After he had suckled, Ferida took the baby aside and bathed him in egg froth and rosewater. She took a small cube of fat, melted it in her fist and rubbed it all over his body before swaddling him tight. Miraculously, the baby dozed peacefully through everything. Azniv inspected the afterbirth, deemed it full of good tidings and wrapped it in cloth for burial instead of the fire. Barely two hours had passed since her arrival, but the news had already travelled and a small crowd was gathering at the walls of the compound. A healthy baby was always good news and a stream of mothers came by to drop off baskets of fruit and pastries. The huddle of men smoking under the palm trees pushed and slapped Thooma, getting overly boisterous when they heard it was a boy. At the baby’s first cry a cheer
