His gaze was bitter, accusing. Then they both heard the knock on the door at the very same time. He gave her another glance, one that, it seemed to Alex, was also filled with frustration, and he stormed from the room.
Alex rinsed her hair again, her head under the faucets, pulling the drain on the tub. How could she have been so unkind? Murad was her best friend. But right now, after what had just happened with Blackwell, she did not want to hear his far too rational point of view.
Alex stepped from the tub, towel-drying her hair and inspecting it more closely under the light. It wasn’t as red as before. She had turned it a dark shade of mahogany.
Alex froze, her eyes widening as she detected a woman’s voice in the adjacent room. Ohmygod! It sounded as if Zoe was speaking with Murad!
Alex threw another towel around her head just as the door opened, revealing Zoe, who was smiling. Zoe’s smiles were catlike and unkind. They were sly and knowing. Alex was rigid.
“Why, Zohara, this is the strangest time for a bath!” Her voice was mocking.
Alex forced a smile of her own. “Not for me. I was working out.” Murad stood in the doorway behind Zoe. His eyes were dark.
“Working out?”
“Yeah. Every day I do a hundred crunches and five hundred jumping jacks.”
Zoe’s brow furrowed. “I don’t even care what kind of jest you are making. Jebal is growing annoyed. He has been looking for you. Where have you been?” Zoe’s tone was innocent.
Alex was paralyzed.
“Alex was ‘working out,’ as she calls it. She does these strange things with her body every morning. It is her custom. Jebal wishes to speak with her now?” Murad’s tone was flat and calm.
But Alex saw that he was looking behind her, at the bath she had just vacated. She darted a glance at the tub from the corner of her eye and almost fainted. An inch of black water was still draining from thebath.
“Yes. And I know what he wants. I will wait for you,” Zoe said, her eyes gleaming. And then her sly smile disappeared. “What is that?” she cried.
Alex followed her gaze. The marble tub, usually white, was brownish, a small pool of dirty water just swirling down the gold drain. One word drummed in her brain.Discovery.
Zoe looked up. “You’ve been putting henna in your hair!” she accused.
As they hurried through the palace, Zoe told Alex at least five times that Jebal would be furious with her for changing the color of her hair. She was smirking.
Alex hardly listened. She was trembling, unable to believe her narrow escape. Zoe had failed to notice that, in places, like the underside of her forearms, her skin was a shade darker than it should be, and that the webs between her fingers were slightly brown from not having been washed thoroughly enough. It had been a very close call. Alex was sweating.
When they entered the room, Jebal rose. He had been sitting by a table laden with fruit and sweets, although he had not been eating. He smiled warmly at Alex, his arms outstretched. His many colorful gilets reached the floor.
Zoe hung back, a smile glued to her face. Alex moved into his embrace, allowing him to hug her briefly. He released her but held her at arm’s length, regarding her far too closely. His smile was gone.
Alex felt a brief frisson of panic as their eyes met Did he know something? Was he suspicious of her? Could he see the difference in her skin tone? Had someone seen her and Blackwell in the garden a few minutes ago? Murad warned her repeatedly that there were spies in the palace everywhere.
“You have kept me waiting. I have been waiting almost an hour for you. Why? Where have you been?” His tone was petulant.
Alex wasn’t given the chance to reply. Zoe piped up, “She dyed her hair, Jebal. It isn’t red anymore. She was trying to wash it out!” Zoe’s voice was triumphant.
Alex shrank as Jebal’s eyes widened. “What have you done?” he cried, pulling the veil from her head.
“I’m sorry.”
Jebal gaped at her faded brown hair.
“I told her you would be furious,” Zoe said serenely.
“I loved your hair,” Jebal said. His glance held Alex’s. His eyes had turned cold. “Who gave you permission to do this?”
Alex tensed. “No one. Jebal, I did not think you would mind.”
“I do mind,” Jebal said tightly. “Can you explain this, Zohara?”
