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That is, if Mehmed did not kill her first. Sitt Hatun was not sure that Mehmed would protect her, even after she told him of Gulbehar's infidelity. The news might well drive him over the edge. After all, now that she had fled the harem she had no protection, no rights. All she had was the kumru kalp, sewn into the folds of her silk caftan. Sitt Hatun prayed to Allah that it would be enough.

Veiled to avoid prying eyes, Sitt Hatun and Anna made their way through the sun-baked streets of Manisa to the palace. Sitt Hatun led Anna around to the side, where a small door protected by eunuch guards gave servants access to the harem complex. She walked straight to one of the guards. 'We wish to present ourselves to the stewardess of the harem,' she told him. 'We desire to serve the sultan.'

The guard examined them both closely. 'Let me see your faces,' he said at last.

Sitt Hatun shook her head. 'We show our faces to no man, only to the stewardess.'

'Very well,' the guard grumbled. 'Wait here.'

Sitt Hatun and Anna stood in the shade of the palace wall as the sun inched across the sky and their patch of shade shrank to nothing. Finally, the stewardess appeared. She was an older woman, but still striking despite the faint wrinkles at the corner of her eyes and the grey in her long black hair. As stewardess of the harem, it was her task to recruit and train the women who would serve the sultan. 'These are the ones?' she asked the guard, who nodded. 'Come with me,' she told Sitt Hatun and Anna.

They followed her down a short passage and into a round room, where the stewardess stopped and turned to face them. 'This is as far as you go until I get a good look at you,' she said. 'Take off your veils.' Sitt Hatun removed her veil, and the stewardess gasped. 'Sultana! What are you doing here?'

'Quiet,' Sitt Hatun ordered as she replaced her veil. 'I do not wish my presence to be known by any but the sultan Mehmed. You will tell him that I have arrived yourself. But first, prepare a bath for me and my servant in a private room. And bring me new clothes. I wish to refresh myself before I see the sultan.'

'Yes, Sultana,' the stewardess said. She led Sitt Hatun and Anna to a large chamber with a steaming bath set into the floor. Sitt Hatun undressed and lowered herself into the water, where Anna gently washed away the grime from her travels. Sitt Hatun dressed with care, slipping into a revealing gold silk robe, which looked as if it could fall off at a mere thought, and a matching veil. Yet, when the stewardess of the harem led her into Mehmed's reading-room, he did not even glance up from the book he held before him. Only when she had removed her veil and settled on the floor across from him did Mehmed look at her. 'Why have you come here, wife?' he began abruptly. 'Is it at my father's bidding?'

She shook her head. 'He does not know that I am here.' Mehmed set his book aside, his eyebrows raised. Sitt Hatun was glad to have surprised him; she had the advantage. 'I have come on my own. I bring news of your father.'

'Indeed?' Mehmed replied. 'The news must be quite important. You know what the punishment is for leaving the harem without the consent of the sultan?'

'I know, My Lord.' The punishment was death, just as it was death for those who entered the harem uninvited. 'But you are the sultan, My Lord. It is for you to decide my fate. Once you have heard my message, you will understand that I have only done a wife's duty in coming to warn you.'

'Warn me?' Mehmed asked. 'My father would not dare to move against me. I am the heir to the throne.'

'No, My Lord,' Sitt Hatun agreed. 'He would never raise his hand against his son. But he might place his hands upon his son's favourite wife.'

Mehmed's eyes narrowed. 'Careful, woman,' he said, his voice hard and dangerous. 'I will have your tongue if you speak false of Gulbehar.'

Sitt Hatun felt the blood drain from her face, but she did not hesitate. 'I do not speak false, husband. I have seen your father in the bedchamber of Gulbehar with my own eyes. But I do not expect you to believe me, though I swear four times by Allah. I have brought proof.' She took the kumru kalp from her robes and placed it before Mehmed.

Mehmed's jaw tightened when he saw the ruby. He picked it up and his hand clenched white-knuckled around the stone. Mehmed stood suddenly, and Sitt Hatun feared that he might strike her. But instead he strode to his writing desk and placed the kumru kalp there. When he returned, his features were calm once more.

'You are sure that my father does not know you are here?' Mehmed asked. 'He does not know that you have brought me the kumru kalp?'

'Nobody knows,' Sitt Hatun told him. 'Only your stewardess of the harem.'

'Good, then we shall keep it that way. You will stay in seclusion so long as you are here, served only by your maidservant and the stewardess.' Sitt Hatun nodded. 'You have performed a great service,' Mehmed continued. 'You have my thanks, Sitt Hatun. How may I repay your loyalty?'

'I have only done my duty as a wife, My Lord,' Sitt Hatun replied. 'And I only ask for my due as your wife.'

Mehmed studied her for a long time while Sitt Hatun sat breathless. Finally, he nodded his head. 'Very well,' he said. 'Come.' Mehmed took her hand and led her into the bedroom. Moonlight filtered through the curtains of Mehmed's bed, highlighting the sleeping face of Sitt Hatun. She looked peaceful, a faint smile curling her lips. Gazing on her, Mehmed almost felt sorry for his long-neglected wife. Almost. For although he had enjoyed making love to Sitt Hatun, he already regretted lying with her. He had done so not just to reward her, but out of anger and spite, directed both at his father and at Gulbehar. He had allowed his passions to rule him, and he knew that there would be a price to pay. But there were other things on Mehmed's mind as he rose from bed and padded across the soft carpet to his study. He picked up the kumru kalp by its golden chain and then hung it around his neck. He would wear the gem as a reminder of Gulbehar's betrayal, a reminder never to trust his heart again.

There was little doubt in Mehmed's mind that Sitt Hatun's accusation was true. The kumru kalp never left Murad's neck. It was one of his greatest treasures, a jewel that was said to have been worn by the Roman Empress Anna Comnena herself. Murad had seized it when he conquered Edirne and wore it always as a reminder of his greatest victory. He would never have given it to Sitt Hatun, much less to a mere gedikli. Only one woman could have led him to part with it: Gulbehar. Mehmed knew all too well the wild passions that she could spark. Besides, Sitt Hatun's story only confirmed a hundred suspicions of Mehmed's own. So this, he thought, was why his father had been so eager to send him away, why he had objected so strongly to Mehmed's relationship with Gulbehar, why he had insisted that she stay in Edirne. Anger flared up inside Mehmed, and he gripped the gem so tightly that its sharp edges cut into his hand. The old fool; did he really think that he could steal Mehmed's own kadin? It was time that he taught his ageing father a lesson. It was time that he resumed his rightful place on the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

Mehmed moved from behind his desk to the cabinet on the wall. He opened it and removed the Koran. It fell open in his hands, and Mehmed read: 'Believers, vengeance is decreed for you in bloodshed: a free man for a free man, a slave for a slave, and a female for a female.' Surely a god that counselled a man for a man would also approve of a sultan for a sultana.

Mehmed placed the Koran aside and pressed the hidden latch that revealed the cabinet's secret compartment. He slipped on a pair of tight leather gloves and then removed the box that Isa had brought him. He opened the box and took out the vial of poison. The liquid inside was slightly viscous, pale amber in the moonlight. Mehmed still did not know who had sent the poison, but he would deal with that detail later. For now, it only mattered what the poison could do. He would have his vengeance.