Chapter 14 · Untitled Chapter

The thin gray line of morning slid between the high slats of the wooden shutters, cutting across the woven carpets and extinguishing the remaining embers in the brass Mabkhara. The quiet in the wing had shifted; it was no longer the heavy silence of the night, but the watchful stillness of an estate stirring before sunrise.

Saud rose first. He retrieved his crisp white thobe, slipping into the linen with an easy, unhurried grace that belonged to a man who answered to no one beneath this roof. He fastened the stiff collar at his throat, his face cast in the pale dawn light, as calm and unreadable as he had been when he first set my cup down before the gathering.

I sat up, gathering the black silk of my Abaya around my shoulders. I drew my hair back, draping the Shaila over my head and securing the folds beneath my chin until every part of me was once again shielded from public view.

Saud did not look back as he crossed the room. His strides were measured, taking him straight to the heavy cedar entrance that had kept the household at bay.