Ara felt hot breath on her neck and nervously turned to see a mouth with many large teeth curved in an angry snarl. A lion stood with one foot on her rope and stared at her, unblinking.
“Child of the Alhambra,” he rumbled, “your duty is here. Do you abandon your obligations so readily?”
Ara blinked. Her lion! Her fingers slipped from the branch, and she fell to the ground with a thud. Layla stared openmouthed at the lion, as if relieved in a frightened sort of way. Gold sparkled in his mane. His feet and legs seemed covered in quartz; the long curved claws, ivory. His eyes shone with the fire of coal turning into diamonds; his fur glistened like mica. Ara gazed at him in wonder. Finally, she grinned and shook herself, disregarding his reproach. “You’re here and talking to me! I have been hoping for so long that you would.”
He was silent for some time before he spoke again. “Do you so weary of your responsibilities that you let others down and quit?”
She stiffened at the criticism. “No, not at all. I’m not quitting, I’m going to rescue Suleiman!”
“By leaving the palace, you put yourself at risk. Without you, there will be no healing of the Alhambra, and Suleiman will never return to his normal shape. You put all in peril to soothe your own childish desires and fears.” He glared at her in disapproval. “There are times to hunt and times to remain silent while danger walks the paths.”
She frowned back. That wasn’t so. She wasn’t soothing her own fears. Suleiman could be in danger. She wasn’t making it up.
The voice rumbled again. “You have not found the broken symmetry. Do you believe the earth will stop turning because you wish it?”
Ara replied. “No, but…”
“But…?” he snarled. “Tell me how you planned to return to the Alhambra before the sands of time ran out. You with two feet and no wings.”
“I’m quick. I would be back soon,” she insisted, more and more annoyed at her lion’s disapproval. Maybe she shouldn’t have wished to speak to him. She liked him better when he was silent.
He sat down and started casually licking his paw, one foot still on her rope. “Is it that you have no trust in Suleiman? Do you think him reckless?”
“No, Suleiman is very capable,” Ara had to admit. “He is careful and thoughtful.”
“Unlike some whom we love whose nature runs to impulse.” The lion winked at Layla, who watched the debate, scarcely breathing. He shifted his weight, releasing the rope. “Yet quickness of mind and spirit are admirable qualities in a cub. Such cubs grow into lions with intelligence and leadership. There are times in the hunt when it is good to sprint, to react fast and change directions. There are other times to quietly lie down with your pack and study your prey. This is one of those times. You need to remain steadfast and trust that Suleiman also keeps to his task.” The lion snarled suddenly, uneasy. “I must go. The wazir’s magic presses in on me. Find the symmetries.” Silver lights twinkled as he began to disappear. “Suleiman and the wazir both return from the north.”
“Wait! Does the wazir have Suleiman? What’s happening? Wait, your name, what’s your name?”
A whispered growl drifted across the air. “The wazir’s magic constricts my brothers and me. Break the bonds and complete the magic so we may also do our duty.”
Ara sat on the ground stunned. “But I still don’t know your name.”
Layla, her eyes still huge, reached down to tug her cousin up. “Ara, your lion! He is so beautiful and huge! Those teeth…” She took a breath. “What should we do now?”
Ara stood, not quite able to meet her cousin’s eyes. “We find the symmetry. But we shouldn’t heal it until we know where Suleiman is and that he is safe.” She was quiet for a moment. “Cousin, I am sorry I did not listen to you. You were right.”
Layla looked at her with pain-filled eyes and whispered. “I didn’t know what to do. I kept thinking about the dangers outside, that you might get hurt and we would never find the remaining symmetries.”
Ara flinched and reddened. Layla gave her a hug. “We are friends as well as cousins. All is well between us.”
Ara grinned in relief before grabbing the equipment from the ground. “Let us go, then.” She looked at the bow and rope in her hand, then looked around in dismay. “I’ll return these as soon as Suleiman is back and transformed.” Hastily she and Layla stuffed the tools deep into a hedge of low bushes and, after a last look, hurried toward the palace.
On the way, Ara mulled over her exchange with her lion. Maybe it was true that she needed to be more careful and less hasty. Still, it was nice he implied she might grow up to be a leader. She would stay with this task. She did trust that Suleiman would outsmart the wazir.
They entered the Palace of the Myrtles and crossed the stone floor to stop at the fishpond. “I’ll start here and work my way around the courtyard.” Ara said. “Where do you want to look?”
“Maybe the Hall of the Boat, as it is close.”
Ara nodded agreement.
The girls separated. Layla called out that she found a symmetry, but a moment later she amended, “No, I was mistaken. The pattern isn’t quite right. There’s a glide, but no reflection. And it isn’t broken.”
Ara walked slowly around the courtyard pond, still thinking about the lion’s counsel. It wasn’t that he said she shouldn’t be spontaneous, just that she should be more careful. That didn’t seem so bad. She saw a series of tiles and grinned as she mentally followed the motion across the row. Glide, reflect, glide, reflect—over and over.
Layla tugged on her sleeve. “Let’s go to the tower and look for Suleiman. You mustn’t repair the broken symmetry. Not until he is here and safe.”