Chapter 6: The Plot
A eunuch met Tabib abu Saar in one of the palace’s anterooms after the ambassador from Marakh had left the diwan. The servant caught his eye and nodded, but said not a word as he motioned for abu Saar to follow him. Checking to make sure he was not being observed, the ambassador walked after the eunuch.
They proceeded through unused back rooms and corridors to a small pantry near the kitchen. There the eunuch pulled up on a ring in the floor, revealing a trap door. Abu Saar climbed down the stairs inside the door and the eunuch followed, closing the door behind them. They were now within the maze of secret passages that honeycombed the palace of Ravan—narrow corridors of stone, bare of furnishing or decoration, cold and dimly lit by torches set at long intervals. The
