He had spoken briefly to key members of the Jirga on his way over to the house, to break the news and to reassure them. ‘The families are setting up a meeting for later today. They are demanding justice,’ he said. ‘Akbar Khan worked hard to unite them through marriage and business alliances, but I’m afraid the ties of kinship may not be enough. If you do not assert your right today and in front of the collective Jirga, they will see it as weakness and there will be war.’

The death of Akbar Khan would have far-reaching consequences if not handled correctly. It was Jia’s actions that would now determine the future of the city and those who lived there. Idris prayed to God that she understood the gravity of what she was about to undertake.

CHAPTER 19

‘Good or bad, he’s closer than your jugular vein,’ said John, raising his eyebrows at his old friend.

Elyas laughed. ‘Since when does an atheist quote the Quran?’ he said.

‘Round these parts it’s what they’d say about your father-in-law,’ said John. He was one of the few people Elyas trusted. He told the truth and he told it cold. It came with the territory. John and Elyas had known each other for over two decades and despite distance their friendship had remained strong.

When the Recorder’s editor had announced he was taking a sabbatical for six months, Elyas jumped at the chance to work beside his old friend. Taking over the chief’s office was not just another job for him. It meant more than warm news-sheet and black ink. This was the Khan’s local paper. If anyone knew what was really going on with Jia’s family, it was the reporters who worked here. And Elyas needed familiarity.

‘It won’t happen,’ the school careers adviser had said when he’d mentioned his plans to become a journalist. ‘Media is not for people like you.’ For a while Elyas believed him. But, thankfully, university changed that, giving him back the confidence to follow his dreams. After graduating, he’d gone to work at his local paper. The first day on the job, he’d understood his careers adviser’s warning: Elyas’s was the only brown face in the newsroom.