Page 23 of Every Spiral of Fate (This Woven Kingdom #4)

Twenty-Two

PRINCESS FIRUZEH, AS KAMRAN HAD named her, was bedecked in distracting jewels so varied and numerous that it took Alizeh several tries to focus on her face. When she did, she realized her mistake: the exquisite older woman wasn’t looking at her at all.

She was looking at Huda.

The glimmering princess surged forward through the lengths of willowy grass, necklaces clattering, fingers fluttering, to reach the aforementioned young woman—who stiffened in surprise.

Huda slackened as she was taken by the hand and examined at arm’s length, for the princess appeared to be assessing the girl with genuine satisfaction. “There’s no woman alive capable of unseating me from his heart,” she said, “but you will do just fine, I think.”

“Oh no.” Huda looked as if she might choke. “No, no, I’m not— That is, I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood—”

“My mother must be tired,” said Kamran irritably. “She’s been so ardently anticipating our arrival that I fear she may have lost her mind.”

Firuzeh turned her eyes on her son. “I beg your pardon? Lost my mind? Darling,” she said, directing her next words to Huda.

“You must never let him speak to you this way. The first time my late husband insinuated that I’d lost my mind, I threw a plate at his throat”—she snapped her fingers—“and just like that, it never happened again.” She smiled beatifically and pressed two fingers to her forehead, then to the air.

“May his soul be elevated to the highest peace.”

Kamran sighed.

“May his sorrows be sent to an unknown place,” returned Omid eagerly, pressing two fingers to his forehead, then to the air. “I am sorry for your loss, miss— oof —”

Hazan had elbowed him.

“I mean Your Majesty, ma’am—”

“Oh, I should’ve been an excellent majesty,” she said to Omid, anointing him with one of her smiles. “But as my husband went and died before I could ever be crowned queen, I was left only a highness.”

Omid blinked. He stumbled a little under the weight of Deen, who was leaning heavily against him. “That still seems quite good, I think.”

“It’s not bad, dearest, though you’ll find I do complain a great deal.”

“ Mother ,” Kamran said again, this time in warning.

Hazan, Alizeh noticed, was fighting a laugh. Even Cyrus looked darkly amused. Omid helped set the apothecarist down on the ground, where Deen began playfully tearing stalks of grass from the earth. “So many knives!” he said happily.

“Forgive me, Your Highness,” Huda tried again. “But I— That is, I beg your pardon, but you are mistaken. I am not the object of your son’s affections.”

“Aren’t you?” Now Firuzeh looked crestfallen.

Kamran made an exasperated sound.

“No, Your Highness,” said Huda.

“Then who the devil are you?”

“I am Huda, Your Highness.” She managed a small curtsy. “I have no title, though you might know of my father, who was a good friend to the late king—”

“Heavens, but you’re the bastard child of that Lojjan ambassador, aren’t you?” said the princess, her eyes widening in shock. “You’re the daughter of that famous, frivolous courtesan. What on earth are you doing here? And pretending to be a queen?”

Huda flushed scarlet.

Alizeh, meanwhile, was shell-shocked. She felt a sudden desire to throw herself between them, as if she might take these blows upon herself.

“I am indeed all that you say,” said Huda, holding herself with admirable dignity. “Except that I’ve never pretended to be a queen. The honorable young woman you’re looking for is actually—”

“I heard your father pleaded madness,” said the princess, cutting her off with a strange smile.

“Is that true? I’ve always wanted to know.

He said he’d lost his mind the first time he’d looked upon your mother’s face and as a result could not be held accountable for his actions.

It was the only reason his wife took him back.

She told everyone you were half-mad yourself; that she considered it the height of charity to look after a demented child.

Tell me: Is it all true, dear? Are you indeed deranged? ”

“That’s enough,” Kamran said sharply. “How dare you torment her like this—”

“Kamran,” said Huda, her eyes widening in horror. “You need not— That is, I am well used to it—”

“Oh, I remember when you were a fat little thing,” said Firuzeh, pinching two fingers together as if to squeeze a small cheek.

“Your father’s wife had you trussed up all wrong, didn’t she?

All your soft bits squashed in all the wrong places.

Shame your real mother didn’t want you, or else she might’ve shown you how to dress yourself sooner—”

Huda made a faint, tortured sound.

“You’re being unconscionably cruel,” said Kamran, who appeared both stunned and mortified. “She’s been nothing but patient with you—”

“I thought you said she was loud and insufferable,” said Firuzeh, assessing her son as if for the first time. “Why would you fly to her defense now, when you’ve never before offered a kind word in her favor?”

Kamran looked suddenly stricken with shame.

He opened his mouth and closed it, fighting an inner battle he seemed to lose. Roughly, he said, “Miss Huda has done nothing to earn your abuse. I demand you cease this tirade at once.”

Huda looked at him, thunderstruck.

“ Well ,” said Firuzeh, annoyed. She waved her son away as if swatting a fly.

“She’s all bright and dewy now, isn’t she?

That gorgeous figure sorted into that sinful shape!

And all that silky hair! She’s emerged from quite the chrysalis; it’s a tremendous victory.

You must give me the name of your modiste, darling. Who’s responsible for all this magic?”

“Alizeh,” breathed Huda, invoking her friend’s name almost as an entreaty. She reached out blindly as if to gesture, but Alizeh drew forward to take her friend’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

She did not let go.

Only then—only when Alizeh came into view—did Firuzeh take a step back, the smile fading from her face. In fact she went suddenly cold, her shrewd eyes narrowing at Alizeh with a different class of derision.

She fell into a deep curtsy.

“A pleasure, Your Majesty,” said the princess coolly. “I’ve heard so much about you, of course. I see now that you are every inch the queen of legend.”

Alizeh did not acknowledge this.

Instead, she said, “It appears we owe you thanks for overseeing our shelter here on such short notice. I’ve heard you’re responsible for having secured your son a safe house in this region after all his trouble with the crown, and I’m grateful not only for your assistance and your discretion, but also for the inspiration delivered by your colorful conversations today. ”

“Not at all—”

“In fact, you’ve inspired me just now,” Alizeh pressed on. “Mere minutes in your presence and you’ve already broadened my imagination. Should you ever speak to my friend in such an insulting manner again, I will be encouraged to throw a plate at your throat.”

Kamran drew a sharp breath.

“ Alizeh ,” Huda hissed in warning.

Omid whispered , “Is she allowed to say that?” and Hazan laughed, which prompted Deen—who was looking about the group with confusion—to laugh uncertainly as well. Cyrus, she knew, was watching her. She felt his eyes on her as certainly as she felt the heat of the sun.

Firuzeh, to her credit, met Alizeh’s gaze head-on. Light returned to her dark eyes like fire to a dead hearth and, very slowly, she smiled. “My dear,” she said softly, “I feel suddenly certain that the three of us will be great friends.”

“I feel no such certainty,” said Alizeh. “I demand you apologize.”

Huda made a withering noise. “Alizeh,” she said desperately, “please—I’ve grown accustomed to—”

“No, she’s right, darling.” Firuzeh turned to look at Huda.

“It was horrid of me to speak to you in so scathing a manner, and worse, I was perfectly aware of what I was doing.” She flipped her long, dark braid over her shoulder.

“It’s just that I never liked your stepmother, and I was happy to believe you were just as vile as she.

Apparently the feelings are still tender, even after all these years. ”

When Huda only stared at her in confusion, Firuzeh frowned. “Surely she’s told you about me?”

Huda shook her head slowly, her shock palpable.

“Nothing?” Firuzeh seemed surprised. “Not a word?”

Again, Huda shook her head.

“Heavens. We knew each other as girls.” Firuzeh rolled her eyes in a distinctly inelegant fashion.

“She was all the time calling me a fatted calf. Oh, she thought she’d done so well to bag the dratted ambassador, no offense to your father, etcetera.

Told the rest of us we’d never do better.

You should’ve seen her face when I told her I was to marry the very prince of Ardunia. ”

She waved a hand, then laughed.

“I swear she nearly fainted from anger. It was one of the best days of my life, second only to the day your father brought home his by-blow for her to raise.” She barked another laugh, then remembered herself. “No offense to you, of course, etcetera.”

Huda appeared baffled by this dizzying speech.

For a moment, everyone did.

“Mother hasn’t changed much,” Huda said haltingly, struggling to recover her signature indifference. She almost managed a careless laugh, though the effort was undercut by the slight tremble of her voice. “She tells me all the time that I’m a fatted calf who’ll never do better than she did.”

A rare, real emotion lit Firuzeh’s eyes, gone too quickly to name. “In that case, I am sorry.” She glanced at Alizeh. “And I promise to make an effort to improve my manners. It must be lovely to have a friend who cares for you so.”

Huda squeezed Alizeh’s hand, then released an unsteady breath. “Indeed,” she said. “It is.”

With a sharp pivot, Firuzeh turned her attention to the others.

“As for the rest of you? Well, I already know you, Hazan, duplicitous wretch that you are”—she smiled graciously—“and of course I know all about the street rat my deluded son made his home minister”—she beamed at Omid—“and I know a little of our apothecarist, here, whose shop is highly regarded in the royal square”—she tilted her head uncertainly at Deen—“but I don’t know a thing about you , do I?

” Her eyes landed on Cyrus, and everyone turned in tandem to stare at him.

“The infamous, murderous king of Tulan,” Firuzeh said softly. “Shall I gasp? Do ladies swoon at the sight of you? Do they faint dead away at the sound of your name?” She drew nearer to Cyrus, then drew back. “Heavens, but you are grotesquely handsome for so depraved a soul.”

Cyrus said nothing.

“So serious,” said Firuzeh, her smile widening. “You will not say a word, then? You won’t gift me even a twinkle of the eye? Do say something—anything—so that I might at least know the tenor of your voice.”

“My dragons will need to hunt,” he said coldly. “I suggest you stay out of their way.”

Firuzeh laughed then with abandon, sounding sincerely delighted. “Oh, this is going to be so much more fun than I’d hoped,” she said, clapping her hands together. She turned her smile on Hazan. “Very well. You may call them now.”

Alizeh looked up at him sharply.