Egipt - Francja -

The name of “her” was scratched out. Only a single hieroglyph remained next to the inkblot: the symbol for star .

“He did,” Tariq said, his voice soft as a tomb’s whisper. “To save her from a French firing squad. He stepped into an hourglass of his own making. He became the sand. He has been falling for 222 years, Lena. And he will never reach the bottom. Unless…” Francja - Egipt

Outside, the call to prayer began, a wail that seemed to bend the air. Lena looked at the red hourglass. Inside, at the very top, a single grain of sand shimmered—not like mineral, but like a star. The name of “her” was scratched out