It was fortunate that on the following day he had no state business to attend to, for he could not keep his mind on anything but Incili. He spent part of the morning conferring with his household master about the arrangements for the evening. Late in the morning he went to see his wife.
Lateefa Sultan was a great-granddaughter of Selim I. Her grandmother had been a half-sister to Suleiman the Magnificent She was a beautiful woman who had inherited the magnificent coloring of her great-grandmother, Firousi Kadin, and the gentle disposition of her grandmother, Guzel Sultan. Her long hair was silvery blond, and her eyes a turquoise blue. She had been married to Cicalazade Pasha as a girl, and their children were now grown and gone. She lived a quiet life surrounded by every comfort, secure in the friendship of her husband. One night weekly, each Friday, he visited her bed-but it was usually to sleep, for she did not particularly care for lovemaking. Since his vast harem satisfied that part of his nature and since she had dutifully borne his children, he respected her sensibilities. They were old and good friends, the vizier and his wife.
On this bright morning he sat with her in a small kiosk overlooking the water. He looked slightly haggard and was, she thought, beginning to show his age.
"In all the years we have been together I have never asked for a favor," he said.
She smiled. "It must be a large favor you ask, since you remind me that you have never before requested one.
"As an Ottoman princess you have never had to fear the advent of another wife, for I can have no wife but you-unless, of course, you give me your permission to take another. Until now I have never wanted to take another wife."
"It is the new slave, Incili," said Lateefa calmly. "Is it not enough that you possess her body?"
"No," he replied quietly. "I want more, and I do not believe she will yield it to me until she is my wife."
"Has she said so?"
"She is ignorant of our ways. I do not think it has occurred to her that I would want her as a wife. You would like her though, Lateefa."
"So Hammid assures me," she answered him dryly. Then, looking closely at him, she said, "I am not sure that I believe my own eyes, but they tell me you are in love. Can it be that after all these years the great Cicalazade Pasha is actually in love with a mere woman? Have you finally succumbed to that tender passion?"
"Do not mock me, Lateefa." His voice was hard.
"Oh, my dearest Cica, I do not! Believe me I do not! It's just that you have always prided yourself on the careful noninvolvement of your emotions. Now, however, I see a different man. Very well, my lord. Hammid tells me I will not have to play the forgotten Gulbehar to your beloved's Kurhem, so I will give you my permission to take Incili as your second wife. When will the happy event take place?"
"Later today, before I take her to the Island of a Thousand Flowers."
"So soon, my lord?"
"I would erase the past to which she clings so tenaciously. Once she is my wife she will begin to settle down." He knelt and, taking Lateefa's hands in his, kissed them tenderly. "Thank you, my gentle dove. You have always been the most understanding of women."
Lateefa, watching him stride back across the garden, felt a wave of pity sweep over her. She had not met the woman they called Incili and yet she felt that her husband, in seeking to possess this woman, sought the moon. It was a desire he could never fulfill.
Chapter 51
YOU are to become a Muslim, Incili," said Hammid quietly.
Cat's green eyes widened. "Never!" she answered.
"Do not be foolish, my beauty," chided the eunuch. "It is but a formality. Six times a day you must kneel towards Mecca and pray. Who is to know what is in your heart but God?"
Cat thought a moment. His words made sense, and undoubtedly her great-grandmother had thought the same way, for she could not have been a sultan's favorite wife and an avowed Christian too. Besides, survival and escape were all that mattered. "Very well," she told Hammid. "I will do what you ask."
Early in the afternoon she was given a special bath of purification and brought to a women's mosque near the vizier's palace, where she automatically answered the questions put to her by the elderly muezzin. By late afternoon she was officially a convert to Mohammed.
She was not, however, aware of the fact that as soon as she returned to Cicalazade's palace the vizier signed papers making her his second wife. According to Muslim law, neither her knowledge nor her consent were necessary. Only the permission of her legal guardian was required. Hammid, who accepted a large sum of gold as her bridal gift, was that guardian.
When evening came, Cat waited impatiently for the litter that would carry her to the vizier's caique. Her small excursion of the afternoon had whetted her appetite for freedom, and she had even managed to reconcile herself to the fact that, for the present, Cicalazade Pasha owned her. She had decided to cease her resistance to him. Her objective was to return to her husband in Italy, and in order to do this she must be able to speak with the Kira family in Constantinople. She could only gain that privilege if she were trusted, and she would only be trusted if she appeared to have accepted her fate.
Not even her loyal Susan must suspect her thoughts. It was a secret she would keep to herself until her plans were completed. She started guiltily at the sound of Hammid's voice.
"You look so serious, Incili. What is it you think of, my beauty? Profound thoughts are not good for a woman."
She laughed. "You have indeed caught me, Hammid, but I think you would approve the direction of my thoughts. I have been thinking that you are right I will not say that it is easy for me, but I have decided to try to accept my fate. After all, 'tis not so terrible a fate. Perhaps in time I shall be able to love my lord Cicalazade. Do you think it will happen, Hammid? The vizier does appear to harbor some small affection for me."
Hammid could scarcely control his delight and excitement. She could not have made her decision at a better time. "I can," he said carefully, "if you will allow me, ease some of your anxiety. Will you trust me?"
"I will try," she answered him, "but what is it you would do?"
"It is an ancient form of relaxation and suggestion called hypnosis. I will place you in a trance, and suggest certain things to you. When you awaken you will be more at ease with your situation. Do not fear this, however, for if you do not wish to obey my suggestions, the hypnosis will not work. Your own strong will is your best protection."
"I trust you, Hammid," she said. "Proceed.”
The eunuch took a gold chain with a small diamond tear from about his neck. "Watch the tear, Incili." He swung it slowly before her eyes. "Is it not beautiful with its rainbow colors?" The voice was soothing and kindly. Cat felt a delicious warmth wash over her. "You must concentrate on the tear, my child, and soon you will begin to relax." The pendant swung slowly, and Cat felt her body growing languorous, her eyes heavier and heavier as they slowly closed.
"Are you asleep, Incili?"
"Yes, Hammid."
The eunuch took a pin from Ms robe and, lifting her foot, jabbed it quickly into her tender sole. She neither pulled away nor cried out, and he was satisfied that she was really in a hypnotic state. "Are you ready to submit to Cicalazade Pasha as your lord and master?”
"Yes, Hammid. I will try hard to please him."
"I am happy with you, Incili, and I want you to be happy. You have only to follow the dictates of your body, my beauty. Let your lovely body overrule your quick intellect. Lord Cicalazade loves you deeply. You have affected Mm as no woman ever has. Will you not give Mm the satisfaction of knowing that he has pleasured you?"
For a moment she was silent, as if struggling with her emotions, then her soft voice said, "Yes, Hammid, I will yield myself to my lord Cica."