Princess Sultana's Daughters

children, and
those four children were the inspiration for Reema’s ability to
forgive Saleem for his heinous attack. She would accept any
indignity so long as her relationship with her precious children
was not severed.
    Reema asked us to assure her that no one in
our family would seek retribution on her behalf.
    It was the most difficult promise ever to
pass my lips, and my tongue would scarce obey my mind. But my word
was given, and I knew I had no choice but to abide by my sister’s
sincere wish.
    Once recovered, Reema would return to the
home of this man who had kept his infinite capacity for cruelty
well hidden for many married years. I knew that once unleashed,
Saleem’s ugly temperament would not soften. There was nothing we
could do.
    Our frustration only increased when an
Egyptian nurse employed by the clinic confided in Nura that Saleem
had visited his wife earlier that day. In the presence of that
nurse, Saleem had lifted his wife’s hospital gown, viewing the
opening that had been made in her side for her bodily waste to be
expelled, and had expressed shocked disgust at the sight.
    The nurse said that Saleem had then made a
most callous remark, telling his wife that while he would not
divorce her, he would never again come to her bed, for he could not
bear the sight or smell of one so repugnant.
    I marveled at my ability to control my rage.
My sisters and I had entered the clinic as a united force, swelled
with determination to snatch our sister from the grasp of her evil
husband. Defeated by Reema’s legitimate apprehension of the
possible loss of her children, we retreated from the clinic as
nothing more than a group of black-shrouded and nameless wives,
without the ability to force justice upon a single man.
    The sting of the defeat was unbearable.
    Who could deny that the main bulwark of the
Saudi social order remained male dictatorship?
    Since our husbands and children were still in
Monte Carlo, my sisters and I decided we would stay together in
Nura’s house. Ali took us there from the clinic. Nura and Sara
pledged to our brother that they would have one of Nura’s drivers
take them to visit Nada that evening and said it would be best for
him to stay in the home of another wife that night.
    Once we had telephoned our husbands in Monte
Carlo, giving them our news of Reema, Tahani pleaded exhaustion and
retired early to bed. I insisted on accompanying Sara and Nura to
Nada’s palace. I was forced to make a second promise, guaranteeing
that I would make no suggestion that Nada quit Ali while she had
the opportunity.
    My sisters know me well. Admittedly, I had
already made a plan in my mind to try to convince Nada that she
must quickly move to marry another. My brother had treated women
with contempt all his life, and in my opinion it was time for him
to learn not to use divorce as a weapon. Perhaps if he lost the
only wife for whom he felt affection, he would temper his bullying
tactics.
    Now, I had a second difficult promise to
keep.
    It was nearly nine o’clock in the evening
when we arrived. Ali’s compound seemed more peaceful than we had
ever seen it. We saw none of his wives, concubines, or children as
our car made its way along the wide circular drive that wound
around the four palaces belonging to our brother. Nada’s palace was
the third building within the compound walls.
    Nada’s Egyptian housekeeper informed us that
her mistress was having a bath but was expecting us and had
instructed the housekeeper to take us to her living quarters.
    Nothing about my brother is modest. The
influence of Saudi oil wealth was evident in his home at every
turn. Conspicuous consumption met my eyes as I entered the
white-marbled front hallway that was the width of an airport
terminal. The towering staircase gleamed, and I remembered Ali’s
proud announcement that the columns bracing the structure were
coated with real silver. Fifteen-foot-high doors with solid silver
doorknobs led into Nada’s private living quarters.
    I tried not to gloat, recalling that my
brother had taken a serious financial loss during the worldwide run
on the silver market in the 1980s. In his greed, Ali must have
purchased more of the precious metal than we had realized, only to
see his fortunes tumble. Now, Ali’s financial loss was the gain of
a silver-enhanced palace!
    I had never visited Nada’s bedroom, though I
had once received an invitation to view the bedstead. I had been
told by a shocked and saddened Sara