Chapter 13: Agenda, Banquet and the Powerful Jinn

They were ushered into a big hall. It was different from the big hall, which they had been brought into earlier. The tables were at the sides near the walls. The space at the center was vast. The five foreigners looked around them as they stood in the middle of that vast space.

The entire place smelled of olive oil, in which the lights were fueled. The whole place was full of lights. They remembered that it was quite different from the dark desert lands of Ancient Egypt.

The royal family members were all gathered together. They sat at the tables in front of them, which were filled with food, fruits and wine.

The soldiers stood guard around the great hall and were watchful.

Radu was seated next to the sultan. At the sultan’s other side sat his fifteen-year-old son and successor, Bayezid II.

The Jinn, on the other hand, stood by behind Radu.

They all watched as the foreigners performed magic in front of the royal family.

Mazoi performed first by taking out his pen and turning it into a spear. Diana snapped her fingers, and grains of sands appeared on the floor.

Mazoi twirled his spear and gathered the sands into a ball. He aimed the ball at one of the lights. It was a bowl of olive with a wick at the center that was placed on top of a window. The ball of sands traveled in a speed of light, and the bowl of olive was filled with sands. As a result, the light was put out.

The royal family members clapped their hands with great amazement. It seemed to reverberate all over the room.

Elise performed next, snapping her slender fingers. She undid what the Medjay did. Hence, the bowl of olive that was full of sands was back, and the red-orange fire reappeared, dancing on its wick. The audience gasped at this.

After doing it, she flipped over a number of times while Kent spat fire as if to follow her, and the fire formed into a star pattern.

Another round of applause was heard from the royal family members. Their faces reflected enjoyment on the show. They had never seen anything like it before. They murmured some praises to the performers, eyes shining with delight.

Eric snapped out the fire pattern with one wave of his hand. Then, Diana flicked her fingers as she watched Eric’s face. Endless of confetti of colorful flower petals rained down the hall. Their sweet floral scent wafted through the air.

Another round of applause was heard again from the royal family members. Words of praised left their mouth as the five foreigners bowed to their audience with a wide smile on their faces.

“That was truly impressive!” The sultan’s voice was heard among the audience as he stood up while clapping his hands to express his admiration to the foreigners’ skills.

Radu stood up and applauded them as well, with a thin smile on his lips. On the other hand, the Jinn just stared at the group of the foreigners as though he devised a certain plan. There was a diabolic glint in his dark eyes.

The banquet went on, and the foreigners were ushered to a table near the sultan. They ate with him, his son and Radu.

“Could you do this again tomorrow night, foreigners?” the sultan requested with hopeful eyes.

The foreigners looked at each other. “Yes, sure. We will.” Eric nodded to the sultan.

The latter nodded with appreciation as he kept smiling at them. It was obvious he was taken by this group of foreigners because of their rare talents.

When the banquet was over, all of the royal family members retired to their respective bedchambers, including the sultan who wished them a good night.

Radu was off as well together with the Jinn without a backward glance, and the foreigners went on their own way to their bedroom at the servants’ quarters.

****

The following day, the foreigners toured the royal house. They checked out the Imperial Harem. However, it was only Diana and Elise, who were allowed to enter. Men were not allowed to get in. In fact, all servants there were female.

Diana and Elise explored the place when they met Validā Khātûn (Queen Mother or Her Majesty) Âminā Kul-Bahar Khātûn. She was a Christian Albanian and was known as the first wife of Mehmed II, the current sultan of Ottoman Empire. She was, however, the stepmother of Bayezid II, successor to the throne—as the boy’s biological mother died many years ago.

She smiled when she saw the two young foreigners.

“Are you lost, foreigners?” she asked them kindly.

“Oh, no! We are just having a tour… if that is fine with you, Valide Sultan.” Diana smiled after replying to her.

“I see. Come, follow me. I will show you around.” The queen gestured to them.

A female servant followed them. She seemed to be the most trusted one of the queen.

Diana and Elise looked at a couple of two-story buildings with a series of rooms each. The compound bustled with some other female servants who did their daily duties.

The two cheerleaders personally met the other wives of the sultan. Some of whom they met were Gülşah Hatun, Mûkrîmā (Sitt-î Mükrime) Khātûn and Helenā Khātûn, who was a daughter of Demetrios Palaiologos and the Despot of Morea. They were all beautiful in their own way.

The other wives bowed to the first wife of the sultan, to show her their respect. Some of them even adored her even though she was tough most of the times.

After Diana’s and Elise’s tour, they were invited by the queen for a meal. Then she suddenly looked at the worried faces of her guests.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked in bewilderment.

“Oh, we just remembered our three other companions outside,” Diana spoke slowly.

They were already seated at the dining table in one of the queen’s rooms.

“Oh, I shall send my servant to fetch them.” The queen nodded with a small smile on her beautiful red full lips.

She called on her servant and instructed her to bring over the three male foreigners.

“I-is it fine to bring them in here?” Diana’s eyes grew wide. She was worried that the sultan might not like it.

The queen briefly laughed. “It is a secret of course! No one should know about it.”

The three were grinning at each other when the three guys arrived together with the servant of the queen. They slightly bowed to her and sat at the table without invitation. The two young ladies’ eyes threw an uncomfortable glance at the queen.

“Welcome. Please, do eat with us,” the queen invited.

“Thank you!” Eric smiled at her charmingly.

They enjoyed their meal together with the queen. She also talked about her role and in managing the Harem, thus, giving them information.

“The Palace concubines are intelligent. I make sure that they undergo proper training. They were mainly introduced and brought up with disciplines as practiced in the Palace. No one can easily get in or out of the Harem without my explicit instruction or permission.”

The foreigners nodded in awe, lips forming and “O.”

“I heard something about the favorite of a sultan is privileged,” Kent spoke and gazed at the queen intently.

The queen smiled easily. “As of the moment, the sultan has no other favorite than me,” the queen said proudly.

The girls giggled while the guys nodded with quite smiles on their faces.

The servant who stood by next to the door just smiled at herself when she heard it from the queen.

They went out of the compound of the Imperial Harem and checked out the Palace School. They gawped at the young educated scholars who were busy studying. Some were in groups; some were alone; and they were scattered like in Belmont High School.

“I’m bored,” Eric expressed while he looked around.

“Me, too,” Mazoi seconded.

“Let’s go back to our room and prepare for our show tonight,” Kent suggested and sighed.

“Alright,” Elise and Diana answered, and they headed back to the servants’ quarters. The girls were also exhausted from the tour.

They sat down separately on each of their own bed. The two girls laid down and stared up at the ceiling.

“I’m tired!” Diana complained.

“Let’s sleep,” Elise suggested and closed her eyes.

They almost could not believe they were bored to death at the moment, unlike when they were in Ancient Egypt.