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The guard stood, and then lifted one hand toward the camel-mounted palanquin in which the empress rode, gesturing instructions to the attendants.
"At last,” Mehmet said expectantly, rising to her feet.
Hanrah stood up next to her.
The procession split either side of the camel. On the guard's signal, the attendants tapped the animal's head with sticks. It lowered to the ground and the attendants reached to pull back the curtains. As they did Mehmet watched, expecting a figure to step out. Instead, what looked distinctly like a corpse bound for burial slid forward, strapped by rope to a narrow plinth.
Mehmet stared at the sight, then sighed deeply. Elishiba was dead. Her immediate reaction was annoyance. Sibias had failed to get the prize here in one piece. She cursed aloud and sought Sibias's face out in the crowd, hissing her annoyance at him, wherever he was. “Damn you, Sibias, your duty was to keep her alive until after the wedding ceremony."
Gasps of dismay ran around the assembled courtiers as they stared at the body presented by the Aleemites. Hanrah looked from the curious sight of the corpse, to his mother and back, his eyebrows lifted in speculation.
Sibias had emerged from the procession and was trying to push past the Aleemite guards. Even in that he seemed thwarted. She waved him on, and then pulled off the bracelet that had been annoying her and threw it on the floor.
The heavy object bounced once and landed at the feet of the Aleemite guard who still stood by, observing. He bent to retrieve the object and it was then that Mehmet realized that the guard was watching her steadily. She was about to order him to lower his gaze in her presence, when she noticed a curious, defiant look in the eyes that watched her so closely.
Mehmet's suspicion flared. “You there, what are you staring at?"
The guard didn't move for several long moments, during which Mehmet's unease rose. She hissed impatiently.
"I stare with interest at my prospective mother-in-law,” the guard replied in a soft, level voice, apparently female, then pushed back her headdress. Ebony hair tumbled down over her shoulders and she shook it out proudly.
Elishiba. Mehmet recognized her instantly from her likenesses, and gave her future daughter-in-law a tight smile, biting back her rising irritation. “Was there any purpose to this rather childish hoax?"
Elishiba stepped forward. “Oh yes, it confirmed something I wished to know.” She gave a knowing smile. “Whether or not my future mother-in-law would be ... saddened ... to see me dead.” Sarcasm rang in her carefully chosen words.
Mehmet mustered a laugh. She was taken by surprise, and resented still more that everyone around them, Aleemite and Karseedians, ogled the whole exchange. Even the city dwellers jostled at the gates to see what went on. But Elishiba was perfectly calm. This was unexpected. Mehmet even got the impression this was her idea. Then she had to wonder, had Elishiba heard her initial response to the sight of the body?
"Of course I would be upset,” she lied, annoyed at being put on the spot by a young adversary.
Elishiba'seyebrowsliftedimperceptibly."Iwasn'tsure.Especially as my handmaiden was killed along the journey, and my warriors are under the impression her fate was meant for me."
She nodded toward her men. They were observing the exchange as if ready to take on the entire city.
Tensions ran high. Mehmet's gut instinct was to have the lot of them killed for displaying such insolence on her territory. That would, however, deprive her of achieving her goal. Soon, though.
She was about to respond when Elishiba looked around and continued to speak. “And the Emperor Hanrah, where is he? I am eager to meet my counterpart."
Counterpart?
Mehmet gritted her teeth. Elishiba was either ignorant, or she was being purposefully obtuse. Her imperial son held much higher status than the daughter of Ramsis ever would. Then she noticed her son gawping at Elishiba with a half-smile. Simpleton. The irony of the situation grated on Mehmet. He was most likely stupidly impressed that she was dressed as a boy. She reached over and pushed him forward, not trusting herself to say more.
Hanrah stumbled forward and then half bowed to his betrothed.
Elishiba stared at him for a painfully long time, eyebrows arched disbelievingly. Then she fished about in her sash and pulled out a small object.
Mehmet saw that it was a Karseedian coin bearing the likeness of Hanrah. She narrowed her eyes, her irritation increasing by the second. The artist had crafted it in the likeness of his father, more than a genuine likeness of him. It had been Mehmet's instruction at the time, a decision she had been forced to regret on several occasions, due to mockery.
Elishiba held the coin up alongside his face.
Hanrah shuffled his feet awkwardly during the inspection.
"Your likeness does not do you justice, Emperor Hanrah,” Elishiba declared. “You look so much more kindly, and friendly,” she added with a smile. “I am pleased to meet you at last. I feel sure our negotiations will go well."
Elishiba obviously thought she could hold sway over Hanrah. Deep inside Mehmet, it stirred a deep-rooted fear. No one could ever influence her son as she did, she assured herself. He's mine and mine alone. She watched, unsettled, when Hanrah grinned at his future wife, evidently humored by her remark
Mehmet fumed, her annoyance with the situation multip
lying by the moment. The sooner the marriage was over and done with—and she could dispose of Elishiba for good—the better. She nodded at a guard, beckoning to him.
