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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Klalasha was many things to many people. A feeble spot among feeble spots. An oasis for tired travelers. A small piece of hell to its dwellers. For a certain girl with the moon's mark, it was a place that held few good moments, but a place that shaped her into what she was now: a strong, capable woman who could fend off men and monsters by herself. Yet as she looked back, she was not proud of how she turned out to be, and what she had to leave behind.
When Badriya of the moon left Zarab weeks ago, she did so knowing confidently that she could make the journey without Ayaz. But not even a single night had passed when she came to regret her choice of leaving too soon. As she thought it through during sleepless nights in the desert, she knew Ayaz was right. A lot of things happened in a short period of time, and she didn't give herself time to process it all. But it was a temporary yet necessary sacrifice to make if she were to have a future with him. When it came to magic, she was not going to leave her fate to chance.
Magic. That's what ran through her veins now. Badriya was a djinni, just like the stories she used to hear from old folk to scare travelers with the perils that hide in the desert. She could still remember the first time she felt the rush of fire that replaced her blood. The hold of the invisible chains that tied her to the Jewel of Opulence even though it was kept in a palace far away from where she was by a prince who was now king.
She was not human, true, but she hoped-she wished, how ironic-there was a cure to her condition. She did not want to be kept captive and forced to do the bidding of others, only to live a life by her design. And if the stories were true, she would live a long life where time would merely be seen as a measure and people around her turned to dust.
She wanted none of that.
As Badriya gazed at the sky in one of those nights, where the wind was just right and the moon was at its fullest, she could feel her form itching to be released from its mortal vessel. The desire to fly and see the world as it slept through danger while it waited to strike. To be free but not truly...
"You still awake, moon girl?" a cheery, albeit sleepy, voice chirped in.
Badriya glanced at Idris laying on the mat beside her own, his arms folded under his head like a pillow. Because of their time traveling through the desert, the Naayiki was no longer a stranger to her. His company was decent at best, with his kind demeanor and occasional jesting, but that still didn't change the fact that Ayaz wasn't with her this time. Even when it was his idea for her to bring his dear friend along, it didn't feel the same.
Badriya rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't be asking a stupid question if I wasn't, would you?"
"Oh, sure you would. Do djinn even sleep?"
She found out that she didn't, aside from her other, terrifyingly powerful abilities, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of an answer.
"If you say something more stupid, I'll make you sleep so well you won't ever wake up."
