Read Online Harem by Colin Falconer - Free Book Online

as dull and savage as an animal's, but you would expect that in a Serb. They dressed him well: a pelisse of green velvet, yellow slippers, a white sugarloaf turban. The effect was not too unpleasant.
    'I said, I did as you asked.'
    'Good.'
    'And now?'
    'Now?'
    'You must fulfil your part of the bargain.'
    She turned a page of her Qur'an. The Kapi Aga tried to control his temper. How thoroughly satisfying it would be, he thought, to slice off her head. Be done with this upstart right now. Watch her life's blood spurt over the word of Mohammed and up the grey stone wall. If only that would solve the problem.
    'When does the Sultan return to the Eski Saraya?'
    'Our bargain-'
    'When?'
    'He goes north to Adrianople tomorrow for the hunting. He will not be back until the leaves fall.' He smiled at how the blood had drained from her face. How much longer do you think you will remain iqbal , you little witch?
    'We had a bargain,' he said.
    'There is one more condition.'
    'I have done as you asked. You may make no more demands of me!'
    'While I keep your secret for you, I may do as I please.'
    She is right. I am impotent in this. Yes, once more, someone has me by the balls. But I will see you squirm for this one day, Tatar witch. 'You said you would help me.'
    Hürrem closed the book, the heavy pages slamming shut like an iron door. She got to her feet and stepped right up to him. To his amazement she ran a fingernail down the length of his arm and took his hand.
    'I will help you. After tonight, you will no longer have a problem. You will live in fear no more.'
    His mouth went dry. Hürrem moved closer. He could feel the heat of her body and the softness of her thigh against his groin. 'What do you want?' he said but his voice did not sound like his own.
    Her breath was hot and sweet on his cheek. 'I want some of your juice,' she whispered.
     
    ***
     
    Meylissa was embroidering a kaftan the colour of burnished gold for the young shahzade , Mustapha. She took her handiwork to the window to examine it in the fading light of the afternoon. She heard someone enter the room behind her.
    'Did I frighten you?' Muomi said.
    'No,' Meylissa said and shook her head, but it was a lie. Muomi always made her uncomfortable.
    'I have what you needed.' Muomi put a small blue and white jar on her workbench.
    Meylissa removed the rounded cork stopper and sniffed. 'It's foul.'
    'Of course it is. It's a kind of poison. Swallow it all, it will make you sick and kill the baby.'
    Meylissa replaced the stopper. Her hands shook. 'Thank you.'
    Muomi gave her a pitying look. 'It has nothing to do with me,' she said and shuffled out.
     
     
     

Chapter 15
     
    The Kislar Aghasi woke to the sound of a woman screaming. At first he thought it might be just one of the girls crying in her sleep - some of the new ones did that, and he would have to organize a beating for them the next day to encourage them to stop. But as he came awake he realized this was no milksop's nightmare. He had heard screams like that before, coming from the bonstanji-bashi's torture chamber. He swung his legs off the cot and reached for his wooden pattens. His hands were trembling.
    The candle had not burned down far, so he guessed he could not have been asleep more than an hour. He took the candle and hurried out into the corridor, his belly shivering like jelly inside his nightshirt.
    The screams came from the dormitory on the floor above. He summoned two of his guards and hurried up the wooden stairs.
    Meylissa rolled naked on the floor, tearing at the bare wooden boards with her fingernails. Another spasm shook her and she curled her knees into her chest and retched. There was blood everywhere, soaked into her bedding and smeared across her face. There was a pink froth around her lips.
    The other girls had gathered round her, pale and terrified. When Meylissa writhed again they screamed and jumped back as if she might infect them all. She tried to say something but her mouth just gaped