He could see the shaykh stiffen at his request. “You feel that strongly about the matter?” the shaykh asked. There was no anger in his voice, but he sounded hurt.
“I’m afraid I do, O wise shaykh,” Suleim said gently, trying to cushion the blow to his old friend’s dignity.
“Then a council will be called,” the shaykh sighed. “But I warn you, O my friend, you will not find many friendly ears on the council, either.”
And so the summons went out to all the members of the council, representing many of the great families of the clan of the righteous Jann. The call was neither verbal nor written, but a summoning of the spirit that reached to each member who sat on the council. Twenty of them there were, not including the shaykh himself, and they served as an advisory body only. The shaykh was n
