A Place Called Armageddon by C. C. Humphreys Read Free Book Online Page B

goblets over. But they came up for a moment when Hamza murmured his thank you … and he was startled again. Not so much for the colour and swirl of them, that he’d only seen once before in jade from Samarkand. For the darkness within them.
    He didn’t think he’d ever seen such melancholy in his whole life.
    She turned – and tripped! Hamza was to her in a moment, reaching an arm to her elbow. It was a moment of contact, a moment when those eyes turned to him again – and then she freed her arm to receive what she’d tripped over, what leapt up now.
    ‘Ragazzo!’ she cried, scolding.
    The cat twisted its neck up, purring loudly. Hamza, who had not moved away, saw the melancholy swept away and be replaced with such joy that he felt an actual, contrasting sadness. He reached out a hand to the cat, and ran a finger between his eyes.
    ‘You like cats, sir?’ she asked.
    ‘I do. Especially a handsome fellow like this.’ He scratched. ‘May I?’
    Sofia released Ragazzo into his arms. The cat was completely comfortable there, even when Hamza turned him over on his back and rubbed his exposed belly. ‘Did you know, lady, that our prophet Muhammad, praise be to him always, was a lover of cats?’
    ‘I … I did not.’
    ‘Especially of this kind. The stripe on his back, the markings as if some calligrapher has dipped his hands in black ink and drawn thick rings around this grey body. But look here,’ he said, righting the cat and scritching him under the chin to lift his head. ‘Do you see what is above these stunning green eyes? This proves he is beloved of Muhammad. For has not the Prophet, praise him, blessed the animal with his own initial?’
    Sofia looked – and laughed. ‘It is true,’ she said, clapping her hands together in delight. ‘Look, Theon. Above the eyes. The letter “M” clear as day. I never saw it till this moment.’
    She laughed again and Hamza with her. Theon frowned. When had he last heard her laugh? He didn’t truly care if men lusted after his wife. But this … complicity between them? It annoyed him. ‘And do you think that “M” is a letter used by Arabs or Turks?’ he snapped. ‘Take it away, Sofia. You know how I hate the beast.’
    They both looked up at him. Hamza’s gaze was keen and Theon was angry again that he’d revealed any sort of emotion. He changed his tone. ‘It makes me sneeze,’ he explained.
    ‘Ah, and I wager that he loves you best of all. It is always the way. They desire those who shun them. Perhaps like Muhammad, most exalted, whose mark they bear, they seek to bring you to the one true faith – the worship of cats!’ Reluctantly he handed the animal into Sofia’s arms.
    She scratched the cat between the eyes. ‘“Beloved of Muhammad.” What is that in your tongue, sir?’
    Hamza considered, reaching out to stroke. ‘I would say “Ulvikul”,’ he replied.
    ‘Ulvikul,’ she repeated. ‘Would it be a sin against your faith to name him thus? Ragazzo is just what our maid yells at him when he steals food.’
    ‘Lady, from you, it could be no sin.’
    There was a silence. More complicity, Theon thought, and broke it. ‘Leave us, wife,’ he said tonelessly. ‘And keep the cat with you.’
    It is like a veil, Hamza thought, as Sofia’s eyes changed and she turned away. I am privileged to have glimpsed beneath it.
    The two men watched her leave, and the door close behind her. ‘You are blessed in her,’ Hamza said.
    ‘In ways you cannot imagine,’ Theon replied briskly, sitting down. ‘Do you have a wife?’
    ‘Three.’
    ‘Three.’ The Greek’s brow wrinkled. ‘Do you not consider that excessive?’
    ‘Perhaps.’ He shrugged. ‘ Inshallah .’ He nodded to the door. ‘But if I had one such as yours …’
    ‘Indeed.’ Theon decided he had had enough of the exchange, and was not sure he had got the better of it. ‘And now, shall we get to business? What is it that you wished to discuss with me?’
    Hamza smiled.