Shirazad was in the garden. In spring, she liked to go with her friends into the forest to collect linden blossoms so they could make tea in winter. Unfortunately, she'd been sick recently so she had stayed at home when her friends went. But she was planning to go alone now. It was still not too late.
Unexpectedly, guests arrived in the vizier's manor – messengers from the palace. This was quite unusual, but Shirazad was not so shocked. Maybe they were sent by her father?
"Miss, would you please accompany us to the palace?" they said.
"What's the matter?" They seemed worried. She could recognize one of her father's men so she was certain they were from the palace.
"Do you know there are many linden trees in the palace garden? Perhaps you could collect some linden blossoms there?"
She was slightly surprised at this invitation. Moreover, her father had never summoned her to the palace before. But she went with the messengers.
"What is this all about? Has something happened?" she wondered.
"You'll be given more information when we arrive. "
***
Shirazad had been brought to the palace directly from her home, and then she was kept isolated in one room for the rest of the day. She wasn't really locked or told she can't leave, but every time she turned to the guards to ask a question, they seemed ready to say anything and everything to keep her in the room. Actually, they wouldn't even consider letting her out. Every time she initiated a conversation (because a lot of time passed), they would give her anything she wanted and kindly ask her to wait a little longer.
After his vizier's death, Shahryar was so shocked he wasn't sure how to react, so he'd just ordered his people to bring Shirazad to the palace and to keep everything a secret from her. It wasn't until late evening that he finally came to visit her, and that was their single meeting before their marriage. The guards informed him upon his arrival,
"Your Majesty, we did as you ordered. We've brought Shirazad in the small guestroom in the left wing. We haven't told her anything. As for Dunyazad, she's remained in the vizier's manor for now."
She had been waiting for him all day in that room, but he still wasn't sure what to do. She didn't even know yet that her father was dead. Wouldn't it be better to avoid telling her the truth? Maybe he could say that her father had been killed in a plot? But then he had to marry her because he'd agreed to the bet in front of so many people...
I am sorry, Grand Vizier, he thought in confusion, but I can't go back on my words...
He stood in front of the door.
He entered darkly into the room. Shirazad stood quietly by the window. He hadn't seen her in a few years. She turned round and he faced her suspicious expression.
"Your Majesty," she said with a questioning look, trying to decipher his every movement.
He stepped into the room and announced mournfully,
"I have come to inform you, Shirazad... It is with regret that I have to tell you that your father has died this morning." He had expected some reaction of her, but she remained quiet.
So it was true? Very early in the morning, a spy of her father's had told her about it just before she had been taken into the palace, but she had been unable to believe. Her father had "died" or was it that he had been murdered?! The spy had said Azdavan had been poisoned. Who would dare poison the Grand Vizier if not the king himself?!
She turned against the king disgusted,
"Murderer! My father devoted himself to his work. He has never done anything against the law."
Why had it taken so long for the king to tell her the news? Something was wrong. And why, the spy had told her, Shahryar was planning to marry her, which was equal to death? Was this also true? There must have been a plot; her father must have been falsely accused of something! Only the king could ever lay a finger on her father.
"My father is innocent," she declared. "I hope His Majesty does not think he would be able to destroy our noble family in such an unfair way and with such simple plotting? And is Your Majesty going to be so generous as to inform me about his marriage plans, or am I to learn about it after the wedding?"
Shahryar narrowed his eyes at her. She must know something, he thought. Otherwise, why would she immediately suspect that he was behind her father's death? She must have heard some rumors that he would marry her.
"Don't be in a hurry to kill yourself," he told her. "Otherwise, wouldn't your father's sacrifice have been in vain! You may think something up. Who knows? I may fall in love with you," he stared at her in a condescending manner. It shall be admitted that Shahryar had his ways of predicting the future, at least as far as love was concerned.
Endless anger could be read in her eyes. Her father had devoted himself to his work and to the king, and this very king could just kill him and then speak ironically about it!
What a terrible creature, she thought, I cannot even call him a human.
He turned around and left, leaving her unsure about the situation. Should she try to follow him? Should she just stay there until they decided her fate? Anyway, he already left and closed the door behind him. He turned to the guards and whispered because he didn't want her to overhear this,
"Weren't you supposed to keep her in the dark?! How come she knows everything?!"
"We have no idea, Your Majesty," they replied. "We've been here and she's been in the room ever since she came in the morning. She must've learned something before that... maybe someone of her father's spies..."