Ahsan felt Nirah’s eyes on him all morning. All afternoon, too, and into the early evening. Not once had she left his sights since their breakfast of sliced apricot, honeycomb, and boiled barley arrived. When he merely picked at his food without eating, she sent for date-stuffed bread, but he didn’t even eat that. By lunch time, she ordered boiled pheasant and pestered him into taking a few bites, but even a mouse would have eaten more.
“This is getting ridiculous.” Nirah pushed herself up and dusted off the backside of her saffron dress. She offered him a hand up. “Come on. Now.”
He stared up at her from his corner of the floor, blank-faced. “What?”
“No questions. Get up.”
Though Ahsan wanted to protest, it would have taken more energy than he had to fight as Nirah dragged him into a
