It is almost three when we take our leave of the middle worlder and make our way to the Khan el-Khalili souk. This souk is very much like the souks in Marrakech and the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It boasts the same intoxicating sights and smells that we have become so used to in the past few weeks. Everything is the same, but different.

Tabassum Naaz agreed to sing like a canary; she agreed to betray us to her grandfather. If we succeed here, she will be indirectly responsible for her grandfather’s death. Even if we don’t succeed here, she will find her circumstances changed. She will find a place, if not by her grandfather’s side, then near him as the one who delivered the keeper to him. Such a position will afford her the chance to kill him. If we fail, that is, and I don’t intend to.

Taraana walks with his hand gripping mine and his face arrested in an expression of wonder at the sights before him. I can tell how much this insouciance costs him, though. His shoulders are tense and his grip on my hand is tight.

We walk through the crowds, being jostled at every turn. The middle worlders attracted, perhaps, by the stars in Taraana’s eyes give him long, considering looks that all feel malicious to me. We have to enter the deserted alley at the end of the path. That’s where Baarish’s servants are waiting to ambush us.

My steps become slower as we get closer to the entrance of the alley. However, I cannot delay it any further.

“Taraana, we don’t have to do this,” I whisper.

“I have to do this, Paheli,” he says. His eyes are bright, the expression in them making my heart crack like china. At this moment, I love him so much, I feel like I will kill anyone who even thinks about doing him harm.

“Why? I will keep you safe, I promise.” I all but beg him.

“Because I deserve to walk down a street without worrying about being kidnapped. Because I should be able to sleep without having nightmares. Because I am not an object to be owned but a person with rights and feelings. This might go wrong and I might fail, but, Paheli, I will have tried. I will have fought. That matters to me.”

Without caring about the people around us, Taraana leans forward and presses a kiss on my lips. In the next second, he pushes me away and runs into the alley where Baarish’s servants are waiting.