IGMS Issue 2 Page 2

  Then again, there was no logical reason that the cat would have the worm. Coincidence was too unlikely. So it had to have been intentional. But who would dare infect the Empress's cat? Did the Empress fear that the next attempt would be bolder? Was something afoot even now?

  Bela, after all, was the Empress's ninth cat - her last - and when she died, so would the Empress, and her closest servants with her. That might explain Djazir's tense mood, might even explain Rabiah's sullenness. But it wouldn't explain the smile on the Empress's lips. For whatever reason, it seemed most logical that the Empress had arranged this.

  Al-Ashmar paged through the tale in which the jagged words had been written. It was a tale of a child that had wandered too far, and was destined to die alone in the mountains. But then a legendary shepherd found her and brought her to live with him - him and his eighty-nine children, others who'd been found wandering in the same manner.

  Hours later, Al-Ashmar added the clove juice and a honey-ginger elixir to the tonic and left it to steep. After his mind struggled through a thousand dead-end possibilities, Father Sleep finally found him.

  The following day, Al-Ashmar was led to the Empress's garden. Strands of wispy clouds marked the blue sky as a pleasant breeze rattled the palm leaves. Bela sat at the foot of the Empress's throne, which had been moved from inside the cold and empty room. The cat lapped at the cream laced with the tonic.

  Odd, Al-Ashmar thought. Cats usually detested the remedy no matter how carefully it was hidden. Al-Ashmar's other patients, however, were not so pliant. Nearby, Rabiah took a deep breath and downed the last of her phial. The eunuchs, thank goodness, had swallowed theirs at a word from Rabiah.

  "Bela will need two more doses today," Al-Ashmar said, "and three more tomorrow."

  Djazir stared at his half-empty phial, a look of complete disgust on his face.

  "Please," Al-Ashmar said to Djazir, "I know it is distasteful, but you need to drink the entire phial."

  "I will drink it, physic, but we will not subject the Empress to such a thing."

  Al-Ashmar hid his eyes from Djazir. "Of course you know best, but if the Empress has the worm, the effects will only worsen."

  The Empress spoke to Rabiah. Al-Ashmar, listening more closely than the day before, could still understand not a single word.

  "Of course, Exalted," Rabiah said, and she retrieved the phial meant for the Empress.

  Djazir gritted his jaw as Rabiah tilted the phial into the Empress's mouth. The Empress's eyes watered, and she coughed, causing some of it to spill onto Rabiah's hands.

  "Be careful of her eyes," Al-Ashmar said, stepping forward. "The tonic will sting horribly for quite some time - "

  But Rabiah waved him away. At least she took more care how she supported the Empress's head as she dispensed the liquid. The Empress's coughing slowed the process to a crawl, but eventually the ordeal was over.

  Djazir took Al-Ashmar by the elbow, ready to lead him from the garden and out of the palace.

  "I wonder if we might speak," Al-Ashmar said. "Alone, so as not to disturb the Empress."

  Djazir seemed doubtful, but he released Al-Ashmar's elbow. "What about?"

  "A few questions only, in order to narrow down the source of the worms. If we cannot find it, the infection may simply recur."

  Djazir brought him up a set of stairs to a railed patio on the roof of the palace. Around them the entire city sprawled over the land for miles. The river glistened as it crawled like the snakeworm through the flesh of the city until reaching the glittering sea several miles away.

  Al-Ashmar spoke, asked questions about Bela's activities, the Empress's, even Rabiah's, but this was all a ruse. He'd wanted to get Djazir to agree to questioning simply so he could ask the same of Rabiah. He had to get her alone, for only in her did he have a chance of unwrapping this riddle.

  Djazir agreed to send Rabiah up to him to speak as well, and several minutes later, she came and stood a safe distance away from him, staring out over the city. It took him a moment, but Al-Ashmar realized that Rabiah was staring at the fourteen spires standing at attention along the shore. Thirteen Empresses lay buried beneath thirteen obelisks, and the fourteenth stood empty, waiting. Al-Ashmar thought at first she was simply ignoring him, but there so much anxiety on her face as she stared at the obelisk.

  "She won't die from the worm, my lady. We've caught it in time."

  Rabiah turned to him and nodded, her face blank now. "I know, physic."

  And then realization struck. Rabiah wasn't afraid over the worm, never had been. She was afraid for something else, something much more serious. Like riddles within riddles the answer to this one simple curiosity led to a host of answers he'd struggled with late into the night.

  He hesitated to voice his thoughts - they were thoughts that could get one killed - but he had no true choice. He could no more bury this question than he could have denied any of his children a home when they'd needed it.

  "How much longer?"

  A muscle twitched along Rabiah's neck. She turned away from him and stared out over the sharp, rolling landscape. For a long, long time the only sound he heard was the call of a lone gull and the pounding of stone hammers in the distance.

  "Months, perhaps," she said, "but I fear it will be less."

  "You know what she's asking of me, don't you?"

  "Yes, physic, but you will do nothing of the sort. I will die with her. I will help her on the other shore as I have helped her here."

  This was ludicrous, Al-Ashmar thought. He jeopardized his entire family with this one conversation. He should leave. He should instruct Djazir in the creation of the tonic, heal Bela, and be done with this foul mess.

  But as he stared at Rabiah, he realized how lost she was. She would die the day after the Empress did, would be buried in the Empress's tomb, which waited beneath the newest obelisk along the shores of the Dengkut.

  The ways of the Empresses had always seemed strange when he'd been growing up in the southlands, and little had changed his mind when he'd come to the capital to find his fortune. In fact, the opposite had happened. Each year found him more and more confused.

  But that was him. His opinion mattered little. What mattered was why the Empress would go against tradition and ask him to save Rabiah from her fate.

  The answer, Al-Ashmar realized, could be found by looking no further than his adopted children. Rabiah had cared for the Empress, most likely day and night, ever since her attacks had left her stricken. Rabiah would have become part daughter, part mother. And when the Empress died, Rabiah's bright young life would be forfeit. How could the Empress not try to protect her?

  Al-Ashmar regarded Rabiah with new eyes. She had cared for the Empress in life, and she was willing to do so in death, no matter what it might mean for her personally.

  "You are noble," Al-Ashmar said.

  Rabiah turned to him, a confused look on her beautiful face. "You don't believe that."

  Al-Ashmar smiled. "I may not understand much, Rabiah of No Mother, but I know devotion when I see it."

  Rabiah stared, said nothing, but her eyes softened ever so slowly.

  "I will need to come for a week, to ensure Bela's restoration is complete. Perhaps we can come here and talk. Perhaps play a hand of river."

  "I don't play games, physic."

  "Then perhaps just the talk."

  Rabiah held his gaze, and then nodded.

  The next week passed by quickly. Al-Ashmar's oldest son, Fakhir, was forced to take the summons Al-Ashmar would have normally taken himself; Tayyeb, his oldest girl, did what she could for those who brought their cats to his home; and though they hated it, it was up to Hilal and Yusuf to watch over the young ones, Shafiq and Badra and Mia.

  The family conversed each night over dinner. Al-Ashmar helped them learn from things they did wrong, but in truth his pride swelled over their performances in jobs he thought them incapable of only days ago.

  Most of his time, however, was spent creati
ng the tonic for Bela and the Empress, administering it, and teaching the technique to Djazir. Bela continued her uncanny acceptance of the tonic, as Djazir continued his complaints, but the cure progressed smoothly.

  Rabiah held true to her word. She accompanied him to the roof, sometimes for nearly an hour, and spoke to him. She was reserved at first, unwilling to speak, and so it was often Al-Ashmar that told stories of the south, of his travels, of his early days in the capital. It was uncomfortable to speak of Nara, but to speak of his children, he had no choice but to speak of his wife.

  "You loved her?" Rabiah asked one day.

  "My wife? Of course."

  "You couldn't have children of your own?"

  Al-Ashmar smiled and jutted his chin toward the city. "She knew what it was like, out there. Why have our own when there are so many in need?"

  Rabiah regarded him for a long time then, and finally said, "You wanted one of your own, didn't you?"

  Al-Ashmar paused, embarrassed. "Am I so shallow?"

  "No, but such a thing is hard to hide when you speak of subjects so close to the heart."

  He shrugged though the gesture felt like a clear betrayal of Nara. "I did want my own, once, but I regret nothing. How would I have found my Mia if I hadn't? My Fakhir and Tayyeb?"

  The silence grew uncomfortable, and Al-Ashmar was sure he'd made a mistake by discussing his children. But how could he not? They were his loves. His life.

  "You are the noble one," Rabiah said, and left him standing near the railing.

  Al-Ashmar, hugging Mia against his hip, stood before the palace, unsure of himself with the palace so near.

  The eighth day had come - the last day Al-Ashmar would be allowed into the palace. Djazir had mastered the tonic well enough, and he'd grown increasingly insistent that no one, least of all the Empress, needed to take such a distasteful brew any longer.

  Al-Ashmar could hardly argue. The snake-like trails in Bela's eyes were gone, and her feces had returned to a proper level of density.

  "Let's go," Mia said.

  "All right, pet, we'll go."

  They entered the palace. The guards were a bit disturbed by the unexpected addition of Mia, but Al-Ashmar explained to them calmly that Rabiah had permitted it. He made it to the Empress's garden, where he relieved his aching arms of Mia's weight.

  Djazir marched forward. "What is this?"

  "Eminence, my sincere apologies. With my absence, my business is in a shambles. My other children are old enough to run my errands, but I had no one to watch Mia. She will sit quietly, here, and bother no one."

  "She had best not, physic." Djazir frowned and stared at Mia. "Don't touch a thing, child. Do you hear me?"

  Mia hugged Al-Ashmar's waist and nodded.

  Al-Ashmar calmed Mia down enough that he could leave her on a bench near the rear of the garden, mostly out of sight of the Empress's three peaked doorways. He made his way inside the room, where the Empress sat waiting on her throne. The four guards stood at the corners of the room, two more behind the throne, but Rabiah was not to be found. Where was she?

  The Empress stared out through the gauzy curtains hanging over the doorways. She studied the garden, perhaps watching Mia play. Then her eyes took in Al-Ashmar.

  And a hint of a smile came to her lips.

  Al-Ashmar couldn't help but return the smile, but he hid it as quickly as it had come.

  Bela strutted around from the back of the throne and moved to the bowl of cream placed there by Djazir.

  "Come, physic."

  Al-Ashmar nodded. From inside his vest he retrieved one of the eight phials he'd brought for their final day, but Djazir held up his hand to forestall him.

  "I've administered my own tonic," Djazir said. "All that's left is for you to examine Bela."

  Al-Ashmar began to worry. He needed to speak to Rabiah, had to try one last time for he would never have the chance again, but with the tonic already administered, there was only so far he could extend the examination before Djazir caught on. He did what he could: he kneeled and studied Bela's golden eyes closely even though they were obviously clear of the worm; he checked her muscle tone and reflexes; he examined her teeth.

  "Enough," Djazir said, stepping to Al-Ashmar's side. "We both know Bela is fine. The Empress thanks you for your time."

  Just then the Empress began to cough, a wracking, hoarse affair, and it nearly shook her from the throne. The guards moved to hold her, but Djazir waved them away as he rushed to her side. Al-Ashmar waited, hoping that Rabiah would step from the rear of the room.

  "That will be all, ak Kulhadn."

  Al-Ashmar bowed and retreated to the sounds of the Empress's horrible coughing. How painful it sounded. Painful, but also a touch forced to Al-Ashmar's ear.

  He reached the garden, but could not find Mia.

  "Mia," he called softly, hoping Djazir wouldn't hear.

  She wasn't in the garden, so he moved up the stairs leading to the rooftop patio. He allowed himself to smile. Rabiah was crouched next to Mia, and her gaze followed Mia's outstretched finger through the balustrades of the marble railing to the city beyond.

  "Is that so?" Rabiah asked.

  Mia nodded. "And then peppa brought it to our house. It was big as me - at least, big as I was then, which is still pretty big."

  Mia noticed Al-Ashmar approach. "I told you she was pretty," Mia said.

  Al-Ashmar smiled as his face flushed. He wished he could say the same thing to her, but Nara's memory stayed his tongue.

  "You could help others," Al-Ashmar said as he tussled Mia's dark hair, "and the Empress will be waiting for you on the other side."

  "She'll need me."

  "She'll have your predecessor, Rabiah. She'll have the others." He motioned down toward the Empress's coughing, which was starting to subside. "She'll be whole once she reaches the far shore."

  Her eyes were pleading, as if they wanted a reason to come with him. "This is blasphemy."

  "Not where we're from," Mia said, as if she, too, were from the south.

  Rabiah looked down at Mia, and a sad smile came to her lips. "That's just it, child. It is, even where your peppa's from." When she again met Al-Ashmar's eyes, her expression was resolute. "Please, go."

  Al-Ashmar hesitated. Words always seemed to flee in the important moments of his life, and this time he knew the reason why. No matter how foolish he considered Rabiah's choice to be, he would never force his beliefs on another. She would have to embrace the Empress's wish before she could be saved.

  "You would be loved," he said to Rabiah, and then he picked up Mia and left the palace.

  When they were back in the streets, Mia said, "Is she coming to live with us?"

  "No, pet, she's not."

  Al-Ashmar woke upon hearing the great bell on top of the Hall of Ancients ring. A gentle rain pattered against the roof. The bell rang again and again. Al-Ashmar knew, well before it had reached the fourteenth peal, that the Empress had died.

  When it was over, he sat there in the silence, feeling as if one of his own family had been lost. No, not one. Two. The Empress, even in her state, had smiled upon him in more ways than one - how could he not consider her family? And Rabiah. She'd been so close to walking away from her pointless fate.

  A soft knock came at the door.

  He opened it in a rush and found Rabiah standing outside, drenched.

  "I don't want to die," she said.

  Al-Ashmar stepped aside and ushered her into his house. He motioned her to his workroom, where the hearth still had enough embers to stoke some warmth from them. He got a blanket for Rabiah and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  Fakhir walked into the room, hair disheveled with a blanket around his shoulders. "Everything all right, peppa?"

  "Fine, Fakhir. Go to bed."

  Fakhir retired, leaving Al-Ashmar alone with this beauty and the sounds of the pattering rain. He prepared some lime tea for her, but by the time he handed it to her, she looked confused, as if
coming to him might have been a big mistake.

  "There is no shame in living a longer life, Rabiah. There's so much good you can do. For these children." He paused. "For me."

  She looked at him then. Her eyes, no longer rimmed with kohl, looked just as beautiful in the ruddy light of the hearth. "For you?"

  A harsh knock came at the front door.

  Al-Ashmar's heart beat faster in his chest. "Were you followed?"

  Rabiah glanced around, as if specters would take form from the shadows around them. "I - I took precautions."

  Djazir's voice bellowed from the other side of the door. "Open, ak Kulhadn, or we'll break the door in."

  Al-Ashmar scrambled for a proper hiding place, but there would be none. He couldn't even spirit her out the rear door. There was no telling what Djazir would do if they were caught running.

  "It will be all right," Al-Ashmar said as he stood and moved to the door. "Stay by my side."

  Four of his children stood in the doorway of their bedroom. "Fakhir, get them to bed, now. Close your door."

  Before he could reach the front door, it crashed open. Al-Ashmar shivered. Three guards stormed into the room. Two more stood outside with Djazir. After the guards had positioned themselves about the room, Djazir strode in as if it was his own home. He looked Al-Ashmar up and down, then Rabiah, who stood nearby.

  "Rabiah, come."

  She stayed planted, gaze darting between Al-Ashmar and Djazir.

  "Djazir, please. We can discuss this."

  Djazir motioned to the nearest guard. Al-Ashmar barely registered the fist from the corner of his eye, and then everything was pain and disorientation. He fell, his shoulder and neck striking the low eating table in the center of the room. A piercing ache stormed up his neck to the base of his skull.

  Before he could make sense of what had happened, the guard closest to Rabiah grabbed the back of her neck and manhandled her toward the exit.