Page 23 of Silver Angel

Derek was not surprised. He had already surmised this was what he was needed for, the only thing hecouldbe needed for. But he wasn’t about to become the next Dey of Barikah, even if he was next in line for the position. He simply didn’t want that kind of power and the headaches that went along with it. He had lived the simple life of an Englishman too long, even if he had spent a few years embroiled in intrigue and spying for Marshall. It was one thing to have a little adventure, a little risk for the sake of excitement, when you knew you only had to cross the Channel to put it behind you. Here, it would never end.

“I won’t succeed you, Jamil. I’ll tell you that right off. As far as anyone here is concerned, I’m dead and forgotten, and I’d like to leave it that way. But temporarily, for the few days it would take to see your family safe if Selim does succeed, of course I’ll take your place. You didn’t even have to ask. But as long as I’m here, why don’t we see that nothing happens to you instead.”

Jamil did not show the relief Derek expected. “I think you misunderstood, Kasim. Omar’s idea is not for you to impersonate me if I die, butbeforeit comes to that.”

For five seconds Derek said nothing, and then he said in a rush, “Jesus Christ! Do you know what you’re asking?”

The pain in Jamil’s eyes said he did, but he, too, misunderstood, in this case Derek’s reaction. “You are right. It is too much to ask, to risk your life—”

“To hell with the—”

“No, no, I should never have brought you here. And I wouldn’t have for myself. It is my loved ones…but you are right. The danger is still there, whether it is you or me. Omar was a fool to even think of it.”

“Jamil—”

“All he is concerned with is Barikah, not the lives he endangers—”

“Jamil, shut up!” Derek finally had to shout to get his attention.

Jamil did. That there wasn’t a single person in all of Barikah, not Omar, not their mother, Rahine, not even Jamil’s beloved Sheelah, who would have dared speak to him so was irrelevant. Jamil had barely noticed, and Derek wouldn’t have cared if he had.

“I’m not concerned about the risk,” Derek continued impatiently. “I’m used to risking my life, and for less reason than this. So don’t mention it again, Jamil, if you don’t want to see me lose my temper. But you’re talking about weeks, months maybe, of my pretending to be you! How the hell am I supposed to do that when I haven’t seen you for nineteen years?”

Jamil’s teeth flashed white in a relieved grin. “But that is the easy part. We would take a week, maybe a little longer, for you to watch me, study my mannerisms, see how I deal with those around me. Omar would instruct you, and he will be on hand to see you make no mistakes.”

“And if he isn’t always there? If someone should ask me something I haven’t the faintest idea of how to answer, then what?”

“Come now, Kasim, you have not forgotten the prerogatives of the Dey. You can dismiss any and all persons from your presence at any time, and no one would dare ask you why. I have done so enough times in these past months that it would seem quite natural for you to order a room vacated of all except my mutes, and even they have suffered from my recent temper.”

Derek chuckled. “The confinement getting to you, is it?”

“About three months ago,” Jamil replied in disgust.

“All right, so that tells me how I could avoid any ticklish situations that arise, but what about the running of your little empire?”

“Omar is capable of making all decisions. It is his responsibility when I am unavailable.”

“Then you don’t intend to remain in the palace?”

“No. It is my intention to find Selim, and for this I would enlist the help of his namesake, Sultan Selim. Our half brother was last seen at the Sultan’s court. But no one I now have searching for Selim has the rank to get in to see the Sultan, and he does not respond well to letters. So I would go first to Istanbul, and hopefully, from there to wherever Selim is hiding. If the Sultan doesn’t know where he has gone, he can find out. My network of spies is nothing compared with his.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t already done this.”

“I wanted to, but Omar wouldn’t hear of it, and my councillors all concurred with him. Allah’s mercy, they are like a bunch of old women, afraid for me to even step into my outer court, much less outside the palace walls. The trouble is, with more than a thousand slaves in the palace, it is too easy to bribe dozens of my own people to spy on me and report my every move. I cannot leave the palace, even in disguise, without the assassins knowing about it, and that is all they are waiting for.”

“Yes, the palace is too easy to watch from without with only one main gate.”

Jamil nodded. “Occasionally they grow impatient and send in one or two of their numbers to try and take me. Just last month one got as far as my bedchamber, killed the two guards at the door, and tried crawling across the floor to my bed. Fortunately, my personal guards are more alert than the others, and one spotted the dog before he reached me.”

“And all the other guards along the way?”

“Most were drugged somehow, and we have still not discovered how. A few were killed. As far as we could discover, they came over the walls of the third court after poisoning my lions, which are let loose there at night.”

Derek shook his head, sighing. “It’s a nasty business, Jamil, all of it. I might prefer a little more active part in putting an end to it, but if you think my taking your place for a while will be better, then I suppose I can give it a try.”

“You will actually do it?”

“Didn’t I just say so?”