Chapter 33 · Chapter 33

The heavy steel door of the wall safe in my sitting room clicked shut with an absolute, muffled finality. I spun the brass dial, resetting the sequence, and rested my palm flat against the cold metal panel until the vibration died completely. Inside, wrapped in green ribbon alongside my mother’s gold dowry bracelets, lay the registered title deeds bearing Talal’s stamp and my sole signature.

Behind me, the door of the outer corridor opened only as far as custom permitted before the housekeeper cleared her throat from behind the threshold screen.

"Sayyidati Mariam," she called softly. "A courier from the legal office of your uncle Abu Fahad has delivered another packet. He remains in the entry courtyard, awaiting a signed acknowledgment."

"Let him wait," I answered evenly, smoothing down the dark fabric of my Abaya.

I stepped into the light of the inner room. On the low side table sat the silver tray where three envelopes had already accumulated over the past twenty-four hours. Each bore the formal crest of the council’s arbiters, written on heavy cream parchment that smelled faintly of dry paper and ink.