One consoled him: he had complete control over the life and death of his subjects, and he enjoyed it without a drop of embarrassment.
***
The gardener’s eerie hearing caught a quiet rustle that was heard from the opposite side of the garden adjoining the tallest building of the palace with a high tower-the Sultan’s chambers. He stopped, quietly put a vase of flowers on the ground, next to it – a box of tools and, taking a few steps back, hid between tall bushes. A minute later, a silhouette appeared on the path, which moved quickly along the well-groomed path. But when he saw the vase standing in the middle, the stranger stopped and slowly bent down to her, inhaling the wonderful fragrance of freshly cut flowers.
The gardener sprang lightly from behind the bush and, finding himself behind the stranger, grabbed his left hand by his forehead, and the right put a sharp blade to the unprotected throat.
– Stop, stop! – wheezed, the stranger begged. – It’s me, Fatih, with a letter from our master!
For a moment the gardener froze and slowly withdrew the blade from his throat. On the neck remained a thin red line from the point of the knife. Fatih jumped from him and, rubbing his neck with his hands, spoke:
– How much I serve in the palace, I just can not get used to your tricks.
He quickly rubbed his throat, then cleared his throat and continued:
– I have an assignment from the Lord.
And slowly, pulling from under the floor a long embroidered gold coats wrapped in a tube paper, gave it to the gardener.
The gardener examined the scroll from all sides, then brought it closer to his eyes and examined in detail the small seal with the initials of the Sultan. Convinced that she was untouched, with the usual gesture of her thumb, she snapped it with a soft snap.
Opening it, he carefully read the message. Slowly and almost without interest, he tightly wrapped the sheet and hurriedly put it in the inner pocket of his robe.
Fatih, slightly bent, looked with interest at the Gardener’s face, trying to guess the contents of the scroll.
– Tell the Master that his will will be done, – the Gardener said indifferently, looking steadily at the visitor. He knew perfectly well that by the expression of his face one can guess what is contained in the letter, that’s why he learned to hide his emotions from strangers.