Equal of the Sun A Novel - By Anita Amirrezvani Page 0,63
back Isma‘il’s trust.”
“He doesn’t desire honesty.”
“Isn’t it vital to convince him that you are his ally?”
“Not if it means compromising what is right,” she said angrily.
The men would be executed in the morning. I felt sorry for their wives and families, for I knew how their faces would twist with agony when they received the bodies wrapped in bloody white sheets. Their children would suffer, too: I remembered Jalileh’s screams of distress even though she was too young to understand what had happened. And yet, rather than advance the cause of the condemned, Pari had managed to hurt her own standing with Isma‘il.
Pari was watching me closely. “What is it, Javaher? If your brow could make storm clouds, it would be pouring.”
I took a deep breath. “Princess, you know the old saying: The rose is heartless, yet the nightingale sings to it all night long.”
“Why should I sing to a stem of thorns?” she scoffed.
“Because you want to win.”
Her face darkened. “Shit-eater!”
I was offended and slowed my gait so that she would know it.
Pari waited for me to catch up. “Javaher, I know your advice comes from the bottom of your heart, but you cannot understand the fury that seizes me in his mule-like presence.”
“Princess, don’t you fear for your life? Look how casually he destroys his allies.”
Pari threw back her head and laughed. “The blood of the Safavi lions roars in my veins!”
A few evenings later, Pari summoned me to her house to fetch her most private correspondence and deliver it to a special courier. I arrived at the same time as Majeed, whom I escorted behind the lattice. His cheeks looked yellow with fear. In a shaky voice, he told us that when he had gone home that evening, he had been prevented from entering his own door by a group of soldiers, who told him that all his possessions had been confiscated by order of the Shah.
“Esteemed princess, have I offended you in any way?”
“No, my good servant.”
“Then why—?”
I scrutinized Majeed carefully. A man who wishes to succeed at court can’t collapse when the earth trembles, because when it shakes, pitches, and rolls, he will break into seven hundred and seventy-seven pieces. A bubble of hope opened up in my heart, for Majeed seemed to be crumbling.
“Do you think you can still be effective as my vizier? Be truthful. Whatever your answer, I shall treat you fairly.”
“I am afraid that showing my face at court would seem like an aggravation. Perhaps another man would do better . . .” His voice trailed off, as if he hated himself for admitting it, and his young face looked as soft as rice pudding.
“Very well, then. Stay out of sight, and I will contact you to serve me when the court is safe.”
“As you wish.”
Pari made him pledge to spread the story that she herself had requested the expropriated house. Then she released him from her service with a generous sack of silver for his expenses and the promise to resettle him in a new home. I showed him out and joined Pari on her side of the lattice.
“How I miss my father!” she said, her voice thick with feeling. The princess bowed her head for a moment to compose herself, and the room was silent except for the sound of the wind outside. Then she said, in a tone of wonder, “How did you survive your grief all those years ago?”
I had to think for a moment; no one had ever asked me that question before.
“Princess, I wish I could give you an answer coated in honey. The best I can do is to suggest that you bask in the memories of his love, the sweetest balm for your heart.”
She sighed. “I shall.”
“Why do you think Majeed’s house was taken?”
I was certain it had to do with her behavior toward the Shah, but knowing the specific reason was essential.
“I sent him back to Mirza Shokhrollah to ask for an army to protect our northwestern border. The grand vizier must have spoken out against me,” she said, but looked uncertain.
“Is it possible that the Shah objected to your plea for clemency?”
“If so, his response is cruel,” she said. “Every citizen has the right to the Shah’s ear.”
Pari batted at her temple to brush a strand of hair away from her face, but there wasn’t one. She sought neatness in times of distress. Something in her gesture made me wonder if she was telling the truth about everything.