Amina al-Sirafi, #1
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
by Shannon Chakraborty
Contents
Chapter 10
Overview
Amina confronts Salima and learns Dunya pursued the Moon of Saba, but Salima burned Dunya’s notes. When Amina tries to quit, Salima blackmails her by threatening Amina’s family. Forced to continue, Amina searches Dunya’s rooms and an occult-filled library, finding a scorched clue about white snakes, hidden waters, and stone hands. She decides they must go to Mogadishu to consult Majed.
Summary
Amina and Dalila reach Rubak to confront Sayyida Salima. Inside Salima’s eerily neglected mansion, Amina challenges Salima’s story, accusing Dunya of running away with Falco and demanding the truth about the Moon of Saba. Salima insists Dunya was kidnapped but reveals Dunya knew of the Moon and offered it to Falco.
When Amina tries to quit, Salima threatens Amina’s family with letters to old enemies and guards watching Amina’s home, forcing Amina to continue. Salima admits she burned Dunya’s encoded source text and notes to curb the obsession and protect Dunya’s reputation, leaving only fragments in memory.
Usman escorts Amina to Dunya’s chambers. After a fruitless search of the bedroom—where Amina finds a twin of her daughter’s jade turtle—Amina enters an extensive occult library packed with magical texts, artifacts, and maps. She prays for protection and begins combing the materials for leads.
By dusk, Amina discovers a scorched scrap with sketches and a line echoing Salima’s recollection: the Moon “guarded by white snakes,” “hidden behind a veil of water,” and “beneath a ceiling of stone hands.” The clue is scant, but it’s all she has.
Amina departs with money Salima provides and confides the blackmail to Dalila. Overwhelmed by the threat to her family but determined, Amina decides their next move: sail to Mogadishu to seek help from Majed.
Who Appears
- Amina al-SirafiProtagonist; confronts Salima, is blackmailed, searches Dunya’s rooms and occult library, finds a scorched clue, decides to seek Majed.
- Sayyida Salima al-HilliDunya’s grandmother; denies Dunya ran away, admits burning her notes, blackmails Amina by threatening her family, funds continued search.
- DalilaAmina’s poisoner ally; urges caution and escape, later pledges support after hearing of Salima’s threats.
- UsmanSalima’s servant; disdainful escort who unlocks Dunya’s quarters and keeps watch.
- Dunya al-HilliAbsent focus of the search; scholar obsessed with the Moon of Saba, deciphered an encoded text before her notes were burned.