The Enchantress Of Florence

The musician Tansen sings “the song of fire” (245) for the first time and nearly burns himself to death by accident. He is sent away to heal and, after a miraculous recovery, Akbar invites the two sisters who treated him to the palace as a reward. They kill themselves instead; as “strictly observant Brahmins” (246), they do not want to serve a Muslim king, but they fear refusing him, so suicide seems to be their only option. Their deaths send the emperor into a depression and the whole city of Sikri follows suit. Mogor is credited with restoring the emperor’s mood. He becomes famous in Sikri, as does his story about the beautiful young Qara Koz and her cruel older half-sister, Khanzada Begum.

At night, the emperor dreams that he is the caliph of Baghdad. He dreams that he is struck by an incurable itch while wandering through his city in disguise. The itch is only cured when a woman comes before him with the same problem. They fall immediately in love and marry, ending the itching problem.

As the story of Qara Koz becomes increasingly popular in the city, more questions are asked about Mogor. He stays with Mohini, and, through association, her brothel becomes the most famous in Sikri. The emperor dismisses the “growing reservations and suspicions about Mogor dell’Amore’s presence and true purpose at court” (254). However, he is annoyed when the story of Qara Koz causes disruption among the city’s women. The only solution, Mohini tells the emperor, is for every woman in the city to spend a day “stark naked” (258) so that they can no longer have secrets from one another. Akbar accepts the proposal and orders the men of the city not to look at the women as they go about their day without clothes. The day is deemed a success, though the emperor’s son Salim boasts that he broke the law and watched the naked women. Abul Fazl orders him to be whipped in public, ensuring that “the drunken, opium-addled prince” (260) will one day plot against the emperor and Abul Fazl. Akbar summons Mogor and orders him to “tell the whole damn story as fast as you possibly can” (262).

Mogor tells the story of the wars and rivalries between Shaibani Khan, the Uzbeg warlord, Shah Ismail, the Safavid of Persia, and the Ottoman Sultan. Akbar interjects to warn Mogor not to overpraise Shaibani, who defeated Akbar’s grandfather. Shaibani is married to Qara Koz’s half-sister, Khanzada Begum. His army is defeated by the Persian army of Shah Ismail and Shaibani is killed. After the murder of her husband and son, Khanzada accepts Ismail’s offer for her to return to the court of Lord Babar. Qara Koz, however, insists that she “would like to stay” (270) with Ismail, who falls immediately in love with the 17-year-old princess. When Khanzada Begum returns to Babar’s court, he is delighted by her return but furious that her sister is not with her. He orders “the removal of Qara Koz from the historical record” (271) and—after some time—breaks his alliance with Ismail. The breaking of this alliance, Akbar points out, eventually led to the “beginning of our own empire” (272).

Qara Koz travels to Tabriz with Ismail and her servant, the Mirror. She and the Mirror are so close that “many courtiers [believe] them to be lovers” (273). Ismail is infatuated with Qara Koz. He accepts her advice, goading himself into a war with the Ottoman Empire. In the Ottoman Empire, Argalia is the most respected figure in the military. He serves under three Sultans and helps to violently put down a coup against a “would-be usurper” (276). Under Sultan Selim, he goes to war with Shah Ismail of Persia and wins. Qara Koz attends the battle and criticizes her husband for his belief in chivalry and rejection of modern technology such as guns. Argalia finds Qara Koz and the Mirror after the battle and falls in love. He returns to Istanbul, where Selim plots against him and eventually orders his execution.

In Istanbul, Argalia changes Qara Koz’s name to Angelica. She is so loved by the gardeners of the palace (who also function as the royal executioners), that she is aware of Selim’s intentions. Argalia knows that he can reduce his sentence to banishment if he outruns the head gardener in a footrace. Thanks to Angelica, he escapes when the man collapses in “a bout of the foulest farting anyone had ever smelled” (288). He sails back to Italy, where Andrea Doria is in control of the city state of Genoa. Angelica’s beauty shocks Doria’s men and Doria himself; Argalia asks only for Doria’s friendship and safe passage to return home “to rest” (292).