He must go to the baths to wash off the stink of opium, blood, and rodent. Blurry-eyed, he stepped into his pants and buttoned his vest. Reached out for his sash. Snatched his hand back. He stared, stunned. The stretch of satin lay flat, lifeless. His jar!

They cut him from the roots. Clean-cut, They offered him his manhood pickled in brine. Be thankful, they had said. He would enter the other world a whole man, virgin angel-houris of paradise and a myriad of concubines would lick the soles of his feet.

He flapped the sash in the air. Threw himself on the stool. The jar! His hands plunged into the water jug. Bowls of sugar and opium crashed to the ground. Shards of glass cut his feet. He dove under the covers, searched beneath the stool. Falling on the chest of clothing, he flung red, yellow, and green pieces about the room. “I’m doomed!” he shrieked, bashing his head against the wall.

Narcissus dug his heels into the ribs of his panting mount as he cursed the world and all its inhabitants. He could not believe Rebekah’s audacity. She had led Raven through the main gates of the palace in clear view of the guards. She had become so powerful the guards did not question her. His horse squeezed through the narrow alleys of the Jewish Quarter. The populace scurried away, recoiling from the steaming breath of the animal and from the obscenities that spilled out of the eunuch’s eggplant-colored lips.

Coming to a dusty halt in front of Rebekah’s house, he sprang from the saddle and with all his might charged against the door that had once sheltered his most intriguing fantasies. His shrill screams sent a pack of hungry dogs yelping for shelter; a cloud of flies buzzed around his ears. Rebekah’s door stared back unyielding.

He vaulted back onto the saddle and galloped toward the pit, the heart of the Quarter, where news of local happenings first circulated. The massive horse circled the pile of garbage as the eunuch cried at the top of his lungs: “Hear ye! Hear ye! A worthy reward awaits anyone who reveals Rebekah the Bundle Woman’s hiding place.”

Like metal eyes, the stalls slammed down their lids. The owners found it prudent to shut their stands as a safety measure against a foreboding in the air.

His nostrils flaring, the eunuch shouted Rebekah’s offense: “The whore kidnapped Princess Raven. If she isn’t found before the Shah’s return, the Quarter will be set on fire.”

More booths shut down and the owners stole away through back doors. Peddlers held tight to their sacks of goods and hurried from the bazaar. Wives latched padlocks to their homes. Wet-nurses stuffed their nipples into mouths of infants to stop their crying. Rodents and stray dogs that fed on the garbage scampered away.

“Honorable Agha, are you looking for Rebekah the Bundle Woman?”