Chapter 7: The Ruby Palace

The Head of Protocol, Kamal Qumsiyeh, seemed very nervous at the Public Audience session a week or so later. He was obviously trying to decide whether to ask a major favour of the Emir; either that or he was trying to summon enough courage to raise something which he knew would annoy his master.

"Come on, you old fraud," said the Emir in a fruitless attempt to jolly him along, "Out with it. I know you want to say something. What is it?"

Faced with such a direct order, Kamal Qumsiyeh had no choice.

"Master, it is the matter of the Ruby Palace," he said.

"What about it? Has it fallen over?"

"No, Master, of course not. As the Master knows it is the traditional residence of the Crown Prince, and there is, at present, nobody on whom that title has been conferred."

"So?"

"Well..." Kamal Qumsiyeh fell silent.

"What is wrong with the well?" said the Emir with deliberate obtuseness.

"Master, is there to be an appointment to that rank soon?"

"Do I have to appoint anyone?" asked the Emir.

"As the Master wishes. The Master is yet young, and in the fullness of time..."

"You mean I should be begetting an heir soon?" snapped the Emir, "Well you will probably know before I do when that happens."

"As the Master wishes," said the Head of Protocol.

"Do you mean I should appoint a temporary heir apparent until I have a son?" demanded the Emir.

"Oh, not that Master. That is entirely a matter for the Master, and there is no younger brother to take the rôle. The laws of succession will provide a suitable heir should the Master, may he live for ever, meet with some unfortunate accident. It is a matter of the Ruby Palace itself. It is expensive to maintain in readiness for a Master who may not arrive to live in it for some years," the man explained.

"Oh, very well. Let us inspect it and decide what is to be done. I thought that the harem had been emptied?" replied the Emir.

"Oh, it has, Master, but there are many other offices which are still maintained, and that implies staff, which implies a working kitchen and that means a working laundry, and so on," said Kamal Qumsiyeh, then he added unexpectedly, "The Emerald Palace is in a similar situation."

"The Emerald Palace was mine as of right. You mean it has been maintained ready for me to move in any time I liked?"

Kamal Qumsiyeh nodded glumly.

"How long for?" demanded the Emir.

"Since the late Emir, your grandfather, ordered it prepared on your twelfth birthday, Master."

"And what of its harem? Is that stocked?"

"No, Master, the late Emir, your grandfather, had decided that it was not necessary to keep women there, as he could lend a few from his own harem if you visited unexpectedly, and with twenty-four hours notice a dozen women and three or four virgins could easily be obtained. There is only a skeleton staff and they eat and so forth in the Ruby Palace. That, of course, was occupied by the late Crown Prince, your uncle, until..." the voice tailed off.

" ... he died with my Grandfather," the Emir finished off, "Right. We'll go and look at my late respected and much missed," there was not a trace of sorrow in his voice, "uncle's house and see about shutting that down for a while. Unless..."

The Emir's voice tailed off as he considered some thought he had just had, then he continued, "Well let's look anyway."

As they entered the Ruby Palace they were greeted by a shifty-looking Kobekistani in his early thirties who, Kamal Qumsiyeh said, was the Crown Prince Gamel's Major Domo. It was evident to the Emir that nothing had changed since the Crown Prince Gamel's death, and the staff might still have been waiting for him to walk through the door. Wandering round was a little odd, and felt like prying into someone else's private life.

"Has the harem been closed?" asked the Emir.

"As you ordered Master. The women were sold or given as you directed. Two were moved to the harem of the Golden Palace but I do not know what happened to them afterwards," said the Major Domo unctuously.

One door was locked, and the Major Domo said that he had no key to it; only Crown Prince Gamel had had a key to that door.

"Open it," ordered the Emir.

"Master, only the late Crown Prince Gamel..." the Major Domo started to expostulate.

"Is it beyond the resources of this household to open one simple door?" asked the Emir with a frown, adding, "When ordered to do so by the Emir?"