Fortune Favors the Cursed

Chapter 13: Hidden Treasure

Badriya watched with bated breath as the darkness of the cave swallowed Ayaz whole.

For a few moments, no one dared to speak nor move, as if waiting for something to burst. But when nothing came, the lady general cleared her throat and turned to face Badriya.

"Well," Zaynab started, "I suppose the only thing we can do now is wait. If you promise that you'll behave, I will tell the soldier behind you to move his sword away from you. What do you say?"

Badriya pressed her lips into a thin line. "Fine."

Zaynab motioned to someone with a quick wave of her hand. "You don't have to worry about your life, habibi. I personally do not prefer taking hostages unless it's necessary. And if you and your partner do as you are told, you may go on with your lives without any problem from us."

"He's not my partner," Badriya said, her voice clipped. And you're lying. Why would you let us go when we already know that you're lurking around the edge of Zecaj without permission?

"Oh?" the general looked genuinely surprised. "Then how, pray tell, did both of you end up together?"

"It's just a deal we made," Badriya said. "For convenience. We get the Jewel together, split the Sultan's prize and then split our ways."

"I see." Zaynab nodded. "But you and I know that that's just a lie, no? You Zecajians are a bunch of snakes. You'll want to get the prize only for yourself."

Badriya hesitated. "Perhaps. But he is a better fighter than I, and I would not want to give myself more trouble by crossing him and his blade."

Memories of Ayaz saving her for the last several days flashed through her mind.

"But you're cleverer," the general said. "You'd find a way to get from behind his back and betray him."

"Why are you so interested in us all of a sudden?" Badriya narrowed her eyes. "Compared to your position, I'm just a nobody. And if you think that you can gain dirt from confessing my supposed plan of betrayal, then you will be disappointed that you will not get anything from me."

The woman shrugged. "It was worth a try."

As Zaynab went on to talk with some of her soldiers, Badriya shifted her gaze to the swirling black in front of them. She wondered how the obscure doorway even worked. Was it magic, like Tehzib's curse that Ayaz told her before they reached the cave, and made those who passed through it cross into another realm? It was highly unlikely, but it wasn't impossible.

Their world Salym was filled with a litany of myths and folktales about almost everything. She herself wasn't a believer of those stories, but she knew that while they may sound out of this world, there might be some truth behind them.

"Do you know what this is?" Zaynab asked Badriya as she walked back in front of her, fidgeting a familiar dagger with her slender fingers.

"It's my knife."

"No," Zaynab tutted. "This, habibi, is a dagger owned by a member of the Crescent Order. See this little crescent moon here?" She pointed at a spot on the knife's grip. "It's their symbol."

Badriya stared at the knife. There really was a crescent carved on its surface, but it was too small and faded for her to notice. Until now.

She exhaled. "Whatever order you're talking about, I've never heard of it."

"I didn't expect less," Zaynab said wrily. "Let's just say they have been out of commission for more than a century. During their golden years, they were the ones responsible for safekeeping several artifacts of power, one of which is your country's so-called Jewel of Opulence."