An Evil Eye

4

The lady Talfa stepped out of the room, hand across her mouth, the sound of cannon and the screaming in her ears.

She saw women sweep down the corridor, hammering at the doors, dragging at each other’s clothes, and baring their teeth, like wolves.

A vase wobbled on its stand, between two windows. As the lady Talfa watched, a skirt brushed against the stand. A woman flung back her hand and caught the rim of the vase as it circled. It swung wide and went over with a smack, shivering to pieces on the wooden floor.

Slippered feet trampled over the fragments.

Two girls ran past, hand in hand, laughing. The lady Talfa saw the color in their cheeks, the sparkle in their eyes.

She stepped forward.

“Who are you? Where do you think you’re going?” she hissed.

Elif’s head whipped around. She saw a woman in the doorway. “It’s our turn now, auntie,” Elif spat. She laughed at the shock on the older woman’s face and her pretty blue eyes narrowed. The woman was jowly and pallid and she had lost her waist.

Elif cupped her hands beneath her breasts. “We’re the pretty girls.”

She saw the look of hesitation on Talfa’s face, and her glance shifted over Talfa’s shoulder. “What’s this room, Melda? What’s in here?” she said, tugging at her friend’s hand.

But the other girl drew back impatiently. “I know where to go, Elif. Don’t waste time.”

Elif shrugged. “All right, you lead.” As she sped off she half turned her head: “Better get packing, auntie!”

Talfa blinked. She had seen the carriages drawn up in the courtyard, and the women stuffing the sultan’s treasures into little bags. It was all they had, whatever they could carry off.

But they could have been allowed to leave the harem in peace, with dignity.

It was a serious blunder for which Ibou, the chief black eunuch, should be made to pay.

The lady Talfa gripped the door frame as another burst of wild laughter rang down the corridor, followed by an anguished scream.