Gulf Lily rose to his full height. The two eunuchs raised their eyes to the specter who towered over them like a massive tree. His hands skipped in silent discourse. Our safest choice is to afflict the fetus with a lethal curse before it sees the light of day. A curse so potent even if the child lives, its parents would wish it dead.

The eunuchs put their thoughts together and came up with a collective plot.

It was well known in all schools of sorcery that to annihilate the enemy one must first destroy the powers of her allies. Gold Dust had a formidable supporter. Rebekah the Bundle Woman. Narcissus was intimate with her. He would find a way to weaken the protective shield the woman had erected around her daughter.

The sultanas and their eunuchs went to Narcissus. “You can’t ignore Gold Dust’s growing power. Rebekah comes and goes without your permission. The king visits the favorite as if he were a commoner and without considering harem decorum.”

They did not have to try hard. For some time now, Narcissus had been striving to remember when Gold Dust had first replaced him as the confidant of the Shah. Before Gold Dust, he had been so busy with the task of replenishing the harem with women, he had had no time to scratch his head. The Shah had rewarded him with costly gifts. Then Gold Dust had appeared and spun her web around the Shah. At first, Narcissus was showered with gold and gems. The Shah wanted to know Gold Dust’s preference in clothing, ornamentation, and men. Now the Shah went directly to Gold Dust with his questions, as if a sultana who was incarcerated in a world of women could have her own opinion.

And unaware, Rebekah had fanned a rage in the eunuch’s groin. The discovery of his lust gland made him ache for the feats his testicles could have performed. The constant preoccupation with his lost manhood consumed him more than ever. As long as he held a certain power, his loss was bearable. But now the other eunuchs and sultanas confirmed his fears. He was losing his grip on the harem. Rebekah and her daughter were stealing his sole weapon of survival.

It was time to beseech the spirits of darkness.

Narcissus entered the Shah’s quarters. He shuffled from one foot to another, wondering why he had been summoned. The Shah’s dark brow and the intensity with which the falcons listened to his heartbeat petrified Narcissus. He cleared his throat. “The holy book I advised for the purpose of predicting the child’s gender revealed that the favorite is bearing a son! The pages fell open to a section where the prophet drew his sword against the enemy and slew them with one blow. The lifted sword leaves no doubt as to the gender of the child.”

The Shah’s tone did not betray his joy. “The Bibi came to us with disturbing news.”