what you are talking about.”
“How good you are at saving yourself—as good as a flea who jumps to dry land from a capsized boat.”
“You are a fantasist. I didn’t give the order for her execution.”
“But no doubt your propaganda made it seem like a good idea.”
“I have never said anything different from what everyone else said about her thirst for power.”
“You encouraged her to try to become the Shah’s chief advisor, remember? You arranged it with the nobles yourself.”
“That was before I talked to his wife. She is just as fierce as Pari was, but has the advantage of being her husband’s main confidante. How could Pari fight that?”
“She would have been a better ruler.”
“Not as far as the Shah is concerned.”
“He will be sorry one day.”
“You fool! How dare you speak out against your new leader? You could get pitched out of court and thrown into the river.”
“Through one of your campaigns of sabotage?”
“You are one to talk. After all, you helped plan a murder.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Shah decided to get rid of you.”
“A talented eunuch like myself shines brighter than gold. Remember, I am the crazy fool who cut himself to join the court.”
“I doubt the new Shah cares much about what you did to your cock.”
His language infuriated me. “I may not have a cock, but at least I am not a prick like you.”
“Get out before I inflict a mortal wound on the parts of you that are still intact.”
I laughed at him. “From what I have heard, you wouldn’t have the balls to do much.”
He leapt off his cushion, his dagger drawn. To show him how concerned I was, I turned my back on him and strolled out of the room. As I expected, he didn’t follow.
Shortly thereafter, Mirza Salman began a campaign of sabotaging my name. It started with small comments made in passing about my loyalty, which Anwar heard and mentioned to Balamani. Then it escalated to open accusations that I couldn’t be trusted. Mirza Salman even spread a rumor suggesting I had been affiliated with a physician who was suspected of poisoning Tahmasb Shah’s orpiment.
I was in grave danger.
Balamani’s creased forehead told me that he wished my situation at court were resolved, but neither of us could do anything to speed along my new posting. Nor could I leave palace service of my own accord: No servant was permitted to depart, even for a vacation, without permission. In any case, I didn’t have funds to support myself on the outside.
Worse yet, my attempts to placate my mother’s cousin were not successful. I received a letter from her demanding a firm departure date for Jalileh and money for the caravan. If they did not see an end to my excuses soon, they would permit the old man to marry Jalileh. I was plunged into despair as dark and deep as the bottom of a well. Although now I had the means to bring my sister to Qazveen, I had no place to house her and no way to keep her. By God above, what was I to do?
While I waited to be summoned to see the Shah, I continued my job of reading and responding to the princess’s letters. Because all the correspondents wrote to Pari as if she were still alive, I began to feel as if I could see her pearly forehead, smell her piney perfume, and feel her arm guiding mine as I selected letters and wrote my responses.
I had been focusing my attention on the letters sent on the best paper with the most exalted seals, knowing that the writers would be demanding. One morning, however, a letter written on simple paper fell away from the rest of the stack. I picked it up and opened it. It was from one of Pari’s vakils, a landowner in Qazveen. He wrote as follows:
Esteemed princess, I received the letter you sent from the Shah’s encampment and wish to inform you that I have fulfilled your request and have transferred the deed of the mill near the Tehran Gate into the name of your servant Payam Javaher Shirazi. It is now legally his property. I will keep the deed until he comes to claim it and will hold the revenues from the mill for him until then. Please let me know if I may be of service in any other way.
I dropped the letter in surprise and then snatched it up