The Debt of Tamar by Nicole Dweck Page B

intervene. He requested an audience with the Sultan.
    “If you’ve called this meeting to thank me, José, there’s no need,” Sultan Selim began. “Only the children of my most trusted advisers receive education in the harem alongside my children. It’s a privilege bestowed only on those most deserving.”
    José bowed low. “I just thought I might inquire as to when we can expect Tamar to come home? We were told that she’d be back after school.”
    “Back? No, no, José. My daughters have grown quite fond of your green-eyed girl. They’d like to keep her as a playmate.”
    “Keep her?”
    “Of course. Nur-Banu tells me that she’s quite charming. The girls couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving after all the fun they had with one another. You are a lucky man, José. Your daughter will live alongside my children.”
    José’s voice dropped to a whisper as he hung his head low. “She is our only child.”
    The Sultan was still, his eyes narrowed and his yellow brows steeped in confusion. “I take it that you’re not pleased with my generosity?”
    “On the contrary,” José tried to sound cheery. “It’s just that my wife can no longer bear children. I’m afraid that she will grow lonely without Tamar.”
    Sultan Selim nodded in agreement. “I understand.”
    “You do?”
    “Of course. A mother must be with a child, and if she cannot bear children, things can be arranged.”
    “Arranged?” José could not comprehend what the Sultan had in mind.
    “Take a girl for yourself, Don José. There are many to choose from. If you can’t decide, I can select one for you. She will be young and healthy and she will give you much joy. When she delivers you a baby, the child will be passed to your wife to be raised as her own.”
    José was stunned by the very suggestion.
    “So it’s settled,” the Sultan continued.
    “Yes, Your Highness.”
    “Tamar will stay in the harem, and you will request visits with her whenever you like. You are dismissed now, José.”
    *
 
    Several weeks had passed before Reyna was invited back into the harem. She joined Nur-Banu in her private garden where she drank tea and waited for news of her daughter. Through the bamboo lattices, Tamar and Murat could be seen sitting atop the jewel-studded saddle of a miniature pony. “Let me go to her.” Reyna stood from her place.
    “What’s the rush?” Nur-Banu seized her by the wrist. “Relax with me and watch them play a little longer.” With her long torso and fair legs sprawled out across the silk divan, Nur-Banu looked the part. She was the Sultan’s favorite, a picture-perfect odalisque.
    “Is it safe? Tamar’s never ridden before,” said Reyna.
    “Perfectly safe, and she’s ridden often since her arrival.”
    Twisting her body low into the seat of the cushion, Reyna tried to appear comfortable.
    Nur-Banu’s grey eyes bore through her with relentless precision. “You haven’t quite mastered the art of small talk, have you?” Her slipper slapped lazily against the sole of her foot as she spoke.
    Reyna looked away, biting the corner of her lip as she did.
    The high-pitched squeal of children’s voices sounded from beyond the garden. Reyna raked through the lattices and saw that Tamar was being lowered from the saddle by one of the servants. “She looks happy,” Reyna said quietly.
    “She is, but you can’t feel bad about that. It’s natural that a little girl would want to be with other children her age.”
    “Does she ask for me?” Reyna did her best to sound pitiful, a change in tactic that she hoped might stir up a bit of compassion in the Sultana.
    “When she arrived, but she’s stopped that now.”
    Reyna winced. “Sultana, may I speak candidly?”
    “Why bother asking? You clearly can’t help yourself.”
    “Then I have your permission?” Reyna leaned in close.
    “You have it, though not having it hasn’t stopped you before.”
    “How cold you are,” she said in a low voice.
    The Sultana