tide, each one flowing into the next with a rh

ntless waves-neither painful nor peace

to paint delicate patterns on the cool marble floors. The scent of jasmine and sanda

t reverent hush that seemed to press against his ears, urging stillness. Conversations with the servant

sip, courtyards echoing with laughter, distant calls to prayer anchoring the day in sacred rhythm

since their marriage, her presence lingered like p

the estate like

ys of untouched tea-brief but thoug

ic tiles, echoing just far enough away to make him w

edge of her veil when she passed through the garden courty

silent symphony, often found himself drawn to the

of old leather-bound books-tomes on poetry, science, politics, theology. It

se to stay unseen, yet wr

mystery, yet still warm enoug

to under

her wealth-but in the way one learns a language not spoken

ppled through the city like a sigh, a servant

Your wife requests your presence in the garden," he

pected gust of wind-soft, yet pow

ewhere between antici

yard, winding beneath arched trellises heavy with climbing roses and stars of whit

n-he fo

edges, untouched by the n

e's hidde

r scent like a secret whispered only after sundown. The murmur of water drifted from

p into twilight, casting gol

ree-one whose trunk twisted wi

e fabric seemed lighter. Thinner. Almost t

face him as

, and for a moment, the world narrowed to

to see this,"

box. She extended it toward him, her

with a kind of reverence he couldn

and perfect, suspended on a thin gold chain. It

id. Her voice was quiet but carrie

r wedding day. I w

ed. His throat tigh

sked, his voice ro

ething rare," she said. "Patience. Kindness. And the

harder than any

r trust. It was not the necklace that stunned him-bu

led just slightly toward each other-not touching, but alig

ened, so did the

t grinding cinnamon for his mother, of his younger brother's laughter

she offered her own fragments-pieces of a girl raised in the shadow of a powerful name. A girl tra

a grand

a dramatic

was h

was e

to narrow-not through touch, but through shared t

is fragile moment of peace-the wor

hind closed doors and latticed

ery step. Every l

was not meant to m

irah had a way of t

oman no longer grieving, and a man who had entered the lion'

had power we

ad plans we

the mansion, they waite

cret to

nted-to become the very t

. The weight

of an ancient tree and a sky stitched

hose

lnerable, but no longe

, it wa

hat love, even whis

still