“Pah!” Ferida scoffs. “Avoided? How? It’s because of him the city is burning!” She twists round to face Aram, her face lit red by the distant flames.
“This is not the time to argue,” Iskender hisses.
“No, no, this is no argument. I’d love to hear how we could have stopped this,” Ferida insists. “Perhaps we could learn something – pass on the advice.”
“We could have fought,” Aram answers gently, accepting another lit cigarette from Iskender. “Instead of waiting and defending ourselves we could have attacked. Fought. There were plenty of opportunities.”
Iskender nods, his gaze still fixed in the distance. “And plenty of warnings. We should have seen the writing on the wall ever since Zeitoun. We should have followed their lead.”
“What are you talking about?” Ferida laughs. “They got f**
