“Oh,” said Alizeh, blinking. “Yes, of course. Huda, do you know where the library is?”
“The library?” she repeated. “Head straight down the hall and make two rights, then a left, but wait –” She tugged gently at Alizeh’s arm, drawing her back. “What did he say? When will you marry?”
“In two days.”
“Two days?” Huda nearly cried. “Isn’t that terribly soon?”
Alizeh tensed. There were servants everywhere, by all appearances attending to their various tasks. When she’d worked as a snoda, it’d always been astonishing to Alizeh what people would say in her presence. They simply didn’t think of her as a person. They paid her as much attention as they did the wallpaper – and yet she was always, always listening.
“Gather the others,” she said quietly, “and meet me in the library as soon as possible. I have a great deal to tell you.”
Huda smiled brilliantly. “Excellent! Shall I ring for tea? Should I wake Omid? He went to bed, but I –”
“No,” said Alizeh quickly. “It’s better that he’s asleep, I think.And no tea. No servants at all. It won’t be that kind of an evening.”
“Whyever not?” Huda’s smile dimmed. “Are we not gathering to gossip?”
“No,” said Alizeh, squeezing the young woman’s arm. “Not exactly.”
“Your Majesty,” came a familiar, agitated voice, and Alizeh spun around to see Hazan all but running toward her. He reached her in moments, taking a beat to study the sight of her before he said, “Are you all right?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she said, surprised by his concern. “Has something else happened?”
“I was informed that you went up to his quarters alone – I didn’t realize you’d be in a closed room when you spoke with him – I swear, if he laid a finger on you –”
Alizeh’s bad mood returned. “Why is everyone so concerned he’s going to hurt me? Prior to your arrival, I spent a great deal of time alone with Cyrus, and I never came to harm.”
“Respectfully, Your Majesty,” Hazan said with forced calm, “when we found you, you were unconscious, your throat had been cut, you’d suffered a head wound, and you were covered in blood.”
“Must we speak like this in front of the servants?” she said desperately.
He lowered his voice. “The Diviners said they found half-healed dragon bites along your leg and torso –”
“And then you woke up,” Huda added in a dramatic whisper, “only to be shot in the back and tossed off a cliff.”
“That was Kamran’s doing!”
“What was my doing?”
Alizeh looked up to find Kamran approaching their group. He smiled at her with genuine pleasure, then caught sight of Huda and scowled.
“What are you doing here?” he said, turning his eyes to Hazan. “You were supposed to meet me in the parlor. Why are you all standing in the hall having a heated discussion?”
“How interesting that you should ask,” Huda said sweetly. “Alizeh was just reminiscing about the time you nearly killed her.”
Kamran’s expression only darkened. “I doubt that.”
“Indeed I was not,” Alizeh said, frowning at Huda. “Please don’t fight tonight. There’s too much ahead of us.”
“Ahead of us?” Hazan looked suddenly alert. “Did something happen?”
“Yes, I –”
Kamran came to stand beside her, briefly touching her lower back in a move that felt almost possessive. She looked up at him, surprised. It was not that she felt uncomfortable, exactly; she cared for Kamran, and felt quite safe with him. It was more that she wanted to be clear that she did not, at this time, consider him anything more than a friend. She thought to say something, but couldn’t decide whether she’d be overreacting to so small a gesture, and resolved to ignore it. Her mind was full enough as it was.
“Hazan,” she said, trying again. “Could you lead us to the library? I’ll explain everything when we have some privacy –”
Just then she heard a scream; she turned toward the sound to find that a snoda had gone rigid at the sight of her, and when Alizeh looked upon the girl, she made a choking sound and collapsed in the middle of the hall. Alizeh panicked, remembering then that a handful of Jinn servants worked in the palace, and moved as if to go to her, but Hazan tugged her back.
