Page 14 of The Book of Heartbreak

Many weep their sorrows, yet few truly mourn with their heart.

The maiden, however, grieved with her very soul.

‘I failed,’ her soul confided in me. ‘I made a mistake.’ Reader, understanding how youth’s fervour often crafts our gravest errors, I was ready to extend the forgiveness she sought.

Alas, she did not seek absolution from me, or perhaps I had none left to give.

Excerpt from The Book of Heartbreak, Müneccimbasi Sufi Chelebi’s Journals of Mystical Phenomena

I spend most days reading or sketching on the balcony, doing my best to ignore Leon across the street.

It’s intolerable to be the subject of his arrogant gaze.

I don’t know why he surveys me like this, with a pouting mouth and narrow eyes.

As if I’m a human grenade and he doesn’t want to miss the explosion.

The light-brown-haired girl with long, tanned legs who occasionally joins him must be his girlfriend, I figure, if he only has one.

Luckily, he doesn’t attempt to speak with me again.

But he watches me. His eyes move when I move, and whenever I unwrap a lollipop, I swear his mouth curls with contempt.

One afternoon, I’m engrossed in a sketch on the balcony, my legs propped up on the railing.

‘You’ll get sunburned if you stay out here without any shade,’ comes a cautioning voice. Glancing upward, I spot Leon lounging on his own balcony, shaking his head in mock disapproval. In response, I hoist the pad higher, deliberately shielding my face from his gaze.

‘So sunburn isn’t your biggest concern, then?’ he teases.

‘Of course it isn’t,’ I retort, lowering the book. His gaze flickers down to my lips, lingering for a beat too long, sending a jolt of electricity to my stomach. ‘You can’t even begin to fathom the challenges I navigate daily.’

‘I’m not surprised.’ He nods. ‘With your flamboyant rogue running around unauthorised, who knows what troubles you’re entangled in?’

‘What is your problem?’ I snap. ‘Why are you so obsessed with Munu?’

‘Oh, wait—’ He chuckles softly. ‘Are you jealous?’

‘Y-you—’ I stammer, lost for words, my cheeks flushing with stupid embarrassment. ‘You’re insufferable.’

He laughs again.

‘Stop being such a jerk,’ I snarl. ‘And leave me alone.’

‘I swear, I will,’ he says. ‘If you tell me what brings you two to Istanbul.’

‘Why don’t we discuss what keeps you in Istanbul, seer?

’ I don’t hesitate a comeback after recalling Munu’s words about seers, and how they live in confinement.

Istanbul is vivid and ever-present, always beckoning.

Not the ideal location for someone like him, if he is who he says he is.

‘Shouldn’t your kind be in confinement instead of a bustling metropolis? ’

‘I’m on a mission,’ he says. ‘Trying to locate materials that are key to unravelling the mystery of a curse.’

‘A curse?’ I freeze on the word, studying his face. But there’s no sign of sarcasm or arrogance. Only pure concentration. ‘What curse?’

‘The curse of the Maiden’s Tower – have you heard of it?’

I shake my head in confusion. ‘The tower is cursed?’

‘Not the tower itself,’ he explains. ‘The maiden who lived there. I’m sure you’ve heard the myth?’

I ignore his question. ‘Is that why you work there?’

‘Why else would I take a job as a mere security guard?’ Leon folds his arms, seemingly offended that I’d even considered him doing something so ordinary.

‘What type of materials are you after?’ I close my book and rest it on my leg. ‘Artifacts to smuggle?’

It’s his turn to snort. ‘Ever heard of Sufi Chelebi?’

‘No. Why should I?’ The name is unfamiliar, and it sounds like an artisan tea brand.

Leon bestows me with another snort. This annoying, handsome shit. Fine, not a tea brand, then.

‘Sufi Chelebi was a prominent seer,’ he says. ‘The most famous of curse-breakers.’

This makes me pause. A curse- breaker ? Curses can be broken? The revelation slams into me, louder than Istanbul’s frantic pulse, twisting hope and dread together in my stomach. All these years, despite how many times I asked, Munu never breathed a word of this.

‘How—’ I croak, the question hitching in my throat. ‘How did he break curses?’

Leon stares at me, as if trying to calculate my intentions.

I stare right back at him, wondering if he’s lying or not. Why should I trust him, anyway?

‘If you have a drop of knowledge of our craft and the Hidden,’ he says, his pretty lips curling with that damn smile, ‘you’d know you have a few options to break a curse.’

‘Of course,’ I grit out through clenched teeth. You can’t ask him any more, I tell myself. You can’t give him the satisfaction of boasting about how well-informed he is while you’re left in the dark. ‘Whatever. I was just checking if you actually know what you’re talking about.’

‘You almost emit a glow when you’re angry,’ Leon mutters. ‘Fascinating, considering how oblivious you are of the Hidden.’

Now I’m certain he’s messing with me. I do not glow .

‘Cut the bullshit, please,’ I say, with a mock sweetness. ‘So your mission, this maiden.’ I tuck a curl behind my ear. ‘Why was she cursed, then?’

‘But I assume you already know?’ He beams at me, leaving me torn between swooning over his beauty and wanting to punch him.

I fold my arms. Munu was right. He’s sly as a fox. ‘Of course I do,’ I lie.

‘Oh, I see,’ he murmurs, with a false sincerity in his tone. ‘You must have figured it out yourself, then. Care to compare notes? It’s quite the enigma, after all.’

‘I don’t have to tell you anything.’ I feel tension knotting between us.

‘ No one knows why the maiden was cursed, except the caster of the curse, and perhaps the great Sufi Chelebi himself. It happens to be my mission to find out, you see? And there are . . . other details, top secret of course, that I can’t share at the minute.’

I took his bait. He knows I’m only pretending.

I must turn as red as a tomato. The shame of my crude lie and frustration of being fed scraps of information gel into another, leaving me in an explosive mood.

Top-secret mission? Nothing makes sense.

I slide my legs off the railing and prepare to leave.

‘Wait,’ he says. ‘I answered your questions. Now it’s your turn. Tell me why you’re here. Why doesn’t your ethereal have a permit?’

‘I have no idea what a fucking permit does, and the last thing I need is your interrogation,’ I declare, rising from my seat to withdraw into the sanctuary of my room.

‘You don’t seem accustomed to goodbyes,’ Leon calls after me, as if I owe him the courtesy. ‘But you’d better bid farewell to your friend Munu if you two can’t prove she’s authorised.’

I don’t reward him with a response, mostly because I have no idea how to respond. His arrogant grin is the final image I’m left with before I close the curtains.

God, I hate him.

In the evening, when I’m calmer but still pacing my room, I clasp my evil-eye necklace and summon Munu. After Leon’s threats, I’m sick with worry about her well-being, but what troubles me more is why she’s never mentioned these curse-breakers to me.

‘Munu,’ I whisper, pressing the evil eye into my palm. ‘Munu, I need you.’

I brace myself for silence, but the loud crack of her appearance catches me off guard.

‘Canim! Has that fickle fiend done something to you?’ Munu’s gaze sweeps the room. Her appearance shocks me. Eyes deep and empty. Face bereft of make-up, her hair loose. No necklace or earrings, just a simple white dress cinched with a bow at the waist.

‘Are you okay?’ I sink onto my bed.

‘I’m done for.’ Munu’s lips quiver as she flies over to me. ‘That boy has been prying into matters he has no business with, the malevolent marauder.’

‘He’s asking about your permit, isn’t he?’

‘What does he know? Of course I don’t have a public permit, I work on extremely confidential projects.

’ She lands neatly on the ‘O’ of a cushion embroidered with the word Love .

‘I shouldn’t have wandered around without care.

I should have been more vigilant. My boss will be in trouble because of me now.

I’ve already failed them, when they’re the most undeserving, the most merciful. ’

‘Maybe, if you shared some details about your work and the Otherside,’ I say after a brief pause, ‘I might be able to help.’

‘I can’t.’ Munu shakes her head. ‘I can’t speak of hi— the boss’s secrets.’

‘Leon seems to know a great deal about your job, and he has no problem projecting his opinions from across the street,’ I argue. ‘He threatened me earlier, regarding you, and oh, he mentioned that curses can be broken.’

‘What? When?’ Munu’s wings flip rapidly. ‘You didn’t tell him you’re cursed, did you?’

‘Of course I didn’t.’ I roll my eyes. ‘But is it true? Can I . . . break this curse?’

‘Lies!’ Munu squeals, instantly beginning to shrink. ‘He’s a charlatan – vile, sinister, worst of his kind!’

I’m disheartened by her extreme reaction, and the quiet hope inside me flickers out. ‘He sounded so sure of himself.’

‘That vicious bastard!’ Munu cries as she continues to dwindle. Whether it’s because of anger, or fear, I can’t tell. ‘Why is he so obsessed with you?’

‘He’s more fixated on you,’ I retort, remembering Leon’s interrogation about Munu. His cocky smile and handsome face. Could he really be interested in me? Knowing Munu’s flair for exaggeration, I brush off the thought, ignoring the warmth creeping up my chest.

‘Why are you blushing?’ Munu whines. ‘He’s not romantically interested in you, Boss forbid! You are just a potential tool for his demonic missions.’

‘I don’t see how I could possibly help his missions.’ I clear my throat. ‘I think he’s just trying to annoy me.’