CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS WAS to lodge with the royal astronomer but accommodation was so restricted that there was no room for me. I went to the army officer in charge of billeting to ask if he could squeeze me in somewhere. Rafael appeared by my side.
‘Señor Saulo, I will find you a room – perhaps even within the Alhambra Palace itself,’ he said. ‘I would of course need some coins with which to bribe the appropriate officials.’
I gave Rafael more money and, making arrangements to meet up later, wandered into the town.
The streets were silent and the people I saw as I passed the Jewish quarter looked at me fearfully. I’d heard some of the more thoughtful courtiers speak of settlements under Moorish rule known as the comunistas where all religions lived peaceably together. Did Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand know of these communities? Wouldn’t it be better to accommodate people of different religions and cultures and allow them to live in this way? I thought of my parents, and now, with the wisdom of maturity, I appreciated that for one reason or another they’d been driven out from everywhere they’d tried to settle. They’d been educated people, for they had taught me letters and reading and how to count numbers. I had no idea to which creed or culture they owed their loyalty for they’d never spoken of it to me, probably considering it too deadly a secret to entrust to a young boy.
What were our monarchs doing in the name of a united Spain? If we banished the Moors we would lose their learning. A great deal of the navigational information used in the Mediterranean was of Arab origin. If rumours were true, then we were about to exile the Jews, and their skills and knowledge would go with them too.
It was late afternoon before I met again with Rafael.
‘The palace is very full,’ he told me, ‘but I’ve managed to secure you space in an outbuilding.’
When we reached my attic room I gave Rafael a generous payment. ‘Now that you’ve found me a room,’ I said, ‘I’d like you to find me another. Zarita de Marzena has been given quarters here. I’m minded to walk by her corridor so that we could meet by chance.’
Rafael winked at me, gathered up his money and went off whistling. I took the chance to eat and wash and change my clothes. When Rafael came back he was in a different mood.
‘I know where she and her chaperon are,’ he said in a worried tone of voice. ‘But, Señor Saulo, it would be best if you turned your attention elsewhere. There are plenty of pretty ladies at the court. Some of them would be more accommodating of a man’s needs than that one. I could arrange a liaison, very discreet—’
‘How dare you!’ I grabbed him by the neck and shook him until he sobbed.
‘Sir! Sir! Hear me. That lady is not for you! She brings bad luck with her!’
I raised my fist.
‘Oh, noble Don, I beg you, listen to what I have to say!’
I released my grip and Rafael crashed to the floor. I went to stand by the window, my father’s begging voice echoing in my ears. ‘I am not a don,’ I said from between clenched teeth. ‘Never address me in that way.’
‘No, sir.’ Rafael wiped his face as he got to his feet. ‘I won’t make that mistake again.’
I turned away from the sight of him, sickened by my own brutality.
‘Sir,’ Rafael went on, ‘I don’t mean to insult the lady. Last night she was regarded as sweet and innocent, but when I made enquiries about her, I heard some talk that she is dangerous.’
‘Dangerous!’ I scoffed. ‘She’s a very gentle girl.’
‘She is, she is,’ he agreed. ‘It’s not that she is dangerous in herself, it’s more that . . .’
‘What?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said miserably. ‘These rumours have only just begun. Sometimes servants hear of things before they happen. It’s been whispered that none of the maids want to be allocated to her rooms. They are nervous, extremely nervous, but no one can tell why. I’ll try to find out more.’
Although he was reluctant to do so, I made Rafael disclose the location of Zarita’s quarters, and as the sun set and the torches were being lit in the palace, I went to find her.
The Alhambra Palace consisted of the most intriguing and beauteous buildings. Courtyard led off courtyard, fountains sparkled, intricate patterns of tiles adorned walls, floors and ceilings. Arches and alcoves glowed with three-dimensional coloured plasterwork. Even in the depths of winter, blossom flowered in trees and bushes. The air was filled with the scent of rosemary and lavender. There were ornate jars and pots of plants, known and unknown: mint, fennel, basil – herbs for cooking and healing.
I came at last to an area of enclosed courtyards and had to search to find a door that led to an outside corridor. Then another door and a wall, easily climbed.
And there she was.
Zarita stood in a paved area beside a pillar covered in winter-flowering jasmine. She’d plucked a sprig of the yellow flower and held it in her fingers. As I dropped from the wall into the courtyard, she started in fright, but then, recognizing me, she glanced towards the full-length window of the inside room. Cautiously I peered across and saw Señora Eloisa standing by a table chatting to one of the foreign ambassadors.
‘Would it be permitted for me to call on you formally this evening?’ I whispered.
Zarita shook her head. ‘It’s impossible,’ she whispered back. ‘Someone else is coming to see us. And you shouldn’t be here,’ she scolded me. ‘I cannot speak to you unless I am chaperoned.’
‘Then I will speak to you,’ I returned smartly, ‘for I have no need of a chaperon. And as you may not reply, you will be forced to listen quietly to all that I have to say.’
‘I meant that we mustn’t talk to each other,’ she said, pretending to be cross at my deliberate misunderstanding.
‘I am content with that restriction too,’ I said, moving closer to her. ‘Let’s neither of us talk then.’
She began to tremble, and bent her head. I put my finger under her chin to raise her face to mine. And she raised her head again and the light of vibrant life was in her eyes. Her lips were parted and she looked so very, very lovely I experienced an overwhelming surge of emotion. She was aware of it, and it seemed to coincide with some deep feeling of her own. She swayed in towards me. I bent my head and her lips brushed against mine.
We broke apart at once.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. I stood away from her. My heart raced. I heard its thud in my ears.