From his birth he has been told he will be sultan, and if I know Suleiman, he will be!" With this, the agha fell back among the pillows.
Cyra held a cup of cool water to his lips. "I will do everything to protect Suleiman, Hadji Bey, but there must be something else we can do besides kill them. Let me think on it before I make a final decision."
The old man nodded. "Now, my child, I ask two final favors of you. First, will you forgive me my harshness of today?"
"A thousand times over. In my heart I remember the man who sired me, but it is you who have been my father since my thirteenth year. How could I be angry at you for speaking the truth to me?"
Hadji Bey smiled up at her with a trace of his old self. "Daughter of my heart, you warm this old man"s bones. The second favor I ask is that you sit by me until I sleep." She nodded. "Cyra, my daughter, be brave, be strong, and let nothing deter you from your goal Suleiman will be a great sultan, but you will be a greater valideh!" Taking her hand, he closed his dark eyes, the sound of his strained breathing the only discordant note in the room.
She sat for several hours by his side; perhaps she dozed for a few minutes. Suddenly she became aware of the deep silence around her. Taking a small mirror on a chain from about her waist, she held it to his nostrils. The face of the gla.s.s remained clear.
It was then she allowed herself the luxury of weeping. Sobbing softly, she remembered the coffee-colored gallant in Candia who in one bid had paid a fortune in gold for her and then, covering her nakedness, led her away. He had saved her from G.o.d knows what fate, and had raised her to the pinnacle of power. In his wisdom he had charted her course with Selim"s; and with Selim she knew more love and trust than any woman could possibly know. Hadji Bey was responsible for all her happiness.
Her sobs slowly abated, and, composing herself, she left the room saying to the guard outside the door, "The agha kislar is dead. See to the preparations for his burial."
32.
EARLY IN THE YEAR 1517, Selim"s army triumphed again. In Syria, near the town of Aleppo, the Turkish forces met and destroyed the army of the Mameluke ruler. The Ottoman artillery had improved, and the Egyptians, like the Persians before them, were taken by surprise. 1517, Selim"s army triumphed again. In Syria, near the town of Aleppo, the Turkish forces met and destroyed the army of the Mameluke ruler. The Ottoman artillery had improved, and the Egyptians, like the Persians before them, were taken by surprise.
Unopposed the sultan"s victorious armies swept across Syria, through Palestine, and into the Nile River Valley up to the gates of Cairo. Here, Selim arrogantly demanded that the Mameluke sultan relinquish his authority. He was refused as arrogantly. The Turks quickly battered their way into the city, where the Ottoman sultan promptly hanged the Egyptian ruler and his sons. Selim was at his fiercest, but his rage was not entirely due to his rival The campaign had cost him three more sons. Murad had been killed in Syria. Sarina"s only son, Bajazet, as well as his favorite second son, Mohammed, had fallen in the battle for Cairo. He had four living sons left. Selim was a born soldier, and his sons had followed him eagerly, yet he felt guilt at their loss. He had not raised them to fall in battle, yet it was an honorable death. Still, he was glad he did not have to face his wives with the news.
His grief was partially a.s.suaged when his soldiers brought to him the last Abbasid caliph. The elderly man, found hiding in a cellar, was terrified of the Turkish ruler. Selim put his fears to rest by treating him kindly and with deference. Overwhelmed, the frail old man gratefully accepted the four plump, pretty Nubian ladies of middle years the sultan bestowed on him. A man of his many winters should be properly cared for, declared the sultan, and each of the caliph"s new slaves had a special talent One was a fine cook, another an excellent seamstress, the third skilled in simple medicine, and the last a good ma.s.seuse and teller of tales.
The old man was tenderly carried to the baths, where he was washed, barbered, perfumed, and presented with a new wardrobe. He was given choice living quarters and would, of course, return to Constantinople with the sultan, to live the remainder of his years in safety, luxury, and honor.
Six times daily, accompanied by Selim, whom he had taken to calling "my son," he led the prayers to Allah. One wit among the soldiers remarked that the old fellow must have thought he had died and gone to Paradise.
In grat.i.tude the caliph named Selim and the Ottoman rulers to follow him as his successors, thus transferring the t.i.tle Defender of the Faith to the House of Osman.
The sultan was jubilant His territory now included Greece, the Balkans, a good part of Eastern Europe, all of Asia Minor down through Syria and Egypt and with it a good part of North Africa, as well as all Arabia, with its sacred cities of Mecca and Medina. His power was the greatest of any monarch in the world.
While he was in Egypt there came to Selim"s attention the feats of the Khair ad-Din, also known as Barbarossa, a pirate who was greatly feared. Khair ad-Din hated Christians, especially Spaniards, with all the fervor of a fanatic. They were infidels, decadent illiterate, weak-and worse, they had killed two of his brothers.
Taking command of his dead brothers" ships, he harried the Spanish from Tunis to the Balearic Islands. Caught ferrying Moors from Spain to safety in Africa, he captured the attacking galleys and added them to his own fleet which also included several Papal ships, now rowed by their original crews.
At one point Khair ad-Din learned that a new purge of Moors was to begin in Spain. Guided by Spanish Muslims, he swept inland into the soft, fat underbelly of Spain, sacking monasteries, convents, churches, garrisons, and castles alike. Getting clear with as much booty as his men and their prisoners could carry, he capped his achievement by rescuing Spain"s remaining seventy thousand Moors and getting them safely to North Africa. The grateful Moors joined his crews in droves.
After learning of Khair ad-Din"s feats, the Ottoman sultan sent for him. Khair ad-Din came, for he was no fool. He might be a pirate of great fame, but as famous as he was at sea, the Ottoman"s feats as a soldier were greater. The pirate chief was a peasant, and he knew it With a commission from the Grand Turk, he would be respectable and honored in the Muslim world. Khair ad-Din had one weakness. He desperately wanted respectability.
Selim, standing on the top step of the dais, fought back the urge to laugh as the pirate admiral approached. He was of medium height well-muscled, and fat as a wrestler. His bright red hair and bushy beard were oiled and perfumed. The sultan, whose only acquaintance with redheads was with Cyra and their youngest son, thought Khair ad-Din the ugliest and most ludicrous figure he had ever seen; but he maintained his grim composure.
"May you live a thousand years, o my padishah," came a deep, cannonlike voice.
Selim graciously acknowledged the greeting and quickly got to the main business. Khair ad-Din was given the rank of beylerbey, with its horsetail standard, a sword, and a fine Arabian stallion. When the new beylerbey agreed to escort the twenty-five ships full of the sultan"s booty back to Constantinople, Selim added a regiment of Janissaries and a battery of heavy cannon.
Khair ad-Din was ecstatic. From this day forward he would fight for Ottoman Turkey, proudly flying its flag on his topmost mast Forty-five percent of all he took would go to the sultan. The remainder would be divided among himself, his captains, and their men.
Satisfied, Selim left Egypt for the long trek home to Constantinople. With Khair ad-Din the scourge of the Mediterranean, the Christians would be kept very busy, and he would have the time to plan his Western invasions. The journey took longer than he would have wanted, for accompanying him and the army were an additional one thousand camels laden with treasure.
Selim returned to his capital in the early spring of 1518, to find that Cyra had temporarily appointed Anber, the chief eunuch of the Moonlight Serai, as agha kislar. He confirmed this appointment first to her privately when they visited the simple tomb of Hadji Bey, and then publicly through his grand vizier, Piri Pasha.
Piri Pasha was everything Cyra had promised he would be. It amazed Selim that she knew so much about his officials, but he trusted her and had learned long ago not to question his good fortune.
In his absence, his twin daughters had made him a grandfather for the first time, with two fine boys. Nilufer was fifteen and finally ready for marriage. With little prodding, he chose Ibrahim to be her bridegroom.
A messenger was dispatched to Magnesia. Suleiman and Ibrahim were to come to Constantinople within the month. In the meantime, the palace would be made ready for the approaching festivities.
Sarina, no less peppery at forty, bullied the new agha to the point of tears with her demands to be allowed to supervise the gardens for the wedding. Cyra smoothed things over by sweetly asking Anber to grant her request "It will help ease her deep sorrow over Prince Bajazet"s death," the bas-kadin said. Anber, grateful for an excuse to get the sultan"s fourth kadin off his neck, agreed, and Sarina triumphantly bustled to the royal greenhouse to oversee the quickly cowed gardeners.
By coaxing and bullying, she achieved miracles. On Nilufer"s wedding day, the Yeni Serai gardens were filled with Gold of Ophir rose trees in full bloom, each set in a tall turquoise-enameled pot and thousands of paper-white narcissus and pale-yellow tulips filled the flower beds. The peach, cherry, almond, and pear trees were in full bloom, as they always were each spring.
During the days preceding the nuptials, a gentle pandemonium reigned within the harem walls. Nilufer was to have an entirely new wardrobe. This meant three hundred pairs of harem trousers, three hundred long-sleeved, slash-skirted dresses, three hundred fur-or satin-lined robes, three hundred silk, gauze, or sheer woolen blouses, three hundred night garments, three hundred sets of underwear, and three hundred pairs of slippers. Her jewelry, gifts from her family, filled three coffers.
Ibrahim sent word to his bankers, the House of Kira, to purchase a palace worthy of his bride. Being able to come and go freely within the harem walls and the outside world, Esther Kira cheerfully acted as go-between for the princess and her relations-to-be.
Nilufer had seen on a small point along the Bosporus a delicate, cream-colored-marble palace, and nothing would do but she must have it The owner of the palace, guessing the purpose of the inquiry, demanded an outrageous price for his property. The Kiras, however, were not without resourcefulness. Secretly investigating the owner, they discovered he had sold supplies to the army at inflated prices-an offense punishable by death under Sultan Selim"s strict laws.
Warned by a friend of his imminent exposure, the owner of the little palace fled. The property was confiscated by the government and given to the Kiras as a reward for their loyalty. They in turn sold it to Ibrahim at a fair price.
The twins" wedding festivities had lasted only three days, since the sultan had been eager to start for Syria. Nilufer was Selim"s favorite daughter, and he was determined that she should be wed in a manner never to be forgotten by his subjects. It was his last generous act The wedding was to be held in the gardens of the Yeni Serai. The newlyweds would spend their first nights in the beautiful sh.o.r.e kiosk newly built by Selim for the occasion. The small, one-story building was decorated with marble pillars hung with red silk curtains. It had three rooms, each furnished luxuriously, and its roof was topped by a gilded, windowed dome resembling a tent Set just outside the gates and overlooking the Golden Horn, it was a lovely and private place for the princess and her new husband.
Suleiman, Gulbehar, and Ibrahim arrived a week before the wedding. The prince was quite pleased that his best friend would soon be his brother-in-law, and took great delight in teasing him about his forthcoming marriage to a mere child. Ibrahim, two years older than Suleiman, was twenty-six.
The wedding day arrived-a perfect May morning. The cries of the muezzins echoed in the clear air all across the city. At noon, after midday prayers, Ibrahim was escorted by Prince Suleiman and his brothers-in-law, Hussein and Riza ben Ismet, to the Great Mosque (which had been the Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia) just outside side the walls of the Yeni Serai. There he was officially and legally married to Nilufer Sultan, represented by the new agha kislar.
The men then returned to the palace for the festivities. A pavilion painted with red, green, and blue designs had been set up in the gardens. It was shaded by a cloth-of-gold awning. Here the sultan, his sons, and his sons-in-law seated themselves. Nearby was a smaller pavilion for the women.
Nilufer wore pale-lavender trousers banded with diamonds at the ankles. Over them was a slash-skirted, long-sleeved dress of the same color, covered with diamonds, pearls, and amethysts, and topped with a deep-purple silk cape embroidered in gold and silver thread and diamonds. The cape was lined with alternate stripes of gold and silver cloth. On the back of Nilufer"s head she wore a matching cap. Her long, dark hair was unbound except for a single pearl-ta.s.sled braid. About her slim neck sparkled a magnificent diamond necklace.
Leading Nilufer to be formally presented to her husband, the bas-kadin almost eclipsed her daughter. Cyra was resplendent in beige and gold, her hair shining in the spring sunshine, her famous emeralds blazing. Bowing to the sultan, she kissed her daughter and looked for a moment into her eyes. Nilufer gently touched her mother"s cheek and brushed away the single bright tear.
"It is from happiness," murmured the bas-kadin.
"I know, my mother."
They turned to the agha who, taking the princess"s right hand, placed it in Ibrahim"s right hand. Ibrahim then removed his bride"s veil and, giving her a kiss, whispered, "You certainly took your time growing up."
"Isn"t it worth it?"