Chapter 29 · Untitled Chapter

The rumble of the retreating engines faded past the high perimeter wall, leaving only the dry hiss of the desert wind stirring the fronds of the date palms in the courtyard. Through the tall, narrow lattice of the private wing’s window, I watched the sweeping beams of the last black Land Cruiser break against the stone gateposts before extinguishing into the arterial glare of Northern Ring Road.

They had checked. In the minutes Bandar held them at the threshold, someone among them had entered his civil registry number into the terminal, matching the Tamimi endorsement against the emergency filing. The system had answered. His signature was not an appeal; it was a preemptive ledger entry that redirected every claim of liability directly into his family’s clearinghouse.

Bandar turned from the courtyard and crossed back into the inner colonnade, his stride unhurried, the hem of his crisp white thobe undisturbed by the rush of dust.