Chapter 29 · Chapter 29

The scratch of the reed pen ceased. The clerk sat behind his low walnut desk, his eyes darting once toward Salman before lowering immediately to the thick vellum bound in red leather. Beside him, the thin coil of smoke from the mabkhara drifted straight up toward the coffered ceiling, undisturbed by any draft in the shuttered hall.

"The note in the preliminary margin," Salman said, his voice flat, dropping into the vast chamber with the finality of iron. "Read it aloud."

Farhan, the clerk, cleared his throat, holding the ledger steady with both hands so as not to let the tremor in his fingers show. "'Observed leaving the north gallery twenty minutes prior to the discovery; presence unaccounted for in the primary registry; potential carriage of displaced inventories.'"

"Cross it out," Salman directed. He did not raise his tone. He remained seated at the sadr, his pristine white thobe uncreased, the dark amber misbaha resting motionless against his knee. "Draw the double ink line through the entry. Mark it as refuted by direct testimony."

My breath stayed caught behind the fine weave of my tarha.