Ara hadn’t been invited to attend the procession. It was just as well, she thought. She needed some time alone to think. The activity in the palace was almost frenzied. Everyone was busy, rushing about to prepare for the visitors. She and Layla had finally finished scrubbing the Lion Fountain two days past. No more traces of red dye and the floor was as clean as two girls, twelve servants and a lot of lemon juice could make it. Ara had checked her lion once again, laying her hand on his mane and speaking her fears in his ear. There was no response, just a girl’s hopeful imagination.
The previous night, right after she and Layla finished a board game with three of the concubines’ sons, the girls made a quick trip to the Hall of the Two Sisters. After searching three walls, they found a horizontal symmetry in gold and red and blue. But it was perfect, not marred by the wazir’s magic.
Even so, Suleiman seemed pleased in his snakelike way. He wriggled and complained less that night and all the next morning. Ara looked longingly out of the window one last time before leaving to begin the final preparations. Everything that could be polished, waxed, shined or bathed had been, and thoroughly. Su’ah had sewn a new outfit for her, muttering that no child in her care would look less than regal.
“Ara, there you are. What are you doing up here?” Su’ah said, breathing heavily as she climbed the staircase. “There’s work to do. You need to get ready. I have your clothes all laid out.”
“Sorry, Su’ah. I wanted a glimpse of the procession.” Ara turned from the window.
“Guess who is asking for you?” Su’ah said as she crossed the room. “The wazir.”
Ara felt her heart race.
“He was worried about you. I mentioned to one of the guards how upset you were the day Suleiman left. Abd al-Rahmid was there. I had him all wrong. I always thought him a selfish, arrogant man, but he seemed truly interested. I told him I would find you so he could speak with you himself.
“It’s good that your father has someone that he can trust. These are hard times, and the wazir is a hard man. He was so, even as a boy, but clever and never forgets a detail.” Su’ah looked out the window before continuing.
“He, too, is concerned about Suleiman’s whereabouts. Actually, I’m worried myself, exasperating as he is. What errand could be taking this long? Ara, are you listening to me or are you daydreaming again?”
Ara jerked herself out of her panic. “Yes, I’m listening. Is Tahirah back yet? Do you know?”
“I heard she is expected back today. Don’t know if that’s true or not. The house slaves were preparing her rooms this morning. But you know how it is. Sufis move at no one’s will but Allah’s.” She shook her head. “Eager to get out of your sewing lessons, are you? Seems to me time spent learning to wield a needle is of better use than any algebra or geometry or whatever,” she rambled on. “Well, hurry up. It isn’t polite to keep people waiting. The wazir’s a very busy man. He is meeting us in the Court of the Lions. Zoriah and Maryam went to collect Layla.”
Ara spun around. “He’s going to talk with Layla!”
“Stop dawdling, child, there is much to do. The wazir only wants to ask if either of you’ve heard from Suleiman. It’s nothing for you to be troubled about.”
Ara felt butterflies the size of birds in her stomach. A whole flight of them. All the way to the Court of the Lions she reminded herself that the wazir couldn’t possibly know she had been in the mirrored room. He didn’t know Suleiman wasn’t a lizard anymore. Why, oh why wasn’t Tahirah back?
Zoriah and Maryam stood in the courtyard looking puzzled. Layla’s smile was uneasy, but she seemed calmer than Ara felt.
Ara walked into the lion court with Su’ah, her gaze flickering nervously about. The wazir was nowhere in sight. Maryam, dressed in a sand-colored hijab, was speaking to Zoriah. “He couldn’t wait a short while? After insisting he needed to speak with my daughter and Ara, he just walked out? We dropped everything and rushed here to accommodate his wishes.”
“This does seem odd,” Zoriah agreed. “He suddenly looked distracted and pale. One moment he was pacing the courtyard asking when you would arrive, not long after he stared at the ground and abruptly rushed out.”
“I’ve got to get back to review tonight’s preparation with the servants,” Maryam said, moving toward the door. “Layla, you need to finish getting ready also.”
“Just a few moments, Mother. I need to speak to Ara.”
“What happened?” Ara asked when the women were well out of the room.
“I’m not really sure. I got here just before he left. He was pacing, just as Zoriah said, but he stopped and seemed glued in place. Then he turned and left, completely ignoring me,” Layla said with a shrug.
“Did he see something or remember he had to do something, do you think?” Ara asked, thankful she didn’t have to face the evil wazir.
“He stopped when he was standing about four paces from the lion fountain, where the bushes are.” She walked over to the spot.
“I don’t see anything unusual, do you?” Ara asked.
“Not really, just dirt and pebbles and bushes,” she said, looking at the ground. “Wait, what is this?” She pointed to a track pushed into the soft ground. Both girls stared at a paw print, edged in red, from what looked like a very large cat.
Ara waved her hand. “This is an enclosed courtyard. Nothing gets in here. Besides, cats with paws the size of my hand don’t exist. Except” —Ara turned slowly toward the stone lions, her mouth open in wonder— “for them.”
Layla shuddered. “We must tell Tahirah. She’ll know what it means. Maybe the lions want to help. I wanted to be brave, but I was so frightened.”
“Me too,” Ara agreed, thinking of her flight of butterflies. “But you looked unafraid. I think that’s all we have to do.”
“What, we just have to look brave?”
Ara considered. “We just have to look, well…not interested, sort of bored. The wazir doesn’t know we’re tangled in this unless we tell him. Suleiman is always suspicious when I look the least bit jumpy.”
Su’ah called from the arched doorway, “Ara and Layla! The People of the Book are coming up the road right now. You both need to bathe and dress. Ara, you know you have to help with translating for the women. Come, hurry along!”
“Yes, Su’ah,” they replied as one.