“You mean aside from all his overt sins?” Huda laughed. “He hasn’t murdered anyone yet, if that’s what you’re asking. But he’s very, very secretive, and very irregular. Do you know, on several occasions I caught him speaking, with great feeling,to adragon?”
Alizeh frowned. “That’s not very irregular, is it? People talk to animals all the time.”
“Yes, but who speaks todragons?” she said, sounding exasperated. “Their ears alone are about a mile up their heads, which are about a mile from the ground. Imagine speaking to a dragon and thinking they could hearyou! I’m certain you’d have to be deranged.”
Alizeh’s frown only deepened. “Surely you might choose some other reason to dislike him? This feels a bit unfair.”
“Oh, I’veloadsof other reasons for thinking he’s deranged, don’t you worry.” Huda waved a hand. “I needn’t list them all.”
At that, Alizeh felt as if something had flickered out inside her, taking her energy with it. “No,” she said quietly. “You needn’t list them all.”
“Anyway, as I was saying, it likelywasCyrus who poisoned you, if you could only recall –”
“Huda,” she said, staring into her hands, trying desperately to channel calm.
“Yes, dear?”
“I’d like to leave this room – to find Hazan – I’m feeling a bit faint, and I think fresh air would do me some good. Perhaps we might finish this conversation at a later time, preferably while I’m wearing undergarments.”
Huda made another shrill, birdlike sound, then jumped from the bed as if she’d been branded. She spun around and said, “Yes! Of course, theytoldme to bring you a set of clothes – I’ll be right back –”
“What? Who’sthey?”
Huda was halfway down the stairs when she called over her shoulder: “The Diviners, of course! They had to burn your other ones, you know” – she grabbed the door handle – “because of the contamination – though I wouldn’t mourn the loss too much, as they were all covered in blood in any case –”
“Huda – wait –”
But Huda had already yanked open the door, called for Omid, exchanged a few hurried words with the boy, retrieved something out of sight, then slipped back inside the room, nudging the door closed with her hip. The heavy panel slammed shut behind Huda’s back, and the young woman smiled up at Alizeh with great joy. In her arms she held a small, beautifully fashioned piece of luggage, the supple, powder-blue leather of the hard case fastened at intervals by brass hinges and clasps.
Stunned, Alizeh only stared at her.
“Can you not imagine my delight?” Huda said, ascending the steps in a flurry. “Now it’s my turn to dressyou!”
Alizeh felt the light fade from her eyes.
“Oh, don’t look so horrified! Besides, if you don’t trust my taste, you might trust Sarra’s – she and I are a similar size, and she’s been letting me borrow a great deal of her garments.” Huda threw back her head and laughed. “I’m wearing the castoffs of a queen! If only Mother could see me now!”
“Your mother,” Alizeh repeated softly, reminded that she’d overlooked an enormous detail. “Huda, if you’ve been here for almost four weeks, where does your mother think you are?Your family must be worried.”
Huda’s eyes went round. “Oh, no, it’s quite incredible, really. Father is outrageously proud – he said he always knew the blood of an ambassador ran through my veins! And now Mother hasn’t any choice but to sing my praises, for we’re all practically famous –”
“Famous? What do you mean?”
“Yes, right, best to start at the beginning, isn’t it?” Huda placed the suitcase on the floor. “Well, the news out of Ardunia is that the Diviners have stayed Zahhak’s hand –”
“Who’s Zahhak?”
“Ah.” Huda’s brows pinched together. “Can you remind me where you left off in all this? It’s been a frantic few weeks, and I can’t remember how much you don’t know.”
Alizeh stared blankly at the girl. “The last time I truly saw you, you were trying to beat Cyrus over the head with a candelabra.”
Huda reddened at the mention of this, then laughed nervously, and before Alizeh could question her reaction, the young woman delivered her a mad rush of information. They passed a few minutes in this way, Alizeh prodding and Huda providing. Huda described all that occurred after Alizeh was whisked away from the ball on the back of a dragon, and how Zahhak – the oily defense minister of Ardunia – had tried to steal the throne out from underneath Prince Kamran, “who was basically locked in a tower by the Diviners –”
Alizeh gasped.
“– but then saved by Simorgh –”
Again, Alizeh gasped.
