Recap: Ava’s cousins arrived for the pageant and are staying as guests in the palace. Jasmin, a girl who is Ava’s age, reveals that her father will make a proclamation at the pageant targeting a certain group of people who are different.
Just then, Kitty, a wild white cat with black spots that often prowled our courtyard, climbed onto the wall beside us.
“Look, isn’t that the cutest kitten?” I said, grateful for the distraction.
Galla scowled. “It’s a tiny one, but it will grow into a cat. Our servants hang them before they grow.”
“That’s cruel,” I replied, horrified.
“Well, we don’t want dirty animals roaming around our kingdom,” she shot back, tossing the ball to Jasmin.
“Girls, come. It’s time for the midday meal,” Jasmin’s mother called, beckoning us to the courtyard where a lavish feast awaited. The table was adorned with an array of meats – goat, duck, and lamb – alongside vibrant fruits like lush plums, melons, cherries, dried figs, dates, and pistachios. The almond trees surrounding the courtyard were in bloom, filling the air with a honey-sweet scent.
Two baskets filled with steaming platters of food sat on the wall.
“Why is there food in baskets?” Galla asked me.
“Mother sets aside food for the poor whenever we have a meal,” I explained. “Farah will take the baskets to the town and distribute the food to families in need.”
“How wasteful,” Galla sneered. “Those families should work for their keep like everyone else.”
I wanted to retort, What an insensitive comment from someone who’s never gone without a need unmet, but I held my tongue. There was no point in admonishing Galla; she wasn’t one to change her mind.
Farah approached with a large meat platter, noticed Kitty, and grabbed her by the tail, carrying her off. The cat’s pitiful meows echoed through the air. I stood and followed Farah to the kitchen.
“Please, Farah, don’t hurt the kitty,” I pleaded.
“It’s a nuisance. We’d best get rid of it,” she replied coldly.
“No, please don’t,” I insisted.
Just then, my brother Mihran entered the kitchen. “Mihran, please, royal brother, tell Farah not to hurt the kitten,” I urged.
“There are laws against harming animals,” Mihran said firmly. “Please release the animal.”
Farah shrugged. “So many laws in this religion. You’ll all be sorry when there are cats everywhere.” She returned to arranging meat on platters, and I followed Mihran back to the courtyard.
“Thank you,” I whispered to him.
We returned to the table just as Nazanin raised a cup of wine in a toast. “To my husband’s proclamation on the first day of the pageant,” she announced.
“What is his proclamation?” my aunt asked.
“A way to rid our country of those people – the Jews,” Nazanin replied.
Aunt Annabelle’s face paled.
A heavy silence fell over the table.
My stomach knotted.
Aunt Annabelle turned to me. “Ava, ask Mihran to bring in some fruits. I must go to my parlor; I’m indisposed.”
She bit her lower lip, bowed, and excused herself. Challenging our guests’ views at the table would be impolite, and she wouldn’t risk it.
They would be shocked to discover our family secret.
Nazanin’s revelation felt like a tiger poised to attack. My heart pounded.
I wanted to leave the room, but I knew it would look strange if both my aunt and I claimed to be unwell.
“Do you get along with your new sister-in-law?” Galla whispered, pulling me from my thoughts.
It was hard to focus on her question, but I forced myself to respond. “Of course,” I said. “Jenna? I love her like a sister.”
“That’s rare.” Her green eyes glinted with a knowing look. “I don’t love my sister-in-law. Davron should have married a girl more fitting to our stature. I don’t know why he chose her. She’s so plain, and she––”
“Please, let’s go into the other room. I’d like to show you my new tali set,” I interrupted, desperate to stop her cruel words. Aunt Annabelle had taught me that it was a tenet of her new religion to avoid speaking ill of others.
Galla lifted one of the dice. “I have a tali set made of ivory. My father bought it for me from India.”
“That’s nice,” I mumbled, distracted.
“I’ll go first. I’m half a year older than you,” she declared.
I sighed and handed her the dice. With Galla, everything was a competition.
“I’m so excited about the pageant,” she said as she rolled. “My father bought me a silk robe with a silver sash. I plan to wear my hair piled high with pink rosebuds woven into it.”
We played for a while.
“It’s so hot here,” Galla complained. “Our palace never gets this warm.”
“It depends on where you live,” I replied.
“I’m thirsty. Can you ask Jasmin to bring some water?”
“I don’t care to order Jasmin around,” I said. “I’ll get it myself.”
“You’re so strange,” Galla remarked. “That’s your servant’s work.”
From the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Jasmin, who had quietly entered the room. The redness in her cheeks told me she’d heard Galla’s comment. My stomach clenched; Jasmin was my friend, and I didn’t want her to feel that I looked down on her.
I strode to the other room, retrieved a jug of water, and returned to pour some into a mug for Galla.
She sipped it. “Does your brother Saman have a light complexion and light-colored hair like you?”
“You don’t remember him?”
“He wasn’t here the last time we visited, and before that, he was always away. I don’t recall what he looks like. I was curious because your aunt, uncle, and Mihran all have dark hair and olive skin.”
“He looks more like them,” I said carefully.
“How odd,” she remarked.
“They’re not my immediate family,” I replied, a phrase I’d often repeated to myself. But her words pricked at me like a thorn. The stark difference between my appearance and my family’s always caused me unease. I’d spent years pushing away questions that threatened to ensnare me, like a snag in a perfect line of embroidery. I never dared voice those questions aloud; too much depended on the answers I might receive. Galla, however, had no qualms about saying whatever crossed her mind, no matter how painful it might be.
Why did my coloring differ so dramatically from my entire family?
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of a newly released historical fiction novel, Captured (Menucha Publishers, 2025), as well as historical fiction novels Please Be Patient (Menucha, 2024), Flight of the Doves (Menucha, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha, 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials, and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021–2022) and Alaskan Gold (2023–2024).
