The Hidden by Jo Chumas Read Free Book Online Page A

is like my brother. I felt so bad that I cause him so much distress. And yet, despite that, despite my wilful ways, he is so loyal to me. If only things were different. If only I could take Rachid with me to live freely. He would not be my servant. He would be my friend, my confidant, as he is now. I would give him everything I could to repay him for his kindness to me. Though he is not that much older than I am, he has been with me since I was a very young girl. He was bought into slavery as a child and we became friends. I could never let anyone know this because it would be considered a shameful thing for a mistress to befriend her eunuch. I look at him every now and again as I write. He is sleeping so peacefully, but his cheeks are wet with tears. As he dreams, he is in torment. My rooms are now full of soft light, delicate and dreamy. When al-Shezira comes back, I suspect Rachid is right in predicting we will be prized apart. Rumour is going around the palace that my husband has the most terrible fate in store for me as punishment for my waywardness and my depression. His pride has been wounded and al-Shezira is a proud man. I see my sisters whispering when I walk past them in the corridors of the harem. I wish for some terrible accident, some disaster to befall him, a train wreck, the onset of some illness, food poisoning, anything.
    Minya must no longer be amusing him, so he has turned his attention to me. Why, I wonder, when he has other wives to amuse him? It’s because of Papa and their alliance, I am sure. I lived with him in his Cairo mansion only briefly when I was first married, but then I becameill, so Papa allowed me to return to the palace of my birth in our district of Cairo. After that, al-Shezira abandoned his Cairo mansion and returned to Minya with the rest of his wives. Al-Shezira’s insistence that I return with him to Minya is political bargaining with Papa, and I am the currency.
    Rachid moans in his sleep. I look up at him. His mouth is moist. He’s such a pretty sight when he’s asleep. “Rachid,” I whisper.
    My poor eunuch rouses and jumps up. Then he stumbles over me and lands on the floor, laughing. He is so funny. I am happy when I am with him.
    For a moment I forget about al-Shezira and his wives. Rachid smiles at me, showing his beautiful white teeth. I love the little grey patches under his eyes and his cheekbones sculpted out of soft flesh, but his eyes are sad.
    All too soon I have to face the reality of what lies ahead, a life as al-Shezira’s fourth wife, an object of torment, of derision, and a future of indescribable boredom in the stuffy confines of the Minya harem, when inside all I want is to join Alexandre and be part of the change that’s rocking my beloved country. I want to tear off my veil and shout that, as a woman, I will not be ignored. When I think of it, I feel this rage overwhelm me, that I have to suffer at the hands of al-Shezira and yet no one believes me when I tell them the truth about my husband. They make me feel I should consider myself fortunate to have a husband at all, that because of my wild, untamed nature, I am not attractive to most eligible men and that the only thing in my favour is that my father is the newly appointed sultan of Egypt.
    There is no reason to believe that the marriage between my husband and me was anything other than a political manoeuvre on the part of my papa and al-Shezira. Still I remain faithful to my papa and unfaithful to al-Shezira.
    Why do I live as a caged animal, constrained only because I am a woman when I want to do so much? Alexandre has told me all about his allegiance with the Nationalists and how he is part of the movement to overthrow the British and sever their stranglehold of our country once and for all. He is free. He can make a difference. One day this will be me, I pray to God, this will be me.

CHAPTER SIX
    Aimee had no trouble getting Sophie to agree to go to the literary launch with her. Conversation