Free The Debt of Tamar by Nicole Dweck Page B

perhaps a new dress for Tamar, too.”
    “When will it be held?”
    “Let’s see. Yes, it says right here. It’s to be held in seven days' time, on the waterfront pavilion of the Sultan’s family compound.”
    “In the harem?”
    “So it seems.” She lowered the letter to her lap and gripped it with both hands. “I have been so lonely here.”
    Arabella squeezed her mistress’s hand.
    Turning her attention back to the invitation, she continued. “Maybe this is an opportunity. I should like to meet the ladies here.”
    Arabella cleared away a cluster of grape stems. “Then I shall call for the seamstress at once,” she called back cheerily as she headed away with some dirty dishes.
    *
 
    Reyna had never before been invited into the royal harem of the Sultan, and she was eager to meet and know the legendary women sequestered behind its guarded walls. Aside from being the Sultan’s private family quarters, the harem also served as a kind of high-end girls' university. The most intelligent and beautiful women of the empire were brought there to receive the very best education available. Although technically slaves, they were rigorously trained in literature, music, poetry and art. Their schooling was strict and took up much of the day. Those who were not chosen as the Sultan’s concubines were treated very much like daughters of the imperial household. After nine years of service, they were granted the freedom to leave. Very few exercised this freedom.
    These were the most refined, beautiful, and sought after women in all the empire. Married off to high ranking officials and Ottoman princes, it was the Sultan himself who chose their husbands, provided their trousseaux, and gifted them stately villas in which to begin their new lives.
    Among the concubines of the Sultan who remained in the harem, epic power struggles were known to ensue. It was not unheard of for one of these women to attack another, in an attempt to mar the beauty of her rival and decrease one’s competition with the Sultan.
    They entered the harem as slaves, were educated alongside exalted princesses, and aspired to the rank of Valide Sultan, or Queen Mother. In this way, every sultan was the son of a former slave. It was the Valide Sultan who governed harem life and was oftentimes intricately involved in matters of state. It was she who dominated her son and advised him on how to govern his empire. Reyna had heard it many times since her arrival in Istanbul. The time was known as The Reign of Women.
    Very few outsiders were granted access to this private world but when they were, they came back with tales of palace intrigue, vast riches, and exotic beauties from every conquered corner of the world.
    Since having been re-settled on palace grounds, and with José away at the Imperial Council most of the time, Reyna grew lonelier than she’d ever been. She had lost her mother, and now it seemed, she had lost her husband, too. With little adult companionship of her own, she grew bored and listless. Hers was a life cut off from the outside world, yet apart from the vibrant and bustling community within the Imperial gates. For Reyna, the Sultana’s invitation offered the promise of new friendships, perhaps even, a life of her own.
    She settled on a blue tunic beaded with pearls and a muslin veil she secured on her head with a gilded, feather headdress. Then, she dressed Tamar. Her green eyes shone bright against the glittering gold fabric chosen for her.
    The party was grander than any Reyna had seen before. A dazzling display of fireworks filled the sky above the sea while steaming trays of duck, veal and mutton were ferried out from the royal kitchen for the occasion. On the waterfront pavilion, an orchestra of several dozen musicians entertained the women with flutes and harps, while a troop of foreign dancers undulated to the music with brass bells strung around their hips, ankles, and wrists.
    Reyna looked about the premises. There must have