Equal of the Sun A Novel - By Anita Amirrezvani Page 0,87
wouldn’t make compromises, so you have been rendered impotent.”
“At least I am not a coward. I stand tall for what I believe.”
“Those are very fine words,” he said. “They will probably sound even better when you turn them into poetry. But what good are words? Now when you are needed the most, you can’t even get an appointment to see your own brother.”
“I’m glad that I don’t bow my head before his ridiculous orders, like you do. How many men will you stand by and see murdered?”
“As many as is necessary, while I influence him as much as I can and adjust when I can’t.”
“What if you awake to find his men hovering above you with a cord in their hands to strangle you?”
“I will have done my duty as well as I could.”
Pari was so exasperated she hit both sides of her head with her hands. “It is like trying to get a rat to stop feeding at the latrines!”
“You are the shit-eater!” Shamkhal bellowed, his voice so loud I felt it in my teeth. “What if you try to remove him and awake to see those same men waiting for you?”
“At least I will die knowing I have done what I could to oppose him.”
Pari stood up abruptly and wrapped the chador over her body.
“Daughter of my sister, wait a minute. Everyone would be grateful if you were able to tame him.”
“How can I do that now?” she replied. “All of you men were happy to allow him to shut me out of palace affairs. How quick you were to do so!”
“It was a direct order.”
“But if you had argued against it, I might have retained some influence. Maybe I am impotent, but you helped Isma‘il put me in that position. Now how is anyone to stop him?”
Despite his big black beard and broad shoulders, Shamkhal looked helpless for a moment.
“I don’t know. We will have to wait until the qizilbash come back from chasing the Sufis to see if they will help.”
“But their absence is making it possible for the princes to be exterminated!”
Shamkhal opened his palms to heaven as if to say the matter was in God’s hands.
Pari’s lips turned down with disgust as she flipped the picheh over her face. “And they say that women are cowards!” she exclaimed as she clutched her chador under her chin and strode toward the door. Her uncle didn’t plead with her to stay. Clumsily, I covered my face and body.
Outside, the princess could not contain herself.
“Oh great God above,” she prayed as we walked down the street, “look kindly on your child, I beg you. Advise me on the correct course of action, for I am lost. These times are as dark as times have ever been. Gazzali has written that without justice there is nothing—no loyalty, no citizenry, no prosperity, and finally, no country. We are at risk of losing everything. Oh Lord, show your servant a ray of light in her darkest moment!”
I echoed her prayer as we entered the park, descended into the passageway, and walked quickly in the cold. I felt relieved not to be on the street, where there was a possibility of being discovered. We emerged into the crumbling pavilion without incident, flung off our wraps, and walked back to her home through the harem gardens. In her rooms, the princess sat down, looking shaken. Her own uncle! It was the worst blow of all.
“Who can we turn to now? Mirza Salman?”
Her smile was ragged and defeated. “He is a man of the pen of second rank. The qizilbash won’t listen to him.”
Pari’s eyes looked unveiled for the first time in months. What I saw reminded me of the despair of a prisoner being led to execution. Her hands lay palm up in her lap, small, tender things, the henna designs now faded. She looked down at them for a moment.
“I am frightened,” she whispered.
I was thunderstruck by the rawness of her admission. Deep in my heart, it stirred a desire to sacrifice myself for her. I had fight enough for three men, and I vowed to do all I could to keep her safe from harm.
CHAPTER 6
THE CALL TO BATTLE
Kaveh received word that his eighteenth and last son had been called to present himself to Zahhak and his snakes. Upon hearing the news, he abandoned his forge and marched to the palace, the thick muscles of his forearms clenching with rage. So great was his anger that he rushed past the