“There’s no doubt about it,” he said. “Money talks in this town. Are you going to talk to the Royal Wizard this evening? The sooner, the better, to my mind.”
Abdullah agreed. “I wonder what his fee will be,” he said.
“Big,” said the soldier. “Unless you can work it that you’re doing him a favor by telling him what the djinn said. All the same,” he went on thoughtfully, whisking the bootlace out of Whippersnapper’s pouncing paws, “I reckon you shouldn’t tell him about the genie or the carpet if you can help it. These magical gentlemen love magical items the way this innkeeper loves gold. You don’t want him asking for those for his fee. Why don’t you leave them here when you go? I’ll look after them for you.”
Abdullah hesitated. It seemed sound sense. Yet he did not trust the soldier.
“By the way,” said the soldier, “I owe you a gold piece.”
“You do?” said Abdullah. “Then this is the most surprising news I have had since Flower-in-the-Night told me I was a woman!”
“That bet of ours,” said the soldier. “The carpet brought the djinn, and he’s even bigger trouble than the genie usually manages. You win. Here.” He tossed a gold piece across the room at Abdullah.
Abdullah caught it, pocketed it, and laughed. The soldier was honest, after his own fashion. Full of thoughts of being soon on the trail of Flower-in-the-Night, Abdullah went cheerfully downstairs, where the landlady caught him and told him all over again how to get to Wizard Suliman’s house. Abdullah was so cheerful that he parted with another silver piece almost without a pang.
The house was not far from the inn, but it was in the Old Quarter, which meant that the way was mostly through confusing small alleys and hidden courts. It was twilight now, with one or two large liquid stars already in the dark blue sky above the domes and towers, but Kingsbury was well lit by big silver globes of light, floating overhead like moons.
Abdullah was looking up at them, wondering if they were magical devices, when he happened to notice a black four-legged shadow stealing along the roofs beside him. It could have been any black cat out for a hunt on the tiles, but Abdullah knew it was Midnight. There was no mistaking the way she moved. At first, when she vanished into the deep black shadow of a gable, he supposed she was after a roosting pigeon to make another unsuitable meal for Whippersnapper. But she reappeared again when he was halfway down the next alley, creeping along a parapet above him, and he began to think she was following him. When he went through a narrow court with trees in tubs down the center and he saw her jump across the sky, from one gutter to another, in order to get into that court, too, he knew she was certainly following him. He had no idea why. He kept an eye out for her as he went down the next two alleys, but he saw her only once, on an arch over a doorway. When he turned into the cobbled court where the Royal Wizard’s house was, there was no sign of her. Abdullah shrugged and went to the door of the house.
It was a handsome narrow house with diamond-paned windows and interwoven magic signs painted on its old irregular walls. There were tall spires of yellow flame burning in brass stands on either side of the front door. Abdullah seized the knocker, which was a leering face with a ring in its mouth, and boldly knocked.
The door was opened by a manservant with a long, dour face. “I’m afraid the wizard is extremely busy, sir,” he said. “He is receiving no clients until further notice.” And he started to shut the door.
“No wait, faithful footman and loveliest of lackeys!” Abdullah protested. “What I have to say concerns no less than a threat to the King’s daughter!”
“The wizard knows all about that, sir,” said the man, and went on shutting the door.
Abdullah deftly put his foot in the space. “You must hear me, most sapient servant,” he began. “I come—”
Behind the manservant a yo
ung woman’s voice said, “Just a moment, Manfred, I know this is important.” The door swung open again.
Abdullah gaped as the servant vanished from the doorway and reappeared some way back in the hall inside. His place at the door was taken by an extremely lovely young woman with dark curls and a vivid face. Abdullah saw enough of her in one glance to realize that in her foreign northern way, she was as beautiful as Flower-in-the-Night, but after that he felt bound to look modestly away from her. She was very obviously going to have a baby. Ladies in Zanzib did not show themselves in this interesting condition. Abdullah scarcely knew where to look.
“I’m the wizard’s wife, Lettie Suliman,” this young woman said. “What did you come about?”
Abdullah bowed. It helped to keep his eyes on the doorstep. “O fruitful moon of lovely Kingsbury,” he said, “know that I am Abdullah, son of Abdullah, carpet merchant from distant Zanzib, with news that your husband will wish to hear. Tell him, O splendor of a sorcerous house, that this morning I spoke with the mighty djinn Hasruel concerning the King’s most precious daughter.”
Lettie Suliman was clearly not at all used to the manners of Zanzib. “Good heavens!” she said. “I mean, how polite! And you’re speaking the exact truth, aren’t you? I think you ought to talk to Ben at once. Please come in.”
She backed away from the doorway to give Abdullah room to enter. Abdullah, still with his eyes modestly lowered, stepped forward into the house. As soon as he did, something landed on his back. Then it took off again with a heavy rip of claws and went sailing over his head to land with a thump on Lettie’s prominent front. A noise like a metal pulley filled the air.
“Midnight!” Abdullah said crossly, staggering forward.
“Sophie!” screamed Lettie, staggering backward with the cat in her arms. “Oh, Sophie, I’ve been worried sick! Manfred, get Ben at once. I don’t care what he’s doing. This is urgent!”
Chapter 16
In which strange things befall Midnight and Whippersnapper.
There was a great deal of confusion and rushing about. Two other servants appeared, followed by first one and then a second young man in long blue gowns, who seemed to be the wizard’s apprentices. All these people ran about, while Lettie ran back and forth in the hall with Midnight in her arms, screaming orders. In the midst of it all, Abdullah found Manfred showing him to a seat and solemnly giving him a glass of wine. Since this seemed what he was expected to do, Abdullah sat down and sipped the wine, rather bemused by the confusion.
Just as he was thinking it was going to go on forever, it all stopped. A tall, commanding man in a black robe had appeared from somewhere. “What on earth is going on?” said this man.
Since this summed up Abdullah’s feelings entirely, he found himself rather taking to this man. He had faded red hair and a tired, craggy face. The black robe made Abdullah certain that this must be Wizard Suliman; he would have looked like a wizard whatever he was wearing. Abdullah rose from his chair and bowed. The wizard shot him a look of craggy mystification and turned to Lettie.
“He’s from Zanzib, Ben,” said Lettie, “and he knows something about the threat to the Princess. And he brought Sophie with him. She’s a cat! Look! Ben, you’ve got to change her back at once!”