Alia nodded. Her golden skin was suddenly pale.
'What is it?' Rhonwyn asked Nilak, confused.
'We are to go with Lady Alia,' Nilak answered.
'Why?' Rhonwyn persisted.
'Baba Haroun did not order the apricots be brought to you. I believe he thinks they are poisoned,' Nilak said quietly.
'You have found favor with the caliph,' Nilak replied. 'That is enough to give you enemies, my child. Come now.'
They followed Lady Alia to her apartments just down the corridor. Nilak told the caliph's first wife that she had explained the confusing situation to the lady Noor, who was understandably shocked.
'Do not be afraid, Noor,' Alia said, putting an arm about Rhonwyn. 'No harm will come to you. I will see to it.'
Rhonwyn nodded, smiling weakly at Alia as Nilak translated.
'I shall now seek among my younger maidservants for two slave girls to serve you,' the caliph's wife said. 'And Nilak will, of course, remain your companion.' She left Rhonwyn and Nilak, who were now sealed together in a quiet corner.
'Why is she so kind to me?' Rhonwyn asked.
'Because in you she sees an ally against Fatinah and Hasna,' Nilak said frankly. 'When the caliph took Fatinah as his second wife, Fatinah attempted to lord it over the lady Alia. It was a very foolish move, because the first wife always has precedence over the other wives and the concubines or any woman in the harem except possibly the lord's mother, but the caliph's mother died when he was a child. Fatinah bore the caliph a son, but by then he was tired of her vexatious behavior. Although it is not the lady Alias way to complain, Baba Haroun had kept the caliph fully informed of Fatinah's behavior. While our master was grateful for his second son, Omar, the boy's mother was no longer of any importance to him.'
'And then he fell in love with Hasna?' Rhonwyn was curious.
'Hasna was the daughter of one of the former caliph's most faithful counselors. She was the child of his old age. When he was on his deathbed he begged our caliph to take Hasna as a wife. He had no other children, and Hasna's mother had died giving birth to her. Rashid al Ahmet agreed. At first Hasna was meek and respectful, but then Fatinah infected her with her venom and jealousy. Hasna gave birth to a daughter, and before she lost her husband's love, she had another daughter. These two creatures spend most of their time scheming to overthrow the lady Alia, for they are too stupid to see it cannot be done. Even if that good lady died a natural death, the caliph would not return them to his affections. Several months ago the caliph's eye lit upon a particularly lovely slave girl from the island of Sicily. His passions were engaged, but the girl died suddenly after nibbling on a dish of pistachio nuts that had been left in her chamber. No one knew from where the nuts had come, although one of Fatinah's servants had been seen by a harem woman near the dead girl's chamber during that fatal day. When questioned, however, the harem woman claimed she could not remember which servant or if, indeed, it had been one of Fatinah's women at all.'
Rhonwyn laughed almost bitterly. 'I am here against my will. I don't want to infatuate the caliph, but I have, and now these two women want to murder me for it. Would that I had never left England.'
'It will be all right, my child,' Nilak assured her.
'What will happen now?' Rhonwyn wanted to know.
'This time, I believe, Fatinah and Hasna have gone too far,' Nilak said grimly.
And as if to give emphasis to her words, terrified shrieks were now heard coming from the main gathering room of the harem. Her expression grim, the Lady Alia rejoined Rhonwyn and Nilak. There was the sound of pounding footsteps, and the doors to the lady Alias apartments burst open to admit a very young and frightened slave girl. Behind her came Baba Haroun, the look on his face merciless. The girl flung herself at Alia's feet, sobbing and babbling.
'She is begging the lady for mercy,' Nilak said softly. 'She says she had to do what she was told by her mistress. That she herself would harm no one. She begs Lady Alia to spare her life.'
The slave girl clutched at Alia's hem and pleaded as Nilak translated her words to Rhonwyn.
'Lady, gracious lady, spare me! I am the lowest of the low and could not refuse when my mistress commanded me!'
'Did you know the truit was poisoned?' Alia asked.
The slave girl shook her head in the negative.
'She lies!' snapped Baba Haroun. He grabbed the slave girl by her arm and shook her roughly. 'The truth, you spawn of a she-camel!'
'I did not know! I did not know!' the girl insisted.
The chief eunuch slapped the slave girl brutally several times. 'I shall whip the truth out of you, girl!' he roared.
'But did you suspect your mistress and her friend might want to harm the lady Noor?' Alia gently probed.
The slave girl nodded, adding, 'But I am only a slave, my lady, and I could not be certain what they were doing. They did not do it in my sight, so how could I accuse them of perfidy?'
'You could have come to me,' Alia said quietly.
'They would have killed me if I did,' the slave girl half whispered.
'Now I will kill you,' Baba Haroun said fiercely, and the hapless slave shrieked, wrapping her arms about Alia's legs.
'No, Baba Haroun,' the caliph's first wife said. 'The girl is correct, and only sought to survive. It is Fatinah and Hasna who must be punished severely for this attempt on Noor's life. And, I am certain, the murder of poor Guzel. Tell me, girl,' she said softly, caressing the slave's head comfortingly, 'what do you know of Guzel's death. Did you bring her the pistachio nuts?'
'Nay, lady, 'twas another. The lady Hasna's servant,' the slave said low.
'Were the nuts poisoned?'
'So it was rumored among the others' was the reply.
'Take the apricots to Fatinah and Hasna, Baba Haroun. See that they eat them all,' Lady Alia said in a soft voice. 'I grow weary of their misbehavior.'
'What of their children?' he asked.
'Omar is but four, and the girls three and two. We will raise them properly. Under our tutelage Omar shall become his brother's right hand instead of his nemesis, eh?'
'You are merciful, my lady,' the chief eunuch said.
'Remove the children before the others,' she advised.
'It shall be done, my lady' was the obedient answer.
'She is going to kill them?' Rhonwyn was surprised.
'Fatinah and Hasna have crossed the line,' Nilak said. 'You are new here, and so you do not know what they have done in their never-ending attempts to harm the lady Alia and her son, Mohammed. There are none here who will mourn their passing.'
'What will the caliph say?' Rhonwyn wondered.
'What happens here in the harem is the province of the lady Alia and Baba Haroun. It is he who will explain to the caliph what happened. It is unlikely that the caliph will have any objection.'
Rhonwyn suddenly saw the caliph's first wife in an entirely new light. Beautiful, obviously intelligent, and certainly kind, Alia was completely capable of being ruthless when she had to be. Rhonwyn shuddered.
'Are you chilled, my child?' Nilak asked anxiously.
'Nay,' Rhonwyn said quietly.
