The Jewel of Zecaj | ONC 2022

13🔸Badriya

For the first intake of breath Badriya took as she entered the cave, darkness encased her whole, and with it, her mind.

Her head pounded suddenly, her vision fluttering. Shadows of men in thick clothing flashed into her mind. Their faces were all concealed except for their eyes filled with hunger and greed. They had long, wooden sticks in their hands, and they were swinging it toward her.

Badriya gasped. She was on her knees, trembling.

Dune robbers. Those men with the flails. . . they were dune robbers.

What in the world did she just see? A vision? A dream? It was too real for it to be either.

One of the haris yanked her arm, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Get up."

Badriya shot him a cold glance before pushing herself to stand.

"Careful with her, soldier," General al-Mulkiyyah said, turning behind her. "She's a possibly valuable asset, and I don't like my men man-handling women."

"Yes, General," the guard said. Badriya somewhat detected a slight sarcasm on his tone. Perhaps she assumed too quickly that Khadysians were more open to women than Zecajians. Same old, then.

As they began to trudge onward once more, Zaynab turned to Badriya. "You alright there, nobody?"

"The name's Badriya," she said, frowning. "And yes, I'm fine, but it's not like you really

care."

"Oh, so you're called Badriya?" The general hummed, studying her face. "I suppose should have guessed. It's too good to be a coincidence."

Badriya rolled her eyes. "Just because my name means 'full moon' doesn't mean it has something to do to anything right now."

In the shadows of the crackling torches, a smile danced along the general's lips. "We'll see."

Their group emerged from the tunnel and into a wider expanse of the cavern. As the guards' fire light flooded the cave with colors of ember, Badriya gasped at the stunning rock formations carved everywhere around them, from the sharp stalactites pointing above them to the smooth faces of the walls sculpted clean. A faint beam of light from the night sky filtered through a tiny hole in the cave's roof, the moon peeking at them.

Badriya almost slipped as the haris flanked her forward. They continued until they reached an opening much narrower than the one they have entered from outside. A cave within a cave.

Badriya assumed that it wasn't unusual for a cave this big to have more passages leading to hidden nooks and crannies, but what struck her almost senseless was the faded glyphs etched on sandstone on the smaller cave. Just above the foreign words was a crescent turned to its side like a minuscule arch.

It's the symbol.

General Mulkiyyah ushered a couple of guards to hover their torches closer to the inscription, and craned her neck to read them. Even with the bright light shining at the text, Badriya couldn't read what was written. She learned how to speak on her own, but she never had the chance to take on reading or writing. Only the wealthy did, but that would change soon enough for her.

"Beware," the general read. "Only the fullest of full moons whose hunger is beyond oneself can enter the cove. Unworthy of it are the worthy and the loved. You have been warned."

Badriya pursed her lips. "What does it mean?"

The general glanced at her knowingly. "It means you're going inside."

"W-what?" Badriya took a step from behind, only to be pushed back by the haris. "Why me? You're the one who wants the jewel."

"And you as well," Zaynab said. "I am no stranger to the silly scavenger hunt Shahrayar has decreed among his people. You're one of those jewel hunters who wish to sacrifice their lives looking for an object that may not even exist. You might as well sacrifice yours now."