Page 26 of None Such as She (The Moroccan Empire #2)
The council meets more often now and I am always present.
There are many plans to be discussed. Aghmat, a once-glorious city in its own right, will become a mere tributary stream to the new city that is being planned.
Abu Bakr wants his Murakush to be a new beginning.
He is so eager for it to be ready that he will not build it and then move there.
He wants to be there as it is built, and for this reason we will all move to an empty spot on the great plain and begin the work.
Men, women, children, slaves, animals, everyone.
He does not care that we will all have to live in tents rather than our homes.
Aghmat will still have some people left, mostly craftsmen and those who produce much of our food and livestock, but even I can see that they will not stay here long.
Why hold a market in a decaying city? Soon enough the traders will come to the new encampment, then the craftsmen.
It will not be long before Aghmat will be a city of spirits only.
This new garrison, city of the future, Murakush, will drain away Aghmat’s very lifeblood to feed its needs.
Now that Abu Bakr has found a common ground with me our life together is easier.
He still keeps to the memory of his far-away wife, but we are closer, like beloved cousins.
We sit on our bed, surrounded by maps, discussing plans well into the night.
When we come to council by day we are as one, our thoughts clear, our minds united on actions to be taken.
Abu Bakr’s orders are given with the confidence of one who has considered all options, our glances to one another make it clear that we are in agreement.
I do not have to speak much, for all can see that I am as much behind the orders given as he is.
The men seem to take this as well as can be expected.
They might be uncomfortable with a woman such as I were it not for their childhood memories of legends told about the warrior queen Tin Hinan, and also for my own vision.
They cling to these two myths and in them they find strength and faith, believing that my place in this council is a sign of greater battles to be won, greater glory for their cause.
They look as much to me as to Abu Bakr for confirmation.
Their respect for me grows. I see it in their courtesy to me, their care in ensuring I am heard in council and their nods or bows in the courtyards of the palace when they come across me.
But Yusuf is not happy. I am a thorn in his side, a snake in his house. He sits as far from me as he can in council and glowers at me throughout.
“You should sit closer to me, you would not be able to see my face if it bothers you so. By sitting as far away as you can all you do is end up facing me for many hours, which I know is not to your liking.”
We have arrived at the door to the council room together and are alone for a brief moment before we enter.
I am laughing at him, for I know he does not like to be close to me and yet I am safe.
I am the respected wife of his leader and even his loyal men have taken me into their hearts, ignoring his warnings about my possibly duplicitous nature.
He is ahead of me and puts one hand on the heavy door. When I speak he stops so suddenly that I almost step into him. He looks at me over his shoulder. “I sit where I can see you.”
“So that you can keep an eye on me and my evil plotting behind your back?” I am laughing again.
His face darkens. “Yes,” he says shortly, and pushes the door open.
We enter, take our usual places at opposite ends of the room and settle down to many more hours of gazing at one another as the talks go on, he balefully, I with laughter in my eyes which only serves to make him angrier.
***
My place by Abu Bakr’s side is now kept only in council.
His first wife Aisha arrives. He sent for her almost as soon as they arrived, and it has taken some time for her to make her way here.
I await her with trepidation, afraid she will take more than I expect.
I do not care if she takes Abu Bakr from my bed, for he has never touched me, but I am a little afraid for my place in his council.
The tall brown camel on which she sits has had an easy burden.
Aisha is a withered leaf still golden in the sun.
Small, wiry, her skin wrinkled, teeth missing here and there, her hands a little twisted and her shoulders hunched.
But she has a warm smile and climbs down nimbly from her high seat, barely waiting for the unwilling camel to kneel.
She comes straight towards me and enfolds me in a warm embrace, though she comes only up to my shoulder.
“A sister for me,” she says, smiling.
I embrace her cautiously, feel her thin body and old bones, know as I do so that I may be younger, stronger, more beautiful but that I am not, never have been, a threat to her.
She knows with one quick look that Abu Bakr has not lain with me as a true wife.
She does not gloat about this, nor feel jealousy about my role in council, she accepts what she already knew and seeks to ease my humiliation – for each of us to acknowledge what the other brings.
“Our husband says you are his greatest strategist. He says with you to read the maps and Yusuf to lead the men there is nothing that cannot be done.”
I cannot help laughing. No-one could be jealous of this little woman, only desire her as a friend and ally.
She is too warm, too full of a quick bright strength that has come from many years as a beloved wife as well as her own self-reliance in being left without that husband for so long. “I do not think Yusuf would agree.”
She grins back, her missing teeth making the grin bolder. “Abu Bakr said the two of you were not friends. He said anyone stepping between your gazes would be cut as by a dagger. But he also said you do not yet know one another’s worth. Have you seen him fight yet?”
I shake my head.
She looks surprised. “Not even when they train?”
“I never watch them. I keep to my own apartments. Why would I want to watch them training?”
“It is a sight like no other. You should watch them one day.”
I smile and call for hot tea and sweets.
We sit together and talk of women’s matters, our families and lineage, our rooms here at the palace.
I offer her my rooms but she waves them aside.
I take her to see other rooms nearby and she is content, calls for her servants to begin to unpack her belongings.
I arrange for her to be bathed, give her fresh robes.
She laughs at the fineness of my silks, asks for something simpler.
It is Hela, unbidden, who steps forward with the bright striped woollens so much beloved of the desert dwellers.
Aisha is pleased and when she returns from her ablutions she is restored.
She asks to see the gardens, we climb up the walls that she may see the city from a height.
“It was beautiful,” I say sadly, showing her the much-diminished glories of Aghmat. The signs of conquering are still much visible.
“It is still beautiful,” she says gently. “But there will be new glories.”
“Will there?”
She nods. “Abu Bakr does not fight for his own glory. He fights for Allah, and he fights for true faith. One day the wars will end.”
We are interrupted, for Abu Bakr has been advised of her arrival. He comes across the gardens and takes her in his arms. I can only stand by and lower my eyes. After a few moments Abu Bakr turns to me.
“Zaynab, we will leave you now. Tomorrow I will see you in council.” He smiles, his fatherly smile, and places one hand on my head, like a blessing.
I nod and smile at Aisha. I cannot even begrudge her this moment. When I saw how he looked at her and she at him I understood why he would not lie with me, no matter that she would have accepted it if he had. They are as one.
He begins to walk away. Aisha turns back to me and speaks softly. “Watch Yusuf,” she says.
I raise my eyebrows.
She smiles at my incomprehension. “Watch him,” she repeats. “Go to the walls when the men are training. Watch him fight.”
She hurries to catch up with Abu Bakr as he reaches her rooms.
The doors close behind them and I am left alone in my courtyard.
***
I stand on the empty plain.
“It will be here.”
I nod. “It is a good place,” I say. I turn to look at Abu Bakr and we smile at one another.
“We will begin the move at once.”
“Now?”
He nods, obliges my camel to kneel, helps me regain my seat and takes his own.
On his command they both rise to their feet and we begin our journey back towards Aghmat, our escort of soldiers behind us.
We have ridden since the dawn prayers and now we are in the heat of the day and it will be dark before we reach the city walls again.
We have stood here for but a few moments and yet we know this is the right place.
We have seen how the mountains will bring clear water to the planned city, how the earth underfoot is good and will support the animals who will need to graze to keep us fed.
We will plant many trees – olives and almonds and dates will flourish here.
By the time the city is fully built the trees will be bearing their fruits for the many mouths within its walls.