The Serpent's Veil

Empty Gardens

"You cannot take this map outside, sahiba," the cartographer warned.

She nodded. "I will stay right where you can see me, sahib."

He helped her move the map to a clear desk where she sat and pulled out her notebook. After an hour of careful note-taking and annotation, she returned the map for it to be re-rolled and put away.

Finally, she was getting somewhere.

X

Khaya summoned Zayan and Meia not longer after returning to her chambers. They had a lot of ground to cover, but Khaya couldn't risk telling them what she was after.

"I want to see the gardens, all of them."

Zayan didn't seem suspicious. "Of course, Khayzuran sahiba. There are over thirty major gardens so it will take–"

Khaya shook her head. "I need to see them all within seven days. It's important."

"Seven days?! I guess that is possible, but it might get exhausting quite quickly. The palace is very big..."

Khaya smirked. "You forget I was a desert girl. I walked miles for a jug of water every day. I can handle this much."

Zayan quickly lowered his gaze. "Of course, sahiba. We can leave as soon as you are ready."

They departed almost at once.

Khaya snapped open her notebook, where she had drawn a rough rendition of the detailed map, with notes on how to quickly access each garden. Zayan and Meia were there as props, and in case she got lost.

The first garden was within the harem itself. It was meticulously maintained, but Khaya knew at once that she would not find what she wanted here – the flora was mostly large leafy ferns and white jasmines. There was nothing remotely resembling the flowers enclosed in the envelope. If it was any other day Khaya would have stopped to smell the jasmines and run her fingers along the drooping branches, but time was of the essence and so they quickly departed.

They sun fell by the hour as they jumped from garden to garden with no luck. Khaya was constantly entranced by the variety of shapes and colours, and the sheer creativity of the gardeners. Hedges carved to look like horses and lions, whole trees trained to bend into the vague shape of a chair, small flowers tied and arranged to look like giant ones, carved fountains where birds flocked in hoards. It was truly marvelous.

But with each garden came another stroke of bad luck. The flowers were eluding her like the blue moon, and so they moved on to the next, and the next.

"Khayzuran sahiba, may we ask what you are looking for?" Zayan had asked more than once.

"Let me worry about that, Zayan," she replied.

By dusk they had returned to her chambers to prepare for dinner. Many girls flocked to the great hall to eat together and gossip, but tonight Khaya ate alone. She needed rest and concentration for the days ahead.

Sitting in bed now, Khaya thought of the Prince for the first time since visiting the glass garden. He had escorted her back to her chambers, cracking jokes and passing witty comments all the while. It was so easy to speak to him, to breathe beside him without the fear of being judged. She touched the back of her left hand, where he had planted a kiss to wish her goodnight, and her cheeks warmed.

In her dream, she fell into a maze of flowing silks. Between the gaps she glimpsed two figures, a boy and a girl holding hands.

They were looking for her.

X

Three days later, and still no luck.

Khaya cursed as they returned to her chambers empty handed once again. Zayan and Meia were still clueless as to what she was after, and made no attempt to ask. Khaya threw her notebook on the bed and yanked off her veil as Meia hurriedly left to bring her food. Zayan lingered by the doorway.