Chapter 30 · Chapter 30

The quiet that followed was dense with the scent of smoldering agarwood from the brass mabkhara in the corner. My uncle, seated two cushions down from Abu Bandar, cleared his throat. His fingers tightened over the gold trim of his bisht before he let them rest against the fine wool, searching the faces along the perimeter of the hall.

"If the ledger of grievances is sealed," my uncle began, his voice pitched to carry the weight of elder authority, "then the house of Al-Qahtani does not leave an open debt in its wake. Five years of shadow were cast across the Al-Harthy name on account of this matter.

We are prepared to transfer the deed to the northern orchard plots at the perimeter of the valley, along with the settlement share drafted in the original pact. No man shall claim that our family walked away from the council without offering full recompense."

A murmur of measured approval rippled down the rows of white thobes.