Caversham's Bride (The Caversham Chronicles - Book One) (3 page)

“I arrived just after noon prayers.” The Prince fell in alongside Ren. “I take it you will tell me later why you arrived alone?”

“Maybe. We’ll see if your smell at that time doesn’t irritate my nostrils.”

Ren and Hakim traveled another half of a mile, leaving the docks and entering the souk market area. Here they blended into the crowd of multinationals, all eager to bargain for the fine Moroccan produce and exquisite handiwork. They reached the booth of a fish vendor where a cart and donkey waited at the rear of the man’s stall. Behind a curtained partition, Hakim pressed a gold coin into the vendor’s hand and thanked him. The man bowed and praised him as though he recognized his prince. Ren looked at Hakim curiously. The two men climbed into the back of the donkey cart, and after it began to move, he explained, “My driver is the brother of a faithful servant. He has helped me before.”

The cart proceeded slowly through the throngs of pedestrians. The trio watched as a skirmish ahead halted their progress. Hakim said something to his driver, and the man scanned the crowd for a way around the mass of people.

Then he saw her. Garbed in flowing black robes, her face covered by a sheer gray veil, a woman frantically pushed her way through dense foot traffic. As she neared their cart, Ren saw a bald hulking beast of a man plow his way through the crowd, obviously in pursuit of the veiled female.

The hunted woman lifted her gaze to Ren. A knot formed in his chest, preventing him from breathing. She possessed the richest emerald-colored eyes he’d ever seen—eyes filled with desperate fear.

Ren made a move toward her, but Hakim’s hand on his arm stopped him. “It is not wise to interfere in the business of others. She is most likely a run-away slave, and must be dealt with accordingly.”

“She is in need of our assistance,” Ren argued, as she was captured by the giant. The woman screamed as the beast held her in a vise-like grip, dragging her away.

“’Tis our way,” Hakim stressed.

Ren slumped back in the cart, unwilling to offend his good friend’s hospitality by causing a scene. But the terrified look in the woman’s eyes haunted him. Then he thought of a possible solution.

Vaulting from his seat, Ren pursued the bald giant and the woman he dragged with him. Somewhere in the scuffle she’d lost her head covering and veil, leaving her mahogany tresses to flow behind her. He picked up the material and continued on his mission through the crowded souk. He followed them to an empty warehouse, but neither the woman, or her captor, were in sight.

Ren pushed at the wooden door and entered the dim, cavernous room. An old man rounded a corner, leaning heavily on a cane, a look of surprise came across his face as Ren stopped directly before him.

“I am looking for a woman,” Ren stated in Spanish, unsure if the man spoke English.

“Every man who comes to me is in search of a woman,” the gray-bearded man replied.

Ren held up the opaque material. “She lost this.”

The old Arab reached for the cloth, but Ren snatched it back. “Not until I have some answers.”

“To what questions,
señor?
”

“What crime has she committed that she was so cruelly hunted down and dragged away?”

“She escaped. A woman is a valuable possession to a man such as myself.”

Ren reached into his coat pocket. “How much for her?” he asked as he took out a bag of coins.

“If you wish to purchase her, you must do so tonight,” the old man said. He looked over Ren’s appearance before turning from him. “When there are others to bid against you.” The old man ambled toward a curtained alcove, where a guard waited for him. He stopped, turned and leveled his rheumy gaze directly at Ren. “My wares draw men from the upper-most echelons of power. Men who pay the highest prices, for I have the finest selection available.”

He pounded his cane twice, and a guard came forward. “Now be gone. Return after
Isha
, our evening prayer, if you are so inclined.”

Ren stood, shocked at the old man’s curt dismissal of him, then reluctantly left the building. He found Hakim sitting in the cart, a few yards ahead, waiting.

“It was as I said, was it not?” Hakim asked.

Ren nodded, and glanced back toward the door. “I’m returning tonight. Something about her—the pleading and fear in her eyes perhaps. I cannot stand by and do nothing to help her.”

“And will you purchase the freedom of every other woman up for sale?” Hakim shook his head, holding on to the falling turban “Most start off this way, you know, not accepting of their fate. But that changes once they are safely ensconced in a
harim
. They realize what they give up is little in comparison to the luxuries they receive.”

He listened to Hakim’s words, and tried to interpret his explanations as truth, but was unable to do so. Terrified emerald eyes haunted him.

Later, as the two men crossed the enormous and ornate palace courtyard, Hakim snapped his fingers and a servant appeared from the shadows. “I hope your accommodations are satisfactory.” He ordered the man to show Ren to his rooms, then turned back to him. “After you rest, a servant will escort you to the dining hall. An old friend of mine, a physician, will join us for dinner.”

Ren nodded and followed the turbaned servant who led him to his suite. In the center of the enormous room was a massive bed, low to the ground and covered in a mountain of silk pillows in pale blues, rose and silver. Ren instructed the servant to prepare his bath. While he waited, he surveyed the room, which was easily as large as his suite at his main residence, Haldenwood, or at any of his other homes. Fine gauze curtains blew gently from the wall of arches that led to the courtyard beyond. The solitude of that private garden beckoned him.

He walked outdoors and tried to remember how long it had been since his last visit to Morocco, and this very palace. Three, four years? Surely before his father and stepmother’s death two and a half years ago, and before he ascended his title, when life was far less complicated. Spying a bench, he took a seat in the early evening shade of a large date palm. This time of year, the weather in Tangier was near perfect, though he was sure in the summer months what little shade the tree provided made an enormous difference to one seeking relief from the heat. The top of the high wall around the garden was carved stucco, intricately worked into a delicate pattern similar to the main gate and courtyard, but not quite as grand. In the center of this outdoor haven, a small fountain gurgled with the gentle sound of flowing water, creating a relaxed, almost serene atmosphere.

The sturdy bench where he sat was crafted of the finest mahogany, and surrounded by blooming plants. The secluded corner provided a magnificent retreat for his weary soul. He hoped that remaining here a few days would revitalize him and help him exorcise the recurrent demons plaguing him of late.

The questions about his failed betrothal were inevitable, and he didn’t think he could avoid answering them as easily a second time. So how was he going to mask his anger and pain from his friend? Even now, several months later, whenever he thought of it, bitter bile rose from his knotted gut. Thomas and Margaret had betrayed him in the worst possible way. Because if he was correct in his assessment of events over the past few months, his cousin attempted to kill him to gain his title and fortune. Now he had to protect himself, his family, and all he has.

Ren took a deep breath and reentered his room. The servant had finished filling the tub in the adjacent dressing room, and another had laid fresh clothes on the bed. Ren dismissed both servants and prepared himself for the evening ahead, dreading his friend’s interrogation.

T
he opulent dining hall was devoid of guests when Ren entered. The servants were still setting out a large bowl of tajine and a platter of couscous, arranging them in the center of the low, round dining table.

Hakim soon arrived wearing a jallaba of royal purple silk with threads of silver woven through it, and a jeweled turban that befit his status as a prince of Morocco. Another man accompanied Hakim. Instead of wearing a turban, he wore a yarmulke, and his kaftan was belted at the waist. Draped around his neck were the cords that signified his status as a physician. Hakim’s friend stood slightly taller than he, but was thinner in build, and also had dark brown eyes, except under thick dark brows. Ren nodded at the man, who returned a smile in earnest.

“Ren,” said Hakim, “I would like you to meet Ismael Ben Sabir, Royal Physician, and very close friend. Ismael, this is Marcus Renfield Halden, ninth Duke of Caversham. He also holds many other titles, which I cannot remember, and bears wealth equivalent to, if not greater than, the King of England.”

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Grace,” said Ismael, his English spoken with a lilting Arabic accent. “I have heard a great deal about you.” He bowed to Ren, then extended his hand.

“Please, I would be honored to have you call me Ren.” Shaking the newcomer’s hand, Ren continued, “I implore you not to believe all you’ve heard.” He turned a devilish grin on his old friend, Hakim. “Regardless of what he’s told you, Hakim is equally responsible for the scrapes we got into when we were younger.”

“I believe your words to be true. The same occurred when we were children.”

“It is amazing, is it not,” Hakim said while inspecting his nails with bored affectation, “how the years seem to mellow one’s life and retard one’s adventures through it?”

“If this afternoon was any indication, your adventures haven’t been hindered by your age in the least,” Ren replied.

“Do you know how difficult it is for someone such as myself to leave my prison home? I long to go about among my people without being considered a threat to my brother, the sultan.” Hakim motioned for his two guests to join him at the table. “And I have two other brothers and several nephews before me in succession to the crown! Thank Allah I was born when I was. A mere hundred years ago, I would have been killed when my brother ascended his throne.”

Ren waited for the prince to be seated and sat on the cushion next to his.

Hakim bowed his head over the table and gave thanks for their dinner. “
Bismillah er-rahman er-rahim
.” He translated it for Ren’s benefit, “In the name of God, the clement and merciful.” As custom dictated, Ren waited until the prince broke bread before taking any of his own.

“Ismael and I were childhood friends,” said Hakim. “His father and his father’s father before him were also royal physicians.” Tearing off a piece of bread, he continued, “Where you and I went to Oxford, Ismael went to Cairo to study medicine. Since his return, we have resumed our friendship.”

“Hakim tells me that you have been friends since your university days,” said Ismael. “You must have had some good times together. I know Hakim to be one who enjoys life to the fullest.”

“That he does,” Ren replied laughing. “Many times a bulldog dragged us from a pub when we should have been in our scheduled tutorials.”

Later, when dinner was done, and the mint tea served, Hakim turned to Ren. “So, tell me why you did not marry? The last letter I received from you said this was to be part of a wedding trip for you and your bride. I did not think you sailed your ships any longer.”

Ren looked at the empty cup in front of him. If he was to tell his tale, he needed something more substantial than tea. He pointed to his cup. “Do you have anything stronger?”

Hakim motioned to a servant and ordered him to bring a bottle of his best port and a box of cigars. “My years in England left me with an appreciation for your custom of port and cigars after dinner. But for religious reasons, I reserve this indulgence only for special occasions. My friend, this appears to be one such occasion.”

After dismissing the musicians, the men drank wine and lit up several of Hakim’s best Turkish cigars. In the relaxed atmosphere, Ren opened up to his old friend, and his new friend about the treachery of his own cousin.

“You know I never liked him,” Hakim said, “and told you as much when we were in school.”

Ren sighed. “We had been close childhood friends until his mother remarried and moved to Cornwall. His father, my uncle, was never the same after coming home from war and died shortly after his return. Thomas was very young when he found his father dead in his office. I know Thomas went through a difficult time adjusting to Admiral Linley as a stepfather, God knows he was a cruel man,” Ren paused to draw from his cigar, “Thomas didn’t live under the man’s roof but a few months of the year because we were at school. That is, until he quit attending his classes.” He puffed hard on the cigar until it glowed. “I don’t understand. If things were so bad, why not stay with me? I would have shared my bachelor apartment with him.”

“Perhaps he thought of you as part of the problem,” the physician said.

Hakim nodded and motioned to a servant to refill his glass. “So what did he do, exactly?”

Ren gave a sardonic chuckle. “Where do I begin?”

“Start with the affianced bride,” Hakim said. “Did you love her?”

“He had to have cared,” replied the physician, “else he’d not be in this mood.”

“Lady Margaret was a diamond for the past two seasons. Beautiful and well-connected, she would have made a fine duchess.”

“But you didn’t love her,” Hakim stated.