Bedazzled

women will be like sisters. Some you will love, others you will probably hate, but you will all manage to get on together.'

'You say that with such certainty,' India said.

'I have lived in the harem for over thirty years,' Azura replied. 'You are so fortunate. My lord Sharif made no woman his wife. He feared his enemies too much. While I was his favorite, I had to share his affections with the other women in his harem. It was not always easy for me, but it made him happy that I kept the peace within his house. I never whined at my lord about the other women, which set me apart from them. They were foolish, and were forever pouring a litany of complaints into his ear. My sole efforts were directed toward his comfort, his pleasure. I asked for nothing, and in return received everything. Even though you are the dey's wife now, India, you could benefit from my example,' she concluded.

'Was Baba Hassan chief eunuch in lord Sharif's time?' India asked the older woman.

'Nay, the chief eunuch was old Baba Mamood. He died shortly after my lord Sharif. Baba Hassan was my personal servant, and my lord Caynan raised him into his current position on my advice. Baba Hassan and I love Caynan Reis as we would a son. We do whatever we have to do to see to his happiness and his safety,' Azura told India.

'Who is he?' India wondered aloud. 'I know nothing about him other than he, too, was once a captive. I do not know his nationality, or his station in his former life, or even his age.'

'He is twenty-eight,' Azura told her. 'As for the rest, what does it matter? It has nothing to do with today. You love Caynan Reis, and that is all that should matter to you. Your life is here, and not back there in some other world, in some other time and place.'

India nodded. 'You are correct, my lady Azura. The past is nothing now. We must live for the present.' She sighed. 'I only wish that my family might know of my happiness. I hate to think of the pain I have caused them by my precipitous and hasty flight.'

'If they knew where you were,' Azura said, 'they would surely attempt to retrieve you from us. Perhaps in a few years when you have children, you will be allowed to send a message to your mother.'

'My grandmother would understand my plight better than anyone else in my family,' India said. 'She was in a similar position in her youth, and became the fortieth wife of the Grand Mughal Akbar.'

'Yet she returned to England?' Azura was puzzled.

'Her family learned where she was, but might have been content except Grandmama's husband, the earl of BrocCairn, was alive. She had thought him dead in a duel, and had gone off to India with her elder brother to meet her parents when she was kidnapped and sent to my grandfather. By the time they found her, and requested her return, Grandmama had had my mother. Her family, of course, did not know that. My grandfather would not allow her to take the baby to England with her, and that is how Mama came to be raised in Akbar's imperial court. My family is not like any others,' India finished.

'I should say not!' Azura remarked with a chuckle. 'Ahh, we are finally back,' she said as the litter was put down with a small bump. 'Come, my lady India, and I will show you your new apartments. Then we must go to the harem.' She laughed when the bride wrinkled her pretty nose in distaste.

India's new apartments were directly adjacent to her husband's. They would share the garden. There were but two rooms plus a small servant's chamber. The walls were white, the floors squares of large red tile. The day room had a small fountain in its center that was made of yellow-and-white tiles. There were several overstuffed divans with rolled arms, striped in blue and yellow satin; low ebony tables inlaid with tiny squares of multicolored tile; a rectangular cedar table upon which were a silver tray holding a decanter of lemon sherbet as well as a blue-and-white Fezware bowl of fresh fruit. There were large colorful pillows with gold tassels and standing bronze lamps burning fragrant aloes. Lamps of colored glass and warm, polished brass hung from the ceilings. Sheer silken curtains hung in the arches that opened to the garden, the carved screens being pulled aside.

The bedchamber was simple. There was a bed upon a gilt-and-painted dais. The mattress was covered in silver and sea-blue silk. There were more tasseled pillows. Several cedar chests were placed about the room, and upon a lovely table with carved legs was a gold-backed hand mirror and matching brush for her hair. By the bed was a low table upon which rested a silver lamp burning perfumed oils. Carved ivory screens blocked the arches, and were hung with silk curtains.

'Are you pleased?' Azura asked her.

India nodded. 'It is all so lovely. Please thank the servants for me, lady. They have done very well. What is in the trunks?'

'Part of your bride price, I suspect. Clothing, jewelry, fragrance. There will be time for you to explore later.'

'The harem,' India resigned. 'Where are their gifts?'

'Baba Hassan will bring them when he knows we are ready,' Azura said. 'If you go now, you will be able to join your husband all the sooner. Are you not ready again for his kisses and caresses?'

India blushed, nodding. 'Let us go then,' she replied.

As they entered the harem, the day room grew suddenly silent as seven pairs of eyes fixed themselves upon India.

'Make you obeisance to our master's wife, now head of this household,' Azura announced to them. Then her eagle eye observed as the seven women bowed low to India, even Samara.

'I thank you for your greeting,' India said in reply. 'I have brought you all little tokens to celebrate my marriage today.' She turned to the chief eunuch. 'Baba Hassan, you know which gift is for which lady. Will you hand the gifts to me? I admit to not choosing them, for I do not know you all well enough yet, but I would have them come from my hand to yours.' She smiled.

'Will the harem continue to exist, lady?' demanded Samara boldly. She was not a woman to beat about the bush.

'Whether the harem exists or doesn't exist is not my province. That is in the dey's domain. I am content, however, that you be here, but my husband's house must be free of discord. I will strive to see that it is so, Samara.'

Her answer seemed to appease the harem women, and they each stepped forward to receive their gift. The gentle Mirmah set the tone by taking India's two hands in hers, and pressing them to her forehead in a gesture of acceptance and respect. Each of the others followed Mirmah's example, Samara being the last and obviously reluctant. India smiled at each of them, though some more warmly than others as she handed out the gift packets, which were wrapped in silk kerchiefs, and tied with gold ribbons. The ladies cried out, delighted as they opened their gifts, for Baba Hassan had not been stingy in choosing. The women compared the earrings and necklaces, and were all satisfied.

'Will you partake of light refreshments with us, my lady?' Mirmah asked India.

'I will be happy to join you,' India replied, noting that Azura had disappeared from the scene.

The women led India to a divan, positioning themselves about her upon cushions as the slaves brought sweet grape sherbet, and a plate with tiny honey cakes and small horns of chopped nuts, and dough filled with raisins, nuts, and honey. There were also sweet dates and juicy figs upon the plate.

'You know I am English,' India said as they ate. 'I want to know about all of you. Mirmah is Circassian, Azura has told me, but what of the rest?'

'I am French,' Nila said. 'I am seventeen, and have lived in the dey's harem since I was fifteen. I was a gift to him from the dey of Algiers, who was my first master.'

'We are Greek,' Laylu said, indicating Deva in her statement. 'We came from the same village, and have been enslaved since we were ten. Baba Hassan bought us in the market of El Sinut