SEVEN
You were relieved to learn Signora Houriya didn’t require your services that evening, so you gave the car keys to Mukhtar and left. After all of Mukhtar’s chattering about the riches those who fought in the war stood to gain, you still wanted to escape that fate by any and all means, even if that meant employing deceit, as you had attempted with Ayyad al-Fezzany, Houriya’s permanent driver. Your last resort would be to seek assistance from Houriya, who could be of aid to you as the woman closest to the Governor-General.
It was time for you to bid farewell to those who needed sorrowful farewells, so that news of your departure for the battlefield didn’t catch them unawares. You wished you could visit your family in Awlad Al Sheikh which, despite your dislike of it and your escape, s
