The shadows deepened around Isa and the crowd thinned until only a few merchants remained, hurrying home down the dark street. The moon would not rise for several hours yet, and in his tight-fitting black clothes, Isa was nearly invisible. It was time. He turned his back on the house and slipped away down the alley. Keeping to the shadows, he made his way to the palace, where he stopped in an alleyway across from the outer wall. All around the palace there was a paved, torchlit space some twenty feet wide. At night the space was forbidden ground. Archers patrolled the walls, and anyone caught trespassing would be shot on sight. Isa would have to cross the open space unseen if he hoped to enter the palace.
From where he stood, he could see two guards talking on the wall above. He waited several minutes, but they did not move away. Isa drew his dagger and prised a stone loose from the wall next to him. He threw it far down the street to his left, and it landed with a loud crack and rolled clattering along the pavement. The guards turned to follow the sound, and Isa took the opportunity to dash across the open space. He flattened himself against the wall and waited, motionless. No alarm was raised. He had not been seen.
Isa crept along the wall and rounded a corner to the side that faced the river. He continued until he came to a rusted metal grate set low into the wall. The grate covered the mouth of a small sewage tunnel, some three feet across. He slipped on a pair of black leather gloves and then drew a pouch from his belt and carefully sprinkled a dark green powder around the edges of the grate where it joined with the stone of the tunnel. He took a leather water skin and splashed the powder with water. There was a hissing sound, and then noxious green smoke rose from the edges of the grate. A few minutes later the grate came loose in Isa's hands. He set it aside and crawled into the tunnel.
The bottom of the tunnel was covered with a slippery, foul-smelling layer of muck — the rotting refuse washed down the kitchen sewer. Isa ignored the smell, thinking of his family's freedom as he wormed his way through the filth. After a hundred feet the tunnel ended beneath another grate. He quietly shoved the grate aside and emerged into the empty, dimly lit harem kitchen. He replaced the grate, crossed the kitchen and entered a narrow spiral stairwell. At the top he emerged into a lightless corridor. He moved slowly down the corridor, feeling the walls with his hands. After a few feet he found a latch and pulled it. The wall swung open before him and he stepped into the reception room of Gulbehar's apartments. The room was dark, which meant that Gulbehar's household was probably asleep. That would make his job easier. With any luck, he could slip in and out without being noticed. Everyone would assume that the boy Bayezid had simply died in his sleep.
Isa slipped silently through the reception room and entered a long hallway that ran the length of the apartment. Halil had informed him that the entrance to Bayezid's quarters was at the far end of the hall. The boy's quarters consisted of three rooms: a reception room, a play room and his bedroom. Isa had almost reached the door to the reception room, when it opened and an odalisque stepped out. She screamed and turned to run, but Isa lunged for her and grabbed her by her long auburn hair. He yanked her towards him and slit her throat, cutting short her terrified screaming. Isa stepped over her and into the room. He shut the door behind him and locked it, then moved into the play room and again shut and locked the door. There were noises now coming from the hallway behind him. Isa would have to hurry.
He took a small vial from a pocket and kicked open the door to Bayezid's bedroom. The bed was empty. Isa quickly searched the room, but the boy was gone. In the next room, the doors shook as somebody tried to open them. Isa knelt and reached for one of the pouches that hung at his belt. Better to die here than to live and see his family killed for his failure.
Then he saw it: a thin crack running up the otherwise seamless wall on the far side of the room. It was the edge of a secret door, left slightly ajar. All was not lost. Isa slipped through the door and shut it firmly behind him. Sitt Hatun awoke from a troubled sleep to the sound of loud knocking. She jerked upright, suddenly wide awake. The knocking repeated itself — two knocks, a pause and then three knocks. It was the code that she had worked out with Bayezid and Kacha. She hurried to the door and opened it.
'Bayezid!' Sitt Hatun exclaimed. 'What are you doing here?' She stopped. Bayezid had not moved and his face was ghostly white. 'Are you well?' Sitt Hatun asked. 'What has happened?' Bayezid still did not move. Sitt Hatun crouched down and took the boy's head in her hands so that he was looking her in the eyes. 'Tell me what happened, Bayezid.'
'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.