An orphan girl with questionable morals. A scarred prince with two lives. One relic to change their world.
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Badriya As-Sahra is sick of piling up camel dung and picking people's pockets for a living. Her world discriminates against...
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For what seemed to be a long, long time, Ayaz could only feel two things: darkness and pain.
The latter was something he was used to. He grew up witnessing and engaging in fights, so he knew how to handle every bruise and cut that afflicted his body. He especially knew how to start one, throwing in punches or swinging his sword whenever deemed necessary. As for the former... he never thought darkness could feel too much to handle.
Darkness wasn't a cold, gentle embrace like the befuddled poets in his father's court would describe. It was overwhelming. Oppressive. Darkness was a giant boulder trying to press his body down to a pulp. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak. Yet he could feel every inch of his body on the verge of bursting. He was just...there, suffering for sands knows how long.
If this was what death felt like, he wanted it to go faster and be done with it.
Many Zecajians didn't follow any particular faith, but believed in what their ancestors believed in. They believed in monsters that could ravage a village with a sweep of their arms. They believed in creatures cunning enough to fool humans into doing their malicious bidding. And they believed in the intricacies of life and death, and that there was life after death. They believed that a person would reunite with the loved ones they lost in the afterlife, and they would rejoice for eternity.
Ayaz liked that. He wished to see his mother again after so long. Which was why, when his eyes opened-truly opened as though he was dreaming the whole time-and saw a familiar older woman peering at him in disdain, he knew he was still not dead.
"Indeed," Tehzib said. "I suppose that means you still have business in the world of the living."
Ayaz was about to push himself up when a searing pain shot from his gut. He settled down just as fast. Tehzib clucked her tongue, as if scolding a child who'd done something wrong.
"You're injured, and moving will make it worse. So don't move."
"You should've s-said so," Ayaz croaked. "How did I-I get out? The cave... the rocks were falling above me and..."
His voice trailed off as he finally remembered what happened before that. The knife. There was a knife sticking out of his chest, and Badriya-
Oh, Badriya. What had she done?
"I got you out," Tehzib said, as though she couldn't believe it herself. "One time my father brought me to a secret passage hidden away from the cave's main entrance. It just so happens that I remembered it when you two left."
That sounds too convenient. Ayaz groaned. He tried to turn in the other direction, but it only got him another flash of pain. He winced.
Deciding that it was indeed best not to move, Ayaz let his eyes roam around his surroundings. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, a brown sky lit by a lamp greeted him, which he quickly realized was the roof of a tent. Sand shifted under his movement. He could hear the sound of soft snoring and shuffling nearby.
