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dutifully written on your tablets you must now inscribe on your memories and learn thoroughly and by heart. As you do this, you must also instruct this sweet quail, your new companion, in the ways of holy learning and convert her ignorance into knowledge.”
    He smiled and a row of white teeth shone brightly. He rolled his eyes portentously, leaving the schoolroom with great dignity.
    The curtain had barely dropped behind him when Halima burst out laughing, and some of the others joined her. Miriam, however, said, “You must never again laugh at Adi, Halima. Maybe he seems a bit strange to you at first, but he has a heart of gold and he would do anything for us. He’s expert at many things—the Koran, worldly philosophy, poetry, rhetoric … And he’s equally at home in both Arabic and Pahlavi. Sayyiduna also has tremendous confidence in him.”
    Halima felt ashamed and lowered her eyes. But Miriam stroked her cheek and added, “Don’t be concerned that you laughed. But now you know, and you’ll behave differently in the future.”
    She nodded to her and went out into the gardens with the other girls to rake and weave.
    Sara led Halima into the bath to wash her hair. First she brushed her hair out, then she undressed her down to the waist. Her hands trembled slightly as she did this, which made Halima slightly uncomfortable, but she tried not to think about it.
    “So who is our master?” she asked. Her curiosity had finally gained theupper hand. She realized she held some power over Sara, though she didn’t understand why.
    Sara was instantly ready to oblige.
    “I’ll tell you everything I know,” she said, her voice quivering strangely. “But you’d better not tell on me. And you have to like me. Do you promise?”
    “I do.”
    “You see, all of us belong to Sayyiduna, which means ‘Our Master.’ He’s a very, very powerful man. But what can I tell you …”
    “Tell me! Tell me!”
    “Maybe you’ll never even see him. I and several of the others have been here for a year already, and we haven’t.”
    “What is this about ‘Our Master’?”
    “Be patient. I’ll explain everything. Do you know who is first after Allah among the living?”
    “The caliph.”
    “Not true. And it’s not the sultan, either. Sayyiduna is first after Allah.”
    Halima’s eyes widened in a shiver of astonishment. It was as though she were experiencing a tale from the
Thousand and One Nights
, only now she wasn’t just listening to it, she was in the very midst of it.
    “You’re saying that none of you has yet seen Sayyiduna?”
    Sara bent her face right down over Halima’s ear.
    “Not exactly. One of us knows him well. But no one must ever find out that we’re talking about this.”
    “I’ll be silent as a tomb. So who’s the one who knows Sayyiduna?”
    She already had a clear sense who it might be. All she wanted now was confirmation.
    “It’s Miriam,” Sara whispered. “The two of them are close. But you’d better not give me away.”
    “I won’t talk about it with anyone.”
    “Then it’s all right. You have to like me now that I’ve trusted in you so much.”
    Curiosity tormented Halima. She asked, “Who was that old woman we met in front of the house yesterday?”
    “Apama. But it’s even more dangerous to talk about her than Miriam. Miriam is kind and likes us. But Apama is mean and hates us. She knows Sayyiduna well too. But be careful you don’t let on to anyone that you know anything.”
    “I won’t, Sara.”
    Sara washed Halima’s hair faster.
    “You’re so sweet,” she whispered. Halima was embarrassed but pretended not to have heard anything. There was so much more she needed to find out about.
    “Who is Adi?” she asked.
    “He’s a eunuch.”
    “What’s that, a eunuch?”
    “A man who isn’t really a man.”
    “What does that mean?”
    Sara began explaining it to her in more detail, but Halima rebuffed her irritably, “I don’t want to hear about