As long as she lives | ✔️

Devious

The day greets with a harsh note of warning as fires broke out in two noble homes from different areas of Maicki.

It is no ordinary fire. How it started is still on the process of discovery. But one thing is certain, lives were lost, properties destroyed.

When Aairah read the news that morning, she just held her head in her hands and grieved deeply for those affected. Her heart felt like it is on fire. She wanted to just explode and destroy something! Anything!

All the people who died were commoners. Just maids and servants of those noble families who according to the papers willingly gave up their lives to save their masters. Those same masters raving stories of omens and dark tidings to achieve their desired goals!

Rubbish! Is this the dark ages! What servant gives their life for their masters now? And servants employed too. Not one or two. But seventeen lives! Lost!

On a fire someone started just to make her stop.

‘its not your fault’ madame Yula consoled.

Aairah tried to control the tears in her eyes as she looked at her elder companion.

Through the blurry curtain of tears, ‘I have underestimated them’ she stated simply. The words carried pain and anguish in equal measure.

‘what will you do?’ madame Yula asked her, feeling aggrieved by the sight of Aairah skiing back into helplessness.

Aairah accepted a scented kerchief and wiped her tears. Then she tried to compose herself as she said hoarsely. ‘lets review what really happened’

Madame Yula nodded. Then she said

‘the Yusuf clan has claimed a fire that was started without probable cause. They have lost ten people. And that is not their only tragedy. Among the victims of the fire is Hamad’s wife, the second son of the Yusuf clan. The same woman who has brought them so much power because her father is a powerful man who is held in high esteem by the emir himself. She is dead. This has destabilized the family and they weren’t ready for the attack on their lands towards the border. Some of their warehouses were raided and the result is catastrophic for their family business. They chose to blame it on the new marriage elected for Hamad. It’s a sign that the marriage is not going to bring any good to the family. After all, the commoner chosen for them is of a lowly birth and her ancestors were probably slaves that had done a lot of vile deeds in the past. Bad blood, they claim explains it all. But they expressed their willingness to pursue the marriage so their bad luck doesn’t quadruple by disrespecting the sacred leaders of Maicki’ she paused, seeing that Aairah is still just calmly listening, she continued her narration.

‘the other clan affected is the Taha clan. One of their farms caught fire and was razed to the ground. It’s a catastrophic loss for the clan as farming is their biggest livelihood. The heir apparent was attacked and now hospitalized and two of the family members have indeed caught with a strange disease’ she explained.

‘no one has spoken yet. But people kept likening it to the upcoming marriage. There is rumour going around that the nuptial will only bring bad luck to these families and should be stopped before it was too late’ she finished.

Aairah laughed bitterly. How people believe all these is beyond her. Most things are pretty simple. You just know that all things happen because Allah has made it happen. Bad lucks have nothing to do with marriages. Its just a phase of life. A test. But if they think they will use omens to wriggle out of the arrangement, they are sorely mistaken.

‘it is time Leier’ madame Yula reminded her gently, effectively ending the conversatiin.

Aairah had her makeup touched and then she tried to look unaffected as she travelled to the opening parade set to begin in a few more minutes at the grounds of Xarah militia.