Setting
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"You misunderstand me, witch. I do not claim to be a Rayya Sahat with a Djinn under my control. I am a Djinn. Born with the spirit of the sands in my heart. And they have been crying far too long and far too loud for me to ignore them. I fight because the Shahanshah is crushing the will of the humans. I will shed blood in order to restore that balance. To save you, to save my people, to save the world. It is the only way." She then turned to the chanting slaves and raised a clenched fist into the air. "Rise, brethren! You kneel to no one, now! Always remember that! You are free! You will fight so your kin in the next city over will feel the same freedom! You will fight so the miner will feel sunlight on his face for the first time in decades! You will fight so all are equal!"
But regardless of her musings, the chanting and jeering continued on around her. No matter what she thought on this rebellion, it was too late to change anything now. But, she knew she had to make some feeble attempt at something, and so Tisra called out to Suhalia once again. "I would beseech you to ensure the woman and children of the slave owners are spared. Even those Sheikh's, after all many of them are the children of his harem slaves. As this man said, whose life was nearly forfeit," She gestured to Bilal, "The only crime of many here is being born free and presuming that slavery is right simply because it is a fact of life. You have great power, but to hold that power and still show mercy, that is the sign of our true savior. Surely no one could deny the righteousness of such a leader."
"What is the meaning of this? What is all this yelling I'm hearing?" Abha demanded, not that she really had any room to demand anything from Astha, since Abha wasn't of pure blood and wasn't any better than Astha herself. Nevertheless, Astha answered her questions in stride, taking the girl's hand and starting to pull her back down the hall again to the open door, giving up on any hold she had left of her 'Don't Speak Past Noon' jibe. It was broken already, so a little more couldn't hurt. Repenting was for later times.
"The courtyard is in chaos." Astha explained in a rush, "The Goddess has come. I told you she would! I told you! And now she comes to free us from the Sheikh and bring us with her to paradise!" She spoke in whispers, hearing talking from the other rooms and habitually lowering her voice to not disturb.
The two girls crouched at the main door's threshold, peeking out from the ajar wooden door to the open spaces beyond. It was even louder than it had been seconds ago, all the slaves joining in a chant to cheer on Bilal, who stood by The Goddess and in front of the Sheikh, who was stiff and pale. Something sparked in The Goddess' outstretched hand, but Astha couldn't see what exactly. The Goddess was shouting now though, or more like announcing, in response to a voice from whom neither girl could see the owner of from their hiding place.
What The Mighty Goddess was saying however, could not be heard from where the girls crouched over the deafening chanting and jeers.
"Isn't she lovely? The Goddess, I mean." Astha shouted in Abha's ear, trying to be heard over the chaos, pointing to Suhaila with a scared hand and pure adoration on her face. Abha snorted in response, pushing the door open a bit more to get a better look.
"Your 'Goddess' looks nothing more than a murderer, if you ask me." Abha said with defiance before pointing to Bilal, "What are they going to do with that knife, hm?" Astha frowned. What knife? She hadn't seen a knife? Astha squinted, leaning farther out into the open to see. Then she saw it, the metal that had caught the light before in The Goddess' hands had been a knife, held out for Bilal's taking. How could she miss that?
"It isn't murder." Astha started slowly, "It is the will of the universe." That was all she said, resting her hand on the door frame to fix her footing, ready to watch everything unfold.
- 28 posts here • Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2