So Far, So Good

We retrace the rest of the route that I remember from the previous day. There are more guards in evidence than there were then. I suppose that increasing their number was a natural, though rather pointless, reaction to last night's events. I hope that Usman's and Munaf's trust in them is justified, as if Arif should discover that I'm alive and in the harem I'm not convinced that he will be deterred by the prohibition against men entering.

Once we are safely back in the harem, I face a barrage of questions from the other concubines, who all show a mixture of excitement and fear in varying degrees. Their futures are almost as uncertain as mine now, I realise.

Before long, though, life settles down into a rather boring routine. The only thing that gave the girls' lives any meaning - periodic visits to the Sultan - has been removed, and after a few days they mostly become rather listless. Every day, I ask Munaf if there is any news, and every day his answer is the same: "No. Try to be patient."

A couple of weeks later:

1. At last I get a message from Usman, via Munaf.
2. Munaf tells me that Arif has had Usman arrested.
3. I have my period, right on schedule. So I'm not pregnant after all. That was always the much more likely outcome, of course.
4. There's no sign of my period, when it should have occurred by now. I could be pregnant, but I've occasionally missed a period before this.

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