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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Badriya had been crying for so long she couldn't see anything else around her. Was she still in the burning palace, or was she transported into another nightmare? She couldn't tell, and she didn't care.
Ayaz was gone. Forever.
She knew in her heart it was true. The nightmares and dreams showed what had already happened, even if they contained parts of the truth. That meant somewhere, somehow in the world outside her head, Ayaz was hurt or dead. Knowing the Sultan and his infamous ruthlessness, he wouldn't give Ayaz a chance to protect himself.
He had really done it. He won.
Badriya rested her head over her knees, muffling her sobs.
Whatever Shahrayar had in plan for the Jewel, there was no stopping him now. Far be it from her to do something about it. Even if she was able to snap out of the Sultan's wish, she couldn't do anything besides hurling a flimsy dagger to his throat. But she didn't have a knife, and she didn't have what it takes to face him.
She was just an orphan girl from a piss poor province. She was nobody.
She won't be able to see Ayaz ever again. She won't be able to tell that she changed her heart about him. Those dreams, those illusions of him couldn't compare to the real him.
She won't get the chance to tell him that she loved him, that she was sorry for all those times she hurt him. But what was someone like her going to do about it?
"You fight."
Badriya perked up to the voice. Darkness filled her vision, but a lump of color penetrated through. Upon blinking her eyes multiple times, the lump turned out to be a person glowing in front of her. A boy.
Rashid.
"I'm definitely dead," Badriya decided.
"No, you aren't," Rashid said. "But you will be if you don't start waking up."
She was back in her cell. Rashid stood just outside the bars, stretching a hand toward her. "Get up there, Riya."
Badriya leaned away, eyeing him warily. "I thought you didn't want to see me again."
Rashid shook his head. "Turns out I didn't mean it."
This was another dream, no doubt. The Sultan was changing tactics to keep her on her toes. This was him trying to get into her.
"So?" Badriya sniffled. "I didn't care for you anymore when I left. I definitely won't, now that you're in the grave. Besides, this is just a dream."
Rashid flinched. "Your words are still as sharp as ever. And you're not in a dream. Whatever got you crying is gone. You're here now. This is all real."
"You think it's real, but it's not," Badriya said. "Not for me. But you won't understand. You're just an illusion. There's no way you're here when you're in Klalasha."
