An Evil Eye

30

At the palace at Besiktas, the lady Talfa turned her head slightly in the mirror, and caught a glimpse of Elif, frowning.

“That will do, Yusel,” the lady Talfa said, waving her black slave away. She stared at Elif and Melda in the mirror for a few moments. “Your charge is a little girl. She is called Roxelana.”

“I am afraid, hanum, that will not be possible.”

Elif bowed her head as she spoke and kept her hands held humbly to her chest. Talfa couldn’t see her look of sleepy satisfaction, but she heard it in the sweetness of her voice.

“Have you forgotten who I am?” Talfa, too, could make her voice sound sweet.

“No, hanum efendi. I know who you are.”

“And you, Melda? It is Melda, isn’t it? You think it will not be possible, either?”

Melda half glanced sideways; her head, like Elif’s was bowed. “I–I don’t know, hanum efendi.”

“Well, isn’t that strange? Elif thinks it quite impossible, and you don’t know.” Talfa picked up a tiny cup and sipped the coffee. She set the cup down again, and swiveled on her stool. “The last time we met, you seemed so very sure of everything. Now, I think, we are beginning to learn, aren’t we?”

Elif cocked her chin. “We are orchestra girls, hanum efendi. Melda plays viola and the mandolin. I am first violin. Donizetti Pasha makes us practice for hours every day.”

Talfa touched her hair. “Do try to lighten your voice, my dear. For the sake of the sultan and his other ladies, if not your own. There are plenty of girls who have the harem voice, so I suggest you pay them a little more attention. Now,” she added, spreading her hands, “it’s lovely that you can play, of course. But I fail to see what your music has to do with the little girl.”

Elif compressed her lips, feeling the heat in her face. “We have our duties, Talfa hanum efendi,” she said. “To the sultan’s music.”

Talfa tilted her head and gave a silvery giggle. “I think you’ll find that playing an instrument is a privilege, my dear, not a duty. So it has always been considered in the harem. It passes the time, you see. Which leaves you, in effect, with no duties at all. You are a simple girl, but you must see that your sultan feeds and clothes you. Do you expect to give nothing in return?” She shook her head, smiling. “No, no. You will take charge of the little girl. You will teach her the ways of a harem lady, as best you can. It is by teaching that one learns oneself. She is a girl of rank, so you will behave very well with her.” She dipped her finger. “You will keep your eye on her, at all times. And I,” she added, “will keep an eye on you.”

She clapped her pudgy hands together, twice, before Elif or Melda had a chance to reply.

Yusel stepped in at the door, and bowed.

“Our guests are leaving,” Talfa said, waving a hand. “You may take the coffee away.”

The two girls backed out of the room, their heads lowered.

Outside the door, in the court, Melda avoided Elif’s eye.

“The bitch!” Elif hissed. “I’d like to kill her-and that little brat!”

She stamped her foot and balled her fists.

“Don’t you look at me like that,” she snarled, through gritted teeth. The tears stood in her eyes. “You’d best be my friend, Melda. Because I’ll do it, someday. Just you watch!”