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 25
With a wish granted by Kareem, the first day of celebrations ended with a spectacular show of bursting lights. The midnight sky was painted with colors other than blue for once. Kareem told Badriya they were called fireworks, a recent invention by the Khadysians. While everyone watched them in awe outside, Badriya didn't bother seeing them till the end and retreated to her chambers. She didn't want people to flock to her and tell her what an amazing 'trick' it was. Besides, she was too exhausted to care otherwise.
She would have more time tomorrow to deal with their incessant praise.
As Badriya dragged her aching body through the empty halls, she let out a loud yawn that might've put her in shame in front of other people. It was still the first day of celebrations and she already felt like wishing everything to just go away for the sake of her sanity. What was she thinking when she thought she could hold a weeks-long feast? She didn't even lift a single finger to make the whole thing happen. Kareem did.
Speaking of the devil, the djinni appeared beside Badriya just as she stopped by her chambers' door. She was too tired to even react in surprise.
"You're missing out, you know," Kareem said. "If I didn't know that you were that kind of master, my feelings would be quite hurt."
Badriya puckered her lips. "I can always wish to have another one tomorrow."
"Your prince was one of the audience." He rocked on his heels, a mischievous glint on his eyes. "He looked like he was enjoying the show. Maybe he would enjoy it even more if a certain someone were around. . ."
"Oh, just leave me alone." With that, she slammed the door in front of his face.
The cycle of celebrations continued for the next several days. During those days, she met with seafarers from Naayik, plantation owners from Soom and other noblemen in Zecaj. They all came to her as if she was the most important person in the world. With their unique jobs and backgrounds, Badriya wanted to steer the conversation about them since she was a bit curious about the other nations. But they kept asking her every question in existence, from her origin to her 'secret' of success, whatever they meant with that. She spun the same lies over and over, she swore that she had every word retained in her tongue.
Even though she kept a smile on her aching face, the whole ordeal exhausted her inside. But she knew it was necessary if she wanted to keep the part of her new identity.
Before a new wave of guests was about to nag her, Badriya ducked her head and shuffled towards a table of refreshments, hiding her face with her scarf and looking down to make sure they didn't see her distinct facial feature. If it was she was good at hiding or people were that gullible, she did not know. But either way, no one came down at her.
Just as Badriya thought she was completely safe, a woman in a strikingly yellow robe stumbled towards the food table where she lingered. Badriya exhaled.
The woman was several years older than Badriya. A couple shades lighter too, which meant that she was either from Psamlah or Zecaj's northern neighbor, Soom. Other than her eye-catching dress, she had large green and yellow bangles that clinked with every wave of her hand. She uttered a few apologies as she made her way through, tripping on her gown a few times before reaching the table. The lady breathed a sigh of relief then helped herself with a few bites of spicy finger food.
"Such a lovely party!" The woman leaned beside Badriya. "Whoever organized everything must've outdone themselves!"
Badriya looked at her weirdly and slid the woman's arm off her shoulder. "For someone who's not drunk, you've outdid yourself acting like one."
"What?" the woman said, blinking at her, clueless.
"Forget it," Badriya said. "I'm not allowed to say anything since the Sultan wants to take credit for everything here."