TTAA
Both Amin and I were overwhelmed by the size and magnificence of the
Sultan's Palace: it seemed we had entered a city within the city. On our
horses, we passed through great gates and majestic portals, each of them
garrisoned by sentries in splendid uniforms, more beautiful and rich as
we penetrated further into the complex. We passed through immense
courtyards swarming with a thousand activities, filled with servants,
soldiers, officials, dignitaries, postulants, mullahs, slaves, until we
finally arrived at the real Palace. Here we passed into ambiences of
exquisite beauty where everything showed wealth, richness, power,
refinement and a love for fine arts.
After being received by different officials, each time of superior rank,
we were at last admitted to the Grand Diwaan. The Sultan, Ahmed III, was
waiting for us. Mansur introduced us and extolled our praises to the
great emperor. He listened with a benevolent attitude, than talked with
us. Almost an hour passed during our audience. At the end, the Sultan
conveyed to us the reason why He had summoned us: His elder sons wanted
to go in Hajj to Mecca: we two were to organize the escort, since we
were native to those parts of the empire and had shown ourselves
valorous in war and skilled in peace.
It was an enormous honour and we accepted with gratitude. So, soon after
the audience, we started to organize the travel and the caravan. It had
to be composed of around one thousand five hundred people, of which
about one thousand were to be hand-picked soldiers. Mansur would assist
with the selection of the soldiers, we two would handle the technical
details. We worked on the project for about three months, until
everything was ready, down to the smallest detail. The five Sultan's
sons who would be making the Hajj were aged between fourteen and
seventeen and among their number was also the Heir Prince, who these
days is the reigning Sultan, Mustafah III. We were introduced to the
Princes: they were very different from each other, both physically,
being sons of different mothers, and in character. Probably the most
open and extroverted of the five youths was Prince Selim, who soon
demonstrated a strong empathy toward Amin.
When the great caravan started, there was a splendid ceremony at the
Palace, and some messages for the local Lords and Officials we would
meet along the way were handed over to me. We had arranged that we would
avoid Mussa's territories, in fact we had advised, for the outward
journey, the sea road, more flat and safe. A dispatch rider informed the
locals in advance of the arrival of our caravan in the territories we
would cross and in the cities where we would stop, and at the same time
explored the way ahead us. We were received with maximum honours, given
hospitality with magnificence and each local Lord competed with the
others to demonstrate his fidelity to the Great Emperor and to His sons.
The journey went on slowly but safely, with no obstacle, inconvenience
or discomfort being allowed to hinder us in any way. We did not really
face much danger, because our soldiers were all armed with the most
modern turk guns while the majority of the soldiers of the territories
that we crossed, as well as the predators of the nomadic tribes, still
used the traditional weapons - knives, spears, swords, bows and arrows.
We had just left Damascus, when Prince Selim summoned Amin asking him to
be his company for a stretch of road. This was not unusual, in fact
between them had been born a strong rapport. We stopped in Ammam for the
scheduled halt, and, assisted by the local Shaikh, I was giving my
orders to arrange everything, when Amin came near me and, in a moment
when we were alone, whispered to me:
"As soon as you can, I have to talk to you."
"Some problems?"
"I do not yet know..."
"Is it urgent?" I asked in a low voice, alarmed, looking at him and
noticing his serious expression.
"No, but..."
He broke off because the Shaikh was again approaching me, and he held
off. After giving the other orders, I excused myself to our host and
approached Amin:
"Well, what is wrong?"
"Prince Selim... I am afraid he suspects something."
"About what?"
"About we two. He asked me why you, my elder brother, seem to defer
towards me. He thought that strange, because it is the younger brother
that has to respect the elder and not vice versa..."
"And what did you say?"
"I denied it, of course, but he did not seem convinced. Rather, at that
point he said to me that we looked too refined to be the sons of a
donkey breeder. And that physically we do not resemble each other."
"And how did you react?"
"I said that we left the mountains so many years ago and that others had
said to us that we do not resemble each other... Then he asked me if we
have the same mother and I answered yes... Probably I made a mistake..."
"I do not think that to be a real danger: his are just impressions, he
does not have anything concrete."
"But he is a perceptive observer and I think he will continue to observe
us. You have to treat me more as your younger brother, it is important,
very important..."
"It will be not so easy for me to change so... and moreover after him
noticing my behaviour, a change towards you will catch his eye even
more. I do not think we have to worry, Amin." I concluded.
But I was wrong. Prince Selim was back on the subject the day after, but
this time with me:
"Nadim, your brother Khaled is a remarkable person, very refined: he
seems as if he has lived for a long time at court, and yet it does not
turn out to be so. It is really strange: by his manner it is evident to
me that he is a person brought up to command..."
I tried to put him off, making a joke, and said: "Yes, from his very
childhood he was so: the other donkey breeders at the village said so
and called him 'chief-donkey'. He has always been a remarkable boy for
character and intelligence. I am very proud of him."
"Yes, but... I have grown up at court, so I can grasp some nuances,
probably more than others... more than a donkey breeder, certainly. Who
is Khaled? And you, who are you?"
"Khaled is my brother, Prince Selim, and we are sons of a humble donkey
breeder..."
"No, your basic education is very different from his. You were not
educated at court. I would not say that you are not a valuable person,
and cultivated, but... you are different. You, for instance, you often
quote the Al Qur'an: quite as if you had grown up in a masjid..."
I was struck strongly by his insight: he seemed to be able to read into
our bodies, into our minds. He looked at me smiling faintly, waiting for
my answer. Then, seeing that I did not answer, he barely shook his head
and continued:
"You can trust me: if you have a secret, whatever it be, I will not
betray you. But certainly I know you have a secret."
"Our lives, Prince, are without stain: we have nothing of which to be
ashamed."
"It is not necessary that what one hides is something of which to be
ashamed: sometimes one hides something that could be dangerous to
reveal. What, then, is the danger that menaces you?"
"No danger, with Allah's help. Our lives flow peacefully, Prince, I
assure you."
"Nevertheless those talks with me put both Khaled and you on the
alert... There must be something," the Prince insisted amiably.
I really did not know what more to say. By luck his preceptor Abdul
entered and the Prince dropped the matter. As soon as I was again alone
with Amin, I told him. We discussed what to do; Amin said that perhaps
we could tell the truth to Prince Selim: he felt we could trust him; but
I was afraid that revealing ourselves could be a mistake. Another two
days elapsed, in which nothing new happened. Now we were not far from
Medinet. When we were alone, we continued to discuss what we should do.
Then one day Prince Selim came near us and we immediately stopped our
discussion.
"Are you two looking for the best answer to give me to soothe my
curiosity?" the Prince asked, smiling cunningly.
Amin looked at me for a moment and I read in his eyes the determination
to speak.
He addressed the Prince and said: "Prince Selim, we have full trust in
you and we will show that to you, answering any question you have in
full sincerity, even if in that way we put completely at your mercy. But
in these few days I have come to know you and to understand that we can
trust in your magnanimity..."
"What I guessed about you two is then rather... well guessed?"
"Much more than you could think: your eyes are sharp, your heart
sensitive, your intellect quick."
"Well then, tell me. I promise that not a word of what you will reveal
to me will ever be employed against you, whatever it is."
So Amin narrated to the Prince our story, even to the finest detail.
Sometime Selim interrupted him to ask questions, but as the narration
proceeded he did not seem at all surprised or incredulous. At the end he
simply said:
"How do you think you two alone, can gain revenge, recover your usurped
kingdom?"
"We do not yet know, Prince: Allah will give us a sign when the times
are ripe." Amin answered.
The Prince openly smiled: "Probably I am the sign of Allah! It is
probably not just coincidence that it is on the road to Mecca that this
story has come to light! When we return to Istanbul I will talk to my
father about you, Amin: I will ask him to support you with his army so
that you can recover what is due to you, and so that this Mussa creature
will be punished as he deserves. Not only has he usurped your place, but
he has betrayed the sacred duty of hospitality and this is a hideous
crime that claims revenge in the presence of Allah!"
"I thank you, Prince, but I... I would like to take back my place with
only my own forces."
"But how? How valorous you are, you are just two against a powerful man!
What do you intend to do, Amin?"
"When I am back amongst my people, I will see if there are yet those who
remember my father and in their hearts are still faithful to my family.
At that point I will count the men I can rely on and, if they are
enough, I will confront the traitor."
"And if there will be no one, or not enough?"
"If that be the case, it would be useless to claim to reign on men that
do not support me. I would renounce my claim to the throne and I would
come back to be a soldier for my Emperor, for the Sultan your father."
Selim nodded for a long while: "Yes, you are right, I understand you.
But you will need weapons, allies..."
"Yes, that is true, but somehow I will find them. If it is Allah's will,
nothing and no-one can stop me."
"Well, your time has come. When we return from this Hajj, I intend to
talk with my father, if you agree, and I will try to get you all the
support you could need, respecting your wishes. Now let us continue our
pilgrimage. For the moment we will say nothing to anyone about who you
really are."
Amin kneeled in front of Selim and I followed suit.
"Thank you my Lord: you can always rely on my arm, on my sword, on my
life."
Selim laughed: "If I had any intention to overthrow my brother to take
his place, would I have two allies?"
Amin stood up, fiercely proud: "I will give my life for you, Prince, on
condition that you never ask me to go against superior duties..."
"Well: I was just putting you to the test. Do not worry, I have no envy
for my brother, I am absolutely not interested in becoming the Sultan.
Now, Khaled, let us continue peacefully our pilgrimage."
At Badr Hunayin we abandoned the coast road to go to Medinet, where we
stopped for two days. Prince Selim never again mentioned our secret and
of course continued to call Amin by the name Khaled as he was known by
everyone else. Returning to the coast road, we finally arrived at Mecca.
We carried out all the prescribed rites, remaining in that sacred place
for a full week. The Caaba, with his venerable antiquity, moved me
deeply. For a long time Amin and I thanked Allah for His benevolence.
Then, the rites accomplished, we prepared for the return journey. As we
had planned, instead of again taking the coast road, we cut across the
Neged desert, so that we reached the Amirates on the Al Arabi Gulf, and
from there we went to north towards Baghdad where we stopped for a week
to rest.
Amin, from the day we had revealed our secret to Prince Selim, had
become thoughtful. So, the first night we were in Baghdad, lying near
each other in the room prepared for us, I asked him:
"What happens, Amin?"
"Nothing... That is, yes, something is happening but I too do not know
what it is."
"Are you not happy? Perhaps we are approaching the moment when these
long waiting years come to their maturity and give us their fruit: you
would have to be happy."
"Yes, I am happy. But I do not know... There is something inside me that
I would like to understand but that I cannot grasp. There is something I
feel the need to tell you, and yet I do not know what it is. You are to
me the person I feel closest, and yet I feel that there is still
something that divides us, and I do not want this."
"But nothing divides us, you know that: I am faithful to you, my life
belongs to you... I am yours." I said with a heartfelt tone.
Amin stood silent for a while then said: "Yes, I know. You too are
important to me, more than my mother, more than a brother... And yet...
Sometimes I feel I want to communicate with you more deeply, but I do
not know how, I cannot understand how. Something divides us, separates
us, keeps us in two different worlds. I tried to tell you that you no
longer need to consider yourself my subject, but rather my friend, or
more than a friend, nevertheless we still are on two different planes...
and that lies heavy upon me. And I am afraid that, when I regain my
throne, this something will divide us even more, and I do not want...
but I do not know what to do, that is why I am so thoughtful, so sad..."
"As long as you wish I will be always at your side, I will never abandon
you, I have sworn that to you."
"I know, I know... and yet it is not enough."
"Tell me then what you want me to do. Anything!"
"If I knew, I would tell you... let us sleep now. It is useless to break
our heads on... on this problem."
Yes, I understood him: I too I had felt something very close to that,
but I had never focused my attention on it. I had never seen it with the
clarity Amin had. But now, I too I started to think about it. To my mind
also, there was between us, in the great affection that bound us, a kind
of uncrossed, and probably uncrossable limit. Because of it, there was
not between us as full a communion as both of us would have desired. But
in a sense, I thought that the last barrier was created by Amin, or at
least accepted, but on the other hand... But of what consisted that last
barrier that was weighing so heavily on both of us? What could be done
to eliminate it? Certainly nothing until it was clearly spelled out!
Perhaps we would never be able to overcome it, perhaps it was natural it
existed... To me it was not a heavy burden, but it seemed to weigh
heavily on Amin and, since I in my heart his happiness was more
important to me than my own, I needed to do something.
We left Baghdad through throngs of farewelling people and continued to
travel north, then we turned towards the sea. As on our earlier journey,
we stopped some days at Iskanderun; the city where was born the mother
of the Heir Prince Mustafah. From there we boarded the ship waiting for
us and we sailed to Kybris island, where the Sultan had a palace. We
stopped at the palace for ten days. For the first time after we had made
Prince Selim aware of our secret, he again talked to us about it. He
invited us to his room so that we were safe from indiscreet ears. Even
if he was just sixteen, the prince had a judgment and an acumen as
prodigious as an adult. He explained to us what his intentions were,
what he was going to ask his father for us, and he wanted to discuss
with us our plan, give us his advice.
In those days we often went to hunt in the hinterland or to the sea to
bathe. Selim had shown to us a wild and secluded stretch of beach, whose
access from land was really difficult because you need to slide along
big steep rocks, so that it was much more easy to reach it by boat. It
was a small crescent of the finest sand at the bottom of a small inlet
in the shape of the middle hhaa letter, so that at the mouth could only
enter a swimming man or a very narrow boat manoeuvred with extreme care
in order not to be smashed against the rocks. Once there on the beach,
you were practically invisible both from land and from sea. It was a
wonderful and quiet corner, all around there were scented flowers and
herbs. Selim was very proud of that place, and having discovered it when
a small boy, he asked his father for it as a gift, so that now it was
known as "Selim's Kingdom". The Prince told us that we could go there
any time we liked, so we went there often, both with the Prince and also
alone.
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