This book is a sequel to Khalifa and cannot be read as a standalone. To avoid spoilers, description and excerpt are added inside the book.
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Started: May 2, 2022.
Completed: December 3, 2022.
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cover by @xniftykayx
He felt that his whole life was some kind of a dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.
— Douglas Adams
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Him
The night falls on the valley and the fire crackles in the air near the stream running through the mountains surrounding them. She sits close to the warmth with her cloak still draped over her. He can see the exhaustion on her face from traveling all day long.
Daud informs him that their tent has been set before retiring himself for the night. He puts his arm around her and nudges her gently to get her attention.
"Come, let us go to bed."
She leans into him but doesn't attempt to stand up, her eyes heavy with sleep as she closes them.
"I had a dream."
He smiles and nestles her closer, her head lulling to rest on his chest. "Was I there with you?"
"I don't remember the dream," she says. "But it felt good."
"Did you doze off sitting here?"
She doesn't answer, and a long moment passing between them, making him think that she probably has fallen asleep. His eyes shift to the fire, then to her, then to the fire again, and finally locking on her, enraptured. He presses his cheek to her head and produces the message from underneath his belt that he had received before he left Qahira for Isfahan to bring her back. He reads it one last time.
If you bring her to the palace then dig her a grave too.
He doesn't know the sender. He never cared about those notes he had been receiving until now. They always threatened his life. But now they threaten Noura's too. He tightens his grip around her and throws the note into the fire.
He sure will dig a grave, but for everyone who intends to harm her in any way. Then let his palace become a graveyard of traitors no one bothers to mourn.
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Her
Their horses have crossed the green plains and valleys of Persia into the deserts of Arabia. It has been many days of traveling from Isfahan through Baghdad to Qahira. They didn't stop at the palace of the caliph, her husband not entertaining the idea, neither did she show any interest. He has been in a hurry to reach their destination without delaying it as so much by a day, thus avoiding unnecessary stay in any region.
It has been a tiring journey, most of the day spent riding with only the nights offering them enough rest, and mostly Roya providing her company. Adam holds short conversations with her sometimes, partly because she has been closed off towards him and partly because he's busy studying scrolls and giving orders to Daud and some of the other men accompanying them. He carries work with him that has him occupied even on their journey, she thinks.
