“Lousy!” Gulalai repeated, appalled. “Is that how you thank me for arranging one-on-one time for you and Rashid? Your future fiancé? I reckoned I would speed things up. Maybe there will even be a wedding before I go!”

She clapped her hands, excited.

“Bakwas band karo,” Durkhanai pouted. “You know it is not in my control. I will marry when my grandparents decide it, and to whom they decide.”

It was an excuse. Her grandparents loved her too much to force her marriage.

“Yes, yes,” Gulalai said. “And they will have great qualms with you marrying the most important tribe leader’s son, will they? Someone who’s lineage has been linked with yours in camaraderie for centuries?”

“Gulalai,” Durkhanai whined. She didn’t want to talk about it or even think about it.

“What?” Gulalai asked, confused. “I thought this was what you wanted?”

Durkhanai didn’t know anymore.

As more time passed, she became even more confused.

Throughout the week, as Durkhanai waited for proof, she actively spent more time with Rashid. First, because the closer she was with him, the better her relationship with the Yusufzai clan and by extension the other nobles would be.

And second, to see if the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach would go away, but it didn’t, and she couldn’t understand it.

He was well-mannered and respectful and adoring and comfortable. She felt calm around him. They had an easy friendship with clear boundaries. Everything was always exactly in its place, no wrinkles, no crinkles.

Unlike with Asfandyar—she couldn’t help to compare—with whom her heart was always racing, with whom she was always on the edge, nudging and being nudged.

Why didn’t she love Rashid? It made perfect sense for her to. Everything about him was precisely what she needed, precisely what was good for her.

So why didn’t her heart catch on him? She didn’t understand. It infuriated her. What a treacherous heart she had. Before, when she had known that maybe they would end up together, the idea of him excited her.

But ever since Asfandyar had been introduced, it was like Rashid ceased to exist. What a cruel heart she had.

How could she keep turning back to Asfandyar, the one who was the worst possible choice for her? Her people would never accept him. All they ever did was bicker. They were both cold and cruel and proud. Ice did not melt ice; fire did not extinguish fire.

Why was this so? What a wretched, wretched heart she had.