vYou’re free, – he said imperiously.
Fatih shuddered, bowed slightly, backed away and, smoothly turning, disappeared behind the trees.
«So tomorrow, Run,» thought the Gardener, and mechanically touched the robe in the place where the scroll was. – This will be another routine work, which was a lot for my life at the palace.»
He stretched himself out and, spreading his broad shoulders, spread his hands to the sides. There was a characteristic crunch of joints that yearned for physical exertion.
The gardener took a box of tools, then looked at the jug with freshly cut scarlet roses, which could be seen behind the bush.
«The servant will take the roses, and it’s time for me to prepare,» he said softly, and, clicking his phalanges of fingers, headed for the inconspicuous door in the wall between the towers of Baba Salam>4. Behind this door there was a special room, in which only he and his assistants could come.
***
The gardener was always ready for this letter, he knew perfectly well what Sultana needed not for courting flowers, but for performing special assignments.
He was the Executioner>5.
Only he was trusted to execute the objectionable and unquestioningly carry out assignments. When he was ordered, he did not think. He was killing.
Yes, the palace had its own rules, even for execution. The executioner had no right to kill with blood the tall faces, relatives of the Lord, so they should be strangled with a special ritual silk cord. The Sultan did not like blood, especially when he saw her at his relatives.
Unlike the Sultan’s family, the rest, any people disliked by the Sultan, including influential viziers, the gardener could kill at his own discretion. And then the blood flowed like a river…
Yes, he was an executioner, he killed those whom the Lord ordered to kill. And the garden was a compensation for these monstrous errands, and for all he was a simple gardener and looked after the flowers.
This took a long time, and then a custom appeared, when the condemned Master to death could escape his fate by defeating the chief gardener in the race through the palace gardens. The Vizier was summoned to a meeting with the chief gardener and after an exchange of greetings he was given a cup of frozen sweet sorbet.
If the sherbet was white, the Sultan granted the vizier a reprieve, and he had a month to rectify the situation. And if the sherbet was red, then the vizier should be immediately executed. And this was already done by the gardener. As soon as the condemned to execution saw the red sherbet, he had to take a sip and immediately run through the palace garden between the shady cypress and the rows of tulips. The main goal was to get to the gate on the other side of the garden that led to the fish market. And if he could run and pass through them, then all his sins were forgiven him. He again became a great vizier with unlimited powers.