Arthur finds him­self deeply con­flict­ed and intro­spec­tive dur­ing a piv­otal moment in 1872 by the Riv­er Tigris. Accom­pa­nied by Leila, a mem­ber of the Yazi­di com­mu­ni­ty, he explores his exca­va­tion site, where she shares insights into Yazi­di spir­i­tu­al beliefs, includ­ing the con­cept of “axiretê,” which refers to the next world. Leila empha­sizes the idea that every Yazi­di should have a spir­i­tu­al sib­ling, some­one with whom they share a pro­found con­nec­tion in the after­life. She humor­ous­ly speaks about her “heav­en­ly sis­ter,” some­one who, accord­ing to her beliefs, will trans­form into water after death, meet­ing her again in the after­life. While Leila speaks with play­ful warmth, Arthur becomes uneasy. The men­tion of death evokes dis­com­fort in him, com­pound­ed by the ear­li­er unset­tling div­ina­tion Leila shared. Despite his strong desire to com­fort her, Arthur is held back by the rigid Yazi­di cus­toms, which pre­vent him from offer­ing the solace he wants to pro­vide.

As the con­ver­sa­tion con­tin­ues, Arthur’s own grief sur­faces, allow­ing him to open up in a way he had not expect­ed. He shares the painful mem­o­ry of his younger broth­er’s trag­ic death from con­t­a­m­i­nat­ed water, a loss that has haunt­ed him for many years. This event, one that Arthur feels guilty about, has shaped his world­view, and he reveals his deep regret over not being able to save his broth­er. Leila, lis­ten­ing with empa­thy and under­stand­ing, helps Arthur con­front the emo­tion­al weight he has car­ried for so long. The depth of their con­nec­tion grows as they exchange their per­son­al loss­es. How­ev­er, their con­ver­sa­tion is inter­rupt­ed when Arthur receives an urgent sum­mons from the Pasha of Mosul. This sud­den shift forces Arthur to leave his reflec­tive moment behind and step into a more con­fronta­tion­al real­i­ty, where his con­nec­tion with the Yazidis becomes a point of con­tention. At the Pasha’s res­i­dence, Arthur is sub­ject­ed to intense scruti­ny and deri­sion for his asso­ci­a­tion with the Yazidis, who are deroga­to­ri­ly labeled as “hea­thens” and “dev­il-wor­ship­pers.” Despite the harsh treat­ment, Arthur stands firm in his defense of the Yazi­di peo­ple, assert­ing his desire to engage with their cul­ture and lan­guage, even though it places him at odds with the author­i­ty fig­ures around him.

The ten­sion in the Pasha’s res­i­dence reach­es a boil­ing point when the high qadi arrives, bring­ing with him an even more hos­tile atti­tude toward the Yazi­di com­mu­ni­ty. The qadi dis­miss­es the Yazidis as infe­ri­or, with a cold remark that lying to them is per­mis­si­ble, sig­nal­ing a pro­found dis­re­spect for their human­i­ty. Arthur’s con­cern for the Yazidis inten­si­fies, as he real­izes the threat to their safe­ty is grow­ing with each pass­ing moment. His mind races, torn between his duty as an archae­ol­o­gist and his moral oblig­a­tion to pro­tect the peo­ple he has come to admire. After leav­ing the Pasha’s res­i­dence, Arthur returns to the Yazi­di vil­lage, con­tem­plat­ing whether to share the trou­bling details of his encounter with the sheikh’s fam­i­ly. Despite the uncer­tain­ty sur­round­ing the sit­u­a­tion, Arthur finds solace in the work he’s doing, espe­cial­ly when he uncov­ers a cru­cial frag­ment of the Flood Tablet that ignites his pas­sion for fur­ther research. While the aca­d­e­m­ic dis­cov­ery pro­vides a moment of relief, Arthur’s thoughts are con­sumed by Leila, and he is forced to con­front the grow­ing feel­ings he has for her. This emo­tion­al real­iza­tion forces Arthur to nav­i­gate the com­plex­i­ties of their con­nec­tion, espe­cial­ly con­sid­er­ing their cul­tur­al dif­fer­ences and the frag­ile nature of their bond. The chap­ter cul­mi­nates in a poignant moment when, in a dream­like and unex­pect­ed ges­ture, Leila kiss­es Arthur on the cheek. This ten­der action leaves Arthur feel­ing a mix of ela­tion and uncer­tain­ty, as he con­tem­plates what their con­nec­tion tru­ly means and what lies ahead in the uncer­tain future of their rela­tion­ship.