Chapter 26 · Chapter 26

The heavy iron knocker struck the cedar timber of the outer gate twice, the sound echoing sharp and deliberate through the courtyard. Saad was already upon the lower threshold, his eyes meeting mine for a singular, motionless breath before he stepped aside into the shadow of the stone archway.

His gaze held no tremor, only the cold, unyielding weight of our shared secret. I smoothed the folds of my dark linen robe, drew my headscarf firmly over my hair, and walked toward the entrance vestibule.

Two guards in dulled steel breastplates waited beneath the lintel, their hands resting upon the hilts of their sidearms, while their captain stood between them with parchment rolled tight in his leather glove. Beyond their shoulders, the steep cobblestones of the Albaicín lay washed in pale morning mist, silent except for the distant clatter of hooves near the lower gates.

"The grandfather's house," the captain said, his voice flat with official authority as his gaze swept the lime-washed plaster of the courtyard and paused upon me. "Every dwelling in this quarter answers the registry today. We search the storerooms and the lower yards for proscribed writings.