Neighbours continued to do business with each other, people said hello, but friendships had stretched thin and it was impossible to tell what lay beneath the surface of a smile. It was no longer safe to travel and Bulbul took a leave of absence, promising Khatoun that Iskender knew where to find him if he were ever needed again. Her travels abroad curtailed, Khatoun decided it was finally time to pay a visit to her old friend, Aram Bohjalian.
Aram would have been a suitor if Iskender had not snapped Khatoun up first. He’d been their closest neighbour when they were children, his parents owning the fields next to theirs in Garmuj, their sheep mingling during the day. They’d hated each other at first, and had only become friends when Aram presented Khatoun with a runt lamb that had been rej
