To her dismay, Zinneera did not posses the supreme quality of self control; the ability, the will, to not throw something at her sibling's head to leave a remarkably artistic bruise. Or if she was lucky, knock them out for a short period of time.
Oh how satisfying, the thought.
Luckily for her older brother, he had anticipated his sister's hair raising fury and made his escape earlier. Probably immediately after committing his crime.
Disgusted, Zinneera picked up her syrup soaked tunic and held it as far away from her as possible, eyeing the dead flies and moths decorating it with revulsion. She had to hold back a full-body shiver as she gingerly made her way out of her room, avoiding the obstacles of stray clothes and hairbrushes her sisters had left in her path.
"That is absolutely disgusting." Safiyya, Zinneera's sister in spirit stated, lounging on mosaic patterned cushions on the living room floor. "Not to mention rather horrific for the poor flies."
Zinneera shook her head and headed over to the bucket she had left earlier next to the entrance of her house after her ablutions, still full of, albeit rather dirty, water, and dropped her expired tunic into it with a splash. Her mother could burn it later.
"If Muhammad was here, I would ring his neck with that cloth." Zinneera scowled and Safiyya smiled affectionately.
"I hardly think so. All he would have to do is give you his infamous sad face or tell you a silly little joke and you would melt like wax."
"Not this time." Zinneera said indignantly, though inside she knew her friend was right. "Let us leave now before our families return. Or we will have to go through another round of tearful goodbyes."
Nodding in agreement, Safiyya grabbed her satchel off the ground, gulped down the remainder of her coffee and jogged over to Zinneera, who had grabbed her own beige, linen bag and was rifling through it to make sure she had everything she needed.
"I visited Mahmood earlier." Safiyya opened her bag for Zinneera to peer inside. "He gave us some milk and dates for the journey and a dua (prayer) for our success and safety. As well as a stern reminder for you to stay out of trouble."
"Me?" Zinneera smiled innocently at her friend, heading to the back of the house. "What trouble could I get into?"
Safiyya snorted. "Do not get me started or we will have to postpone our journey for tomorrow."
"My love!" Zinneera ignored her friend, opening the back door to see her black, Andalusian stallion tied to the fence, who neighed back with equal excitement. "Oh, how I have missed you Habiba."
Safiyya's Arabian horse watched complacently as Zinneera energetically patted and stroked her beloved companion as if this was the first time she had seen her in weeks, despite only seeing her last night. But as Safiyya reached her, she looked away and nuzzled her with quiet and undying affection. Safiyya smiled against Malika's soft white fur and looked into her wide, black eyes as she stroked her mane, before patting her encouragingly and preparing her for a long ride.
"Water flask, snacks for humans, snacks for horses..." Safiyya muttered under her breath, conducting a final search. Zinneera shook her head and leapt onto her loyal steed, checking for her most valuable item, tucked away in its leather sheath on the left side of her belt. Satisfied, she slipped on one of her black, cotton cloaks and covered up her sword, turning to her right to see Safiyya was finally sitting on Malika, ready to leave.
"Onwards?" Zinneera beamed and Safiyya mirrored her.
"Bismillah!" They breathed, before riding towards the open desert.
3 months later
"Ooh!" A little boy ducked between stalls and wooden carts, giggling as he chased the stray ginger kitten across the market and ignored the gasps of the men and women he almost crashed into. Wooden stalls were lined parallel to each other, spices, clothes and jewellery all gathering sand in the early morning sun. In between the stalls, some farmers had brought their carts full of milk or meat and the merchants did likewise with their own variety of products.
It was busy, given the time of day, as the locals wished to avoid the insufferable heat of the midday and afternoon. The relatively cool breeze and sweet warmth of the sun was easier to bear. And also rather pleasant. As adults shopped, the youngsters made their way to school, holding a satchel or simply a small number of papers and a quill in their small palms. Some of them got distracted and would stop to pet the goats, donkeys or camels loitering around until someone would tell them off.
"Got you!" The boy yelled, grabbing the kitten from under a cart and holding it in the air as he grinned as wide as his little face would allow him. The kitten responded with a mewl of protest, not sure whether to trust the boy or not. He did not notice the yelling and crashing coming only a short distance away from him.
"Khalid!" His mother mother gasped, yanking him away from the centre of the market and towards her, just in time, as two figures in black cloaks sped past, their apology floating through the air towards the mother and son. A few seconds later a group of men also stumbled past, though much less stealthily as the previous two.
Khalid held the kitten to his chest, protecting it from the dust left behind from the stampede as he looked on in shock and amazement.
"Mad people." His mother muttered. The kitten looked up from Khalid's shirt and let out a 'meow' before snuggling into his grasp and getting quite comfortable.
"Every time." Safiyya panted, gathering the bottom of her beige dress as she and Zinneera ran through the busy market, dodging as best as she could the stalls and the poor locals just trying to get on with their day. "Every time, you just have to lose your temper!"
"This is not my fault!" Zinneera snapped, only just about managing to leap over a stray dog. "He's the one that wouldn't shut his mouth! Besides, never mind that now! We need to get away without them seeing where we go!"
They briefly turned back as they heard a snap crackle through air. Some of the group chasing them had been held up as they broke an unlucky farmer's cart trying to clamber over it.
"Here!" Safiyya took her chance in the distraction, grabbing Zinneera and yanking her behind a sitting camel. They crouched down and tried to catch their breath, aware of the threat still handing over them.
"Look!" Zinneera pointed towards a domed building with people entering and leaving. "We can stay there until they leave us alone."
"Brilliant!" Safiyya nodded. "We should probably take off our cloaks first."
Once doing so, the pair ran towards the masjid and breathed a sigh of relief when they reached its shelter. Zinneera laid out her cloak to get comfortable on the ground.
"I am absolutely parched!" She reached into her satchel to get her flask and groaned quietly when she realised it was empty.
"Here." Safiyya handed her her own after gulping some down. "What do you think we should do now?"
"My vote goes towards taking a good nap." Zinneera sighed, propping up her bag in preparation. She looked up in the middle of the process and her eyes lit up."Nevermind, I will have a snack first." She beamed, as an elderly woman made her across the masjid, handing out pistachios for those who would take them.
Some of the women in the masjid eyed the two girls curiously. Apart from the fact that their brown and beige dresses were covered in dust and dirt, which the two had attempted to wipe off before entering, and that their hijab's were equally as messy and crooked, their swords lay sheathed beside them, half hidden under their black cloaks. However the polished silver handle stuck out, the golden tip reflecting the glowing lights of the candelabras in the masjid, catching the eye of every gossip in the vicinity.
"It is almost Maghrib (the sunset prayer). We should pray and then take a nap." Safiyya said after thanking the woman for the food. "Do you know how to get to the shelter from here?"
"I would have to take a quick look around." Zinneera winced at the loud crack of the roasted pistachio shell. "At least we are in a city this time and not another village. It is far easier to disappear."
"Oh." Safiyya suddenly spouted and Zinneera looked up, leaning against the clay wall of the masjid. She noticed her friend holding a small piece of paper with a scorpion on the back and immediately sat up straighter.
"How could they even find us that quickly? All these years and I still cannot fathom their methods." Zinneera eyed the elderly woman and her bag of pistachios, wondering if she even knew the small paper was in there.
"Well it is good news at least. They sent directions for the shelter starting from the entrance of the masjid." Safiyya held up the paper towards Zinneera. "The writing looks rather rushed, doesn't it?"
Zinneera hummed in agreement, eyes narrowed with her head tilted slightly to the right as she thought about whether it was something to worry about.
"Let's change our plan then. We will pray and leave immediately."