Jalila had almost everything set for the literary contest; Inscriptions, venue, judging bank including a position reserved for Asthma and items for awards. The issue of the theme had been adjusted according to the combinations between Almanzor and Subh, the poet of the campaign would be classified as "Hors Concours. The competition would be held in the huge Al-Zahara audience chamber that was currently unused since Almanzor had moved with the Caliph and all the senior staff to Al-Zahira.

While she worried about all these details Subh had free time for the machinations of the conspiracy. The abbot would be the supplier of the casks that would be transported by camouflaging gold in the middle of honey and other edible items. The casks would be delivered to the Al-Zahara warehouse as part of a joint action by Subh and the Monastery to send supplies to needy populations but would actually be transported to the river and from there to the border to follow by boat to the north from Africa.

The action was coordinated with General Ziri who would receive the gold, train the army in the winter and enter Andalusia in the late spring when Almanzor would be involved in Razias in the north, as he always undertakes in this period. While rebellions would be fomented in the Capital requesting the effective participation of the Caliph in the Government.

But before that, two interlocking actions would have to be initiated.

The first and primordial action would be the murder of the brother of Almanzor creating, according to the plan of the conspirators, the psychological chaos in the Hajib to allow the easier transit of the revolutionary actions.

Farouk was already in possession of herbs of high poisonous power, a slight sting with a needle soaked in the venom anywhere in the body, preferably in an artery or vein, leaving imperceptible marks, to cause shaking and death within a few hours. Subh was deciding who the executioner was. It would have to be a person from the caretaker entourage of Bahija, the sick brother of Almanzor. She had eunuchs of his trust in Al-Zahira and commissioned one of them to look for the right person. It would not be difficult to find someone willing to take revenge on Almanzor, provided they were given guarantees and security to be free and with total impunity.

After the chaos that would be formed, the liberation and withdrawal of eighty thousand pieces of gold from the six million pieces that were in the treasure of the Caliph would be planned. This would be done by Subh with the help of some other Harem women who would convince Hisham to authorize them. This was the most urgent and fundamental action because Subh feared that Almanzor would eventually change the place of the guard of the royal treasury.

Almazor's relationship with General Ziri was peculiar, for the caudillo despised most of his enemies to the point of showing no fear of any of them. Except for Ziri. This semi-barbarous chieftain had preserved in the deserts of Africa energy, resolution, and racial pride that seemed to belong to another age, and Almanor, though very unwillingly, had submitted to the ascendancy of his rapid, penetrating, and caustic intellect. Some years before, he had received a visit from Ziri and on that occasion covered him with insignia and esteem; He conferred the title of Vizier with the emoluments that accompanied that title of nobility and included all the members of his entourage in the payroll of the military and only then Ziri was released to leave after having been widely reimbursed of his expenses in the journey and covered with gifts.

When he landed again in Africa, he raised his hands to his head and said, "For the present, thou still belongest tame!" Later, when one of his servants called him "My Lord Vizier," Lord Vizier? He exclaimed: To hell with thy Lord Vizier! I am an Emir and son of an Emir. Ibn Ami Amir - niggard that he is - Instead of paying with good hard cash adorns me with degrading titles! For the living God! He would not be what he is if Spain contained something more than cowards and idiots! Thank heavens I'm back home, and that proverb does not lie when it says, "Better to hear stories of the devil than to properly see him."

These words, which would cost the head of anyone who uttered them, reached the ears of Almanzor, who in the meantime seemed to disregard them, for he shortly afterward appointed Ziri as Vice-King of all Mauritania. Even though he feared him and even hated him, he believed Ziri was sincere and loyal. Events showed that he was wrong. Beneath a mask of audacious frankness, Ziri had plenty of skill and ambition. He allowed himself to be easily tempted by the Subh's promised bribe and by the chivalrous part she suggested his playing. He would release the Almanzor's collar from the Caliph's neck and replace it with his own.

As soon as Abbas reported the occurrence of two bodies in a residence of the A-Zahara complex for the field teams the subject took on great proportions, because if murders were rare in the complex, the occurrence of two in the same residence was of interest not only of the Córdoba police, who at that time was commanded by Mayor Al-Malik, son of Almanzor, as well as of all the inhabitants of Medina Al-Zahara.

The investigating officer noted that the victims had been killed almost at the same time by someone with extreme skill in handling a dagger and had had not the minimum chance against their attacker.

The incident occurred to such an extent that in an unusual way a specific police event came to Almanzor's knowledge on the same day of the incident. When he heard comments that a Library official was one of the victims, he showed an interest in knowing the identity and asked his assistant to find out the name of the victim.

Upon learning that one of the victims was Bahadur, the same strange official who had come to him, he immediately summoned his son, the Mayor of Cordoba and directly responsible for the police, to an audience at the Palace. When arrived at Al-Zahira, Malik was puzzled out of his father's interest in a homicide case which, though uncommon, judged far below the duties of the Hajib.

— I do not know, my father, why you're so interested." I'm aware of this new incident.

— Malik, it happens that this may be not a common incident but part of something much larger. I want you to keep me updated on the unfolding of the facts. Do you already know the other victim's identity?

— Not yet, we started working on it a few hours ago, and only Bahadur was known and easily identified, even by a few policemen.

— Use whatever it takes to find out who the second victim is. This can be crucial in determining the breadth of this event. Identifying this second victim can shed light on whether we are dealing with a simple case of double murder or part of a conspiracy against the government.

— I had no idea of this information. Leave it to me. So, it became state matter. I'll start by questioning the person who brought the information about the crime. He is at our disposal and seems interested in cooperating.

— That's right and with priority. I want to be informed of any breakthrough in your findings.

Malik left Almanzor surrendered to his conjectures. He reckoned that he had paid very little attention to this strange librarian when he came into his presence with seemingly unusual charges but rejoiced to have authorized actions on the case. He had seldom missed the notion of danger, and this time it had not been different.

The news of the double murder at a residence in Al-Zahara ran fast as a gunpowder fuse and soon reached all the premises of the Palace turning as a motive for the conversations between residents and officials of the caliphate.

Subh's reaction was the normal reaction among all the inhabitants of the complex: perplexity and fright with such an occurrence so close to their own quarters. She made no immediate connection between the crimes and Amal, it was not a matter that was fresh in her memory.

By her turn Jalila, by virtue of having discussed more this matter was worried, to know that one of the victims, a name that never heard, was librarian of Amal. He imagined that it might have something to do with the story that haunted his cousin, but she preferred to leave those concerns aside, including because it was the date she would meet again with Hamid without an official agenda. That was what her thoughts were about.

Hamid made an immediate connection and experienced a huge surprise. Was his judgment on Amal wrong? This could not be a coincidence. He resorted to using some influence he had on the police to keep informed of the investigations while he knew that sooner or later he would be involved also.

But as expected, the most worried were Amal and Nasr. Asr prayer time was coming and no official news had come to them, but they knew it was only a matter of hours. Nasr considered that by the end of the day it was almost certain that some police action against Amal and against himself would be undertaken. They could do nothing but wait. And they did so until the end of the day as they prepared to return home without any further information or contact but received an unexpected visitor who surprised them.

Abbot Herrera knocked on his doors, wanting to talk.

— I was in Cordoba for specific reasons of the Monastery and I decided to take a step and inquire about some fears that arose from information received at the last meeting of the Sultana Group. Too bad you were not present. Everything was sinister, and it seems that our sanctuary of Compostela was no longer a good refuge for the Manuscripts. And he reported on what he had learned from Subh and Hamid while, instigated by Nasr, he revealed details of the plan being worked out by the conspirators. On his mind, there was no reason not to reveal. He understood that Amal was away by sheer precaution.

Amal and Nasr were surprised by the daring of the plans, but were more interested in the issue of the Manuscript:

— This danger exists, it always existed, and it was always said that Almanzor would try something against the Sanctuary of Compostela, but we were not considering something imminent, said Amal which completed. Do you think we need to move the Manuscripts one more time?

— This is running out of control, said the Abbot. The further away we get from this Manuscript the less it will serve us while keeping them around we are in constant danger. Anyway, I came to tell you that I was intending to do it, and fast, because the actions are slow to be implemented. Do you agree?

— At present, Lord Abbot, we are not able to impose anything, Amal said. Do what you must do and keep us informed, that's all we can ask for.

After the conversation with Almanzor Malik he began to lend an uncommon seriousness to the investigations. He was involved in something that showed weight and would do his part. Picking up conspirators was a huge boost to his resume and would accredit the son of someone who had taken power by neutralizing the true owner.

He began a long and detailed interrogation with Aziz. The whole story was told by the witness, from the drunkard in the tavern and his story about the conspiracy to enter the Palace, the Latin document, passing by Bahadur's instructions based on his suspicions, the vigilance over library administrators, the question of Manuscript with exception about the details of the attack on Nasr, the trip to Almodóvar del Río, the parish Santa María La Blanca the search for Stephen the confessor, until arriving at the day that after much effort, after all, he was found and convinced by Aziz himself to go to the house of Bahadur. There he left him alive to write a statement about what he knew about the alleged conspiracy. The deal would be to pick him up the next morning, when surprised he came to find him dead beside Bahadur's own body.

He was honest in asserting that he did not fully believe in Bahadur's theories, but had come to regard them more closely from the moment he was right upon the Confessor hypothesis, although he still had some doubts about his conclusions which he considered hasty and Imbued with biases guided and driven by ambitions to get the head position of the Library.

Malik released Aziz requesting that he not go away and be at his disposal, for he might still need him. He made a report of the interrogation and began to gather other aspects that he had ordered to investigate about the Library and it was already late night when he left for Al-Zahira after having alerted Almanzor of his trip.

— We do not have much, my father, Malik began, "but we have enough to put Amal and Nasr in for questioning." The story is crazy, ten years have passed, but two murders over it account quite a bit about its authenticity, do not you think? On the other hand, I also had to investigate some facts concerning the Library, which even delayed my coming to you today and we learned that Amal and Nasr were withdrawn by Subh from the group preparing the literary competition that had been gathering in the library itself and that after the Exclusion of them no longer met there. The second meeting took place in a commercial warehouse arranged by the architect Farouk, a former collaborator of Subh. From what we have been able to verify all the work of coordination of this Competition is being done by the principal companion of Subh, named Jalila. Subh's name barely appeared in the information we sought on the organization of this literary competition.

— We must separate three things: first a supposed conspiracy to enter the Palace and commit some revenge, then the manipulation of compromising documents in the Library and third, and what interests me more, the possible branching of these facts into a new conspiracy. That's what I'm after. I do not want to waste time on stupid Manuscripts, or facts that may or may not have happened ten years ago. Nothing happened, no revenge or whatever was perpetrated, which weighs against the veracity of this story or at least diminishes its importance. I want to know what can happen today. And yes, investigating these facts can help to unravel what interests us. This information that the name of Subh little appears in this organization of the event intrigues me a lot. She was never to delegate anything. It is possible then that she is involved in other tasks and this is interesting at this time. You have carte blanche to go wherever you want. I want the facts. Put Amal and this Nasr in custody and take out of them what we want to know. Play against each other. Act firmly, but with prudence. I care little about the Al-Hakam Library, "may God be honored by his presence."

— Do you think that Subh has something with all this? It is very dangerous to accuse her without absolute certainty. She is the mother of the Caliph and still has much strength with the people.

— I know it. I hope I can find nothing to put it in my way. That's why I told you that you have carte blanche wisely. Do not forget to talk to Hamid, he can play an important role in all this. I do not know why, but I have this feeling. This is serious, Malik. Now go, rest, you will not have time for this in the next few days.

Malik left Al-Zahira knowing what his first action would be the next morning: To find Amal and Nasr.