Equal of the Sun A Novel - By Anita Amirrezvani Page 0,32
My men are available.”
I dashed out in time to see Mirza Shokhrollah glaring at him. “That won’t be necessary.”
“I am at your service,” said Mirza Salman with a mocking smile.
“No, thanks,” the treasury chief said again. “I don’t need your help.”
“In that case, how soon can we expect the report?” Pari said from behind the curtain, a note of triumph in her voice.
Mirza Shokhrollah hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Really? Everyone knows how smoothly Mirza Salman’s guilds run and how thorough his reports are. Surely yours can be, too, now that you have his assistance.”
Mirza Shokhrollah glared at Mirza Salman, who met his gaze without flinching. If anything, his slim body became even more erect.
“I will see what I can do.” Mizra Shokhrollah scowled as if Pari were a night soil collector who had presumed to give him orders.
Shamkhal stood up and said quickly, “You heard the favorite daughter of the late, lamented Shah. You are hereby dismissed.”
The men filed out in separate groups of supporters of Isma‘il and Haydar, their disunity evident. I hoped Isma‘il would hurry. It was only a matter of time before the nobles decided to go their own way, as they had when Tahmasb was a child ruler. That was my worst fear: that the men would factionalize, give support to other candidates, and boost one of them to the throne. Then Pari’s power would dwindle, and all my hopes would turn to ash again.
When I finally had a moment to myself, I went to the building that housed the royal scribes and asked to speak to Rasheed Khan.
“He is away today,” said his assistant. Abteen Agha was a eunuch with chubby cheeks and a high, womanly voice.
“I need to have a look at the History of Tahmasb Shah’s Glorious Reign,” I replied. “The princess has asked me to do some research for her.”
It was a fib, but a harmless one.
“Where is your authorization letter?”
“She sent it a few days ago.”
Abteen Agha went off to check the status of the letter.
When I had asked Pari for the letter, I had wanted to confide in her about my father, but hadn’t dared. I feared that revealing my quest would make her suspect that my loyalties were divided. Instead I told her that her letter would make it easier for me to unearth information for her.
Abteen returned soon with a sour look.
“What exactly do you want to examine? The manuscript is thousands of pages long, reflecting the Shah’s nearly eternal reign. I am not going to bring out all the pages for you.”
I would have to sweeten him up with a gift. For now, I simply said, “I need to read about the principal officers who served Tahmasb Shah.”
“All right then. Come back another day, and I will have the pages for you.”
“Tomorrow?” I must have sounded overly eager.
“Do you have worms?”
Abteen was one of those functionaries who like to make everyone wait so that they understand how important they are. But as discretion was more important to me than hurry, I told him I would be back the next day.
The following afternoon, I returned with a fine brass bowl engraved with silver flowers and felicitous inscriptions. Abteen accepted the gift without fanfare and went to get the pages. He placed them in front of me on a low table inlaid with bits of mother-of-pearl and ebony.
“Mind you don’t bend or soil the pages,” he said.
“I have been around good paper before.”
“All right, then.”
The paper had been dyed with something like onionskin so that it was a pleasing ivory color and easy to read. All the pages consisted of short biographies. First there was a long list of the men of God who had served the Shah as religious leaders, followed by nobles descended from the Prophet. Then came lists of governors, viziers, and men of the pen, eunuchs in charge of the royal household, astrologers, doctors, calligraphers, artists, poets, and musicians.
Some of the men had found great fortune and been rewarded with land or governorships, but others had taken a fall. One man had been accused of being part of a blasphemous religious sect and executed. Another had fallen in love with a manservant that the Shah was quite fond of and so was killed. Still another had stolen money and had been sent away in disgrace. As I read through the story of the men’s afflictions, my heart began to bleed with sympathy. So many had gone the way of my father!