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WHEN HE LEFT, SHE COULDN'T BRING HERSELF TO FALL ASLEEP.
It had started raining just after the sunrise, giving Azade little time to enjoy her beloved daytime and appreciate the protection it brought her.
"Mama, why does it never rain?"
"Because, Azade- jan it does not rain in the desert."
She remembered asking her mother questions like those frequently. Sitting on wooden end of the barn window, feet swinging out to touch hot sand below.
"Why?"
"Because, even the rain cannot bare the sight of chains."
She was eight when she saw her first rainfall, seeping through the holes in the roof above. Azade remembered screaming to her mother that they were free, padding her thumbs across the rainwater below her.
Rain was supposed to mean freedom.
Once she looked back up, she could see the scar across the mothers smiling eyes. A reminder that they were not free, bodies still owned and subjected to the scarring and beatings.
Owned bodies encasing free minds.
Azade; in a fit of restlessness, wondered that if the soft patters of rain meant that it was over. That she was free of the palace.
Of the king.
"Not yet." She whispered against the top of her palm, resting her cheek upon it. The views of the mountain tops were lovely from her side of the castle, the rare snow glinting from the peaks. Azade had never seen snow before.
"My lady! You're alive!"
Ehsan stormed in with an incoming hug that crashed upon the resting girl. She squeezed her into a bone-crushing hug with murmurs of prayers that had been answered.
"Sobh bekheir"
Vardin strolled in, carrying a tray of fruits and juices that Azade couldn't even imagine.
"That cannot be possibly all for me!" Azade mumbled in a slight gasp over Ehsan's shoulder. Vardin smiled, setting the tray upon the table across from the bed. The fruits and warm bread gave an intoxicating smell to the room, making Azade slightly drowsy with the sight of it.
"Anything for the future queen."
Azade scowled at Ehsan's comment, racing across the room to the tray. Picking up an orange in her palm, she peeled the skin back and bit into it.
