Isla
THOUGH I WON'T BE MEETING with the King till tomorrow (says Namir) I'll undergo a cleansing and makeover today. I stare at him blankly as he said the words. This most be a joke.
Namir led me through various passages and corridors and a dozen flights of stairs to this room. I can hardly remember the way here. He gestures for me to sit on a human-sized cushion, the soft cushion sinks under my weight. I feel like I'm sitting on a cloud. I let my fleeting glance run around the four corners of the room; it is quite big, bigger than our hut back at home, it has a dresser, a cupboard, a ceramic bathtub in the middle of the room, drums of water, a stool with dozens of colourful vials on it.
The room is bathed in soft red. The walls are covered by flowing silk red curtains and the room is l
