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“I’d like that.”
Lila turned her face away so I had the full run of her long hair. The silken threads were as smooth as the silk upon which they lay, and I couldn’t help but run it through both the brush and my fingers.
“I envy your hair,” I mused as I brushed out the few tangles that lay among the strands. “Mine won’t do this wave like yours does.”
“I would much rather be in your position and have your hair,” she returned.
I lifted an eyebrow. “My position?”
Lila nodded. “Oh yes. Papa has told me my cousin has traveled much and had many adventures.” She sighed and her shoulders sagged. “I would like to have an adventure.”
“Maybe when you’re better we’ll take you on one,” I promised.
Lila shifted and turned her head around to stare with wonder at me. “Are. . .might I ask if you are a doctor?”
I shook my head. “No, just a, um, friend. But why do you ask?”
The young girl cocked her head to one side and furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure, but I. . .I think I feel better.”
I thought of the most careful answer I could come up with. “I’m sure it’s just the brush doing the job, but I do hope you feel better soon.”
“But I-”
“Don’t use too much of your strength, Bahja,” her mother scolded her as she swept into the room. She grasped the edges of the blanket and pulled it up to her daughter’s pale chin. “The doctor said you must remain in bed for the time being.”
Lila’s face fell as she looked up at her mother with pleading eyes. “But I feel better, Mama. I really do.”
A tired smile slipped onto Fadila’s lips and she stroked her daughter’s bangs. “That is good to hear, but you must remain in bed for just a while longer.”
“How much longer?”
A heavy sigh escaped the sorrowful mother. “I do not know, Bahja, but you must be patient. For me.”
Lila nodded and settled beneath the covers. “I will try, Mama.” She rolled her eyes over to me and offered me a bright smile. “You will come back, won’t you?”
I grinned and nodded. “Of course. Ben was just going to take me out on the town for a while, and we’ll be back before you know it.”
I gave the seat up to Lila’s mother and joined the men at the door. Sharif had only a sad look on his face as he studied his daughter. He spoke in a low voice so she couldn’t overhear him. “She was such a sprightly child, and now she needs assistance in getting dressed.”
Ben set a hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “We’ll do everything we can to find out what’s wrong, and we’ll start with speaking with the dhaka.”
Sharif cast one more sorrowful look at his daughter before he turned to us. “Follow me.”
He led us out of the room and to the stairs that led up to the third floor. The top level of the house had a disused smell in the air and a thin layer of dust covered much of the floor except where a trail of dragging feet led to one of the doors near the stairs. Sharif stopped at the entrance and lifted his hand to rap his knuckles on the wood.
“Don’t just stand there all day,” an old voice croaked from the other side, and the door unlatched itself to swing open a few inches. “Come in! Come in!”
Sharif took a deep breath and stepped inside with Ben and me at his heels. The room was small and dark, and the musty smell in the hall was amplified tenfold. I jerked to one side as my face brushed against a cobweb. Ben grasped my arms and his steady hands soothed some of my frayed nerves.
The only source of light was a flickering candle on a small round table placed in the center of the room. The light from the hall allowed me to see that all the windows were covered by thick blankets and black shapes crowded against the walls. That ray of hope, however, was extinguished when the door slammed shut behind us.
A shadowy figure stooped over the small candle flame, and a pair of wizened old hands hovered over the frail light. The candle allowed me to see the vague shape of a hood and cloak that covered the hunched figure.
A small cackle escaped the cloaked woman. “The little light is afraid of these old gnarled hands.”
“That is enough, Jania,” Sharif scolded the figure as he strode up to the table. “I do not pay you to frighten my guests.”
The gnarled fingers curled into the palm and the woman named Jania shrank away. “Such harsh words, prince, to one who helps you so much.”
