Fortune Favors the Cursed
the-reticent-seer
diverselit
diverselit
1.3K5
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 ...Chapter 11
She remembered everything.
Perhaps it was an exaggeration, but still. Badriya couldn't believe that she was influenced by the same thing that ruined her old man, one of the few things that she ever hated in this damned world. She remembered how the smoke entered her nose, how her whole world slowly warped in front of her eyes. How the sand turned into a ground filled with sparkling rubies, the sun an enormous golden coin rising from the horizon.
How Ayaz looked like an avenging angel from the skies.
The mere thought of it made her skin itch. What was she thinking, going into a fight head-on? It was foolish, even for her. To think that she wanted to help Tehzib's children by helping Ayaz with a fight that he already had control on.
She was too reckless, letting her empathy overtake her logic. She was never too reckless. Not in situations like this.
She will never do it again.
As she counted Nahar's steps on the sand, Badriya distracted herself by the thought of the reward that would soon be by her arm's reach. She knew it was too early to claim victory, but she couldn't help but run her mind through the many things she would do with the gold once she presented the Jewel of Opulence to the Sultan.
A grand house of her own would surely be wonderful. She'd fill it with the biggest of beds and the coolest of baths, and maids would be given good wages to serve her dutifully. Her mansion would be bigger than the ones owned by the noblemen in Klalasha. Wearing the most luxurious silks from the eastern islands of Naayik, she would become the richest woman in the province. Perhaps even the whole southern region of Zecaj.
Sayyida Badriya As-Sahra, she thought. I like the sound of that.
As Badriya giggled at her musings, she found herself glancing at Ayaz riding not far beside her and frowned.
Unlike the slightly mischievous behavior Ayaz displayed the first day they crossed paths, he now had an. . . uneasy air around him. He often had his face covered as they traveled on, but when he did put his balaclava down, his expression was pinched as if something bothered him so much. He also spoke a few words on a given day, most of which he used to tell her they'd take a break after a long day of riding.
And the worse thing was, Ayaz wasn't looking at her in the eye. It was a telltale sign that she had done something wrong during her drugged state. She feared that she might have said or done something that revealed her intentions.
Don't be stupid, Badriya scolded herself. You didn't do anything. You've not broken your shield because of him.
If she had to guess something else, it might have something to do with the Jewel being kept in a cave at the edge of the country. She had to admit, the possibility of the Jewel just a footstep inside Khadysian territory worried her. There were rumors of sightings of Khadysian haris poking around Zecaj's border, but the Sultan hadn't done a thing since he couldn't accuse Khadys of trespassing without concrete proof.
But all of that wasn't a good reason to be anxious enough that you'd go silent for days.
Badriya pursed her lips. "You look horrible with frown lines on your face."
Ayaz snapped his attention towards her. "What?"
She paused for a second, regretting the way she phrased her words, but then continued. "It's been days, Ayaz, and you still look like you've drunk some rotten camel laban. What did I do to you? Just tell me so we can deal with it together and you can stop sulking around."
"N-Nothing," he said, but his reddening cheeks said otherwise. "I—You didn't do a-anything."
"You're a big lying himar," Badriya scoffed. "Be a man and look me in the eye when I'm talking to you. What did I do?" She pursed her lips. "Why are you blushing? Did I take your breath away or something, hm?"