Chapter 23 · Untitled Chapter

The silence did not soften my uncle’s resolve; it merely forced him to trade bluster for paper.

From the far threshold of the majlis, Ammi did not cross toward the sadr where Saud and I remained seated. He stayed near the lower arches, his jaw rigid above the stiff collar of his white thobe, his eyes refusing to meet mine. Instead, he signaled to a junior clerk waiting beside the entrance pillars.

The man carried a folded sheet of heavy parchment, its edges stiff and unyielding, marked with the wax stamps of three elder cousins from the collateral branch.

My hands stayed resting over the dark silk of my abaya, fingers interlaced in my lap so that no one watching from the cushions could detect the slight tremor running through my pulse.

Ammi took the parchment, unfurling it just enough to let the ink catch the amber glare of the hall’s wall sconces.