Her Dawning Empire: The Prophecy

Chapter 76

I smiled widely when we reached Jamila and Dendera who waved enthusiastically when they saw us.

"Hanna! Ayla!" Dendi called out, pulling us into a hug as we neared and I let out a giggle as we pulled away from each other.

"It's so nice to see you!" I let out, over the music and I was being honest. With everything going on, it was nice to see some sense of a routine in our, otherwise, unpredictable schedule.

"Where's Saf?" Ayla asked, looking around with a frown and I watched as Jamila's and Dendi's gaze snapped to another, both of them smirking. I smiled knowingly at this, folding my arms.

"She's with Caius, isn't she?" I guessed, making Ayla gasp dramatically as she looked to the two girls in confirmation.

"Well, it's not all that surprising. They've been inseparable since last week." Dendera huffed out, flicking her chocolate brown hair back.

The concept of time had long since both puzzled and intrigued me. I could hardly believe that, less than a week ago, we were at Bomani's residence. It felt like an eternity had passed since that time. And, to think in the times where we were fighting The Ammit or the Sirens, Saf had been living her normal life. That was me, once upon a time, before I was thrust into the unknown world of Aaru.

"By the gods, I hope they last." Jamila muttered, a hopeful look in her eyes and we all nodded in agreement. A small silence passed before Dendera lit up, her grip tightening on my arm.

"Ooh! How could I forget?! The Hareeq!" She exclaimed which was shortly followed by the squeals of the other girls as they rushed forward, pulling me with them. I let out a yelp as we walked, turning to look at Ayla.

"Hareeq?" I asked curiously and Ayla nodded with a wide inconspicuous smile as we walked towards the edge of the centre where there were a few stalls, selling trinkets, food and the like.

"You'll see." She said simply and I rolled my eyes playfully at her vagueness. Nevertheless, I kept quiet as we bustled towards stalls, narrowly avoiding the crowds of people who were strewn across the centre. In actuality, there could not be more than 500 people but- when most were stood in conjugation to celebrate- it looked to be a lot more than that. I smiled politely at them as we slipped past before turning my gaze to the front as we came to a halt.

"Evening, girls, what can I do you for?" I looked to the speaker to see a boy about our age, with a curly mop of sandy brown hair and brown eyes. He was tall, but not quite as muscled as the males I have come to know, showing the vast difference in their livelihood and his. I looked around at the stall he was stood behind, specifically to the rows and rows of silver long sticks, that glinted against the lights.

"Don't act like you don't already know! Four of your finest Hareeq, please!" Dendi let out, her hands flailing exaggeratedly and Seb- as she had put it- merely rolled his eyes with a small smile before reaching over and grabbing the silver sticks, which I had been looking at before, from its place on the shelf in his small stall. She placed some coins down on the wooden surface of the stall in response.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to ask, Dendera. But, why four?" He asked as he turned back, looking to both her and Jamila in confusion to which Dendi merely rolled her eyes and snatched the sticks out of his hands.

"If you must know then it's for Ayla and Hanna." She mumbled, gesturing over to us distractedly with a quick point of her thumb whilst handing a stick over to Jamila who uttered a small 'thanks'. It was then that his gaze flitted over to us and his eyes notably widened before he nodded his head in a gesture of respect.

"Oh, leave the formalities, Seb. It's nice to meet you." Ayla interrupted his pleasantries, in a small soft voice that she often used when speaking to the males outside our circle. I had long since realised that this was just how Ayla was. Having been raised in the small run-down village in Olea Province, Ayla had become so accustomed to the ideology that she needed to be married in order to help better her situation, at least that's what her parents had led her to believe. From this, she was told how to sit, dress and talk so as to come off as a coy bride- men did not appreciate women who talked too much, was what she was ingrained with. Her parents had been very skeptical with allowing her to come here in the fear that it would affect her chance of marriage, but didn't dare go against the Gods and their intended wishes for Ayla's fate. She was chosen for this and no mere mortal could obstruct the wish of the Gods. It seems as though, however, their teachings had stuck and Ayla would often reinforce this whenever she spoke about males or the imposing importance of needing to get married soon.