Miriam delivered the first verse.
“If like a bird on wings I flew…” Adi waited for a moment, then started calling on them in sequence. They responded.
Zuleika: “I’d always keep the sun in view.”
Sara: “And follow toward the morning dew.”
Aisha: “I’d help the orphaned destitute.”
Sit: “Would sing them songs of every hue.”
Jada: “And guard that all the notes were true.”
Here Adi amiably nodded toward Halima, calling on her to continue.
She blushed and gave it a try.
“So you and I could fly…”
She got stuck and couldn’t go on.
“It’s on the tip of my tongue,” she said.
They all laughed, and Adi winked at Fatima.
“All right. Fatima, you help her out.”
Fatima completed Halima’s line, “Then you and I could fly, we two.”
But Halima instantly opposed this.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” she said. “Wait, I’ll get it.”
And, clearing her throat, she truly did.
“So you and I could fly to heaven above.”
Her words were met with an outburst of laughter. Red with anger and shame, she got up to run to the door, but Miriam blocked her way.
Then they were all at pains to comfort and encourage her. Gradually she calmed down and wiped her tears away. Adi explained that the art of making poetry was a blossom that could only be attained with prolonged effort and that she shouldn’t despair if she failed the first time. Then he called on the girls to continue, but most of them had already run out of rhymes. On their own, Fatima and Zainab took up a kind of dialogue.
Fatima: “Let what you’ve heard, Halima, be for your education.”
Zainab: “Fatima, you’re the last one to give lessons, in my estimation.”
Fatima: “Can I help it if my greater knowledge is an irritation?”
Zainab: “Nonsense, you should know yourself and know your limitations.”
Fatima: “All right, it’s clear enough to me, my candor brings your indignation.”
Zainab: “Not in the slightest. If you must know, your arrogance is the provocation.”
Fatima: “Beauty breeds contempt. Plainness has no consolation.”
Zainab: “Was that one aimed at me? From you, you overfed mutation?”
Fatima: “Now that’s a nice one. Should we all praise your grim emaciation?”
Zainab: “Not on my account. I can’t help laughing at your indignation.”
Fatima: “Oh, really? And how should I react to your prevarication?”
Zainab: “You think that your attacks can shield you from humiliation.”
“Enough, my doves,” Adi interrupted them. “You’ve flaunted your lovely rhymes and learned maxims, you’ve disputed, gone on the attack, vied with each other and wrestled in spirit, made beautiful music with daggers flying. Now forget your quarrel and make peace. Enough learned elegance and spoken grace. Now off to the dining room with all of you.”
He bowed good-naturedly and left the classroom. The girls poured out after him and found their places for dinner.
Breakfast was waiting for them, having been laid out on the table, and this meal was served to them by three eunuchs: Hamza, Telha and Sohal. It was at this point that Halima learned that they had the services of seven eunuchs. Apart from the two teachers whom she already knew, and in addition to the three serving them at table, there were also two garden keepers, Moad and Mustafa. The kitchen was run essentially by Apama. Hamza, Telha and Sohal were simply her assistants.
These three tended the housekeeping. They cleaned, straightened, washed and maintained order throughout the house. All of the eunuchs, however, lived together with Apama in some garden separated from theirs by moats. The eunuchs had their own building there. Apama lived in a separate house.
All of these details served only to kindle Halima’s curiosity. She didn’t dare ask questions in Miriam’s presence. She could barely wait until she and Sara were alone again.
The meal struck Halima as a regular feast. A succulent wild fowl roast in an aromatic broth, a variety of vegetables, crepes and omelets, cheese, breads, and honeyed pastries with fruit inside. And to wash it all down a glass of some drink that strangely made Halima’s thoughts spin.
“That’s wine,” Sara whispered to her. “Sayyiduna allows us to have it.”
After the meal the two of them went to their bedchamber. They were alone and Halima asked, “Can Sayyiduna really permit wine if the Prophet forbids it?”
“He can. I told you he’s the first after Allah. He’s the new prophet.”
“And you say that no one but Miriam and Apama has seen Sayyiduna?”
“No one else except Adi, who is his confidant. But Adi and Apama can’t stand each other. Apama can’t stand anyone, for that matter. She was very beautiful when she was young, and now that that’s all lost she’s bitter.”
“Who is she, actually?”
“Shhh. She’s a horrible woman. She knows all the secrets of love, and Sayyiduna brought her here for us to learn from. You’ll hear about that this afternoon. They say when she was young she had lots of lovers.”
“Why on earth do we have to learn so many things?”
“That I don’t really know, but I think it’s so we can be ready for Sayyiduna.”
“Are we supposed to be in his harem?”
“Maybe. But now you tell me if you think you like me yet.”
At this Halima scowled. It made her angry that Sara asked her such nonsense when she needed to find out so many important things. She lay back on her bed, clasped her hands behind her head, and stared at the ceiling.
Sara sat down next to her and gazed fixedly at her. Suddenly she bent down over her and began kissing her passionately.
At first Halima ignored her. But eventually the kissing became bothersome and she had to push Sara away.
“I’d like to know what Sayyiduna plans to do with us,” she said.
Sara caught her breath and arranged her hair.
“So would I,” she replied. “But nobody talks about it and we’re forbidden to ask.”
“Do you think it would be possible to escape from here?”
“Are you out of your mind, asking things like that when you’ve only just arrived? If Apama could hear you! Didn’t you see the fortress at the top of the cliff? The only way out is through that. Help yourself, if you dare.”
“Whose castle is it?”
“Whose?! Everything you see around you here, including us, belongs to Sayyiduna.”
“Does Sayyiduna live in that castle?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“And I don’t suppose you know what this country we’re in is called?”
“I don’t know. You ask too many questions. I doubt even Apama and Adi know. Miriam might.”
“Why just Miriam?”
“I told you that they’re close.”
“What does that mean, that they’re close?”
“That they’re like husband and wife.”
“Who told you that?”
“Shhh. We girls figured it out.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t, you’ve never been in a harem.”
“Have you?”
“Yes, I have, sweet thing. If you only knew. My master was sheikh Moawiya. In the beginning I was his slave. He bought me when I was twelve. Then I became his favorite, his lover. He used to sit on the edge of my bed and gaze at me, just like I’m sitting here now. He’d call me his sweet black cat. He fell in love with me. If only I could tell you what it was like. He was a magnificent man. All of his wives were jealous of me. But they couldn’t do anything about it, because he loved me best of all. Their envy and anger alone made them grow older and uglier by the day. He would take me with him on his expeditions. Then once we were attacked by an enemy tribe. Before our men could set up a defense, their bandits seized me and took me away. They sold me at the market in Basra to a buyer for Our Master. I was miserable.”