The Tournament
“The Sultan and his entourage left us without another word. They headed off toward the Harem.
I was in a state of some considerable dismay over the fates of Sasha and the other kitchen staff. ‘Mr Ascham, why did the Sultan order that those poor people be killed?’ ‘We are in a strange and unholy land, Bess,’ Mr Ascham replied. ‘We should count ourselves lucky we didn’t suffer a similar fate. I imagine it was only your royal blood and my deductive abilities that allowed us to escape that room aliv...e.’ We were standing in the Second Courtyard. Delegations and players were now milling around under its trees. Zaman’s match was over—he had beaten Maximilian of Vienna four games to nil, a thrashing—and now the privileged crowd was taking in some air before the second match of the day began, that of Vladimir of Muscovy and Mustafa of Cairo.
‘But why kill them?’ I said, still appalled. ‘They did nothing but see the dead couple.’ ‘The most dangerous thing in any palace is a rumour,’ my teacher said.MoreLess
I was in a state of some considerable dismay over the fates of Sasha and the other kitchen staff. ‘Mr Ascham, why did the Sultan order that those poor people be killed?’ ‘We are in a strange and unholy land, Bess,’ Mr Ascham replied. ‘We should count ourselves lucky we didn’t suffer a similar fate. I imagine it was only your royal blood and my deductive abilities that allowed us to escape that room aliv...e.’ We were standing in the Second Courtyard. Delegations and players were now milling around under its trees. Zaman’s match was over—he had beaten Maximilian of Vienna four games to nil, a thrashing—and now the privileged crowd was taking in some air before the second match of the day began, that of Vladimir of Muscovy and Mustafa of Cairo.
‘But why kill them?’ I said, still appalled. ‘They did nothing but see the dead couple.’ ‘The most dangerous thing in any palace is a rumour,’ my teacher said.MoreLess
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