The Debt of Tamar by Nicole Dweck Page A

to be educated, with her people!” The legs of his chair screeched as he suddenly rose to his feet. “And you, how did you respond to this offer?” He leaned over the table, wrapping his fingers around the table’s opposing edges.
    Reyna turned away. “What could I say?”
    José backed down, then sunk into the seat of his chair. “Well how bold you are.”
    “They will come to collect her in the morning.”
    “And you raised no objection to this, none at all?”
    “I tried.” She flashed a cold, hard glance in his direction. “But I have had some time to think about it,” she pressed on. “Look at it as an opportunity. An education among noble people. She’ll be well taken care of.”
    “Is that what you think?” He nodded listlessly before turning away and heading out. When he reached the door, he turned ever so slightly and examined his wife through the corner of his eye. He winced, then hurried off as though shielding himself from a sight too foul to look upon.
     
    In the morning, just as he was completing the sunrise prayer, José heard a knock on the villa door. By the lattices, beneath the checkered glow of the early morning light, he rushed to remove his teffelin , and headed down the stairs.
    José joined Reyna in greeting the Ethiopian at the door. Jaffar was at least six foot six inches tall, with a powerful build and the cocoa complexion of his people. He wore a caftan the color of saffron spice, secured at the waist by a thick belt of ivory shards.
    “Just a minute.” Reyna turned from the eunuch and crouched low to talk to her daughter.
    “You’ll go to school with the other girls today,” Reyna explained to Tamar.
    The little girl, never having spent a day apart from her mother, was wide-eyed with worry.
    “I’ll see you later on.” She kissed her daughter, then sent her with away with the Eunuch tasked with escorting her into the harem.
    The day, like most, passed slowly for Reyna. She spent the morning in the courtyard, working on a tapestry she’d begun with threads brought back from the Bazaar. When her fingers began to ache, she rang the servants’ bell and requested a meal. She dined on aubergine and lentils, and then, for something sweet, crystallized fruits and honey cake. Wondering what time it was, she tilted her head up and examined the sun in the sky. It was far from midday. Tired from the previous night’s festivities, and eager to pass the hours quickly, she retreated to her room, collapsed onto her bed, and drifted off into a deep sleep.
    She woke up a few hours later. The room was humid and the light was beginning to dim. She peered through the lattices. The red-speckled sun, low in the sky, seeped along the horizon like a broken, bloody egg. The hour was late and Tamar had not yet returned.
    “Arabella!” Reyna called down from the second story landing of the villa.
    “DoñaReyna?”
    “Go and see what’s keeping Tamar. She should be back by now.”
    “Yes, Doña Reyna.” Arabella fastened a turban on her head and examined herself in the mirror before slipping out of the villa towards the harem quarter. A short time later, she returned with a scroll of parchment bearing the wax seal of Sultana Nur-Banu.
    Doña Reyna,
    Your daughter enjoyed her first day of studies immensely. In fact, she got along so well with the other children that I insisted she stay the night in the children’s chamber, so that she might better become acquainted with the other girls. She is a treasure, your green-eyed girl.
    Nur-Banu, Sultana of Lightness
 
    Reyna quickly rolled the parchment back into a neat scroll. How furious José would be when he found out. She was tempted to throw on her veil and head over to the harem to collect her daughter herself. Yet, she knew very well that such a thing was an impossibility. Entry to the harem was by invitation only. Palace etiquette was very strict on this.
    When her daughter did not return the next day or the next, José was forced to