Su’ah shook Ara awake. “You weren’t playing with beet juice again, were you? The channels of the Lion Court ran blood red, or so say the whisperings of the servants.” Her voice was laced with awe. “A guard told Maryam the stone lions came to life and killed the wazir.”
She was quiet as if stunned by her own words. “Do you know what really happened?”
Ara opened her eyes, still blurred with sleep, and sat up. Layla lay unmoving, watching them. “Su’ah,” she was solemn. “The lions did come to life. Honestly, as Allah is my witness. The wazir sent Father into a trap, but Tahirah went to warn him. And then Layla and I went into the Court of the Lions and the wazir was there and Suleiman and they fought…”
“Suleiman’s back?” Su’ah’s eyes ratcheted to her forehead.
Ara smiled. “Yes, he is back.” A weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Suleiman was human again. The palace was safe. Father was unharmed. All was back to normal.
Normal? Ara frowned, puzzled. Why did that bother her? Granada was a wonderful place to live, and the Alhambra the most beautiful of the beautiful. But Tahirah was leaving, and Ara didn’t know if she would ever return.
Maybe Tahirah would stay. Father had invited her, after all. She couldn’t imagine life with Tahirah gone.
At a muffled squeak from Layla, Ara turned to see a shimmer of light dance across the carpet. Su’ah gasped and sat down on the bed as the light congealed into the outline of a lion. Before their eyes, Ara’s lion slowly materialized on the red and blue carpet. Golden stars twinkled and disappeared as he solidified. Su’ah looked near to fainting, her hand on her heart.
Layla scrambled out of bed to comfort her. But Ara leapt up and threw her arms around the huge tawny beast.
“I knew you’d come back.” She buried her face in the thick mane.
The lion purred.
Ara sat upright. “What happened last night after we left? Are Suleiman and Tahirah and Father truly all right?”
The lion stretched his huge paws out until they touched Su’ah’s loom. “Suleiman identified his last lessons, stubbornness and resourcefulness. They proved useful, did they not?” He bared his teeth in a cat-like grin. “He and the sultan spoke long into the night. Suleiman finally agreed to take on the wazir’s cloak. Your father has a few bruises from routing his enemies.” He snorted, and his teeth gleamed in a grin. “The Castilians now need to barter with him for the men they lost when your father captured them last night.”
Ara nodded, “And Tahirah?”
He snorted. “She is a Sufi, restless and always on the path to spiritual awareness. Their roads are paved, not in glory, but in duty.”
He collected himself and rose, towering over her. “You are the one I call on now.”
“Me?” Ara exclaimed, thinking she must have heard wrongly.
“The power of Granada fades and that of the Christians grows. Mohammad’s tolerance of different religions is used against us. Our sultans, like your father, have been wise and kind rulers, but it is not enough. Though we have grown rich in mathematics and science, even that will not defend the walls of the Alhambra. We are not welcome here. We will be forced out eventually, back to the deserts and plains of my kind. So now it’s up to us, you and me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You and I are bonded, child. Our fates woven together from your birth.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. For each generation in the Alhambra, one child and one lion are joined. I am the last of the lions to choose a life bond.”
She sat back on her heels, startled. The lion was truly hers, connected by magic. “You chose? Father has many children. Why did you choose me?”
“In each generation there is a trait that has been necessary for the survival of Granada. A trait that is foremost in the human they bond to. In the past, my brothers’ qualities have been in much need. Justice and Wisdom have linked many times, Courage and Vigilance also. My brother Reason bonded with your father. But my nature has never been needed.” He sniffed at the flowers sitting in a vase. “Until this generation and you.”
Ara shook her head slightly, though she waited for him to continue.
Purring again, the lion licked her with his rough tongue. “You are the beginning of the end. A start of a new time. Our ways are being threatened by those with a narrowness of spirit—those with a disdain for learning, and those who fear change. Not only among the Christians but also among our own people.”
“But I’m just a girl.”
“Yes, but a curious one. And curious girls grow into women of wisdom. The lion roars, but the lioness rules. You embrace change, yet respect our culture. Let learning and peace remain part of who you are.” Silver motes danced around him as he started fading once again. “Remember.”
“What is your name?” Ara called after him, desperate. “You never told me your name.”
He grinned. “My name is Curiosity. And you, my curious friend, and those like you, are the hope for our future.”