The Enchantress Of Florence

Mogor is thrown into a dark dungeon where his chains hang as heavily from him as his “unfinished story” (113). The following day, he is told, he will “stand trial for murder” (114). His accuser is Praise-God Hawkins and the crew of the Scathach, who claim that Mogor “murdered the ambassador for his gold” (115). During the trial, Mogor is asked his real name. This time, he claims to be a famous Florentine named Nicollo Vespucci. The first trial does not reach a definitive conclusion, so a second is held. In this trial, the accused is taken to an elephant that has been “driven insane” (120) by its strange name. Instead of trampling the accused to death, the elephant is calmed by Mogor. He is acquitted, and the accusers are thrown in jail.

The accusers are given the option of staying in the dungeon until their innocence is confirmed and Mogor’s guilt proven, but they “want to go home” (123). Mogor is freed and given back his possessions. He notes that he was able to calm the elephant thanks to Mohini, who foresaw the trial and prepared a potion that perfectly mimicked the emperor’s scent, tricking the elephant. Mogor begins to tell his story to the emperor again. After a stuttering start, he claims to be the emperor’s uncle and his “relative by blood” (125).

To settle the question of Mogor’s possible relation to the emperor, the court turns “to the old women for answers” (129). The emperor’s mother is named Hamida Bano and his aunt is named Gulbadan Begum; they are summoned to the court. The older women of the court have recently completed a religious pilgrimage to Mecca, organized by Gulbadan, which Hamida considers to be “an indication of the undesirably revolutionary nature of her son’s monarchic style” (132). When they arrive in court, they sit down to hear Mogor’s “fairytale” (134). Mogor explains that he is the son of a woman named Angelica, who was considered to be both beautiful and “an enchantress without compare” (135). As Mogor explains how she was fought over and exchanged by various men as a spoil of war, the older women pay close attention. They reveal a “hidden chapter” (137) in the family history which may confirm the foreigner’s story. However, the dates of Angelica’s arrival in Italy do not seem to match their memories. They realize that Angelica may have been “the princess’s daughter” (141) but they must learn the identity of Mogor’s father. Akbar considers Mogor with “resigned curiosity” (142); he does not appreciate outsiders knowing so much about the secrets of his country.

Akbar summons his “favorite painter” (146), Dashwanth, to help tell the story of the hidden princess. Dashwanth is such skilled a painter that his works are almost prophecies. He begins “to paint the life of Akbar’s lost great-aunt in a series of extraordinary folios” (149). The paintings are so good that they possess “a kind of magic” (150), reminding the elderly women what happened in the past. They remember Angelica by another name, Qara Koz; her mother was Makhdum Sultan Begum.

Qara Koz’s backstory is revealed. As a young girl, she is praised for her beauty and nicknamed “Lady Black Eyes.” Qara Koz’s half-sister is Khanzada Begum and she resents the birth of her younger sister, to the point where she makes “a number of murder attempts on the little girl” (151). After these attempts fail, she feigns love for her half-sister and insists that they are inseparable. When her brother Babar loses in a war, a warlord named Shaibani Khan asks for Khanzada’s hand in marriage. She becomes “a sacrificial offering, human booty, a living pawn” (155) but she insists that Qara Koz must go with her. In Dashwanth’s painting, her hand is clasped around Qara Koz’s wrist. In turn, Qara Koz has her hand clasped around the wrist of a little enslaved girl nicknamed “The Mirror” because she so closely reflects Qara Koz. The Mirror also has her hand around Khanzada’s wrist, creating “an echo of power” (156) that binds the three girls together.

As he completes the series of paintings, Dashwanth becomes increasingly obsessed. One day, he vanishes along with all but one of the paintings. He is eventually found beneath the frame in the edge of the last remaining painting—he has painted himself into the fictional world that he created. Akbar orders him to be left alone to let “the poor fellow have some peace” (159).