Read Online The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jason Goodwin
Ads: Link
of the dead officer, coiled in the cauldron's base.
"It
was always pretending, wasn't it?" Yashim asked. "That's what you said. Tripe
soup made of beans and bacon."
The
soup master looked at him in surprise and folded his hands.
19
****************
"You
must get Yashim back!" The valide sultan crooked her finger and wagged it at
her son. "We may all be murdered in our beds."
Sultan
Mahmut II, Lord of the Horizons, Master of the Black Sea and the White, put up
his hands and rolled his eyes. It was scarcely conceivable, he thought, that
three hundred able-bodied women--and in this sum he included his mother, for
sure--could be actually murdered, one by one, in the very sanctum of imperial
power.
All
the same, he allowed himself to play with the idea. He would keep the
delightful Hadice safely by his side at all times, and by the end, through a
simple process of elimination, they would know who the killer was. Then he and
Hadice would spring out among the throttled beauties and dispatch her. He would
announce that he was too shaken by the experience to take on any more
concubines; it would be unfair to them, he was far too old. He would marry
Hadice, and she would rub his feet.
"Valide,"
he said politely. "You know as well as I do that these things happen. There is
probably a very good explanation."
He
wanted to point out that it would almost certainly be a very trivial
explanation, but he sensed that his mother would feel slighted by the
insinuation. This was her realm, shared with the kislar agha, the chief black
eunuch, and everything that happened in it had to be serious.
"Mahmut,"
the valide said sharply, "I can think of a very good explanation. The murderess
wants you."
"Me?"
The sultan frowned.
"Not
in bed, you silly fool. She wants to kill you."
"Aha.
It was dark, and she mistook some ambergrised houri for her sultan and
throttled her before she realized her mistake."
"Of
course not."
"So
what was that girl, then? Strangling practice?"
The
valide sultan cocked her head. "Maybe," she admitted. "I suppose it might take
practice. I don't suppose many of the girls have done a lot of strangling
before they come."
She
patted the cushion beside her, and Mahmut sat down.
"I
was more worried that she might simply be hurrying the moment," the valide
continued. "She has her place in the order. Sooner or later she will be alone
with you. She wants it sooner. Then she can kill you."
"So
she knocks off the nice girl and moves up one on the list? I see."
"You
make it sound ridiculous, but I have been here a lot longer than you and I know
just how ridiculous things can turn out to be extremely serious. Trust me.
Trust a mother's intuition."
"I
trust you, of course. But what I don't see is why the murderess is in such a
rush. And by killing the girl she's slowed the thing down, anyway. After this,
I shan't have to see any of them for days. My nerves, Mother."
"It
makes the thing more sure. That unfortunate girl might have infatuated you. You
might have kept after her for weeks on end. She might have, I don't know,
rubbed your feet the way you like."
Mahmut
grinned ruefully: the valide knew everyone's secrets.
"And
there's the edict, isn't there? The great announcement. If you die, there will
be no edict. Don't tell me someone doesn't want to murder you over that!"
"To
get me out of the way in time, you mean?"
"Exactly.
I think you should send for Yashim right away."
"I
have. He's working on it."
"Nonsense.
He's not working on it at all. I haven't seen him here all day."
20
****************
YASHIM
had, in fact, found time to visit the harem that day. On his return from the
restaurant, he had gone in quietly, alerting no one, simply to see where the
body had been found and where the girl had lived.
Her
room, which she had shared with three other girls, had iron bedsteads and
several rows of pegs on which the girls hung their clothes and the bags that
held the scented soaps they were fond of, a few shawls and
"It
was always pretending, wasn't it?" Yashim asked. "That's what you said. Tripe
soup made of beans and bacon."
The
soup master looked at him in surprise and folded his hands.
19
****************
"You
must get Yashim back!" The valide sultan crooked her finger and wagged it at
her son. "We may all be murdered in our beds."
Sultan
Mahmut II, Lord of the Horizons, Master of the Black Sea and the White, put up
his hands and rolled his eyes. It was scarcely conceivable, he thought, that
three hundred able-bodied women--and in this sum he included his mother, for
sure--could be actually murdered, one by one, in the very sanctum of imperial
power.
All
the same, he allowed himself to play with the idea. He would keep the
delightful Hadice safely by his side at all times, and by the end, through a
simple process of elimination, they would know who the killer was. Then he and
Hadice would spring out among the throttled beauties and dispatch her. He would
announce that he was too shaken by the experience to take on any more
concubines; it would be unfair to them, he was far too old. He would marry
Hadice, and she would rub his feet.
"Valide,"
he said politely. "You know as well as I do that these things happen. There is
probably a very good explanation."
He
wanted to point out that it would almost certainly be a very trivial
explanation, but he sensed that his mother would feel slighted by the
insinuation. This was her realm, shared with the kislar agha, the chief black
eunuch, and everything that happened in it had to be serious.
"Mahmut,"
the valide said sharply, "I can think of a very good explanation. The murderess
wants you."
"Me?"
The sultan frowned.
"Not
in bed, you silly fool. She wants to kill you."
"Aha.
It was dark, and she mistook some ambergrised houri for her sultan and
throttled her before she realized her mistake."
"Of
course not."
"So
what was that girl, then? Strangling practice?"
The
valide sultan cocked her head. "Maybe," she admitted. "I suppose it might take
practice. I don't suppose many of the girls have done a lot of strangling
before they come."
She
patted the cushion beside her, and Mahmut sat down.
"I
was more worried that she might simply be hurrying the moment," the valide
continued. "She has her place in the order. Sooner or later she will be alone
with you. She wants it sooner. Then she can kill you."
"So
she knocks off the nice girl and moves up one on the list? I see."
"You
make it sound ridiculous, but I have been here a lot longer than you and I know
just how ridiculous things can turn out to be extremely serious. Trust me.
Trust a mother's intuition."
"I
trust you, of course. But what I don't see is why the murderess is in such a
rush. And by killing the girl she's slowed the thing down, anyway. After this,
I shan't have to see any of them for days. My nerves, Mother."
"It
makes the thing more sure. That unfortunate girl might have infatuated you. You
might have kept after her for weeks on end. She might have, I don't know,
rubbed your feet the way you like."
Mahmut
grinned ruefully: the valide knew everyone's secrets.
"And
there's the edict, isn't there? The great announcement. If you die, there will
be no edict. Don't tell me someone doesn't want to murder you over that!"
"To
get me out of the way in time, you mean?"
"Exactly.
I think you should send for Yashim right away."
"I
have. He's working on it."
"Nonsense.
He's not working on it at all. I haven't seen him here all day."
20
****************
YASHIM
had, in fact, found time to visit the harem that day. On his return from the
restaurant, he had gone in quietly, alerting no one, simply to see where the
body had been found and where the girl had lived.
Her
room, which she had shared with three other girls, had iron bedsteads and
several rows of pegs on which the girls hung their clothes and the bags that
held the scented soaps they were fond of, a few shawls and
Similar Books
