Page 21 of None Such as She (The Moroccan Empire #2)

H e stands before me in the chilly dawn light.

Luqut al-Maghrawi, amir of Aghmat. My husband.

Magnificent in his armour, he towers over me.

I will myself to stand still and not tremble.

After all, we are surrounded by servants and his men.

He does not have the tools of his secret desires to hand. He cannot hurt me.

“Give me your blessing, Zaynab,” he says.

“I fight for Aghmat and for glory. If I win I will take the city of Taroundannt from the Almoravids even as I crush them and send them back into the desert to weep. And I will be one step closer to the greatness which you yourself foresaw for me, your husband.”

I nod. I swallow and find my voice. “May Allah bless you, husband,” I say meekly. “May the battle be brief and your victory glorious in His eyes.”

He smiles. “I will be victorious,” he says loudly. Then he lowers his voice so that only I can hear. “When I return you and I will be alone together so that you may feel my might and taste my victory.”

I lower my head in submission and he turns away, satisfied. As he reaches the doors a shape emerges from the shadows. It is Hela, and she bears the red cup. I watch as she approaches him, the very picture of submission, the faithful servant to her lord and master.

She speaks and her voice is low and soft. “My lord, I have prepared a drink to fortify you in battle.”

Perhaps I hope that Luqut will refuse without my having to intervene. He barely knows Hela except as my handmaiden. If he refuses all will be well. I will not be obliged to cry out and warn him against the red cup.

But he takes the cup from her with a warm smile. “Thank you,” he says. He speaks with courtesy.

I see him nod to one of the senior servants and they nod back.

I have seen this gesture too many times not to know its meaning.

Hela is to be given coins for her trouble.

I frown. Why does Luqut trust her and pay her for her potions?

Somewhere, at some time, I have missed something that has happened here in this palace.

Somehow my husband trusts my handmaiden even though I know she has given him a potion which has made him unable to satisfy his dark needs with me.

I knew she had escaped detection for this treasonous offence but it seems she has done more than just escape his eye.

Somehow she has pleased him. Has she taken away his potency with me only to strengthen it with other women, the women who scream in distant rooms? Something in me knows this is true.

He lifts the cup.

I have one moment to choose. One chance to redeem myself.

If I warn him now I will save his life. He will be victorious, I am sure, for he is on his own ground here, with a brave army at his command.

He will return glorious. I will be at his mercy again, for I cannot continue to permit those other nameless women to take the screams from my mouth and place them in their own.

If I speak now I will save his life and later save the pain of many women even if I pay with my own pain, my own life.

If I am silent…

If I am silent he will die today. I am sure of this. I do not know what is in Hela’s red cup this time, but I know from her eyes that once he drinks from it he will die.

If I am silent he will die, and the women’s screams will stop. If he is dead I will be a widow, and perhaps Yusuf will come to claim me for his own again. If I cry out…

I do not speak.

He drinks, gives the cup to Hela.

Raises his fist.

His men shout out a war cry and together they leave the chamber.

The red cup sits, empty, on the table by the door.

All is darkness.

***

I awake in my own rooms, on my own bed. The lamps are lit. Outside the windows is darkness. Hela sits in a corner by her chest, rearranging her little jars. I try to sit up in bed and she looks at me.

“Better if you lie still for a while. You fainted. I gave you something to help you sleep.”

My heart begins to beat too fast, grasping at my breath. “Is there word yet from the battlefield?”

She puts down her work, turns fully to face me. “How long do you think you have slept?”

“A day? It was dawn when he left. It is dark now.”

She shakes her head. “You have slept for three days and nights. The battle is over.”

I leap out of the bed and run to the window.

The city is very dark and quiet. There should be people in the streets in the evenings and even late into the nights, lamps in the houses.

Aghmat is a large city, it does not rest, even at night.

I can barely see the outlines of houses.

I turn back to face Hela. She is standing right behind me.

Our faces are so close I can feel her breath on my lips.

I cannot raise my voice above a whisper. “Where is Luqut?”

“The amir is dead.”

My skin grows cold. Luqut, whatever he did to me, was a strong brave warrior. He had a large army. He knew his own land. To be defeated by a ragged band of fanatical believers from the desert… I see again the cup in his hand, the faded carvings, as he drank. “What happened?”

She speaks as a messenger to a king, no emotion, only the facts as they happened.

“The amir was in the midst of battle when he grew dizzy and disorientated. His strength left him and he fell. The generals fought on, but they were lost without him. The army of Aghmat was overthrown. The Almoravids were stronger than anyone expected. They have many more men than before. Better weapons, better trained, commanded by powerful leaders. They took Aghmat yesterday. There is a curfew tonight. Their guards are everywhere. Their leaders are within the palace. Tonight they hold council. Tomorrow they will begin to establish themselves here so that they may reach out and grasp other lands. Much of the city is ruined though, they may choose another city to serve as their seat of power.”

Everything is swept away. The city, Luqut, my status.

My status. “What am I, then?”

“A widow.”

I am shaking. “A prisoner of war?” I know what happens to female prisoners of war, especially beautiful ones.

Hela smiles. She sees my thoughts before they are spoken. “It would be good if their leader were to be in need of a wife.”

I shake my head.

Hela is serious. “It would be your best chance to stay safe. To be queen again. Marry their leader. Many have heard of Zaynab, the woman who will be wife to the man who conquers the Maghreb and more. Do you not think that is where their eyes turn now they have taken Aghmat so easily?”

My jaw moves without my command, my teeth strike one another and I cannot stop my whole body shaking. “T-there may be others who might ask for my hand…”

I can see Yusuf’s face in my mind, hear his low laugh in the darkness of my family’s courtyard all those years ago. Now, now he might claim me as his own again. Why does Hela not suggest him as a husband when she knows how I long for him?

A terrible thought strikes me. Hela sees the question forming before I speak my beloved’s name. She shakes her head and grabs my waist tightly as I sink to the floor.

***

They are both gone. The husband who made me tremble and the husband for whom I still yearned. I am a widow twice over in one moment and worse, I am conscious of my precarious status. A widow is no-one. A prisoner of war who is a widow is less than no-one. She is in danger.

I am in danger.

But Hela seems unconcerned. It is coming close to dawn, a pale light begins to grow. Soon I will be able to see outside and then there will be little time left before I must face a new day and find out my new status.

“What will I do?”

“You are commanded to the council at first light, after prayers.”

Hela is preparing my robes. She has chosen robes of state, magnificent, jewel-encrusted. A queen’s robes.

I gesture to them. “You can’t think I should wear those when I meet them. I am a supplicant to them. Not a queen. I am at their mercy.”

Hela shakes her head. “You are the queen of Aghmat. You possess great riches. You are beautiful. It is foretold that your husband will conquer great lands. You have one chance to negotiate your position.”

“How do I do that?”

She eyes me up as though she doubts my abilities.

Her voice grows serious. “One chance, Zaynab. Their leader is a man named Abu Bakr bin Umar. He has only one wife, and she is not with him at present. Many of their wives were left behind when the army marched across the mountains. He is much older than you, but they say he is a kindly man – ”

I interrupt her. “A kindly man who has just led a savage army of warriors to our gates and taken our city? A kindly man who has just killed my husband as well as the am – ” I bite my tongue.

I was about to say ‘my husband as well as the amir’ but I correct myself “– who has just killed my husband and one of our finest allies? You want me to marry this man?”

Hela shakes her head. “You need to think like a woman and not like a child, Zaynab.”

I frown at this insult.

Hela ignores me. “You need to keep your wits about you. You must think about what is best for you, who your friends and enemies are, and then you must act to eliminate your enemies and bring your friends close to you.”

I laugh. “Eliminate my enemies? You make me sound like a ruler of a great land, not a widow, not a prisoner of war!”

She shrugs. “It is how you should think. Everyone has enemies, opportunities for greatness, friends who can help them achieve their ambitions.”

“Like you did for my mother when Imen came to my father’s house?”

She does not recoil from the accusation. She bows her head and does not answer.

I have to know, have to ask one more question. “Like you did for me when the amir went into battle?”

She lifts up my glittering robes. “You need to get dressed. Abu Bakr needs to see a queen, not a supplicant. He must see in you a powerful ally, a symbol of his conquest. Not a widow, not a prisoner of war.”