Chapter 21 · Chapter 21

The quiet inside the wing did not survive the afternoon. Before the shadows had lengthened across the stone courtyard outside, the low chime of the outer intercom sounded, followed by the measured knock of the house steward.

Marzouq did not move from the high-backed armchair where he had been reviewing a ledger. He only lifted his eyes. "Speak."

"Katib Al-Adl is at the outer reception gate, Ya Ustadh," the steward’s voice came through the threshold, subdued and formal. "Sent on behalf of the senior council of Al-Sulaim. He carries an exclusion notice for Sayyidati Lulwa."

I felt the cold press of the words against the base of my throat. An exclusion notice was not merely a dispute over ledgers; it was an excision. It was the family’s legal mechanism to strike my name from the collective estate, stripping away every registered endowment, every share of the family trust, reducing my standing before the courts to that of an unacknowledged stranger.

Marzouq set his pen down upon the mahogany surface. The brass nib clinked softly against the wood. His face showed neither surprise nor irritation—