Chapter 20

On the second day at sea, Amina’s crew spots a scorched, half-broken dunij. Amina boards and finds the weakened Dunya beneath a makeshift tent, alive but severely dehydrated and sunburned. They bring Dunya to the Marawati, tend her with broth and tisane, and keep her in the galley’s shade while she drifts in and out of consciousness.

Over two days, Dalila and Amina dress Dunya’s wounds; Tinbu brings clothes; Hamid cooks; and Majed recites gentle Quranic verses. Dunya fears Raksh on sight. Amina examines Dunya’s bundle—two clay tablets with cuneiform—and withholds judgment, focusing on Dunya’s recovery.

When Dunya wakes, she recognizes Amina from her father Asif’s letters and, after gathering strength, agrees to speak. She clarifies she wasn’t kidnapped; she approached Falco to sell items to fund escape from an arranged marriage to the powerful, much older governor of Aden. Flattered by Falco’s attention and promises of scholarly adventure, she revealed knowledge of the Moon of Saba and fled with him.

Aboard Falco’s ship, Dunya translated texts while he cultivated her trust. Near Socotra, she realized his true nature: he ranted about binding men’s souls and, when some refused, he summoned a sea beast that destroyed half the ship. Survivors reached shore, where Falco then used a spell Dunya had translated—siphoning an elder’s lifeblood for knowledge—leading to the village massacre. Dunya is remorseful and ashamed, insisting she never imagined her scholarship would enable murder.

Dunya says she stalled Falco at the cave to prevent him learning too much about the Moon of Saba. She reveals her family were ancient guardians against demons, not mere collectors. Finally, she discloses a key revelation: the Moon of Saba is real but not a pearl—it is a washbasin—suggesting Falco might not recognize it even if he saw it.