Badriya as-Sahra is sick of piling up camel dung and picking people's pockets for a living. Her world discriminates against women and orphans, and it is only her damned luck that she happens to be both. She yearns for more but can't do anything else...
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Before Ayaz could even reach for his sword, one of the Khadysians seized Badriya and held his blade by her neck. He froze.
"Don't even think about it, Zecaj scum," he taunted. "Or do you want you and your friend's heads to roll down the cliff of this mountain?"
Ayaz gritted his teeth, his fingers itching to slice the man's head off.
"Put your weapon down," another of them said. "Now!"
Badriya looked at him, her eyes wide in fright. Ayaz reluctantly placed his sword on the floor. They took it before grabbing his hands and shoving them behind his back.
"What do you want from us?" Badriya shouted. "We didn't do anything wrong! You have no right to—"
"Shut it," her captor growled, taking the dagger hiding from her sleeve. "You're in no position to ask questions."
"You're in no position to arrest us, either," Ayaz retorted, shooting a sideward glare at his captor. "We're in no man's land, and it's against the rules to detain another country's citizen."
"That's where you are mistaken." The guard sneered. "There are no rules."
Ayaz and Badriya were flanked toward the cave's entrance, firelight and heavy footsteps came from the cave. He sucked his breath.
Another unit of Khadysian haris.
Ayaz racked his mind for reasons why a whole unit of Khadysians were secretly inspecting the border up close. They were too far from their usual designated posts that he was informed of. Was this another plot of a skirmish to irritate their rival country? Or worse, were they planning to invade Zecaj, and he and Badriya were the first ones to witness the chaos that was about to be unleashed?
A group of men with violet turbans and long scimitars came into view, some of them marching with torches in their hands. They broke up into two lines and parted, making way for a woman in armor. She wore a gear similar to the guards, only that it looked like it was far more luxurious with the swaths of silk and gems of amethysts adorning it.
"Well, well," the woman said in a tittering voice. "Who do we have here?"
"Two Zecajians, General," a soldier said. "We suspect that they are also looking for the object."
"That won't be a problem," she said.
Ayaz narrowed his gaze. A female Khadysian general? There was only one that popped in his head, and he hoped that he was mistaken. If this were really a plot for a secret invasion, he and his country may not stand a chance.
"Who are you?" Badriya demanded.
The woman smirked. "Zaynab bint Al-Mulkiyyah, grand general of the Khadysian army and a member of the caliph's renowned court. And as for your second question, you're going to help us get what we want in that cave."
