The mystic rose

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Cait waited through the day for Danji to appear. By way of signs and gestures, and the repetition of Danji's name, she had at last brought Mahdi to comprehend something of the urgency and apprehension she felt. The handmaid went off on her secret errand and Cait settled back to wait. Tired from her restless night, she soon closed her eyes and descended into a fitful sleep, full of fragments of images and half-remembered dreams.

She stood again on the high cliffs above the little bay south of Banvard, alone, the sky filled with the cry of the gulls circling high overhead… dark stone buildings and green fields beyond, snug between heathered hills, a thin silvery thread of smoke rising to flatten on the wind from the sea… a tall figure dressed in black standing alone on the clifftop-Sydoni, grey hair combed by the wind, taking her by the hand and saying, 'Caitriona, dear heart, it is good to see you. I was hoping you would come and bid me farewell.'

Sydoni vanished, and Cait was outside the gate of the stronghold in the twilight. Abbot Emlyn was there, they were walking very quickly and he was talking to her, but she could not make out the words. And as they walked along she kept falling further and further behind. Desperate, she cried, 'Wait! Abbot Emlyn, wait for me!'

The kindly old abbot did not stop, but turned his head and called over his shoulder, 'Sanctus Clarus, Cait, remember. Sanctus Clarus -it is your birthright. One day, it will be your name.' And then she was alone once more. The walled stronghold was gone and she was alone with the night and the stars… and Mahdi's gentle touch.

'Ketmia?' Mahdi said, touching her lightly on the arm.

She came awake at once and looked around. The room was dark; the small round windows admitted no light. She had slept longer than she knew, and as she sat up she found her mouth was dry and her face was warm, her forehead slightly damp. 'Danji,' she said. 'Is Danji here?' She made motions with her hands to communicate her question.

The handmaiden understood and shook her head. In an effort to fight down the desperation she felt coiling like a serpent around her heart, Cait threw back the silk covering and rose from her bed. She moved to the door, opened it, and then stopped, realizing she did not know where she was going.

There was, she concluded, only one place to go.

Having decided, she walked quickly through the covered courtyard and out into the anteroom. Jubayar was nowhere to be seen, so she moved swiftly on lest her nerve desert her, composing her thoughts as she went. She would find Prince Hasan and confront him, demand the truth from him, and hold him to account.

By the time she reached the main corridor leading to the reception hall, she knew exactly what she wanted to say to the prince. It was Halhuli, the prince's overseer, she encountered first, however. She greeted him and asked whether he knew where Hasan might be found.

At the question, Cait saw a stiffness come into the servant's face. His eyes shifted away from her. 'I do not know, lady.'

'I must speak to him, Halhuli. It is important and there is no one else I can ask.'

'I must beg to be excused.' He turned to leave.

'No!' said Cait. 'Stop.' The force of her command caught and held him. 'Hear me, Halhuli. There is something wrong here-something very wrong. I will do all I can to see that it is put right, but I need your help.' She moved beside him. 'Please, Halhuli, help me.'

'I do not know what you are talking about. I am sorry.'

'I think you do, Halhuli. You know exactly what I am talking about.' He looked straight ahead, and said nothing. 'I can see that I am right,' Cait continued, softening her tone. 'I think you want to help me, but your loyalty to your master prevents you. I understand.'

'I am katib to the prince,' Halhuli told her. 'Like my father before me, and his father before him, we have served the House of Tashfin. I am my prince's to command,' he paused, and added, 'whether in honour, or dishonour.'

Cait pounced on the morsel he had given her. 'But if the prince is behaving dishonourably, then is it not the katib's duty to save his prince from the infamy and disgrace of his actions?'

Halhuli regarded her with deep, sad eyes, but remained silent.

'I know that if I had lost my way, I would want you to lead me back to the path of virtue.' In her pleading, Cait put her hand on the katib's arm. 'I do not ask you to do this for my sake, but for Hasan's. For, if the prince has strayed, who will rescue him if not his wise and loyal katib?'

Halhuli raised his eyes and regarded Cait for a long time. She could almost see the battle taking place within him. At last, he straightened, having made up his mind. 'Follow me. I will take you to him.'

He led her to a part of the al-qazr she had never seen before. The rooms were smaller, the walls thicker and far less ornate. They climbed a flight of stone steps to an upper floor where Halhuli stopped before a low wooden door. Cait put her hand to the iron ring, pulled up the latch, and would have pushed open the door, but Halhuli prevented her. 'May Allah forgive me,' he said, and pushed open the door himself.

There, in the centre of the room, lay Danji, shoulders bared and hands tied with cords of braided leather-prostrate before an enraged Prince Hasan who was using the other end of the braided cord as a lash to raise angry red welts on the delicate skin of her back.

As the door swung open, the prince glanced around, saw Halhuli and Caitriona standing in the doorway, and halted the beating. Danji lifted her head as the prince moved quickly towards the door. 'Ketmia,' he said, forcing a sickly smile, 'what are you doing here?'

He reached for Cait's arm, but she deftly sidestepped him, moving quickly to the injured woman. Raising her up, she tugged on the braided cord. Hasan made to take hold of her shoulder. 'Ketmia, you must not -'

'Or what?' demanded Cait, whirling on him. 'You will beat me, too?'

Prince Hasan started, the colour bleeding from his distraught features. 'You do not understand.'

'This is beneath you, my lord,' Cait told him, her voice shaking with fury. She bent once more to free Danji's hands. 'Perhaps Moors are permitted to whip their wives, but Christians detest the practice.'

'She is not my -'

'Save your lies,' Cait snapped. 'I know she is your wife.'

Prince Hasan swallowed hard; his hands fluttered towards the kneeling Danji as if he would appeal to her. She looked up at his face and said something in Arabic, which Cait took to be confirmation.

Hasan stood caught between the two women, his expression angry, bewildered, shamed, and mortified all at once. He looked from one to the other of them, and then at Halhuli who was standing just inside the door. 'Why did you not prevent this?' he snarled, his fury finding outlet at last. 'Is everyone against me now?'

'Forgive me, my lord,' replied the advisor with quiet resolve. 'Princess Danji is also my mistress, and I could not see her treated so.'

'You speak above your place,' blurted the prince.

'He speaks the simple truth,' Cait retorted sharply.

'Believe me, Ketmia,' said Hasan, appealing to her, 'it was never my intention to harm you in any way.' He took her hand in both of his. 'Truly, your love has enslaved me.'

Cait glared at him. 'You lied to me,' she said. Jerking her hand from him, she moved to Danji and gently pulled her robes over her shoulders, then raised her to her feet and stood holding her.

'Since the first moment I saw you, my heart was slain by your beauty,' the prince said. 'I swear before the throne of Allah, I wanted only to keep you with me. I knew that once you tasted of life in the palace, you would be content to stay. I would have married you,' he raised his eyes hopefully, 'I would marry you still -'

'You are already married,' Cait pointed out tartly.

'It is no impediment to a Moor of my rank and wealth,' replied the prince, recovering something of his former composure. 'We are permitted more than one wife, and I would make you very happy.'

Cait turned her face away.

'I have disgraced myself in your eyes,' the prince said.

'Yes,' agreed Cait sharply. 'We agree on that at least.'

'Tell me how I can redeem myself, and it shall be done.'

'Then tell me what has become of my knights,' she demanded. 'They did not ride out this morning. Where are they?'

Hasan hesitated. The anguish on his face appeared genuine.

'Tell her, my lord,' Danji said.

The prince looked to Halhuli for help, his eyes pleading. 'I will tell her, if you wish,' the advisor said. Hasan nodded, and lowered his head in shame.

'Your knights are resting comfortably, my lady,' said Halhuli, stepping forward. 'They have been confined to the Ladies' Tower. They have not been harmed.'

'You must release them at once,' Cait insisted.

Prince Hasan hesitated.

'My lord prince, you profess to feelings of affection for me. If that is true, you must release my knights. I will speak to them,' Cait said. 'Lord Rognvald is an honourable man, and he will understand. There will be no blood shed over this-only you must set them free at once.'

The prince raised his unhappy gaze to Cait. 'Very well.' To Halhuli he said, 'See that it is done.'

More relieved than angry, Cait did not have it in her to sustain her fury any longer. 'All will yet be well, my lord prince,' she told him. Taking Danji by the arm, she said, 'Come, we will see to those bruises while we wait.'

Leaving Prince Hasan to stew in his misery, the two women proceeded to the reception hall to wait for the Norsemen's release. While they waited, Danji's maidservants applied a soothing balm to the red stripes on her shoulders and back.

'You have suffered this injury for my sake,' said Cait as the servants finished applying the unguent. 'I am sorry, Danji. If we had left the palace when you warned me…'

'It is finished. We need not speak of it again.' She waved the servants away and arranged her clothing once more. 'Please, I would not have you think ill of my husband.'

'I do think ill of him,' Cait replied. 'A man is a brute who would do a thing like this to -'

Danji shook her head. 'You do not understand.' She sighed and gazed at her hands which were clasped in her lap. 'My husband is an honourable man. He is good and kind, but great as is the love within him, greater still is his grief.'

Cait regarded the dark-eyed woman before her. 'Are you telling me sorrow has driven him to behave this way?'

Danji nodded. 'Two years ago this palace was a very different place. We were happy then. The voices of children rang in the courtyards and corridors, and the women's quarters were full of gossip and activity. Truly, Al-Jelal was a small portion of paradise on earth.' Her gaze fell to her hands once more. 'Now it is a tomb.'

'What happened?'

'The fever.' Danji shook her head. 'It was very bad. The children were taken first. I lost my baby, and Hasan's sister lost two of hers -and then Hasmidi herself was taken, and Hasan's mother also. Four of the serving maids died in one night. After that, the fever spread to the rest of the palace.'

Cait was beginning to understand the enormity of the tragedy. 'What did you do?'

'There was nothing to be done, but wait, and watch our people die, and bury their bodies when the fever was finished with them. The plague passed to the servants' quarters, and most of them were taken, and the stablehands and grooms-the fever even killed some of the horses. And still it had not reached its full height.

'Tughril, the old prince, Hasan's father, was taken, and his last remaining wife. Then Hasan's younger brother, Kalaat, and his wife-they had been married less than a year.'

'Oh, Danji, I am sorry. I had no idea.'

'In the end, Hasan lost all of his family, except me. He lost his sons and heirs.' Danji raised sad eyes to Cait. 'Please, the prince is not a bad man. He is desperate to make this empty shell of a palace a home once more. He has been praying every day for a way to make this happen. And then he found you.'

Cait understood at last. 'When he saw me in the wood, he must have thought…' She shook her head in wonder. 'I had no idea.'

'Truly, I do not believe he meant to harm anyone.'

'I thank you for telling me. It is indeed a sorrowful tale, but I feel better for knowing. I will not judge your husband too harshly.'

They sat together in silence for a time and then, hearing footsteps in the anteroom, turned as Lord Rognvald and two of the knights came trooping into the hall. Lord Rognvald hurried to where Cait and Danji stood waiting. 'Thank God you have not been harmed,' he said, taking her by the arms. 'I was worried. I did not know what he might do.'

'Is there anything to eat?' wondered Svein, eyeing the empty tables.

'Or drink? It is thirsty work being a hostage,' said Yngvar.

'Be seated, all of you,' said Danji, rising. 'I will order food and drink to be brought.'

'It would be a kindness,' Cait told her. 'Perhaps I should go with you.'

'There is no need,' replied the young woman. 'My husband's shame is sufficient; he will not increase it with another attack.'

Danji walked with slightly pained dignity from the room, and the knights took places at the empty table to wait for the food to appear.

'I did not know she could speak Latin,' said Rognvald when she had gone.

'Nothing here is quite as it seems,' Cait replied. 'Lady Danji is not Hasan's sister; she is his wife. And, if he had won his way, I would have been his wife as well.'

This brought a smile from Rognvald.

'What?' demanded Cait accusingly. 'And is that so unlikely that you should mock?'

'It is not mockery you see, but pleasure. I confess, I much prefer the Lady Caitriona before me to the swooning, cow-eyed maid we have been seeing of late.'

'Cow-eyed indeed,' replied Cait with an indignant huff. 'Perhaps I should have left you locked in the tower.'

'That would have been a shame,' replied Rognvald lightly, 'for then we would never learn where Alethea has been taken.'

'Hasan? You mean he knows where she is?'

'That I do believe.' The tall knight nodded firmly. 'In any event, I sent Dag, Rodrigo, and Paulo to fetch the prince, so we will soon discover the truth of this treacherous affair.'