The Jewel of Zecaj | ONC 2022

03🔸Badriya

"A pile of gold?" Badriya repeated. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, even from you, Rashid. You shouldn't believe everything you hear, especially gossip."

Rashid grinned. "We're not exactly known for saying true words, Riya, or hearing them. That's Khadysian business, and don't get me started on that. Besides, the messenger will address the whole town about it soon."

"How soon?"

"Right now. That's why we have to go to the plaza quickly."

The two of them were moving once more, with Rashid pulling Badriya in tow. Not a minute passed when they arrived to a wide sand clearing in the center of the chaotic tents and stalls of the souk. But the plaza was the one filled with crowds of people today. Men and their families stayed in groups and talked among themselves. Children roamed around as they played and screamed where their mothers could see them. A congregation of desert nomads milled at the far side of the square. Even the very few nobles who lived in the province were there, lounging under a canopy erected by their slaves.

It seemed that everyone was present, and that Badriya and Rashid were the last ones to come.

Several men wearing brass chest plates and gripping curved iron swords held their ground as a young man in simple finery stepped onto a platform in front of the audience. He might have passed for a regular nobleman's son if it weren't for the oblique-angled square branded in his forehead. It was the diamond, the symbol of wealth, prosperity, and luck. The symbol of the sultan.

"Citizens of Klalasha, province of the southwest," the messenger began. "I have journeyed from Zarab with a divine decree from the sultan himself. Hear my words and you shall be enlightened."

"We hear," the crowd said in unison.

"Sultan Shahrayar asks his people—all of you—to help him in his grand quest to wage war against our oldest enemy, Khadys," he said. "But, I am not here today to ask of you to leave your homes to become soldiers. The sultan wishes you to find the coveted Jewel of Opulence in his stead."

A wave of murmurs rippled among the crowd.

"Zecaj's Jewel?" Rashid whispered at Badriya. "But that thing is not real. Why is the king even looking for it?"

"I don't know," Badriya replied. "He's probably gone mad, if he wasn't already."

"The Jewel is an item known for its countless abilities told in myths," the messenger continued. "The sultan wants it to grant him immense wealth to aid for the war effort. The one to present the Jewel to him shall be rewarded with a tower of gold."

Almost everyone, including Rashid and Badriya, gasped. A rarity nowadays, gold was something that could get a person above and beyond the country, and even the other nations. People would pay you to become one of your servants, and with the enough amount, it would be possible to buy a whole country for yourself. It was that precious to everyone, and the sultan knew that.

If Badriya had the gold, she wouldn't have to worry about her next steal. She wouldn't have to sleep outside the cold nights in the desert and shiver till morning. And she certainly wouldn't have to smell like dung ever again.

She had to get the Jewel, even if it didn't exist.

"If you wish to volunteer, you may approach me or one of my escorts to help you start on your hunt," the messenger said. "You may return to your business."

As soon as he stepped down, the crowd began to dissolve. Some of the people remained and walked over to the messenger's tent behind the stage. Badriya and Rashid lingered somewhere in between.