Elinore clapped her hands. ‘But surely we can try to make it ourselves. Can’t we try? Just a small amount?’
‘Certainly, child. You can try, but don’t be disappointed if you fail. There are some things in this world that are best tasted once.’
‘But I haven’t tasted it, Abu.’
After the table was cleared, the retainers were dismissed for the night. The four of them looked at each other in the candlelight. Elinore and her mother exchanged glances before the young woman addressed her father.
‘Abu?’
‘Elinore bint Muhammad?’
‘I know this is a difficult request, but as you know, the move to your house from the palace was sudden, perhaps too sudden and we were emotionally unprepared…’
‘I cannot imagine your mother being emotionally unprepared for anything.’
‘It’s me more than her. I’m really happy to be here, but you must understand it will take some time for me to adjust to the change.’
‘I understand that, child, and will do all I can to make it easy for you. Allah be thanked, I have finished my book. The Sultan has gifted me a small vessel and unless he revokes the order, which is unlikely as he is not a small-minded ruler, then we can travel together.’
The delight on Elinore’s face was visible. But she now broached another matter.
‘I would love to travel. I had never set foot outside Palermo till we visited Siracusa a few months ago. But Abi I want to ask… if I can sleep next to Ummi tonight? Just tonight because I’m feeling unsettled.’
That Idrisi managed to frown at this request was a tribute to his ingenuity — or so he told himself. ‘Elinore, I grant your request — but do not repeat it too often. And now I wish to speak with your mother alone for a while, if that meets with your approval?’
She embraced her father before leaving the room, accompanied by Balkis who had barely spoken the whole evening and appeared engrossed in her own thoughts. She had avoided his gaze and restricting her talk to trivial questions about Palermo. Was she doing it simply to annoy him? It did not occur to him, that unlike her sister, she might not be feeling too happy.
Alone with Mayya in his chamber, they embraced warmly. Then she looked carefully around the room and at his bed.
‘It was generous of you to let Elinore sleep in my bed tonight. She is uneasy, which is not surprising. Everything has happened far too quickly for her. I think she is torn about the move. A part of her wished to stay in the palace till Rujari’s death. She is very fond of him, you know.’
‘And he of her, but this Sultan is already dead as far as I’m concerned.’
‘With Philip out of favour and Rujari dead, will the treasury continue to pay you?’
‘The mother of my children lives on the estate in Noto, but I have another that I have not visited for many years. It came to me after my brother died without an heir. We could sell that to the Church or to a Baron. It is a large estate. Or I could leave it to you and Elinore. I have barely spent any money for the last ten years. This house and the retainers are paid for by the treasury and a few years ago the house was legally registered in my name for services to the state. Life will not be as luxurious as you are used to, but we will not starve.’
With that, he turned the conversation. ‘I had a strange dream in Siracusa.’
She feigned ignorance as he told the story of the ageless high priestess who had left behind unmistakable scents.
‘Surely you were mistaken. Your own body, as we know, leaves many a trace without the presence of anyone else.’
‘Mayya, deceitful woman, how long are you going to maintain your story?’
She looked at him in astonishment. ‘You found out?’
‘How could one not? The drug was effective, but it did not obliterate my memory.’
‘So what happened afterwards?’
‘Has Balkis not told you?’
‘Elinore did not give us a moment to ourselves, though I noticed a strange smile on my sister’s face.’
He told her the rest. With a resigned expression on her face, Mayya asked, ‘She really wants to live here, with us?’
‘She had no idea any more than you and me that this would happen so soon. We were discussing the situation after Rujari’s death and the inevitable changes in the palace.’
‘But she would be happy to leave the Amir and live as your second wife?’
‘Third.’
Mayya began to laugh. ‘You lived on your own for twenty years. Now you want both of us?’
‘I do.’
‘Let it be her choice, not yours. Her husband is a kind and considerate man and she is more attached to him than you realise. If you have succeeded in impregnating her, I do not think the Amir will ask any questions. He will be delighted and thank Allah and there will be rejoicings in Siracusa. Why deny him that small pleasure?’
‘I agree, it must be her choice. And she must think carefully.’
‘You can discuss it with her tonight after you have finished pleasuring each other.’
‘Mayya, I wanted to spend this night with you.’
‘Yes, yes. I know, but since you can’t, why remain alone when the high priestess awaits? I should leave you now. Elinore will be anxious.’
‘And should I tell Balkis I have told you everything or do you wish to inform her yourself?’
‘Of everything we have discussed today, that is the least important. It is a matter of no significance to me. Decide for yourself.’
‘You are angry, my nightingale, but why did you help Balkis to set the trap in the first place? I know she insisted that only my seed was good enough for her, but you could have refused.’
‘Complicity is better than deception. She was quite capable of doing all this without my help. And if she had succeeded, would either of you have told me?’
‘I hope I would have told you.’
‘Enjoy your night and sleep well.’
With these words Mayya left his room and returned to her daughter in the adjoining chamber. He remained seated, thinking of the turn his life had taken, how this latest phase had started and how it might end. But he did not stay alone for long. Tiptoeing out of his room, he made his way to the guest chamber.
They met just inside Balkis’s door, each so choked with passion that words eluded them. He lifted her off the ground and placed her gently on the large canopied bed where they undressed. Then he whispered, ‘Ishqan khumari, qum, atla. Tonight, all five obligations in one. Are you ready?’ She replied by putting her legs around his neck so that his beard covered her clean-shaven and scented mound. Whenever either of them wanted to talk, the other would take preventive action. Hours later he noticed the sky and realised that dawn was not far away.
Balkis, also awake, confessed her anxiety. ‘I thought it would be difficult for you today, even after Elinore claimed her mother for the night.’