“I need answers,” he said more quietly. “I could do so much more for this country if I didn’t have to keep worrying about the next battle.” He took a breath and held it a moment before continuing. “After he fell ill, our father told me of his plans, the reforms he hoped I could finish for him one day. He wanted to lessen some of the bozorgan’s control, to include commoners in higher positions of power, but he hadn’t been able to do so during his reign. That was his hope for me, but I’ve barely begun to broach the issue because with all these attacks, the nobility is starting to lose faith in me and I can’t afford to anger them, especially with the simorgh missing. Ever since she disappeared, there have been rumblings among the nobility that our family should no longer rule. That’s why—”
He stopped abruptly, and Soraya finished for him: “That’s why I’m a secret.” A miserable silence stretched between them as Sorush kept his eyes on the table, so Soraya spared them both and continued. “But what makes you think I can bring you answers? Why would the div tell me their plans?”
He looked up at her, eyes bright with hope. “Because you won’t be asking her for them. You have a completely different reason for being there, which means the div won’t be as guarded as she is with the azatan. I don’t want you to interrogate her, just to report back if she does reveal anything about the divs and their plans that we don’t already know. Will you do it?”
Soraya nodded at once. She had been so angry with him, and now he was giving her this chance, this gift. She was torn between wanting to apologize and wanting to thank him—but her pride would not allow her to do either, so instead she offered him a gift in return.
“She’s not just a div,” Soraya said. “She called herself a ‘parik.’” She told Sorush what Parvaneh had told her about the different kinds of divs, and that pariks were more human in appearance in order to work as spies. It wasn’t the answer Sorush was looking for, but he listened raptly, any knowledge better than none.
“In a week’s time, come to the fire temple at dawn,” he told her. “We’ll be alone, and you can tell me anything you’ve learned between now and then. And thank you, Soraya.”
Soraya wondered if she was supposed to return the thanks, or to somehow acknowledge the friendship they had shared in childhood. But her throat closed up whenever she prepared to speak, and so instead she said, “The soldier who accompanied me to the dungeon—you won’t punish him, will you?”
Sorush smiled. “Of course not.” The smile grew strained as he added, “You will be careful, though, won’t you?”
Soraya almost relished the question. It was easier to feel resentment than gratitude toward him. “I’m always careful,” she said.
They stared at each other, the sun and his jealous shadow returning to their natural trajectory before Sorush quickly looked away.
* * *
The cell appeared empty, but Soraya knew better. She searched the shadows, looking for those hawk’s eyes, or a flash of a smile.
Instead, she heard a voice: “I thought you’d be back.”
Soraya had waited a few restless days before returning, enough time for Sorush to inform the guards to look the other way if they heard voices coming from the cavern. Now, Parvaneh stepped forward, her black hair and the patterns on her skin making her look like she’d been formed from the shadows themselves. “Do you still think I’m lying to you?”
The image of her mother’s stricken face flashed through her mind, and Soraya said, “No, I believe you.”
“Go on, then,” Parvaneh said, her fingers wrapping around the bars. “Ask me.”
Soraya swallowed, her heartbeat echoing through her body. Somehow—from the intensity of Parvaneh’s stare, or from the feel of blood and poison rushing through her veins—she knew that if she asked the question, she would get an answer this time.
“How do I lift my curse?”
Parvaneh stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before she said, “What did your mother say, when you asked her if she was lying? Did she admit it?”
Soraya tensed. She felt like she was about to come apart. “Will you tell me or won’t you?”
“If you want me to be honest with you, then you need to be honest with me. Did your mother admit it, or didn’t she?”
“No,” Soraya spat out.
“But you still knew she was lying. Interesting.” Parvaneh leaned closer. “And I have a feeling you didn’t tell her about our little talk. I thought humans were supposed to be the honest ones.”
“Please,” Soraya choked out, the last remains of her composure falling away. “Please, tell me what you know.” She tried to breathe, to stop the spread of green she knew must be webbing across her skin, but she was so tired of secrets—tired of being one. If she had to hand over her dignity in exchange for the answers she wanted, then so be it.
Something hardened in Parvaneh’s eyes, her voice grave as she said, “I’m trying to spare you. Once I tell you the answer, you won’t know another moment’s peace.”
“I’ve never known a moment’s peace. Tell me.”
Parvaneh opened her mouth to speak, but then she turned away, walking the length of her cell along the bars. “What will you give me, if I tell you?”
Ah, there it was. Soraya should have expected this, but in her desperation she had forgotten that the div would likely want something in return. “What do you want?” she asked.
Parvaneh paused, one eyebrow raised as she looked at Soraya. “Would you grant me my freedom?”
“I could speak to my brother on your behalf,” Soraya said quickly. “I could ask him—”
Parvaneh waved the offer away. “You and I both know that means nothing. You could free me right now if you wanted.”
Soraya shook her head. “I don’t have that power.”
“No?” Parvaneh stretched one arm through the bars, her finger pointing at the lit brazier, still emitting its constant smoke. “All you would have to do is put out that brazier. I could do the rest myself.”
Soraya looked from the brazier to Parvaneh and back again. Would she let the div go free in exchange for her knowledge? Would she be willing to endanger Golvahar—endanger her family—for the chance to save herself? She remembered again that Parvaneh had attacked Sorush. And how did she know that Parvaneh would tell her the truth? The risk was too great, the reward too uncertain. “No,” she said at last, without any doubt in her voice. “I won’t do it.”
Parvaneh shrugged and resumed pacing. “I didn’t think so, but I had to ask. But don’t worry, I’m willing to negotiate.” She stopped in front of Soraya again and said, “I want you to bring me the simorgh’s feather.”
She said the words as if they were simple, but Soraya felt hollow, like Parvaneh had reached inside and torn whatever remaining hope she had out of her body. It was unthinkable, the most disloyal act she could imagine—against both her brother and her people. She would still be a curse on her family if she did such a thing, only in a different way.