Equal of the Sun A Novel - By Anita Amirrezvani Page 0,139
tone. “Do you remember how he decided to invent a flying machine and tried to soar in it like a bird? His men thought it was a stupid idea, but they assisted the king until Kavus injured himself in the failed invention. The lesson of that story, I think, is that when you are in service, you must stand by your leader’s decisions, even if they are wrong.”
“So I should put our country’s finances at risk and allow the tribes to clash just to show Mohammad that I am at his service?”
“Yes, princess. That is my opinion.”
Pari turned to me to ask what I thought. “He is right,” I whispered. “Let us make sure the new shah loves and trusts you before opposing him.”
Pari’s face darkened. “Mohammad is too weak to oppose anything,” she whispered back.
“What about his wife?”
“She is only a woman,” she said, which made her uncle laugh.
In a louder voice, she said to Mirza Salman, “I am grateful for your counsel, but for the good of the country, I can’t agree. Mohammad’s men will be sent away.”
There was a long silence on the other side of the lattice while Pari waited, pulling impatiently at a loose thread on her sash.
“Esteemed princess, I implore you not to countermand his orders. Don’t get shunted aside like the last time,” Mirza Salman said.
“But I am right about this!” Pari replied, her voice rising in frustration. “If the Ostajlu succeed, they will feel entitled to concessions. Moreover, how do I know they can be trusted as guards? I refuse to risk my country’s wealth.”
“Princess, what if the treasury is placed under the control of all three tribes—the Circassians, the Takkalu, and the Ostajlu?”
I thought this was a good solution. Pari could claim to have obeyed the order while still retaining a lot of control. “It is an excellent idea!” I whispered.
She ignored me. To Mirza Salman, she said, “They will squabble among themselves.”
“Your refusal could expose the palace to an internal war,” Mirza Salman argued.
“My answer is no.”
“How, then, do you plan to pacify the men?” he asked.
“I will take care of it,” said Shamkhal. “There are some things a Tajik administrator just can’t do.”
The insult was as harsh as the taste of metal.
“Uncle!” Pari exclaimed. “Tajik and Turk commingle in the blood of the Safavis, as you know! How can one live without the other?”
Since I had the veins of both, I had to agree.
“And what of the Circassians?” Mirza Salman charged, but wisely didn’t say more. All of us knew that the Circassians and the Georgians, being newcomers to the court compared to the qizilbash, were trying to force their way into better positions.
“What of them? We are as fierce as anyone,” Shamkhal said.
“We are all Iranians,” Pari pointed out.
“If only the tribes saw it that way. Everyone is working for the advantage of his own group: Ostajlu for Ostajlu, Circassian for Circassian. Must it always be so?” Mirza Salman asked.
In other words, would Pari take her uncle’s side against him from now on?
“No,” she replied. “But my decision about the treasury stands.”
There was a long, aggrieved pause. “For God’s sake, princess! It is a mistake,” he said.
“I agree with Mirza Salman,” I insisted in a whisper, although it felt peculiar to do so, given that he had failed to tell me how well he knew the accountant who murdered my father.
Pari’s eyes shot flames of disapproval at me. “Shamkhal, go quell the men,” she ordered. “Mirza Salman, you are dismissed.”
Had she learned nothing from her experience with Isma‘il? Why must she insist on maintaining control when it might cause her to lose her battle of influence over the new shah? I could only hope that Mohammad was as willing to be swayed as she seemed to think.
“Javaher, I told you long ago that I won’t always agree with your advice,” she said when we were alone.
“Yet I must give it. I fear you are being swayed by your desire to rule.”
“You are quite wrong: My decision is entirely strategic. Mohammad must understand that he cannot wrest anything away from me. I will not repeat the mistakes I made when I trusted Isma‘il to reward my efforts. I failed to maintain any leverage, which made it easy to shunt me aside. This time, I will meet power with power of my own, and the fiercest lion will win.”
Her eyes blazed as if she was ready to fight then and there. I stared at her, awestruck.