Revived
Part IX – Power Play
G Johanson
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 by G Johanson

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Kammani had no idea if she had visited Constantinople before. It seemed quite possible, though she could not remember coming here with Ao on his final journey. She liked the sound of the city and her first impressions were favourable. There was something about walled cities that reassured her. The walls could keep the Romans or the Goths or whoever was the latest threat at bay. She would be safe here. Plus she still had Stumpy, who was now armed and dangerous. He’d killed three suspicious looking men on their travels so far, and while she had not overly chastised him (upon inspection of the men’s corpses they were all armed so could have posed a threat) she had reminded him that he could not be quite so trigger-happy in the city. 
Lihua had been more miserable than usual for the first few days since they left Shaozu and Kammani resorted to telling her the truth to shake her out of her stupor. She opened up, confiding to her that there had almost been a moment between herself and Shaozu, Kammani turning the situation around so that it became about her. In her mind he did look like Ao and that was why there had been a frisson, as demonstrated by the tension between them. Kammani related how Shaozu had invited her into his room late at night, his body naked under the sheets, the pair of them almost kissing before she pulled away. Every word that she said was wholly true whilst still being a complete misrepresentation of what had really happened. Kammani was quick to stress that she had no romantic inclinations towards Shaozu but because of her confused state she felt it was best that he was no longer around to come between them. She had hoped that the revelations about his inappropriate conduct might have roused Lihua to anger. Instead she remained perfectly calm, which Kammani realised was her way. It did not necessarily mean that she doubted her word. Now that Lihua knew that he had led them both on, Kammani trusted that she would get over him in time. 
Before seeking an audience with the boy Sultan, Mehmed IV, Kammani knew she would have to upgrade her wardrobe and after settling in at a luxury inn the party of three headed to the Grand Bazaar. Grand did not even come close to describing this wonderful establishment, Kammani thoroughly enjoying herself and buying enough dresses, robes, scarves and jewels to wear something different every day of the week. Tso was equally enamoured with the place, his eyes almost on stalks at the riches displayed here. He asked for an advance on his wages and used it to buy more ammunition and several explosives. The swordsman was dead and he would conquer the art of firepower in all its forms. Kammani advised Lihua to be more like Tso and to enjoy the moment – this day was something she could tell her grandchildren about, the day she went to the Grand Bazaar in Constantinople. It astounded Kammani that such wonders seemed to leave her cold, with Lihua fretting about their expenditure. It was her money to do with as she pleased and she was determined to have a good time, something that Lihua seemed incapable of doing. She was glad of Tso’s company, a partner in crime for her good humour and sense of fun – had Shaozu shared his hedonistic colleague’s persuasion he might still have been with them.

Kammani was happy to eat in the inn restaurant and didn’t understand why Lihua insisted on heading out to buy some cheap food. She gave her permission to leave while she tried on her new clothes and imagined herself inside Topkapi Palace. She mingled with other diners at the restaurant several times a day and through them she had learned a lot about the Sultan’s mother, Turhan Hatice, the current Valide Sultan. The woman sounded fascinating and Kammani fancied she would have to make her acquaintance first, which suited her perfectly. Lihua tended to be negative about Kammani’s plans of integrating into the hierarchy here, her kind handmaiden very pessimistic of late, and Kammani ignored her reservations. Coming out of her tomb meant living again and that meant living a full life, not the half measures existence that other people were prepared to settle for. Tso offered to give his opinion on her clothes and Kammani was flattered by his interest, even though it was clearly lecherous and he only wished to leer at her. Her clothes were not revealing and she took him up on his invitation, walking to his room after every change. She was pleased she had incinerated the horse and not Tso like she had considered – at least he was upbeat and made her feel better about herself. Being alive was a blessing and she wished that others would feel the same way and stop acting as though the weight of the world were on their shoulders.

Ever since her mother died and Lihua took control of Kammani’s fortune she had always spent the money purely in Kammani’s best interests. Kammani was incapable of managing it back then and even now she lacked the responsibility required to look after her finances. Her spending at the Bazaar had been ridiculous, as was her decision to pay out for a luxury room for Tso. At this rate they would never reach Paris. She wasn’t helping the situation either, as for the first time she spent Kammani’s money in a way that did not benefit her.
Lihua eventually found the address that she had memorised and she knocked on the door and a young Chinese girl, no older than seven, answered the door. This hovel was only slightly bigger than her home in Suzhou yet consisted of far more occupants, six other children visible along with their widowed mother. Lihua could not see the teenage boy whom she had paid to wait outside the city gates to wait for Shaozu, who would be instantly recognisable – there would be few other Chinese men with short cropped hair staggering into the city. She learnt that the boy was still waiting for him to lead him home, taking it in shifts with his younger brother. Six days had passed since they had arrived in Constantinople and Lihua worried that it was not looking good for him. He was lean and lacked the reserves of fat of the likes of Tso, who could have lasted longer without food. Without the knowledge that he survived this – it did not matter so much if he struggled and scraped by, for such was their lot and she had to be realistic, Lihua not greedy enough to need to know that he was thriving – without confirmation that he had not perished in the wilderness, there would be no joy for her in this world.
  
Lihua’s anxiety grew as Kammani began making serious enquiries about gaining an audience with the Valide Sultan. She knew that Kammani had once been one of the elite and had mingled with the top echelon of society – but that was over 1200 years ago. Nowadays, apart from a select few commoners, the only people who were aware of her tended to be ignoble freaks intent on destroying her. Emperors, Sultans, Kings and Queens were all beyond her reach at present. The only way Kammani could impress or interest any of them would be if she revealed her deepest secret of her advanced age, or if she demonstrated her power for them. Kammani seemed to believe that she could entertain this set with stories of her past, despite the fact that most of her scant memories were hazy at best. This would be put to the test, Kammani excitable as she managed to secure a meeting with a black eunuch from the Imperial Harem. Kammani had not heard of Suleman Kasim, and while she would have preferred to see his superior, the Kizlar Agasi, she still saw this as a step in the right direction. She understood that there were protocols that had to be observed and that she might have to meet a dozen representatives before she got to visit the Court and the Harem. She had plenty of flaws but she did not consider impatience to be one of them. She was used to waiting and if this meant remaining in the city for longer than planned then so be it. Tso wouldn’t mind with his penalty clause, while Lihua would be unhappy anyway because that was her default position.
Kammani had a bitter argument with Lihua on the morning of her meeting with Suleman Kasim. As an act of good faith Kammani wanted Tso and Lihua to accompany her unarmed and Lihua initially refused to obey her. Lihua was adamant that they had to be armed to prepare for any eventuality and Kammani had eventually had to resort to reminding Lihua that she served her. Kammani considered her a friend as well as her employee and she regretted having to put her in her place and she apologised as they took a ride through the city to the rendezvous point. Lihua accepted her apology coolly, ceding to her judgement, and Kammani smiled to herself. Even with Shaozu out of the equation she still had Grumpy and Stumpy with her. Tso had not been keen to leave his arquebus and explosives behind but he was not as concerned as Lihua, believing he had nothing to fear from this meeting. He may have been unarmed but at least he was not unmanned, Tso already chuckling to himself before he even met the wretch.
Suleman Kasim was an Abyssinian slave who had been in service for 27 of his 35 years. He arranged to meet Kammani at an empty property in the town that had long been used for secret purposes. Kammani had dressed up in her finest dress and had made herself up extensively for this meeting, something which she noticed tickled Tso, who had commented that she was making a lot of effort for something that wasn’t even a man. She took his point but she made herself look attractive for herself, and to compare favourably to the beautiful women that Suleman Kasim saw every day. She found that he was dressed in a fine kaftan, a quality garment which no common slave would wear, and she was pleased that she had spent so much time readying herself. Kasim had over a dozen guards in attendance who ushered Kammani and her small party into the inner sanctum where Kasim sat waiting for Kammani at a small table. He smiled at her and he said in Turkish, “The mysterious Kammani, I assume?”
Kammani smiled back and he gestured for her to sit next to him. She sat down at the table and she said, “The one and only. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule.”
“I suspect you may be worth the interruption. Leave us,” Kasim said, ordering his guards to leave them alone. He looked at Tso and Lihua, both of whom looked at him in ways that aggrieved him, and he said to Kammani, “Do you wish them to remain?”
“If you don’t mind. They’re no bother.”
Kasim was not so sure of this but he allowed it. The man stared at him as though he were a comical curiosity, barely concealing his mirth, while the woman looked at him with thinly veiled disgust. They were both foreigners here too so he felt sure that the reason for their reaction was the usual one. He surprised them both by addressing them in Chinese, Kasim stating authoritatively to them, “Your mistress wishes you to stay so I shall allow it. However, you can lower your eyes – or is staring not rude in your culture?”
Lihua retained her gaze, needing to observe every movement that he made. She did not mean to be rude and had stared at him the same as she did every other person that Kammani came into contact with. Without her daggers at hand she had to be even more alert than usual for any threats. She was aware that this strange system, of sexless male slaves guarding women who were bred purely for sex was practised back home too but the Forbidden City may as well have been a million miles away from her life and she found this very strange. She found Kasim was strange to observe too, his voice high without being particularly feminine, more alien than anything, and his face and body appeared bloated. His head was completely absent of all hair – even Shaozu had not been as bald as this, Kasim lacking facial hair and even eyebrows. She had seen few black men in her life, the few that she had encountered all having been slaves, as this one was too, but he was completely different and she realised that all of these different elements had made her gawp at him. She could not stop staring at him while he was so close to Kammani but she could change her expression, which she did, adopting a more neutral pose.  
Tso kept staring at him too, unable to resist poking fun at him now that he knew they spoke the same language. “I’m staring because I’ve never seen anyone like you before!”
“Nor I you,” Kasim replied with disgust. This man was grotesque beyond words, a warthog clad in the clothes of a man. 
“Show our guest some respect, Tso. You too, Lihua,” Kammani commanded, embarrassed by their behaviour.
“Actually you’re my guest,” Kasim said, correcting her.
“I apologise. I used to hold court and have many official visitors too, gentlemen like yourself...”
Tso allowed a peal of laughter to escape that threw Kammani for a second. Both Kammani and Kasim stared at him and Tso cleared his throat and he said to Kammani, “Carry on.”
“I have met men like yourself before, Kasim, in an official capacity as a hostess,” Kammani said, taking fleeting images from her memories and forming her own stories around them, possibly true, possibly false. She had definitely graced important building and ceremonies with Ao in China. The details were gone but she had enough pictures in her mind to know that they had lived a wealthy existence. She was not completely certain that she had ever met previous Emperors but there was every possibility that she had so she exaggerated slightly. “The most important men and women in China have shared my company. They say it’s a man’s world...”
Tso cracked up at this and Kammani bellowed at him to leave only for Kasim to say, “Let him stay. I see your ugly henchman is missing a hand. I take it the cretin is a warrior, and a lesser warrior for his loss. My loss has gained me position and power. Perhaps I should be the one laughing at you.”
“Well said. He’s still going though. Wait outside the door, Tso. We’ll talk later,” Kammani said darkly.
Tso was not chastened and he commented before walking out, “I’d sooner have my balls, all the same.”
Kammani apologised again and returned to what she had been saying. “I wouldn’t call Shunzhi a man just yet and Mehmed – or should I call him the Sultan – he’s definitely still a boy. It’s a boy’s world right now, which makes me feel so old! Just consider me some old hag who wants to help.”
Kasim found himself liking this strange woman who talked frivolously and he asked her, “In what way, Kammani?”
“I have a wealth of life experiences that I would love to share with the Sultan – that’s what I’ll call him, Mehmed’s too familiar for someone of his title. I understand I have to meet the Valide Sultan first and maybe the Grand Vizier too, which I’m most happy to do.”
“The Sultan already has a wealth of advisors and teachers. What can you offer that sets you apart from them?” Kasim said, indulging her with this interview. His own status in the hierarchy was extremely low considering his years in service, with several younger eunuchs overtaking him and making sure he knew his place in the pecking order. This was why he responded to the strange request which found its way to the palace in a roundabout way. Unbeknownst to Lihua, who Kammani knew would be dead set against the idea, Kammani had mentioned her immortality to several strangers in the hope that this information would secure her entry to the palace. Kasim took this tale with a pinch of salt but he ventured that this crazy woman could provide entertainment value to himself and his superiors. 
“Have you heard of the Kammani of legend?”
“I have heard of a goddess by that name.”
“Then you have heard,” Kammani said. She knew that she was named after the goddess and therefore could not have been her but she was happy for Kasim to believe otherwise.
“That’s a bold claim. I’ve never sat down with a goddess before,” Kasim said light-heartedly.
“Don’t worry, I’m fairly normal. So were you around during Ibrahim’s reign?”
“Yes,” Kasim nodded.
“Did he really have over 200 of his harem drowned?”
“The palace is just like anywhere else, at heart. You have good times and bad times, good people and...it was worth becoming what I have to share in the grand history,” Kasim said proudly. Lihua felt like he was only fooling himself but she knew to remain silent.
“I’m currently undertaking a journey to France in honour of my late husband. He was called Ao.”
“What’s your full name, Kammani?” Kasim asked, trying to work out if he’d heard of her husband.
“People only know me as Kammani. Like an Empress. I’ve been educating myself as best I can in the politics and the contemporary history and I believe that these boys ruling offer the world a fantastic opportunity. With the right guidance they can grow to be fine men to lead their people into a golden age. I want to help with that. I find it fascinating that the Valide Sultan was just a European slave and now she could be the most important woman in the world. That’s just incredible.”
“It is. So have you always existed?”
“In some form, I think so,” Kammani said, making up anything to impress him. The afternoon passed in the blink of an eye and Kasim had to call time on their meeting. Kammani could have sat and talked to him all day, appreciating some cultured and civilised conversation. He could not admit her to the palace as she craved just yet but he arranged to meet her at the same time and the same place in four days’ time, an engagement she wouldn’t miss for the world. She felt on a high as she travelled back to the inn and she saved disciplining Tso until they were in private. He was even making crude wisecracks about Kasim on their journey home, comments that were unnecessary. Once they were back at the inn she had Tso come to their room and she sat on the bed as she had her servants stand and she shook her head and she said disappointedly, “You were both ignorant and cruel to that man, who is an important emissary that I wanted to impress.”
“I said nothing,” Lihua pointed out, feeling that she was being unfairly blasted. She had grave reservations about the whole idea but she had gone with her and obeyed her completely.
“You looked at him like was a freak.”
“He is!” Tso laughed. “You can hardly blame her for that.”
“Be quiet, Tso. I’m getting to you. And for your information, you were wrong before, thinking that he only sacrificed his testicles. The whole genital area has been removed,” Kammani said. The topic had not come up but she had done her homework and she knew that this was the standard for black eunuchs. 
“Wow, I really missed out by getting thrown out early. He disrobed and showed you...nothing,” Tso quipped. “So he’s a complete eunuch, if that’s not a contradiction in terms.”
“Indulge me with some faux penitence, Tso, else I may begin to consider having a eunuch of my own. Or did Sphinx beat me to it? You didn’t seem such a big man then.”
“Consider it as much as you like, but if you’re thinking of me then I’ll be following in Shaozu’s footsteps and departing,” Tso said, walking out on her. He was furious that she brought up Sphinx’ name and what she had done. Sphinx had mentally emasculated him and those wounds had not fully healed. 
Once he had left Kammani shook her head in disbelief and she said, “What an ignoramus. It’s ironic that the eunuch is twice the man either of my bodyguards has proven to be.”
“Hmm,” Lihua mused, still very wary about Kasim.
“Spit it out, Lihua. You look about 80 when you pull that face.”
“I don’t think you’ll want to hear it.”
“No, you’re probably right,” Kammani said. They both lapsed into silence which was broken by Tso returning, entering their room without knocking. Before Kammani had chance to reprimand him he said,
“All of my weapons are gone.”
“What?” Lihua said.
“They’re all gone. Stolen,” Tso said angrily.
“Not the arquebus?” Lihua said. This was the last piece of Shaozu that she had. Even if it was not in her direct possession, while Tso remained with them (and his position seemed in jeopardy based on current form) she at least had a physical reminder of him. Losing this was worse than losing her own prized daggers – and as she reached under the bed she found that they were missing too.
“No, not the arquebus. When I said all of my weapons were gone I only meant some. They left the arquebus on the bed and reloaded it for me, you dumb bitch,” Tso said contemptuously, treating her stupidity with the disrespect it deserved.
“You’re really getting on my nerves, Tso,” Kammani said, warning him to mind his tone and his language.
“My daggers are gone,” Lihua said to Kammani, who turned to check her clothes. As she performed a quick check of her apparel and jewels she found that everything was there, which was a great relief. The weapons were replaceable – her new friends in the court would provide better firearms and blades when it was time for them to leave. Hopefully they would provide better bodyguards too.
“Everything else is here. We don’t need weapons yet so don’t fret. Tso, I expect apologies for both of us at some point in the immediate future,” Kammani said. This new serenity she had found kept being tested and she felt proud that she wasn’t exploding or exploding people.
“The arquebus is gone then?” Lihua asked Tso again. She was sure that he was being sarcastic but she needed to know for certain.
“How many times do I have to say it?” he said gruffly.
“Once, politely, will suffice,” Kammani said, turning to Lihua next. “Neither Shaozu nor the vultures that have devoured him will have any use for it so it’s pointless getting upset about the loss. Better weapons will come to you and maybe Tso too, if he uses his solitary hand to hold his tongue.”
Kammani’s comment had a delayed reaction in Lihua, who processed it and then she fell to her knees. She did not cry – nothing could induce tears in her anymore – but Kammani’s cruel words of Shaozu’s grim demise momentarily crushed her. Kammani jumped off the bed and ran to her, Lihua struggling to her wobbling feet and she smiled at Kammani and assured her that her proffered apologies were unnecessary. She claimed to be very tired and Kammani told Tso to leave them and she tucked her handmaiden into bed. She reminded her that Shaozu had been the snake that tried to come between them, his twin seduction technique failing miserably, and she also pointed out that there was a possibility that he might not have followed them to Constantinople. There were towns and villages he could have gone to instead where he could survive, a caravanserai too. Lihua did not like to think about the caravanserai after what had happened there...
That night in bed Lihua asked Kammani in the middle of the night, “Did Kasim know that we’re staying here?”
“Yes. You were out on one of your market runs when I got word that he was willing to see me. When I sent my little tendrils into the city alerting people that I wanted to enter the palace I needed a base where I could be contacted. Why?”
“No reason. After the theft it might be a better idea for us to move in the morning. If you and Kasim are going to meet regularly you can arrange your next meetings there.” Lihua was certain that Kasim had some involvement in the theft of their weapons (as if he didn’t have enough of an advantage against them with soldiers at his disposal) but she didn’t want to say this outright as Kammani had taken to him instantly, just like Shaozu and Tso had also been favourites of hers for mayfly moments. She hoped that this phase was just as fleeting. In the meantime she did not want Kasim to know where they were staying as it meant she would not be able to sleep even for a moment. She was an outsider to such intrigues even back home but she knew enough of Chinese history to know that treachery and murder was commonplace amongst the Imperial Family and the little she had heard from Kammani of the characters of the Sultanate was enough to trouble her. The current Sultan’s late father sounded like a lunatic, while his mother supposedly had her mother-in-law killed, using black eunuchs to perform the deed. The important position of Grand Vizier seemed to be in a state of turmoil, in constant flux. Kammani’s life was complicated enough without getting embroiled in this scene.
“I like it here. I’m all talked out today – my jaw hasn’t moved so much in years! Good night!”
“Good night,” Lihua said.
The next morning Lihua asked Tso to keep an eye on Kammani while she headed out to the market again. She wasn’t lying entirely – she would go to the market, but her purpose for heading out alone was to check whether Shaozu had turned up. Kammani grew vexed and protective when Tso spoke ill of Kasim yet her comment about vultures devouring Shaozu had been equally unnecessary. Lihua dispelled her dark thoughts. It was wrong for her to think anything like that about her mistress, who she was sure meant no harm. If she had spent even a hundredth of the time that Kammani had spent in that tomb she was sure that her social skills would have been even worse – in fact they were. While she was not disobeying any direct orders here she still knew that she was in the wrong because Kammani had made her feelings about Shaozu clear, so her attempts at aiding him, with Kammani’s coin, went against the spirit of her wishes. It would all be in vain anyway, Lihua not getting her hopes up just to be dashed again. Too long had passed now.
If she had fared better at the caravanserai they had stayed at shortly after leaving Shaozu then there might have been more hope for his survival. She had deliberately left a dress behind in their room so that she had to return to get it while Kammani and Tso waited with the horse and cart outside the walls. Kammani offered to get it for her but Lihua said she knew where it was and she wouldn’t be a moment. What followed next had been humiliating and painful. She retrieved the dress and then addressed the owner in the courtyard as he stood deep in conversation with several traders and a few travellers. She held out a small sum of payment for him before she demonstrated through sign language what the money was for. She wanted him to take Shaozu in and give him nourishment, which she signalled by placing both hands over her hair to simulate a bald head, followed by placing both hands clasped together at her groin to show she was referring to a man followed by pointing a finger towards her open mouth. The owner slapped her around the face sharply after this final gesture and she had returned to Kammani and Tso and said nothing about what had transpired. 
Lihua knocked on the door languidly, toying with the idea of walking away now. That way she could pretend that he had safely arrived in the city. The teenage boy opened the door, with a screaming rabble in the background behind him, and he asked her for the further payment that she had agreed to upon completion of his assignment.
“Is he here?” Lihua asked. That was the deal, the boy waited for him and brought him back home and fed, watered and housed him and she would give him an extra payment on top of what she had already paid him.
“Go through,” the boy said. Most of the children had been supplanted from their bedroom just so that Shaozu could receive the best care they could manage in the hope that they would receive the payment that was agreed and perhaps a little more. Lihua walked through and she found Shaozu in the back room nursing his blisters on the floor. His hair was growing back nicely, over an inch long now, and even with his blisters he looked perfect to her eyes. It was a sight she hadn’t dared to dream could come true yet even though she was overjoyed to see him this had to be the last time they ever met. 
Shaozu stood up and embraced her, Lihua permitting him to do this without reciprocating, her hands hovering in the air awkwardly. She had to respect Kammani’s views, even if she would have liked to have acted otherwise. Even this felt like a betrayal and Lihua had only acted as she had to ensure Shaozu’s survival. He had visibly lost weight from his trek and she had been unsure if he would make it to the city at all. Shaozu had arrived in the city 12 days after Lihua and her party arrived and in considerably worse shape. Without his prior experience of survival training he would not have made it. He would spare Lihua the unpleasant details of the substances he ate and drank during those difficult days – she would never kiss him if she heard the full story. 
“You don’t know how good it is to see you,” Shaozu said, kissing her cheek.
“Just walk away, Shaozu. I’m not worth this.”
“Blisters fade away. My feelings won’t.”
“I won’t lie to you. I love you and wish that we could be together but my commitment to her is stronger. She will allow me to marry and have children but not with you.”
“Why not?”
“That’s not my place to say.”
“You know I won’t repeat anything back.”
“Loving me is costing you too much. You’re not getting paid, you’re falling to pieces. I hurt you badly, so badly I...the memory of what I did to you becomes worse the more I care. I give nothing back.”
“You nursed me back to health after Wuma half killed me.”
“That’s all I’ve ever done for you. I wish I could do so much more but I can’t. Kammani forbids it. She doesn’t even know I’m here with you now. I paid the boy to wait for you and to bring you here. You should sell Wuma’s sword, use the money to help you survive here amongst our community and grow your hair back and then return home.”
“I need a better solution than that, Lihua, one that entails seeing you again.”
Shaozu’s neediness was on a par with Kammani’s here, and very familiar to Lihua who felt completely torn. She had already betrayed Kammani once by spending her money on a man she despised, Kammani denigrating him at every available opportunity. She had Tso roaring with laughter when she joked about Shaozu’s bald and sunburnt head and about his big ears. Lihua had even forced herself to laugh along under pressure and she had agreed with what they said without offering any cruel observations of her own. She knew at the time like she knew now that such behaviour was totally gutless and that Shaozu would not do the same in her position if anyone dared to criticise her.
Lihua had no words of comfort for him and Shaozu broke the silence, making a request of her. “You once asked me to give my word that I wouldn’t leave without talking to you. I ask the same of you now. Say goodbye to me before you leave Constantinople.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do now.” The situation with the eunuch and Kammani’s quest to enter the palace was going to end in tears and death. Lihua could see the trouble coming a mile off but she didn’t fully express her fears as Kammani didn’t want to listen and would dismiss her words as overly negative and pessimistic. Lihua took great comfort in knowing that Shaozu would not end up embroiled in their mess. He could have a life and find another love in time. Even if she survived this she still could not be his. Kammani would never allow it, her motivations unclear. Her attempts at portraying Shaozu as a love rat fell completely flat because Lihua had seen Shaozu interact with her, Shaozu having never expressed even a passing interest in Kammani at any time. Their volatility did not boil down to passion, at least not on his part. 
“I know,” Shaozu said sadly. He hugged her tighter and he said, “It’s not easy to let go of you.”
“You’re lucky to be alive. When we do move on I can’t tell you what path we take because I don’t want you to follow and that’s because I do care about you.” She couldn’t be certain that Kammani would give her the opportunity to sneak out to see him to say a last farewell to him so it was best that he took this as their final meeting. Lihua fidgeted until he got the hint and he released his tight embrace and she walked to the door. 
“While you remain in town will you come and visit me again?”
“If I get the opportunity,” Lihua replied, warning him that there were no guarantees. He smiled warmly at her, Shaozu taking hope from this noncommittal response. She had been lost to him – he had nearly been completely lost himself, his days wandering in the wilderness almost finishing him off – and now she was found. She had arranged this shelter for him, quenched his thirst and sated his hunger and gave his weary bones a home. For her to do so much for him, in defiance of Kammani, proved that she clearly loved him as much as he loved her. 

Tso was forced to apologise to Kasim at their next meeting and Kasim accepted the apology, adding to Kammani, “You’ve done well generating that from him. If I was deaf, dumb and blind I could almost believe he meant it.”
“I know; he’s a bit of a...what’s the word I’m looking for?” Kammani said, criticising Tso as he stood at his post impassively. She allowed Lihua to sit in the background, but Tso would remain standing for the duration of her visit here to help him learn some manners. As any improvement seemed unlikely it would just have to serve as punishment.   
“I think I have the same word in my head,” Kasim said, the pair of them laughing together. She changed the subject and the two of them talked a little of their childhoods. Kammani had fewer memories to share and she invented stories of what she and her brother used to do in Karaman to pass the time. Kasim’s tales of his childhood in Abyssinia enthralled her. She didn’t think she’d been there but from his colourful descriptions she was sure that she wanted to go in future, once the current trip was completed. There was an important gap in his stories, with Kasim a happy and complete boy in Africa and in other stories he was a teenage eunuch in Constantinople. Tso was silent for the majority of the visit but as Kasim touched on the subject and then moved on, Tso’s curiosity got too much for him and he asked the question.
“So what happened then?”
“This is a private conversation,” Kammani said. “Ignore him.”
“It’s fine. You are fortunate, Tso. Your fascination with my altered state is one that I can help you with, for I remember the details vividly as though it happened a mere moment ago. Words would never do justice to the experience so if you wish to know what happened I will need some chains, a curved blade, some boiling sand and some bamboo. Are you still interested?”
“No, I can imagine,” Tso said, unfazed by the threat and deliberately sounding bored by them. 
“Ruminate on that in silence. As I say, he’s not one of mine. Lihua comes from a family that has served me for generations, so I value the loyalty that you show your Sultan and his mother. I think that times are changing in a lot of cultures and respect is being lost but we have retained that,” Kammani said proudly, referring to the Ottoman and Chinese Empires. 
“In my opinion, just between the two of us, I believe this is a golden age for my kind. There has been a power shift towards the women for a while and that elevates the Kizlar Agasi and filters down to the other black eunuchs in the palace. If you would like me to petition him to see you I shall, and I shall speak highly of you, Kammani.”
“I would appreciate that so much,” Kammani said gratefully. “Is it no trouble?”
“I’ve made the offer. There is a chance my actions could be seen as getting above my station so if I do not return here then you know that things have not gone so well and you should abandon the idea. The clothes that you have seen at the Bazaar are nothing compared to...”
“Hold up a second. Go back to what you were saying. If things go wrong are you saying that...” Kammani trailed off, unable to complete the sentence. She did not want him to get killed over her.
“Ambition is a quality that gets you promoted or gets you killed. When I agreed to see you I did so knowing that you wanted to enter the palace. I wish to try and help you achieve that aim. There is a risk for me, but when you find favour, which I know you will, that will be to my advantage, providing you don’t forget me.”
He looked at her wide-eyed, jokingly imploring her, and she laughed and rested her hand on his and she said, “I won’t forget you.”
“Before I take this any further I will require a demonstration. Burn anything you wish.”
Kammani looked around the room for inspiration, looking past Lihua whose disapproval was etched on her face. “Do you have any animals here? No, that’s a bit cruel, isn’t it? Living beings are easier than cold objects.”
“I can have an animal brought here,” Kasim offered.
“No, I’d sooner not do that. Are you attached to the drapes?”
“I quite like them but I’ll be happy to see them burn. Everything here is replaceable.”
“Watch this,” Kammani said. Kasim sat with her at least 10 metres away from the drapes which suddenly sparked into flame for a split second, the fire burning itself out almost instantly as only a small ash pile remained, the only sign that the drapes were ever there.
Kasim was dumbstruck. He had had no intentions of mentioning her to anyone just yet and now that he had seen this unbelievable sorcery he questioned whether her tales were true. He had heard tales of signs and wonders but had never seen such things for himself. He needed some time to think this over and he arranged to meet her the following afternoon. Kammani opted to do the same as he did for this meeting, ordering her servants to wait outside the room for her. Lihua didn’t like leaving her alone with him but she had no choice. Kammani felt that this proved to Kasim that she trusted him as he did her and they could talk even more freely without prying, judging ears. Kasim had a confession to make, which he did so immediately with remorse.
“I came to see you originally because I hoped that the crazy Persian woman they spoke of could provide some entertainment to my superiors. I didn’t believe what you claimed – I even had your rooms ransacked to see what I could find out about you. The weapons have been destroyed, regrettably. I am pleased to be wrong.”
Kammani smiled at him and she said softly, “I already knew it was you. I didn’t care. You left my finery alone.”
“I made that order clear. I am a bad person, Kammani. I am not alone in my plotting and scheming. I am just far worse at doing so than others. If you still wish to enter the palace I will do my best to assist you, though I have to warn you that it will be more complicated than I made out. Even if I had the Kizlar Agasi’s ear, that might not be enough. Also, you should be careful of what you wish for. The palace is heaven to some and a prison for others. Entering can be easier than leaving.” Kasim spoke with his head bowed deferentially as a show of respect for her and by way of apology for lying and misleading her. She deserved better than that.
“So you were curious about me and may have exaggerated your position? Kasim, I’ve been betrayed worse than that, and half the tales I’ve told you have been pure fiction. My past is lost to me – I barely know who I am.” She was not angry with him in the slightest. In truth she was impressed by him, by his honesty. Shaozu’s searing honesty equated as calling her the devil under the guise of speaking the truth while Kasim’s truths were far more endearing. 
“I thought your grief for your husband sounded genuine,” Kasim said, unsure what to think now.
“Ao was real, and he did die like I said. That memory is the clearest, though faces are vague.” 
“I hope you now trust that you can speak openly to me. Before you do I have to make one thing clear. I do like you very much, Kammani, but my loyalty has to be to the Sultan. If you intend to use your witchcraft against him then we are enemies and you may as well burn me now.”
“What I said about wanting to help him was also true. The only lies I told were daft ones, like about my brother. I have no recollection of him at all. I was only told recently that I had one, by the descendant of a girl who attempted to enslave me. As if I would ever allow anyone to make a slave of me! Can you imagine such a...oh,” Kammani said, realising who she was talking to.
“No, I can’t imagine such a miserable fate,” Kasim said, laughing after he said this and she laughed along with him. They had met with their own agendas but now a genuine friendship was forming and it made Kammani happy. Kasim was so much easier to talk to than anyone else she knew. Life certainly hadn’t always dealt him the best hand but he kept on smiling, remaining positive in spite of his circumstances.

Lihua headed out to the market again to buy supplies cheaply and to see Shaozu. She was disappointed when the widow opened the door and informed her that he was out. Still, it was good to hear that he was working. His job in the sewers sounded unpleasant but she hoped that he was happy and that the work was not too strenuous. Lihua wished that the widow had a tic or a twitch when she lied, as she suspected she was lying here as she claimed that Shaozu was not paying his way. Even though Lihua knew that this would not be true she still gave her some money. 
Once she had paid her the widow said goodbye to her and closed the door and Lihua turned around and saw that Kammani stood directly in front of her. Kammani had followed her to ask her to get a few things extra and she had spotted that Lihua was heading elsewhere and she had been intrigued to where she was going. She felt like she had caught her out and she said, “So why did you give that woman some of my money?”
Lihua always came across as miserly with the money and Kammani was annoyed by this, feeling like she had been embezzled. She wanted a good explanation and Lihua composed herself and she said, “There is a good reason why I’ve paid her, and the money will be returned.”
“Fine. We’ll discuss this back in our room.” Kammani tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. Lihua was the good servant, her loyal handmaiden. Shaozu and Tso’s insubordination was less surprising, both men common mercenaries of low standing. Lihua was different and had given her years of loyal service. Provided that her explanation did not involve the name Wong Shaozu then Kammani would forgive her and say no more on the matter.