7-5 Trickery
Kosta refuses to send any more of his men to search for the fugitives. This leaves Bekir with no other option but to send Hasan and Mursel in pursuit. It leaves us dangerously under resourced should any of the other hostages decide to take advantage of the situation. The two men Kosta sent with Kemel return an hour or so after Hasan and Mursel depart. They make their report to Bekir and Kosta. Apparently the fugitives were met by men with horses, and the group rode off through the forest in a south-westerly direction.
"Where's Kemel?" asks Bekir.
"The riders split up after a few miles. He followed one set of tracks, while we followed the other. We lost the trail when we reached a river, so we returned here."
"The two guards who delivered Anna and Margit here could be the accomplices who met Anna and Nebi in the woods when they escaped," says Nur when she and I are alone.
"Yes, that's possible," I agree. "Hasan thinks that the guards who brought Anna and Margit here hastened their journey so as to arrive before we were properly organised. Our disarray improved the chances of the identity switch going unnoticed."
"But why didn't they simply all escape during the journey here?" asks Nur.
"If they did that then a full scale search would have followed almost at once," I reply. "Their plan was much cleverer than trying a sudden break for freedom. Margit, in the role of countess, was a decoy to keep us distracted. They were probably hoping that she could keep up the disguise for longer than she did so that Anna would be long gone before anybody followed them. Even so, Anna and her helpers have over a full day's head start on any serious pursuit."
"All this points to a well organised plan," muses Nur. "Far more complex than I think Nebi is capable of organising on his own."
"Could it be something Anna's husband or her family has arranged?" I speculate.
"Possibly. If we knew more about Nebi's past we might have a better idea," says Nur. "Unfortunately the person who might be able to tell us more is locked in the cellar and is unlikely to cooperate with us."
There's a sudden commotion from the main hall. Nur and I quickly go to investigate. To our surprise Kosta and his men have drawn their weapons and are holding Bekir and Yazid prisoner. The few women in the room are sheltering in the corner of the room, out of harms way.
"What's going on?" demands Nur.
"Bring the countess here," orders Kosta. "We shall take care of her from now on."
Nur looks at him with a confused expression on her face. Kosta mistakes the cause of her surprise to be the sudden change of circumstances. Nur regains her senses and goes to fetch Margit from the cellar. I'm briefly puzzled by Kosta's demands until I realise that he doesn't know that Anna and Margit have switched identities. Nothing Hasan said today alerted Kosta to the switch, and Bekir merely asked Kosta for more men without saying why.
Nur returns with Margit. I hold my breath while I wait to see what happens next. It seems that the countess is the subject of two separate rescue attempts, neither of which seems to be aware of the other. It would be comical if it wasn't for the deaths which have occurred.
To my surprise, Margit plays the role of countess without alerting Kosta to her real identity. I don't understand why. She's either protecting her mistress, or she's hoping that by pretending to be Anna von Erdödy, she might escape back to Hungary.
"Am I to assume that my husband has arranged for your intervention," says Margit to Kosta.
"Yes, countess," replies Kosta. "Gather your belongings. My men and I will escort you to freedom. You will be back with your husband before the week is out."
Margit does as she is bid and within minutes she, Kosta and his men are riding off. Bekir moves as though he intends to give chase, but he quickly realises that it's a futile gesture.
"I don't understand what is happening," cries Emine, badly shaken by the experience.
Ozan, Kosta and his men weren't sent by the Grand Vizier," replies Nur. "They are in the Count von Erdödy's employ. The men they killed when we arrived here were Heyreddin Pasha's men. We've been tricked."
"But we've received dispatches from Heyreddin Pasha and I've sent reports to him," says Bekir. "A supply wagon has been arriving every few days. Surely Heyreddin Pasha ... or someone in Constantinople ... would have realised something wasn't right."
"Perhaps not," replies Nur. "Ozan could have posted men between here and Constantinople to intercept the messages. A rider from Heyreddin Pasha wouldn't necessarily think it strange to be stopped by a guard and made to hand over his message. Particularly if he is given a return message to deliver to Heyreddin Pasha. The man arriving at the lodge with the messages is likely to have been one of Ozan's men."
"But wouldn't the injured men have raised the alarm?" asks Emine.
I don't need Nur to tell me that it's unlikely the injured men ever reached Constantinople. We are fortunate that Kosta and his men didn't kill us before they left. I presume they didn't want to do so in front of the other hostages.
There's not much we can do until either Hasan returns, or the daily messenger ... hopefully the real one ... arrives from Constantinople. Emine and several of the hostages are in shock and our initial efforts are directed towards comforting them.
I'm relieved when Hasan and Mursel return an hour later; much earlier than expected. Nur and I quickly tell Hasan what has happened and he asks Bekir to call everybody together in the central hall. Bekir is dejected, knowing that Heyreddin Pasha will undoubtedly blame him for what has happened.
"We need to search the lodge and the immediate grounds," says Hasan. "Everything Kosta's men told you about their search is a lie. The forest around the lodge was being watched by Ozan's men, so Nebi and the countess couldn't have escaped on horseback as Kosta's men claim. I came back here as soon as I realised that Ozan's men were leaving."
"What about Kemel?" asks Bekir.
"I didn't see any sign of him, but it's possible that he's been killed," replies Hasan. "Ozan's men can't have failed to notice him, and they couldn't risk him seeing them and realising what was happening."
"Then you think Nebi and the countess never left here," says Nur.
"I think our two lovers suspected that Kosta was working for the count and they went into hiding nearby," says Hasan. "That's probably why Margit didn't reveal her true identity to Kosta."
"But why did Nebi go into hiding as well?" asks Nur.
"Because they are planning on leaving together as soon as the coast is clear. We need to find them quickly."
Searching the lodge and outbuildings is a big task with so few of us available for the search. It's not until Nur and I search the hostage's suites for the second time that we discover the missing pair. They realise that their plan has been foiled and they don't put up any resistance. Nur escorts them to the central hall while I go to tell the others of our success.
Later on Nur interrogates Nebi and Anna with Hasan, Bekir and I in attendance. My role in the interrogation is simply to verify that Nebi's translation of Nur's questions and Anna's answers are correct. We learn that Nebi and Anna were engaged to be married until her father, under pressure from the Count von Erdödy and the Hungarian king, arranged for Anna to marry the much older count. Nebi followed Anna from Hungary when she was taken hostage. Through a mixture of intelligent guesswork, helpful friends and more than a little bit of good luck, Nebi managed to achieve what he did. Unfortunately for Anna and he, their clever scheme has come to nothing, and Margit may have sacrificed herself unnecessarily.
"What will happen to us now?" asks Anna.
"Heyreddin Pasha will decide your fate," replies Bekir. "In the meantime you are to be confined to your suite. Nebi will be locked in the cellar."
We are left waiting for two days before Heyreddin Pasha and more guards finally arrive from Constantinople. Ibrahim comes as well, which clearly irks Heyreddin Pasha as he probably hoped to report his own version of events to the Grand Vizier. Ibrahim's presence here means Sultan Suleiman is likely to hear of our near disaster directly from Ibrahim.
It takes most of the day for Ibrahim and Heyreddin Pasha to see everybody they want to interview. I'm called on as an interpreter when the two men interview the hostages and their maids. Consequently I get an insight into what Ibrahim and Heyreddin Pasha are planning. Even so, I don't fully understand the reason for what follows.
Much to Heyreddin Pasha's relief, Ibrahim isn't here to investigate the mistakes and shortcomings in Heyreddin Pasha's arrangements at the lodge. The loss of Heyreddin Pasha's soldiers is regarded as regrettable, but such are the hazards facing mercenaries. A pursuit of Ozan, Kosta and their men has been mounted, but neither Ibrahim nor Heyreddin Pasha appear to be unduly concerned should they evade the pursuit. Margit's fate doesn't even warrant a moment's thought by either man.
Ibrahim has come here for two reasons, both of which are going to cause my life to take another sudden turn. Firstly, the rumours of the sultan preparing for a war the east of the empire are true, and Ibrahim wants Hasan to undertake a reconnaissance mission in the threatened area. Hasan could refuse the duty, but I know that he doesn't like the prospect of spending months, or even years, working here at the lodge. It means he will be away for several months, and both Ibrahim and Hasan are adamant that it's too dangerous for me to go with him. As much as I will miss Hasan, I know it would be foolish for me to go with him, or to try and prevent him from going. I know that I will be safe enough working here at the lodge with Nur.
Ibrahim's second reason for visiting the lodge is to announce Anna von Erdödy's fate. The count has broken the terms of the peace treaty by trying to rescue his wife. Consequently Anna is no longer regarded as a hostage, but as the sultan's property to do with as he wishes. She could be executed or sold into slavery. Fortunately for Anna, Sultan Suleiman decides that either action may inflame tensions in Hungary. The sultan doesn't want to fight wars in both the east and west of the Ottoman Empire at the same time. But the countess cannot go unpunished or the sultan might appear weak. Her relationship with Nebi also complicates the situation.
"Anna von Erdödy. You and your maid are to confined in the Imperial Harem at Edirne until such time that Sultan Suleiman decides otherwise," I translate Ibrahim's words to Anna.
"I no longer have a maid," replies Anna. "Margit was taken by Kosta and his men."
Ibrahim's oversight reinforces how little consideration he has given to Margit's fate. Like several other Ottoman palaces, Edirne is sometimes used as a comfortable prison for high ranking women captives. Its harem is administered as a part of the main harem in Constantinople, and women housed there are subject to the same strict harem rules. Anna will have fewer comforts and less freedom than here in Heyreddin Pasha's lodge.
"A replacement maid will be found for you," says Ibrahim. "If Hasan and Gülnihal agree, then Gülnihal will assist you until a new maid can be arranged. Gülnihal has been a sultana's maid, so she's well versed in the duties of a lady's maid. She's also knows the Imperial Harem rules, so she can instruct you in those."
Hasan leaves the decision to me, and after some thought I agree to Ibrahim's request. Hasan is due to leave for the east in a few days and I'm not certain how much I'll enjoy working here without him. Heyreddin Pasha has belatedly hired more servants and guards to look after the remaining hostages, so I'm no longer important to the running of the household. Nur says she will miss me, and I will miss her, but both of us can easily cope without the other.
All too soon it is time to say goodbye to Hasan as he departs for the east. Later that same day, a coach arrives to take Anna von Erdödy and I to the Ottoman palace at Edirne.