Siege

'A man…' he began and then started crying. He buried his head in Sitt Hatun's robe. Now that he was talking, he could not stop. 'He killed Kacha. He's going to kill me. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.'

'Shhh, you're not going to die. I will protect you,' Sitt Hatun told Bayezid as she lifted him into her arms. She shut the secret door and turned to call for Anna, but she was already there.

'I heard the knocking,' Anna said. 'What has happened?'

'An assassin,' Sitt Hatun said as she crossed the room. 'He has come for the boy. Take him and keep him safe.' Anna nodded and took Bayezid in her arms. She left the room, and Sitt Hatun shut the door behind her. When she turned, she saw Isa standing in the doorway of the secret passage. 'You!' she exclaimed. 'What are you doing here? Did Halil send you?'

'I have come for the boy, Bayezid,' Isa said quietly. 'Tell me where he is.'

'He is not here,' Sitt Hatun lied. 'And you must leave now before you are discovered.'

'I will not leave without the boy.' Isa drew a small pouch from his belt. 'I do not wish to hurt you. The boy is here. Tell me where he is.' He took a step towards Sitt Hatun.

'Stop!' Sitt Hatun ordered, trying to control the trembling in her voice. 'All I have to do is scream and guards will come. You know the fate of men who are found in the harem. Your genitals will be cut off and stuffed in you mouth, and you will be tied in a bag and thrown into the river to drown.'

Isa took another step towards her. 'If you scream, you will die.'

Sitt Hatun met Isa's gaze and held it. 'Then we will both die,' she said. 'But you will not touch Bayezid.'

'Nor will you touch my mistress,' Anna said as the doors to the room swung open and she stepped through holding a sword. She stepped into the space between Isa and Sitt Hatun.

Isa looked from Sitt Hatun to the sword and back again. 'Do not be a fool, Sitt Hatun,' he said. 'Bayezid must die if your son is to be sultan. Better that it happen now, at my hand. I will be quick. The boy will not suffer. Or would you rather he be drowned in his bath by the palace guards on the day that Selim takes the throne?' Sitt Hatun hesitated, and Isa continued. 'All you have to do is step aside and your place as valide sultana will be assured.'

Sitt Hatun was torn. As valide sultana, mother of the sultan, she could have all that she wanted, including Gulbehar's head on a platter. And all she had to do was turn her back and let Bayezid die. It would be so easy. And Isa was right: the boy had to die sooner or later if Selim was to be sultan. But then she thought of Bayezid, and of the terror in his eyes as he begged her to protect him. She thought of her own son, Selim, and of what she would do if he were taken from her. 'No,' she said finally. 'I cannot. He is only a child.'

'So be it,' Isa said. He moved with surprising quickness, reaching into the pouch and flinging a cloud of white powder at Anna. But Anna was ready. She dropped to the ground, rolled under the cloud, and sprang to her feet on the far side, slashing at Isa with her sword. Isa managed to parry the blow with a small dagger, then he kicked out, knocking Anna's leg from under her. As he raised his dagger to finish Anna, Sitt Hatun started screaming. She grabbed the only weapon she could find – a heavy golden candlestick – and hurled it at Isa. It caught him square on the forehead, and he staggered backwards, bleeding.

Sitt Hatun stepped forward and helped Anna to her feet. From outside the bedchamber, they heard a crash as the eunuch guards burst through the main doors to the apartment. Isa looked towards the sound, then back at them. He hesitated, then turned and fled through the secret passage. The door had just swung shut behind him when the eunuch guards rushed into the bedchamber.

The guards paused when they saw that Sitt Hatun and Anna were alone, and that Anna was holding a sword. 'What are you doing here, captain?' Sitt Hatun asked calmly. She would not send the guards after Isa. After all, he had saved her life once, and besides, Isa's visit would be difficult to explain without revealing Bayezid's presence in her apartments.

The captain bowed low. 'We heard your screaming, Sultana,' he said. 'We came as quickly as we could. Are you all right?'

'As you can see, I am fine. Thank you for your vigilance, captain, but it was only a dream that startled me. You may go.' The captain looked dubiously from Anna's sword to the bloodied candlestick lying on the ground.

'An odalisque was killed tonight in Sultana Gulbehar's quarters, and the prince Bayezid is missing,' he said. 'Are you sure that you have seen nothing? The assassin may still be loose in the harem.'

'Then I suggest that you go and find him, captain.'

'Very well, Sultana. But I will leave a guard outside your quarters.'

'You have my thanks,' Sitt Hatun said. The captain bowed and led his guards from the room.

When they were gone, Bayezid appeared in the doorway. He ran to Sitt Hatun and buried his head in the fold of her dress. 'Is it safe?' he asked. 'I knew that they would come for me, just like my mother said. Are they going to kill me?'

Sitt Hatun gently stroked his head. 'There, there,' she told him. 'No one will harm you, Bayezid. You are safe.' By the time Isa reached the harem kitchen, the entire palace had been alerted that an assassin was on the loose. He just managed to squeeze into the kitchen sewer and pull the grate back over his head before a troop of eunuch guards came marching through the kitchen. Isa squirmed through the tunnel as quickly as he could. He emerged outside the wall and glanced above him. The archers were no doubt on high alert now, but Isa had no time to wait. He sprinted across the open space next to the wall, heading for the mouth of a nearby alley.

Arrows hissed past his head, but Isa reached the alley safely. Still, he did not stop running. The twisting, narrow streets of Edirne were an easy place to lose oneself, and he knew the guards would not catch him now. But it was not the guards that worried him. The news of his failed assassination attempt would travel fast, even at night. If Isa wanted to see his family freed, then he had to reach them before their keeper learned of his failure.

Isa ran without stopping until he reached the quarter where his family was kept. He slowed. The quarter was quiet, all dark streets and windows. There were no soldiers on the street. He had made it in time. He slipped back into the shadows and headed for the house where his family was kept. When he reached it he strode directly to the door and pounded on it. There was no response, so he knocked again. Finally, he heard a noise inside. After a minute, the door opened.

In the doorway stood a tall, well-muscled man with a bushy beard and a large birthmark on his forehead. He wore leather breeches and a close-fitting wool tunic. For three years this man had been the keeper of Isa's family. Isa knew nothing about him, not even his name, but he hated him all the same.

'What are you doing here?' the man asked. 'You were not to come until the prince is dead.'

'The prince is dead,' Isa lied. 'I have come for my family.'

The man's eyes narrowed. 'I have heard nothing of this.'

'I killed Prince Bayezid in his bed, not half an hour ago,' Isa replied. 'His death will not be discovered until morning.'

The scarred man yawned. 'Then come in the morning. Your family will be freed then, not before.'

The man began to shut the door, but Isa blocked it with his foot. 'I am through waiting. I have done all that Halil asked. My family is free now, and I will wait no longer. Take me to them.' He reached for a pouch on his belt. 'I will not ask you again.'

The man at the door took a step backwards at the sight of the pouch. 'Put that away,' he said. 'You will have no need of your poisons here. If you are in such a hurry then come. I will take you to your family.'

He let Isa into the house and led him down a corridor with several rooms opening off it. A dozen men lounged in these rooms – the guards Halil had assigned to keep Isa from his family. His family was confined to the upper floor, where it would be more difficult for them to escape. They reached the stairs, and the scarred man stopped and motioned for Isa to go first. He stepped past the man and hurried up the narrow staircase. The heavy door at the top of the staircase was unlocked. Isa pushed it open and stepped into the dimly lit hallway, which was a mirror-image of the one on the floor below. 'They are in the second room on the right,' the keeper said from behind. 'The door is unlocked. They are waiting for you.'