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“That’s enough, Despina.” Shahrzad’s voice was filled with warning.
Despina stood akimbo, her perfect eyebrows high on her forehead. “What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“I’m sorry, but this situation and that response do not follow.” Collecting the folds of her skirt in one hand, Despina marched to the platform and plopped onto the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong? Tell me.”
Shahrzad sighed at her handmaiden’s cursed persistence. “Everything.”
“Can you be more specific? After all, secrets are infinitely more useful when they’re shared,” Despina said in a teasing tone.
“Tell that to Khalid,” Shahrzad grumbled. “As his supposed spy, he might actually listen to you.”
Despina’s expression softened in understanding. “The Caliph of Khorasan hasn’t listened to anyone for a very long time.”
“Nor will he be likely to. Not after last night.”
Despina kicked off her sandals and sat cross-legged on the bed. “We women are a sad lot, aren’t we?”
“What do you mean?”
“Strong enough to take on the world with our bare hands, yet we permit ridiculous boys to make fools of us.”
“I am not a fool.”
“No, you’re not. Not yet.” Despina gri
“I—” Shahrzad chewed on her lower lip.
“You can speak freely, Shahrzad. What you say will not pass these walls.”
Shahrzad remained silent.
Despina edged closer. “When I was a little girl in Thebes, I remember asking my mother what heaven was. She replied, ‘A heart where love dwells.’ Of course, I then demanded to know what constituted hell. She looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘A heart absent love.’” Despina studied Shahrzad as she spoke.
Shahrzad returned Despina’s scrutiny while toying with the silver laces of her shamla. “Your mother sounds quite wise.”
“She was.”
Shahrzad chose her next words with care. “May I ask what happened to her?”
“She fell in love with the wrong man. He promised her the world and then left her with nothing but the child in her belly.”
“I’m truly sorry, Despina.”
“I’m not. She died young, but she died happy, and a man like that is incapable of making a woman happy. Rich men don’t know how to sacrifice for love, because they’ve never had to.” Despina’s last statement was marked in its harshness.
“Is that it?” Shahrzad said gently. “Are you worried Jalal will do the same?”
“I don’t know. He’s unfailingly loyal to his family, but I have yet to see him espouse such loyalty to the many young women who’ve lost their hearts to him.” Despina’s blue eyes tightened at the corners. “I’ve always believed a man is what he does, not what others say. But Jalal al-Khoury does very little to refute what others say.”
“Such behavior appears to be a family trait.”
“Yes. It does.”
“I don’t—” Shahrzad caught herself before turning a pleading eye to her handmaiden. “Do you know, Despina? If you do, please tell me. Why is Khalid killing all of his brides?”
Despina stared down at the discarded skein of spider-silk by the bed. “I don’t know.”
“Then what do you know? Please tell me.”
“I’ve lived in this palace for six years, and I’ve always found Khalid Ibn al-Rashid quite aloof, yet strangely honorable. Until the events of these past few months, he has never given me occasion to question his character.”
“But how can you continue to serve a king who kills young women without explanation?”
“I came to this kingdom as a slave; I don’t have the luxury of choosing whom I serve,” Despina retorted drily. “The Caliph of Khorasan may very well be a monster, but to me he’s always been a troubled king with good intentions.”
“Good intentions?” Shahrzad spat. “Tell that to the families of the girls he murdered. Tell that to those who loved them.”
Despina flinched, and Shahrzad looked away, rising from the bed in a rush to conceal her pain.
“Shahrzad—”
“Leave me alone.”
Despina grabbed her wrist. “If you care about him at—”
“I don’t.”
“Stop lying, you miserable brat.”
Shahrzad wrenched her arm free, glaring at Despina before turning to leave in a swirl of lustrous brocade.
“You care about him,” Despina insisted. “And since secrets matter so much to you, I’ll divulge one.”
Shahrzad halted in her tracks.
“You are safe, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran. Nothing will happen to you. For I have it on high authority that any attempt to harm you will be treated as a direct attempt on the life of our king.”
Shahrzad’s stomach clenched.
“Do you understand, Brat Calipha?” Despina continued.
Shahrzad glanced over her shoulder at her handmaiden, in stalwart silence.
Despina sighed. “On pain of death . . . you are as important to him as his own life.”
LILACS AND
A RAGING SANDSTORM
JALAL SLID THE REPORT ACROSS THE TABLE AND drummed his fingers against the edge of the stained wood.
“Do you have someplace you need to be, Captain al-Khoury?” Khalid did not look up from his work.
“No. Not at the moment.”
Jalal continued tapping his right hand on the carved mahogany¸ staring intently at Khalid’s face.
“It appears—”
“I wish you would confide in me, Khalid.”
Khalid’s gaze flickered to Jalal, giving away less than nothing.
“And what brought on this sudden desire for closeness?”
“It rained yesterday. You must have a great deal on your mind.”
Khalid studied Jalal with deliberate composure. “There is usually a great deal on my mind.”
“And what of the rain?”
Khalid put down the scroll in his hand. “Rain is merely one element of a storm—generally a hint of things to come.”
“As always, you are the perfect portrait of bleak.”
“As always, you are the perfect portrait of nothing.”
Jalal smiled in a slow arc. “Regarding Shahrzad—”
“I am not discussing Shahrzad with you.” The tiger-eyes fired once in an otherwise cool countenance.
“She must have rattled you last night, with a vengeance. Well done, my lady.”
“That’s enough, Jalal.”
“Don’t be unduly vexed, cousin. It rained yesterday. You don’t have to feel guilty anymore, on top of everything else. The people of Rey are not suffering u
“Enough!”
At that, all traces of Jalal’s smugness vanished. Lines of consternation appeared across his forehead. “See? I wish you would confide in me. You are clearly troubled. Perhaps even afraid. Do not live in fear, Khalid-jan, for that is not a life.”
“I am not afraid. I am tired, and you are presumptuous. There is quite a difference.” Khalid turned back to the stack of scrolls before him. “It appears the riots in the city square have completely ceased?”
“Of course they’ve ceased. We are no longer executing their daughters without explanation,” Jalal muttered offhand.
When Khalid failed to respond, Jalal glanced over and saw Khalid glaring at him, with his left hand clenched in a white-knuckled fist.
“Must you always be such an unapologetic bastard?” Khalid exacted in a deathly whisper.
“Be fair. I’m only like that when it suits a purpose. I have been known to apologize when the situation warrants it.”
“I doubt you grasp the notion.”
“You are not the only one who suffers in this. Admittedly, you bear the brunt, but you are not alone. And you take on far more than necessary. Let me help. I would gladly assume some of your burden. That is what I’ve been trying to tell you.”