Part 15 (1/2)

Zaynab stood motionless, head bowed, as she had been taught. Her presentation garments were chosen to entice. She wore a skirt fas.h.i.+oned from strands of tiny seed pearls attached to a wide gold and bejeweled band that rested just below her hipbones, leaving her navel open to view. Her tight short-sleeved blouse was made of cloth-of-gold. It had a round neck with a charming keyhole opening bordered with pearls, cut to just below her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She was barefoot, but a diaphanous veil of the softest blush silk covered her head, and another veil obscured her features.

Karim al Malina reached out and drew the veil from her head while Oma swiftly loosened her mistress's hair, allowing it to fall free, spreading it out fanlike that it might display to its best advantage.

Abd-al Rahman could hear his heart beating in his ears. Uncrossing his legs, he rose from his throne and moved down the two steps of the dais to where the girl stood. Unable to help himself, he took a strand of her pale gold hair between his fingers and felt the silky softness of it. Reaching out, he unfastened one side of her veil, tipped her chin up that he might see her face. Her pale lashes lay thick upon her pale cheek. ”Raise your eyes to me, Zaynab,” he said softly.

Obeying him, she looked into his face for the first time. He was not even a head taller than she, and was of stocky build. The deep blue eyes staring into her own were contemplative. She was almost relieved, but her beautiful face showed no emotion whatsoever.

The caliph was staggered by what he saw. She was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her features were perfect: oval-shaped eyes; a straight nose neither too long, nor too short; high forehead and cheekbones. A lush mouth seemingly made for kisses. A square little chin that suggested a touch of stubbornness. Good! He disliked bland women. He smiled, pleased, wondering what her smile was like. Right now, he suspected, she was terrified, although she was too well mannered to show it Gently, he refastened the veil, covering her face, and she lowered her eyes again. Slowly the caliph remounted his throne.

”Donal Righ has outdone himself, Karim al Malina,” Abd-al Rahman said ”Remain the night here at Madinat al-Zahra as my guest. My chamberlain will see to your comfort. In the morning I will receive you in private and tell you whether the Love Slave, Zaynab, pleases me. You will then convey a personal message to my friend, Donal Righ.”

Karim al Malina bowed low to the caliph, and, dismissed, backed from the Hall of the Caliphate. For a single, swift moment his eyes met Zaynab's, and his heart cracked painfully. He would never see her again. Allah watch over you, my beloved, he called silently to her, but she was already being escorted from the hall.

Zaynab did not speak as she and Oma were led from the Hall of the Caliphate. There was nothing more to say. Her heart was broken, and she would never love again. It was far better that way. She might be young, but she had no illusions left any longer. Karim was gone from her life. Her very survival and that of Oma depended upon the goodwill of a blue-eyed man called Abd-al Rahman. He was not unattractive, she decided, but she had certainly never imagined that he would look quite like he did.

The caliph was not a tall man. Though she was considered tall for a woman, he was barely taller than she was. His garments, of course, had been magnificent. What lay beneath them she could not tell, except that he was a man with a solid build. His eyebrows had been reddish. Was his hair that shade too? She would eventually know, for when he had looked upon her, his frank gaze had told her that he desired her.

They were brought to the women's quarters of the palace, which was practically an entire building of itself.

”This slave woman and her servant were brought to the caliph as a gift this morning,” her escort said to the eunuch at the door. Then the guardsman departed, his duty done.

”Come in, come in,” the eunuch beckoned them. ”I will get the Mistress of the Women. She will a.s.sign you and your serving wench bed s.p.a.ce. Wait here,” he told them, and bustled off.

Zaynab and Oma looked about them. The pillared hall with its several sparkling fountains was filled with women of all sizes, shapes, and colors. The cacophony of their voices made it seem like they had been set down into a huge cage of chattering birds.

”What? Another girl?” the Mistress of the Women grumbled as she arrived to look Zaynab over with a critical eye. ”There are over four thousand females in this place now as it is. How am I to cram another one in, I ask you? Well, you're pretty enough, but the caliph is not a man in his youth any longer. I suspect you'll grow old and fat like so many of the others. Let me think where I can put you.”

”I require my own apartment,” Zaynab said quietly.

The Mistress of the Women, whose name was Walladah, gaped at the young woman, astounded, then she began to laugh. ”Your own apartment? Hah! Hah! Hah! Are you some princess, then, who is to be given special attention? You'll be fortunate if I can find you bed s.p.a.ce at all. An apartment? Hah! Hah! Hah!”

”Lady,” Zaynab said quietly, but firmly, ”I am not some Galacian or Basque girl whose hair has been dyed. I am not a fearful virgin hoping to gain my master's favor. I am Zaynab, the Love Slave, trained by the great Pa.s.sion Master, Karim ibn Habib al Malina. I am to be housed according to my station. If you doubt my word, I suggest that you send to the caliph for his wishes in the matter. I will abide by them and offer no further complaint.”

Walladah struggled to make a decision. The well-being of the women of the harem was her duty. She was a distant cousin of the caliph, a woman widowed young, for whom no one else had asked. Only her family ties had gained her so powerful a position in Abd-al Rahman's household. It had also gained her riches and respect. She was not anxious to lose all she had attained.

”You must decide, lady,” Zaynab pressed her gently. ”The slaves will soon be here with my possessions. I have several trunks, and jewel cases that must be given a safe haven. I cannot have common concubines and their servants riffling through my garments. It is absolutely unthinkable. Remember who we serve, lady. I have been sent here for but one purpose. To please my lord, the caliph. I cannot do that if I have no place to entertain him, or if my personal possessions are stolen away by light-fingered females of undetermined heritage.”

Walladah looked at Zaynab closely. The young woman before her was incredibly beautiful and very self-a.s.sured, yet she was polite. A trifle haughty perhaps, but polite. ”Well,” the Mistress of the Women allowed, ”perhaps I could find a small apartment for you, but if you do not find favor with the caliph quickly, you shall find yourself sharing a sleeping mat with your servant.”

Zaynab laughed as if such a thing were impossible, and then she replied to the Mistress of the Women, ”My apartment must have a little garden of its own. I need my privacy when I take the air.”

Walladah swallowed her outrage. The cheek of the wench! But then, she had to admit that this was no ordinary slave. Still, her position necessitated that she maintain a certain control. ”I have just the apartment for you, my lady Zaynab,” she told her. ”If you and your servant will follow me, please.” She hurried off with the two young women behind her. The apartment she would put this girl in was at the absolute far end of the harem. It had a tiny sc.r.a.p of a garden, but the garden wall was shared with the caliph's zoo. The girl would have what she had requested, but it would hardly be choice. Later, if she gained real favor with the caliph, there would be time to find a better accommodation. If.

Oma gasped with outrage as Walladah opened the double doors to the apartment. How dare this woman insult her mistress so? She was about to voice her opinion of this affront to Zaynab when her mistress placed a warning hand on her arm and spoke for herself.

”It is small, Lady Walladah, but I believe it can be made quite comfortable. I shall remember your kindness.”

The Mistress of the Women felt a momentary sense of discomfort at Zaynab's words. ”I will send a cleaning woman at once, lady.”

”Excellent” Zaynab purred. ”I shall want to see the eunuchs available for my service as soon as possible. I shall also need to bathe soon. The caliph will desire my presence tonight.”

Walladah hurried off, amazed that so young a girl could have such presence and could have nonplused her so. She would do what she had to do to make this Zaynab comfortable. Then she would report to the lady Zahra, the caliph's favorite wife. That lady would certainly want to know all she could regarding this new creature.

”If she had sent us back to Alcazaba Malina,” Oma huffed, ”we could be no farther away from the center of things here. Two rooms, and neither of them big enough to swing a cat in, I might add.”

Zaynab laughed, closing the doors behind them. ”It is better than being a.s.signed a bed s.p.a.ce in the harem sleeping quarters amid a group of other women who would undoubtedly steal everything we have,” she said. ”These quarters may be small, but they give us status and privacy. We will turn them into an exquisite jewel box to house a perfect jewel,” she finished with a chuckle.

Oma looked about her. ”Well,” she said, ”I suppose once the dust is removed and we put our things about, it will be habitable. Let's see what we have for a garden.”

They went outside to find a small square garden with a round marble pond in its center. A bronze lily rose from the middle, to spray a fine mist of water into the air. There were no plantings of any kind, although the beds had been dug for them.

”Roses, lilies, and nicotiana,” Zaynab said. ”And sweet herbs as well. I think the pond should have real water lilies too, don't you, Oma? And we'll perfume the water to make the effect even lusher.”

The cleaning woman came, and shortly the two rooms were spotless.

Walladah returned, approved their efforts, and then said to Zaynab, ”What furniture will you require, my lady?”

”Oma knows, and will go with you to select it,” Zaynab said sweetly. ”Where are the eunuchs for me to choose among?”

”They await outside, lady. Shall I have them come in?” Walladah responded, a little smile touching the corners of her mouth. She had already spoken to Lady Zahra. They had picked the eunuchs themselves. Only one was really suitable. The rest were insignificant. This Zaynab, with her youthful pride, would be certain to choose the one they wanted her to pick. Walladah opened the doors and commanded the six eunuchs to come in. ”Here are the candidates I have chosen for you, lady,” she said. ”Which of them will you have?”

Zaynab looked at the six before her. Two were elderly. One was of middle years and looked half-witted. One was very young. Another was enormous in girth and looked half asleep. The sixth was a dignified dark-skinned man. Five were so eminently unsuitable that Zaynab knew it was this eunuch she was expected to take into her service. He would undoubtedly be a spy for Walladah. She contemplated the six. Among them was a fair-skinned boy with dark hair who looked nervous and wretchedly unhappy all at the same time. She pointed an imperious finger at him.

”I want him,” she said in a tone that brooked no interference.

”Lady,” Walladah protested, ”he is too young for such responsibility! Choose someone else.”

”Are you saying that you brought me someone unsuitable?” Zaynab demanded. ”I choose this young eunuch because he will bend to my ways easier than any of the others.” She turned to the boy. ”What is your name?”

”Naja, my lady,” the boy told her.

”He has no influence among the other eunuchs,” Walladah protested. ”He will be of absolutely no use to you, Lady Zaynab.”

”It is not necessary that he have influence,” Zaynab said blandly. ”When I gain favor with our lord the caliph, then Naja will gain influence through me, Lady Walladah. Now, if you would go with Oma and allow her to choose my furnis.h.i.+ngs ...”

Defeated, the Mistress of the Women retired, taking the five rejected eunuchs with her. With a grin and a wink at her mistress, Oma followed along.

When they were alone, Zaynab told Naja, ”You may trust me when I tell you that I shall become the caliph's favorite. I am no mere concubine, but a Love Slave. Do you know the difference?”

”Yes, my lady,” the boy said.

”Walladah wanted me to choose the tall dark man, who is undoubtedly her spy. I chose you instead because I expect total loyalty from you, Naja. If I should ever discover that you have betrayed me, I will see you die a most horrible death, and no one will be able to protect you from my wrath. Do you believe me?”

”Yes, lady,” the boy replied. Then he said, ”Nasr, the one they wanted you to choose, spies for the lady Zahra, not Walladah, although that one is also in her debt.”

Zaynab nodded. So the caliph's favorite wife was already aware of her arrival. She would be a formidable opponent, but perhaps she need not be. They might never be friends, but they did not have to be enemies. ”The lady Zahra wastes her time spying on me,” Zaynab told Naja ”I do not wish to replace her in the caliph's affections. Indeed, I could not possibly do so. Replace a woman for whom a city has been built and named?” Zaynab laughed. ”I only wish to please the caliph. That is what I have been trained to do: to give pleasure.” Although she hoped to build a certain loyalty in Naja, she knew that he, like all the others, could be bribed by a more powerful personage. Whatever he would repeat must soothe rather than worry the lady Zahra.

Oma returned, followed by several slaves carrying the furniture she had chosen for her mistress. ”That old Walladah,” she told Zaynab, ”would have had me take the most dreadful furnis.h.i.+ngs. Fortunately, I prevailed, my lady.” Hearing a noise behind her, she whirled about, saying, ”Be careful with that divan! Put it there, now.” She turned back to her mistress. ”I thought the caliph should have something comfortable to sit on when we entertain him.”

Oma had found some lovely pieces in the harem storehouse. The divan was covered in peac.o.c.k-blue silk. Its wooden legs were painted with gold. She had obtained several small tables, both round and square. One was of polished ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl, another an engraved bra.s.s circle set upon ivory legs, a third made of blue and white tiles. Several slaves were laden down with silk pillows in shades of emerald, sapphire, and ruby. There was a wonderful standing greenish bronze lamp, several hanging lamps with amber gla.s.s inserts, and a number of polished bra.s.s lamps for the tables. There was a single chair of carved wood with a leather seat, and several charcoal braziers to provide heat on damp or chilly days. The bedchamber needed no furnis.h.i.+ngs. A dais for Zaynab's bedding was already in place, and her clothes chests would take up the rest of the room. There was a small alcove off the bedchamber, where Oma would spread her bed mat. Naja would sleep outside of his lady's door.