Siege

if he were taken from her. 'No,' she said finally. 'I cannot. He is only a child.'

'So be it,' Isa said. He moved with surprising quickness, reaching into the pouch and flinging a cloud of white powder at Anna. But Anna was ready. She dropped to the ground, rolled under the cloud, and sprang to her feet on the far side, slashing at Isa with her sword. Isa managed to parry the blow with a small dagger, then he kicked out, knocking Anna's leg from under her. As he raised his dagger to finish Anna, Sitt Hatun started screaming. She grabbed the only weapon she could find — a heavy golden candlestick — and hurled it at Isa. It caught him square on the forehead, and he staggered backwards, bleeding.

Sitt Hatun stepped forward and helped Anna to her feet. From outside the bedchamber, they heard a crash as the eunuch guards burst through the main doors to the apartment. Isa looked towards the sound, then back at them. He hesitated, then turned and fled through the secret passage. The door had just swung shut behind him when the eunuch guards rushed into the bedchamber.

The guards paused when they saw that Sitt Hatun and Anna were alone, and that Anna was holding a sword. 'What are you doing here, captain?' Sitt Hatun asked calmly. She would not send the guards after Isa. After all, he had saved her life once, and besides, Isa's visit would be difficult to explain without revealing Bayezid's presence in her apartments.

The captain bowed low. 'We heard your screaming, Sultana,' he said. 'We came as quickly as we could. Are you all right?'

'As you can see, I am fine. Thank you for your vigilance, captain, but it was only a dream that startled me. You may go.' The captain looked dubiously from Anna's sword to the bloodied candlestick lying on the ground.

'An odalisque was killed tonight in Sultana Gulbehar's quarters, and the prince Bayezid is missing,' he said. 'Are you sure that you have seen nothing? The assassin may still be loose in the harem.'

'Then I suggest that you go and find him, captain.'

'Very well, Sultana. But I will leave a guard outside your quarters.'

'You have my thanks,' Sitt Hatun said. The captain bowed and led his guards from the room.

When they were gone, Bayezid appeared in the doorway. He ran to Sitt Hatun and buried his head in the fold of her dress. 'Is it safe?' he asked. 'I knew that they would come for me, just like my mother said. Are they going to kill me?'

Sitt Hatun gently stroked his head. 'There, there,' she told him. 'No one will harm you, Bayezid. You are safe.' By the time Isa reached the harem kitchen, the entire palace had been alerted that an assassin was on the loose. He just managed to squeeze into the kitchen sewer and pull the grate back over his head before a troop of eunuch guards came marching through the kitchen. Isa squirmed through the tunnel as quickly as he could. He emerged outside the wall and glanced above him. The archers were no doubt on high alert now, but Isa had no time to wait. He sprinted across the open space next to the wall, heading for the mouth of a nearby alley.

Arrows hissed past his head, but Isa reached the alley safely. Still, he did not stop running. The twisting, narrow streets of Edirne were an easy place to lose oneself, and he knew the guards would not catch him now. But it was not the guards that worried him. The news of his failed assassination attempt would travel fast, even at night. If Isa wanted to see his family freed, then he had to reach them before their keeper learned of his failure.

Isa ran without stopping until he reached the quarter where his family was kept. He slowed. The quarter was quiet, all dark streets and windows. There were no soldiers on the street. He had made it in time. He slipped back into the shadows and headed for the house where his family was kept. When he reached it he strode directly to the door and pounded on it. There was no response, so he knocked again. Finally, he heard a noise inside. After a minute, the door opened.

In the doorway stood a tall, well-muscled man with a bushy beard and a large birthmark on his forehead. He wore leather breeches and a close-fitting wool tunic. For three years this man had been the keeper of Isa's family. Isa knew nothing about him, not even his name, but he hated him all the same.

'What are you doing here?' the man asked. 'You were not to come until the prince is dead.'

'The prince is dead,' Isa lied. 'I have come for my family.'

The man's eyes narrowed. 'I have heard nothing of this.'

'I killed Prince Bayezid in his bed, not half an hour ago,' Isa replied. 'His death will not be discovered until morning.'

The scarred man yawned. 'Then come in the morning. Your family will be freed then, not before.'

The man began to shut the door, but Isa blocked it with his foot. 'I am through waiting. I have done all that Halil asked. My family is free now, and I will wait no longer. Take me to them.' He reached for a pouch on his belt. 'I will not ask you again.'

The man at the door took a step backwards at the sight of the pouch. 'Put that away,' he said. 'You will have no need of your poisons here. If you are in such a hurry then come. I will take you to your family.'

He let Isa into the house and led him down a corridor with several rooms opening off it. A dozen men lounged in these rooms — the guards Halil had assigned to keep Isa from his family. His family was confined to the upper floor, where it would be more difficult for them to escape. They reached the stairs, and the scarred man stopped and motioned for Isa to go first. He stepped past the man and hurried up the narrow staircase. The heavy door at the top of the staircase was unlocked. Isa pushed it open and stepped into the dimly lit hallway, which was a mirror-image of the one on the floor below. 'They are in the second room on the right,' the keeper said from behind. 'The door is unlocked. They are waiting for you.'

Isa needed no further instruction. He hurried down the hall and pulled the door open. The room had no windows, and it was very dark, lit only by the light from the door. Isa could not see his family. 'Jina!' he called. 'Children?' No response. He entered and was immediately assaulted by a powerful odour of decay. Something was very wrong here. 'Jina?' he called again in rising panic. He took a few more steps into the room before he saw his family. His wife and two children were slumped motionless against the far wall. He rushed across the room and knelt beside his wife. Her throat had been slit, as had the throats of his daughter and son. Judging by the decayed state of their bodies, they had been dead for several days.

'Halil told me to thank you for your service,' the keeper said from the door. 'But you are too dangerous to leave alive. As Halil promised, you'll be joining your family now, forever.' Isa ran for the door, but before he was halfway there, it slammed shut. The room went black. Isa heard a deadbolt slide to, and then another.

He stumbled back across the dark room to the door and pounded on it with his fist, but there was no response. 'You will pay for this!' he shouted. 'You will pay!' Still, there was no reply. He yanked on the handle, and then kicked the door hard. It did not budge. The door was made of solid oak. It would take an axe to bring it down. He was trapped.

Isa slumped to the floor and sat still. Despite all that he had done, despite all his years of working for Halil, he had failed his family. His life meant nothing now. But if he could not save his family, he would at least avenge their deaths. 'Halil,' he mumbled to himself. He repeated the name over and over again, like a mantra. It gave him strength. There was purpose in his life yet. He would see to it that Halil suffered as he had suffered.

But first, he would kill his family's keeper. And before he did that, he would have to escape. Isa closed his eyes and cleared his mind, forcing himself to ignore the putrid smell of the corpses of his beloved wife and children. He had time to think. The keeper would most likely leave Isa there to starve, but if Isa was lucky, then the man would come back to kill him. Isa could deal with him then. Even if he had to face every guard in the house, Isa was determined that his life would be dearly sold. If no one came, then Isa would simply have to find another way out.

He closed his eyes and meditated, trying to focus his thoughts on the task at hand. He had been sitting for only a few minutes when sweat began to trickle down his shaved head and he noticed that the door at his back was growing hot. He touched the wall next to the door and then the floor. They were all warm. He put his nose to the crack at the bottom of the door and smelled smoke. With alarm, Isa realized that the house was on fire. The keeper intended to burn him alive.

Isa rose and moved around the room, feeling the walls for any cracks, any weakness that could be exploited. There were none. He moved around the floor, stomping and checking for loose planks, but gave up after only a few seconds. If he did manage to make it through the floor, then he would probably only find himself in the fire. Isa moved back to the walls, coughing as smoke began to fill the space. He had to find a way out soon. He began to circle the room again, this time knocking on the walls. He moved along the wall to the left of the door, then turned the corner and moved to the back of the room. Still nothing. The smoke was thick now, rising up between the