ody had wondered for
days; ”Who are you?“ ”To you;“ replied the mysterious warrior; ”my name is
Death。“ Tell me then; my friends; who was he?”
“The legendary Rüstem;” said Butterfly with childlike glee。
I kissed him on the neck。 “We’ve all betrayed Master Osman;” I said。
“Before he metes out his punishment; we must find Olive; rid ourselves of this
venom in our midst and e to an agreement so we can stand strong against
the eternal enemies of art and those who long to send us directly to dungeons
of torture。 Perhaps; when we arrive at Olive’s abandoned dervish house; we’ll
learn that the cruel murderer isn’t even one of our lot。”
Poor Butterfly uttered not a sound。 Regardless of how talented; confident
or well supported he might be; just like all illuminators who sought one
another’s pany depite their mutual loathing and envy; he was deathly
afraid of being left alone in this world and of going to Hell。
On the route to the Phanar Gate; there was an eerie greenish…yellow light
above us; but it wasn’t the light of the moon。 In this light; the old; faithful
nighttime appearance of Istanbul prised of cypress trees; leaden domes;
stone walls; wooden houses and tracts ravaged by fire was overtaken by an
unfamiliarity such as might be caused by an enemy fortress。 As we ascended
the hill; in the distance we saw the fire that burned somewhere beyond the
Bayazid Mosque。
In the heavy darkness; we came across an oxcart half…loaded with sacks of
flour heading toward the city walls; and parting with two silver coins; we
procured a ri