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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Ayaz had never felt so nervous in his life.
His responsibilities as the crown prince were nothing compared to the deep-seated sensation surfacing from his gut. His heart was a fast-beating drum reverberating throughout his chest. His mind was an utter mess, his thoughts running amok on nothing but the image of a certain girl with the moon on her face.
"You're going to eat dinner with her tonight," he grumbled under his breath, "and when you're both alone, you'll talk. You'll just talk about what you feel and nothing more. You're not going to talk about the Jewel or some other thing related to it. Simple."
He stared at his reflection in the mirror. Two black orbs stared back intensely at the quaint kaftan he was wearing for tonight's occasion.
Ayaz let out a deep sigh. He ran a hand through his hair while he faced away from the mirror and silently left his room.
His face was a calm, neutral mask as he passed by patrolling guards and quick-footed servants in the hallway. He nodded at every single one of them in acknowledgment, which they returned with bowed heads.
By the time he reached the dining hall, only Sultana Shahrazad and Grand Vizier Khalil were present, and they were already eating. Ayaz was surprised that Khalil was going to dine with them tonight. The man rarely ate in the hall, and even if he did eat there, he would never join the royal family as he thought that it was a familial affair and that it would be inappropriate if he were to participate. The only person he'd eat with was the sultan, and right now he wasn't there.
He wasn't the only one though. Badriya was nowhere to be seen. Ayaz's chest deflated, and by the time he noticed, he couldn't stop hope from slipping a little away from his grasp.
She wasn't coming.
"Ayaz." The Sultana beckoned him to sit. "I hope you forgive us for starting without you. It's almost late, and we thought you were not going to join us. I didn't want Khalil to feel starved."
"Not at all, sultanati," the vizier chuckled. "I just hope we didn't do anything wrong by starting without everyone else."
"It's fine," Ayaz said, keeping his wringing hands behind his back. "I'm glad you can finally join us, vizier. I hope this won't be the last time." He turned to Shahrazad. "Where is Father?"
Shahrazad sighed. "He won't be able to join us. He's-"
"Busy as always." Ayaz barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Nothing new."
Thinking about talking to Badriya was already a task that put him on edge, and he wasn't even in a middle of a fight. Seeing and hearing his father would just make him do something rash if he wasn't careful enough. And oftentimes, it wasn't his fault for acting as such. His father relished playing some sort of mind game to torment Ayaz.
Ayaz slipped into the chair adjacent to the Sultana. "How about Badriya? Why is she not here yet?"
"I've no clue," Shahrazad said. "Perhaps she had already eaten?"
