The Storyteller's Daughter Read Online Free PDF

her paramour upon his throne.
    When Shahrayar heard this, he was filled with a grief and anger such as he had never known. But even in his extremity, he strove to be fair, for thus did he honor the teachings of his father.
    “All that you have spoken I believe, for you have always been true to me,” he told Shazaman. “Yet before I can condemn these conspirators, I must hear their guilt from their own mouths.”
    “That is easily arranged,” Shazaman replied. “I will convey you to the place where they meet. I have kept watch over them each night, for they have yet to reveal how they intend to do you harm. But I warn you, guard well your heart, Shahrayar. There may be more pain to you in this than I have yet spoken.”
    “I thank you for your care,” said Shahrayar. Then the brothers embraced and went to conceal themselves.
    When Shahrayar saw the place to which his brother conveyed him, he felt the first swift inklings of the pain of which Shazaman had warned. For Shahrayar himself had caused the courtyard to be built as proof of the great trust he had in his wife. None could walk there, save by her consent—not even Shahrayar.
    “Come,” Shazaman murmured to his brother.’Xet us conceal ourselves behind that vine.”
    And so they hid themselves behind a vine whose sweet white flowers made the night so heavy with their scent that the very air was as a perfumed cloud. Yet it seemed to Shahrayar that the scent was bitter in his nostrils. Rank and putrid as dead meat. It was not long before the queen and her lover arrived.
    How they enjoyed each other (which Shahrayar could not help but see), what words of affection they murmured (which Shahrayar could not help but hear), it is not seemly for me to tell. But I can say that when he beheld the man with whom his wife betrayed him, no warning Shazaman could have given would have prevented the pain that then pierced Shahrayar’s heart.
    For here was one he had known since childhood, second only to his brother in Shahrayar’s love. When at last the vizier joined Shahrayar’s father in the kingdom of heaven, this was the man whom Shahrayar would have promoted above all others and placed at his right hand. There was no one he had loved or trusted more, save for Shazaman.
    How many minutes he stood stricken, his senses muddled with rage and pain, Shahrayar never counted. But when at last he was himself again, he saw that, from a pocket stitched into the lining of her cloak, his wife had brought forth a dagger. Ancient symbols were etched upon its blade, and in its pommel was set a ruby red as heart’s blood.
    At the sight of it, so great a fury shook Shahrayar that the vine around him trembled, and many of its flowers showered to the ground. Shazaman seized his brother by the arm to hold him still. But the queen and her lover never noticed, so intent were they upon themselves.
    “See what I have brought you!” said the queen. “It is my husbands parting gift to his brother. At my urging, he will present it to him at a great banquet the evening before Shazaman departs. But I will drug Shazaman’s food so that he sleeps like one dead. Then, in the night, we will steal this dagger and use it to slay Shahrayar.”
    When he heard these words, the queens lover rejoiced and took her into his arms.
    “Your mind, as always, is most excellent in its cunning, my beloved. For by this device we will rid ourselves of both these brothers. When his blade is found in the king’s body, all will believe that Shazaman has slain Shahrayar. Then will we seize Shazaman and put him to death. And then there will be an end to waiting, for all that was theirs will become ours.”
    “Not in this lifetime,” said Shahrayar. And so saying, he stepped out from behind the vine. At the sight of the friend he had so betrayed, the queen’s lover fell to his knees.
    “My gracious lord, forgive me!” he cried. “See how I have been bewitched! But now that I behold you here before me, I regain my