Page 11 of The Book of Heartbreak
I sense Munu’s shudder at the word mission . Leon makes it sound like a grand, heroic task, and he would probably burst into laughter if he knew that our sole goal is to keep me alive.
‘How can she change her size like that?’ Leon’s voice softens. ‘Who blessed her with such a skill?’
‘Idiot!’ Munu’s voice is a buzz that certainly doesn’t reach Leon. ‘He doesn’t even get that I can’t control it.’
‘Leave us alone!’ I snap at Leon. ‘You’re stressing my . . . friend.’ And he knows too much – far more than me. It’s unsettling.
A fleeting look of surprise passes across his face. ‘I’m just trying to help.’
I lift my chin. ‘What makes you think we need your help?’
‘Ah, this secrecy intrigues me. As much as your face.’ He smiles, and I wonder what he means by that.
‘My face?’ I manage to locate Munu nestled inside my hair and pluck her away before she digs her nails into my scalp.
‘I’ve seen you before,’ Leon declares.
‘Where?’ I grimace, but he remains silent. I’m almost certain he’s messing with me. I’ve never met him – how could he have seen me before?
‘Never mind.’ Leon drops his voice.
Munu escapes my hand and makes her way to my right ear.
‘I beg you, canim, let’s go inside now,’ she whispers, and her plea sends shivers down my spine. ‘Please.’
My Munu, who typically brims with confidence and never utters ‘please’ to me, is trembling with desperation and scared out of her wits, I realise. It’s not anger that made her shrink, it’s pure fright.
‘ Neredesin Leon’cum? ’ A girl appears behind Leon. A tall, beautiful creature with the smoothest skin and the longest legs. She follows Leon’s gaze and frowns at the sight of me.
‘Let’s go.’ I nod at Munu as I scrutinise the newcomer. I’ve met enough people for one day.
‘I work in the Maiden’s Tower on weekdays,’ Leon calls out after me, ‘should you ever find yourself curious enough to visit. Bring your friend too. We can continue our chat. I hate leaving things unfinished.’
I step back into my bedroom without responding, Munu’s terror is enough to put me on high alert. I can still feel Leon’s eyes on me as I leave. But it’s only as I slam the door behind me and draw the shutters closed that I realise how rapidly my heart is beating.
‘Prattling prophets, grant us mercy.’ Munu grows to her normal size once we’re sealed in the room. I’ve never seen her so terrified before. ‘What misfortune to land next to a seer. A seer!’
‘How can he see you?’ I ask.
‘He has the pure eye, doesn’t he? The deceiving devil!’ Munu groans. ‘Oh, I hate seers. The know-it-all busybodies, thinking themselves so superior.’
‘Who the hell is Grey?’ I try to work through my questions one by one.
‘Must be his boss, on the Otherside. How would I know? I’m not even a foot on the hierarchy, I’m just a slipper.’ Munu shakes her head so wildly her necklaces jingle like bells.
‘So you’ve never heard of this Grey before?’ I fold my arms. Something feels off. Leon knew so much – Munu must share his knowledge.
‘Stop asking me! Curiosity is forbidden, I’ve told you a million times before. Do you want me to be punished?’
Of course I don’t want Munu to be harmed, but it doesn’t seem fair that Leon speaks of the Hidden so freely, while I get brushed off.
‘And now he’s seen us, he won’t stop sticking his nose into our business. No one warned me there would be a seer awaiting us. I wouldn’t have come here had I known!’
‘Well, he lives here, doesn’t he?’ I point out the obvious, baffled by Munu’s witless ramblings. ‘I doubt he’s orchestrated this as an ambush.’
‘Seers seek solitude and confinement to deepen their connection with the Hidden.’ Munu bites her finger. ‘If this fiend has chosen to settle in this chaotic metropolis, he must be hatching some sinister plans.’
Leon’s face flashes before my eyes: his brown curls dancing in the breeze, his dark eyes, his curious gaze tracing my skin. That mocking, arrogant smile.
‘He’s probably just an idiot teenage boy,’ I say. ‘He didn’t look that dangerous to me.’
‘What do you know about danger? A baby, you are.’ Munu draws a sharp breath, then dips back into her gloom. ‘What am I supposed to do now? I’ll definitely be in trouble. It’s always somehow my fault, isn’t it? Always easiest to blame poor Munu.’
Before she can drift away, I seize my chance to ask more questions.
‘What is a pure eye?’ I approach the delicate topic carefully, bracing myself for a scolding. The word seer is familiar from Daphne’s stories, but I’ve never heard of a ‘pure eye’ before.
To my surprise, Munu is eager to explain.
‘The pure eye can see things that do not belong to this world. The Hidden were kind enough to bless some mortals with it. Some can see the dead, or sniff the secrets of the future. Some are even more uncanny – they can put their arms through to the Otherside, breaching the boundaries that separate the living and the dead. They can speak with the Hidden.’
I recall the story of the Maiden’s Tower and how a seer predicted that the girl was going to die.
Munu drops her voice. ‘Some seers blow malicious spells in knotted ropes to doom people’s fates, bury back-to-back spoons in graveyards to separate loving couples.
They can plant the worst nightmares, tear your mind apart – shred by shred – or even your body.
They can sprinkle bad fortune on you as if they’re dusting pesticide on crops.
Even an evil eye won’t protect you from their malice. ’
I grasp my evil-eye pendant, which has already failed to protect me from the curse, and try to lighten the mood. ‘I’m already cursed. What’s the worst that can happen?’
But Munu will have none of it. ‘There’s always worse when it comes to seers,’ she says.
‘Promise me you will be careful – keep all these doors and windows shut. Don’t leave the house.
But if you still have the misfortune to be in his company somehow, ignore him.
Promise me.’ She turns to face me and her expression is as serious as I’ve ever seen it.
‘Promise you will stay away from that boy.’
I nod. ‘I promise.’
And I do stay away from the boy.
But it turns out, he won’t stay away from me.
Subject: Unexpected Local Visitors
Date: 15 July 2025
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Dear Grey,
I regret that there are still no leads on finding the materials. But I’m getting closer, and I’m certain it’s somewhere in the tower, as Sufi Chelebi spent his last days there.
I’m emailing you after a strange turn of events. Remember the girl I’ve been dreaming about for the past few months? She arrived today – in the flesh. Same face, same hair, same frown. There’s no question it’s her. I’ve identified her as Sare Silverbirch, my landlord’s granddaughter.
As you know, my aunt Harika is a clairvoyant and dream expert. She’s just as baffled and thinks these dreams might be a warning – for something great and sinister.
Silverbirch seems oblivious to my standing as one of the finest seers in Istanbul.
It could be an act, though. Now here’s where things get peculiar: she’s not alone.
An ethereal presence accompanies her, exercising a certain influence on Silverbirch.
Even more puzzling, I found myself able to communicate with this ethereal – named Munu – effortlessly.
Munu is female, deceased in her late twenties or early thirties, drifting around Istanbul without a valid permit.
She is roughly thirty centimetres tall, and has the wings of a pigeon.
She did a vanishing trick upon spotting me, shrinking herself down in size.
It’s clear she’s no ordinary ethereal. But who does she work for, and what is her relationship to Silverbirch?
What if they’re after the books? The last thing I need is more competition. Please do a background check for this Munu and let me know asap.
Also, I had a run-in with that nosy historian, Professor Arman Aziz.
He dropped by last week, sifting through the museum for the ridiculous Ministry of Tourism project.
He will be working with the museum for some time.
I doubt he knows about Sufi Chelebi, so he’s nothing to worry about, but still . . . I’ll be alert.
I’ll spend a few nights in the tower to see if that changes anything and will report back. I must be the one to uncover Sufi Chelebi’s legacy.
Best wishes,
Leon