Ara heard the sound of footsteps at her bedside and felt Layla’s anxious presence beyond her closed lids. “Are you awake?” Layla's quiet voice whispered.
Ara opened her eyes. “Yes, but I want to rest.” Her face was still blotchy from crying. “Su’ah spent all morning fussing over me. She kept pouring vile teas into me. She was certain I was going to break out in spots.” Ara shifted listlessly. “I want to go back to sleep.”
“Are you sure you’re not sick? You look awful. This is the second day you’ve stayed in bed.” Layla’s voice was soft with worry. “What’s wrong? You know I had to tell your father about the dye. He asked me directly. He was angry, but he said no real harm was done.”
Ara kept her eyes closed. Harm had been done by her…and nothing would ever be right again.
Layla continued, remorse lacing her voice. “Did Suleiman yell at you about the dye? He went looking for you as soon as he saw it in the fountain. He said I looked guilty, but he knew who was responsible.”
“Where is Su—I mean, the lizard?” Ara asked suddenly. “How did you keep Su’ah from finding him?”
A frown crossed Layla’s face and she sat down on the bed. “The lizard? He’s in my sewing basket. I couldn’t think of any other place. No one goes through my embroidery. I offered him bugs, but he didn’t move.” She made a face, then straightened, looking provoked. “Why are we hiding a lizard?”
Su’ah burst into the room. “Did you hear, Ara? Tahirah has offered to instruct you. Think of that! I’m so pleased for you.” She bustled about, grabbing clothes, hairbrushes and a sponge. “Tahirah was quite adamant, I understand, about seeing you immediately. If she gets some horrible disease from you, it won’t be my fault. I told her servants that you were unwell, but no one listens to me.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere.” Ara laid her head back on the pillow. All her hopes and dreams were gone, crushed by one folly. Nothing was important now. She deserved to be in the coldest dungeon, not basking in the light of a Sufi.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you, child, but unless you have a fever, you can’t mope around the rest of your life. You’re getting up right now. No more of this.” Su’ah nodded in emphasis. “Why, it’s almost afternoon, time for Asr prayer. Now, come here, and let’s get you tidied.” She pulled back the covers on Ara’s bed. “By the way, where is Suleiman? I couldn’t find him all yesterday. Just like a man, always underfoot except when you need him. I heard talk that he was on an errand for Tahirah, but no one seems to know where.”
Su’ah limped stiffly over to the door and looked up and down the hallway. “He should be the one to walk you over to the mathemagician’s rooms. She’s in the Palace of the Partal, you know. Even though it’s inside the fortress walls, I don’t like you wandering around by yourself. There are too many foreigners coming and going lately. People who aren’t used to our ways.”
“What?” Ara looked up, suddenly interested. “What did you say about Suleiman?”
“So that’s the way of it, is it? I knew something was upsetting you. Did you and Suleiman have a falling-out?”
“No,” she said sadly, “we didn’t quarrel. I just didn’t know about the errand.” Tahirah couldn’t have sent Suleiman on an errand. An image of Suleiman transformed into a lizard flashed before her. “Must I go?”
“I can’t believe this. Last week you would have traded me and Suleiman to see this woman. Now you can’t be bothered? You are going, and that is that. Your father is so proud that she’s taking an interest in you.” Su’ah turned and slapped the clothes down. “You’re fortunate to have been unwell. Time has softened his anger. I don’t know what he would have done if Tahirah hadn’t intervened for you. What were you thinking? The dye in the fountain upset the whole harem.”
“Tahirah spoke to Father about the dye?” Ara asked, reluctantly sitting up so Su’ah could brush her hair. Why is Tahirah involved? Is she working with the wazir?
“She overheard him speaking to Zoriah about you. He was plenty upset with you. You’re lucky the Sufi offered to instruct you.” Su’ah gave Ara’s hair a final swipe with the brush. “Bread and water for the next month was the way I heard it. Tahirah intervened with a different plan, and he agreed.”
“What are they going to do to me?”
“You’ll hear that from the mathemagician, I would guess,” Su’ah said, nodding sagely. She turned Ara around. “Is that it? Have you been listening to gossip about Sufis?”
Alarms went off in Ara’s head. Was the Sufi an evil mathemagician also? But that didn’t seem right. She remembered the voice that had urged her to leave the room of broken mirrors. She’d been told her mother had loved this teacher. Ara debated with herself for a moment before trusting herself to speak.
“I’ll go. If Father insists, I’ll go,” she said. “But why only me? Must I go by myself?”
“Actually, Tahirah requested that your cousin join you. Now, let’s get you dressed.”
Ara looked over at her cousin. Layla looked stricken, and asked, “Am I in trouble too? Are we going to be punished?”
“You need to ask your parents that question. It’s not my business, but you know you girls have been traipsing around causing trouble…” Su’ah’s words drifted off.
“I didn’t do anything. I never would. What must Mother think?” Layla sobbed.
“Child, I’m sure it will be fine.” Su’ah patted Layla’s back soothingly. “Maybe the Sufi wants to teach you also.”
“Noooo. I’m terrible at math. That can’t be it at all.” Layla’s face was turning pink and splotchy.
Soon four silent servants escorted the girls out of the Palace of the Myrtles, around the Mosque, and through a myriad of enclosed gardens toward the Sufi’s rooms. Neither girl spoke. They passed other children along the way. Jada ducked her head and Hasan, trailed by his younger brothers, grinned his encouragement. Ara felt numb.
Though it was only a few stones’ throw distance, the journey to the Sufi’s rooms seemed to take forever.
Ara’s mind swirled. Why does Tahirah wish to see us? I won’t let her hurt Layla or Suleiman, she swore to herself.
Layla glided beside her like a ghost, wearing the haunted look of one condemned. Her embroidery basket was clutched in her hands, and her knuckles were white.
Ara saw little hope for a rosy future. Suleiman is a lizard, the wazir is evil, and I am powerless to stop him. If only I had not been so curious. No one would ever believe me even if I confessed what happened. And now, even Layla is in trouble because of me.