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fell through the floor,
and her legs turned to water. “Leave?”
    “ That’s right, dear. If
that’s his plan, he’ll probably ask your father for his blessing
sometime in the next two days and leave with the Jabaliyn convoy
before the end of the week.”
    “ That—that’s
terrible.”
    “ I know, dear. I
know.” Shira glanced to either side and
leaned intently forward. “That’s why we needed to talk.”
    Oh no, Mira thought to herself. From her mother’s tone of voice,
there was doubtlessly something devious on her mind.
    “ What do you
mean?”
    “ You don’t want him to
leave, do you?”
    “ Well, no—”
    “ And he’s been making eyes
at you, hasn’t he?”
    “ I—I don’t
know—”
    “ Oh, don’t be so modest.
You’re just his age, and of all my daughters, you’re certainly the
most beautiful.”
    Where is this
going? Mira wanted to ask. Instead, she
kept silent.
    “ We need to keep Jalil
from leaving,” her mother continued. “If he does, your father’s
inheritance will pass to the Jabaliyn, and we’ll be completely at
their mercy once he dies. You wouldn’t want to see your mother poor
and destitute, would you?”
    “ No,” said Mira, shaking
her head dutifully.
    “ That’s why we must keep Jalil from
leaving us, no matter the cost.” Her eyes gleamed as she leaned in
closer, her voice so low that Mira had to strain to
hear.
    “ What is it,
Mother?”
    “ Your father and I want
you to go with him.”
    Mira frowned. “Go with him? On the
pilgrimage?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Alone?”
    “ Of course,” her mother
said, grinning mischievously in the dim light of the glowlamps. “We
want you to get to know each other so well that he can’t help but
fall in love with you, if you know what I mean.”
    Mira closed her eyes for a moment and
swallowed. Her heart raced as she considered the implications of
what her mother was telling her. Jalil, fall in love with her—but
how? He only ever saw her in passing around the camp, and never for
very long. If he ever did notice her, it was only as his
sister—never as anything more.
    “ I don’t know,” she said
uneasily.
    “ You’re not a little girl
anymore, dear,” said her mother. “Trust me, he’ll notice you—and
when he does, you must convince him, one way or another, to come back and
stay.”
    “ But how?”
    Without warning, Shira reached up and pinched her breast—hard. Mira
squealed and nearly doubled over from the pain.
    “ Why do you think Allah
gave you these?” Shira said, a tone of contempt in
her voice. “Jalil is a man of honor—find your way into his bed, and
for honor’s sake, he’ll come back and marry you.”
    The shock of her mother’s words hit
Mira with all the subtlety of a rockslide. She leaned against the
wall behind her for support.
    “ But—but
that’s—”
    “ You want to marry him,
don’t you, child? It’s not wrong if you marry each other
afterward—and don’t worry about the strawberries at your wedding,
I’ll take care of that.”
    But I won’t deserve
them.
    “ And one more
thing,” Shira continued, leaning in to
tower over her. “Your father and I have a lot riding on this. If
you should fail—” She made a cutting motion across her throat.
“Understand?”
    Mira trembled where she
stood against the wall, hugging her chest as she cowered
under Shira ’s fierce, imposing
eyes.
    “ Y-yes,
Mother.”
    “ Don’t be too concerned
about it,” Shira said, turning to go as if
the matter were already settled. “The temple is on the other side
of the world; you’ll have plenty of time. When you’re both alone
together, you’ll know what to do.”
    Mira bit her lip and nodded, rubbing
her chest where her mother had pinched her. The pain still
throbbed, and an awful sinking feeling in her gut made her want to
throw up.
    This is wrong.
    It wasn’t just the part about getting
into Jalil’s bed—though Allah knew that was frightening enough. It
was how manipulative and