Chapter: Prologue
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
AU: Arabian Past Life
Rating: T (for language and some sensitive material)
Word Count: 11,475
Summary: "This is still wrong," Myasin interrupted. "I know it's been forever since we did this, but, as horrible as that man is, he doesn't deserve to be beaten and have all his belonging stolen." Myasin gave her decision a final thought. "Come on. Spots on Tikki."
A/N: This is a headcanon by the wonderful new-life-means-new-chances that I saw like forever ago. I really wanted to help bring it to life, so with their permission, I started this! I'm so excited to be working on this project with them and hope you all love just as much as we do! And it would really mean a lot to me if you would also check out the drawings they've done for this headcanon and help support them on their blog as well! And also, please, if you liked this, please also reblog it. I worked really hard on this and would really like for people in the ML fandom to see and enjoy this. No one will see it if you just like it. And lastly, I would like to dedicate this both new-life-means-new-chances for letting me write it and to vicky-artist for being my 100th follower! 3 3 3 Also, thank you so much to crmini and samurithecat for beta reading this for me!
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The sun is hot. The ground is hot. Everything is always hot.
These were things that always ran through her mind when it was time to line up at a new market place, it being a different market place each day. This was her second seller and the guy liked to move around a lot. Maybe because of the debts the seller owed to the people he would gamble with at night. Every trip was the same. Arrive in a new market in the morning, line up when the sun was high in the sky – 'so people could get a better look at them', he would say. If you're not sold, you would then go back to the camp, get tied up to the supports, sleep, wake up the next morning before sunrise by having dirty water thrown on you, pack up, and then endure a two to three day trip through the desert to the next destination. 'We can't over stay our welcome', he says. 'Some might get ideas in their heads', he says. Each morning, there's a new excuse for leaving. It was never the truth.
That was what she hated about this seller. He was lying scum. Even though she was lower in status, at least she spoke the truth. Her truthful tongue was actually why she had bruises all over her body and a slowly healing left black eye.
She stared down at her dirty feet as her seller harped on at the passing civilians. She remembers him saying that this kingdom's market place was full of upper class shoppers and travelers. Some were very generous when shopping for new things – whether the items were needed or not. That didn't matter though. She knew it was another lie. She knew it when they traveled in the night before. The smell of the poor was the first thing that hit her. The sight of one beggar after another, while walking to the market place, was the second piece of evidence. This kingdom might have a wealthy upper class, but it also had a massive lower class on the outskirts.
He's been going on and on all day, saying one line after another to try to make a sale. So far, one girl was bought, but not for the price he wanted. The buyer was harsh, and such a good negotiator that he almost received the girl for the price of a bag of rotten fruit. Almost. The merchant reminded the client that she was still a person and not rotten fruit. He still sold her at the price of regular fruit. So just for two coins more, she was sold under price but he thought he won.
Now there were two women talking to him. Talking about wanting to buy a gift for someone or for something. He instantly escorted them over to the line, introducing every girl to the two women himself – something he never does. Preaching about the good points about each girl, never mentioning the bad.
"This one has been used mostly as cleaning service, but can quite easily be trained in what you need."
'Yes, but she also has night terrors and can't hear in one ear.'
"And this one ladies, has had experience in the… private services. She can also be of use to you when the young master doesn't need her."
'So they need a mistress? Well she won't do. Her last owner sold her off because she gave him a disease.'
"What about her?"
The women were now examining her, turning her head this way and that – most likely looking at the bruising on her face – and then made her look straight at them. Both women seemed to be young, but old enough to be out on their own in the market. They were both dressed in brightly colored dresses and abayas with matching veils. Their dark skin was flawless and their hair looked as smooth as silk. Long story short, these women lived a good and wealthy life. The gold headpieces with jewels hanging just below their hairlines proved that point even further.
"Even though she's a little beaten up and really young compared to the rest, she is quiet beautiful and only two years younger than him," one of the women said once she approached her. She was thin, and her hair was long enough that it reached the small of her back. Her emerald green abaya matched her headpiece's jewel with a chartreuse colored embroidery along the edges. The rest of her dress was in a pear green color that complemented nicely with her veil, which was a lighter shade.
"True," the second woman voiced. She looked to be a bit older than her companion. Her matching dark garnet colored abaya and veil looked to be more conservative by leaving her dress color and hair length a secret. The woman's facial features also seemed to look a bit more serious than her friend's – her eyes quietly scanning the girl up and down.
"She is beautiful, but," here he goes, good points on everyone but her, "she is the youngest and very inexperienced for what you are asking for. I've only had her for the past few months and her last owner actually begged for me to buy her from him since she was very disobedient and frustrating. Also, she has quiet a sharp tongue on her and doesn't know how to control it at the moment."
He does this every time, up sales everyone else but her. Maybe that was because he wanted to keep her to himself. She tried running away once when her restraints were left loose and he seemed to have too much fun punishing her. More fun than when he would punish any of the other girls. "I have other selections you can choose from if you would like to move on."
"I think she'll do just fine," the woman in garnet commented, a small smile cracking on her face. "It'll be best to get someone closer to the prince's age and inexperienced instead of someone older and used."
'Wait, the person they're shopping for is a prince?' Her knees shook a little out of nerves. She's heard horror stories of women being owned by royal families; one where a girl was beaten regularly, and another getting her tongue cut out. The list went on and on in her head, leading to the worst case scenario she had ever heard of happening – a girl getting killed for no reason at all.
"That's what I was thinking! He doesn't really have anyone in the palace his age to talk to anyway." The second woman agreed. "It would be good for him to actually have someone that isn't a stuffy adult around."
"Ladies, I understand what you're thinking and respect it, but-," the man started, trying his hardest to not close this deal.
"Will this do?" The older woman interrupted as she handed over a small coin bag with a string tied around the top of it. "I know it's a bit more than advertised, but it's what we have."
The man looked at her a bit confused as he watched the woman start to untie the girl's hands and removed the sign off her neck. He opened the small bag and poured out a handful of gold coins, leaving some still in the bag. "Y-Yes. This will do just fine."
"Good. It was great doing business with you sir." The other woman said as she dismissed the man.
The woman in green gave a beautifully embroidered cloak to the young girl with a smile. "Here you go. We're going to go shopping and get you ready." Once she touched the girl's arm, her smile faded once she noticed her slight shaking. She then draped the cloak over her and started to escort her away from the line-up.
"Don't worry. There's nothing to be afraid of. Trust me."
As much as she wanted the words to be true, she still couldn't let them sink in. Even though she was only thirteen years old, she knew to never trust people right away. No matter how nice they seemed while taking her out to find new clothes to wear or while cleaning her from all the mud, dirt, and sand that was on her.
She figured out that the younger woman was named Kaela, and the older one was named Naima. Even with knowing their names, she refused to answer any of the woman-in-green's questions and had let the older woman do what was needed to clean her up. Her silence didn't stop them from doing what they wanted. Kaela went on and on about the prince and how nice he was – even though she didn't believe a word the woman said – while Naima poured cold, but crystal clear water over her head.
The pampering was new and uncomfortable since all she knew was how to survive. She was tense all over every time Naima, and sometimes Kaela, touched her while brushing her long dark brown hair and dressing her in one of the outfits they had bought for her. The fabric was soft and silky and felt better than anything else she wore in the past on her skin. The color of her dress was a pale daffodil color that complimented her skin color along with a powder blue abaya and matching shear veil that was the same length as her hair. The jewels they gave her were lined with silver beading with turquoise gems hanging down from the sides of her head and just below her hairline on her headpiece, resting across her feet on her anklets.
"Wow, you look so pretty," Kaela cheered once Naima was done with the preparations. The girl just gave Kaela a dead stare as her response, making the woman feel a little uncomfortable. "Well, you were pretty beforehand, but now you look really pretty all cleaned up. Kind of like a rare gem after you polish it."
"Yes, well this gem still has some polishing left to do," Naima commented as she walked up to the girl with a small jar filled with some kind of cream that was about the same shade as the girl's honey colored skin tone. "The bruises are light enough to not notice right away, but we still have to try to cover up that black eye."
Naima then smeared some of the cream under the girl's left eye and rubbed it in till she was satisfied with the result. The mark was still dark, but the cream covered the purple color of the bruise and made it seem like a healthy, honey colored glow.
Now was the moment. The one that made her tense ever since the two women took her from the seller. Kaela and Naima were now walking her through the extravagant palace hallways. Kaela rambling on and on about not being scared and how nice the prince was while Naima being was quietly fixing a loose hair on the girl's head now and then. As they approached two massive doors, Naima made them stop in front of the door to do a final once over of the young girl, making sure her headpiece was on straight and her hair was neat. "Kaela, you can go now, I'll take it from here."
"Are you sure? I don't mind coming along," she said, a little sad about being told to leave.
"Yes, I'm sure. Go see if there's anything that needs to be done before the feast tonight," Naima responded as she inspected the hidden black eye on the girl's face, spreading the cream some more to make it blend in with her skin color.
Kaela tugged at her fingers a bit, feeling upset that she had to go but still did as she was told. "Ok then." She then looked at the young girl.
"Don't worry, like I said, everything is going to be just fine," she said before taking her leave.
"She's right you know," Naima spoke out a moment later after her companion left. "We bought you under the sultan's orders of you being a mistress for his only son Prince Firnas. Now, there's a big chance that you wouldn't be used for that purpose, so there's no need to worry. The prince isn't one to abuse or use servants in that manner; he treats them more like equals and tries not to involve them in any sort of situation that would harm them in anyway.
"If he would use you for your intended purpose then I would have bought one of the older women in your group who were already broken inside – easier to deal with on my end. But I didn't. I bought you because you are closer in age with the prince and he needs someone his age in this massive palace." The girl just looked at Naima with her big brown eyes, not understanding why she was telling her all this and not believing a single word of it either. Naima just looked back at her, frowning a little after not seeing a bit of change in her from what she saw at the market.
"Listen, when Kaela said you would be safe here, she was right. She used to be in your position. Beaten every day by the hand of owner after owner and sold off to a number of people for cheap prices. But, she kept her spirits up and the sultan saw how sweet a girl she was and bought her to be a gardener once he realized how perfect her eye was when it came to beauty. Now Kaela lives a wonderful life she never thought she would have by just looking for the beauty in all things for the sultan."
'So I was just chosen because Naima liked my age and Kaela said I was pretty?' This didn't change anything about what she thought of the situation she was in, or about the people she has met.
"Me, on the other end," Naima continued, shrugging her shoulders and fixing the girl's veil again, "I was born in this palace and into this life and took over my mother's position as overseer of all female servants after she passed. I don't know what life was like for people like you and Kaela and I'm honestly not interested in hearing about it. But know one thing about me, I care about the girls I look after. So if anything happens, you can always come and talk to me if you want. If it's serious, I'll listen. If not, I'll let you talk."
The words touched the girl a bit, but not enough to change her views. She wanted to get what lay before her done and over with.
"Do you understand anything that's been said to you? Because providing somewhat of an education is not what I planned for." The girl nodded her head slightly to answer, just as done with the conversation as Naima was. "Good. Now let's get this over with so I can go complete my duties for the day."
Naima turned her back to the girl and stepped closer to the doors they were standing in front of. She knocked on the door three times before grasping onto one of the golden handles and pulling the door open. She then placed her hand on the young girl's shoulder and escorted her inside.
The room through the doorway was vast. Sheer red curtains hung around the walls and over the archway to a balcony. At one side there was a bed built for a king – or a prince in this case – covered in fabrics of all kinds of rich colors with gold embroidery. The color didn't just stop at the bedding, it continued on throughout the room to the pile of pillows in the corner, the cushions in the small lounging pit sunken into the floor, and on the fabrics that scaled the professionally decorated walls.
The other side of the room, near the archway leading to the balcony was bare in comparison to its other half. The only pieces of furniture throughout the half of the room was just a long, dark wooden lounge chair with both ends of the wood curled up and inward with two small throw pillows matching the cushion's colors, and a matching dark wooded table of reasonable size that had brightly colored floral decoration all along its edges, legs, and surface.
Resting on top of the table was a papyrus scroll that about covered the whole table when rolled out. Sitting in the table's small matching chair, writing on said papyrus scroll was Prince Firnas himself.
He was dressed in a canary yellow tunic top with cerulean blue square inserts that could be seen on the sides. Over the tunic was a white over shirt with matching canary yellow lining along the bottom edge and tied in place with a brown belt around his waist – a pair of white pants tucked into a pair of brown boots complementing the set. Gold bracelets covered both his wrist and he wore three different gold necklaces around his neck, one of them having an emerald shinning bright in the center of its pendant. Another emerald shined from the center of his headdress, just above his forehead. Poking through the edges of his headdress were strands of chocolate brown hair curling up and out in every direction, hinting that it was most likely naturally messy.
"Your highness," Naima spoke out to get the boy's attention.
"What is it Naima," he asked. Firnas's voice was deep but not intimidating and seemed to have a kind air to it.
"I have a gift from your father for you," Naima answered. She seemed really uninterested with the situation, as if going through the motions as quickly as possible.
The Prince then looked up. His skin was a dark almond color that was overshadowed by his bright emerald colored eyes – a brighter emerald than the gems he wore. He looked straight at Naima, seeming a bit angry and annoyed before darting his eyes at the young girl standing behind her. "No thank you," he said bluntly as he went back to his task.
Naima sighed and let her shoulders dropped, visibly exhausted with the whole situation as if she's dealt with this sort of thing before. "I'm not going to argue here, I have other task I need to attend to."
"Then have her help you."
"I'm sorry young prince, but you know your father would not like that. She is a gift, so I'm leaving her here with you."
"I said, 'no thank you.'" The prince's patience was obviously running thin.
Naima just simply smiled and bowed her head. "I guess this is a discussion you can have with your father. I'm sure he'll be in here shortly." She then stood straight and turned to leave the room.
The sound of the heavy door closing made the girl flinch, finally bringing to light of just how nervous she was. The prince stayed in his seat, his pen strokes becoming harsher as time went on. Firnas glanced over at the girl from the corner of his eyes. "You can sit you know," he spoke out causing the girl to jump again.
She looked around the room and didn't really know where to go. The bed made her want to puke, the lounge pit looked to be above her status, and the other free chair was too close to the prince for her comfort. Firnas glanced at her again after noticing that she hadn't moved. He then completely turned his head to look at her.
"I said you can sit," he spoke out, a confused and irritated look on his face. "Can you understand me?"
The girl looked back at him, feeling a little insulted by the comment. She might be from the lowest part of the social ladder, but she is not stupid. She nodded her head, trying hard to mask her irritated look but Firnas could see through it.
"Then sit," he said as he motioned to the chair behind him, the one that made her stomach tighten.
She waited for Firnas to turn back to his writing before moving toward the chair. The stone floor was cold underneath her bare feet and her anklets felt weird with each step she took. As the young girl approached the chair, she paused for a moment before sitting in the middle. When she looked up she noticed that the back of the prince's head was in her line of sight and just decided to keep her eyes down to try to help ease her stomach.
The silence was suffocating. The only sounds ringing through the room was the strokes of the prince's pen and the birds chirping outside. She looked up at the ceiling, amazed at the detail in the mock night sky above her head. The room really was lavish and filled with so many riches. This prince was obviously praised – or maybe spoiled, it was honestly too soon to tell. She had only been inside the houses of middle class merchants and high society socialites, but none of their homes compared to this one room. The stars on the ceiling were calming to look at, finding different formations she recognized really helped her stomach and nerves ease. That is till the door opened up again and made her nerves jump back in her.
"Firnas, my dear boy, how are you," a massive man booms as he breezes in the room, a petite woman following in behind him.
"Hello father," Prince Firnas greeted dryly, not taking his eyes off the sheets of papyrus. He then glanced to the side to see who his father had brought in, "Shamara," he said in a sort of hostile, dry tone.
The woman smiled, taking in the rude greeting in stride. "Prince Firnas."
"So this must be the sweet desert flower I had Naima and Kaela pick out for you," Firnas's father – the Sultan – beamed as he stepped closer to the girl. He easily towered over her once he was standing in front of her. His skin was the same almond color as Frinas's, but his eyes were a deep brown and his hair was a graying caramel brown. His smile was framed with a graying beard, but it didn't help calm her nerves one bit. "They did wonderful! She's so pretty, don't you think son?"
"Yeah, sure," Firnas replied dryly as he continued his writing.
The sultan's smile faded once he sensed his son's disinterest. "Firnas," he said sternly as he crossed his huge arms and looked down at the back of his son's head, "Are you not happy with your gift?"
Firnas took in a deep breath to calm himself as he set his pen down. He looked back and up at his father. "Father, the thought his nice, but this is really unnecessary. You know good and well that I have no use for her or plan to use her for the intended purposes. So, in the end, it'll be better to take her to Naima so she can use her for whatever she sees fit since you've already bought her."
Every bit of the cheerful aura that surrounded the sultan when he first walked in had disappeared in that instant. "Firnas, this is a gift to you, not Naima. You do this with every gift I give you and honestly I'm getting tired of your ungrateful attitude."
"I wouldn't have this attitude if you would just stop with the unnecessary gifts," Firnas retorted as he stood from his chair to size up with his towering father.
"Firnas," the woman that followed the sultan called out sternly.
"This doesn't concern you Shamara so please stay out," Firnas snapped back without looking away from his father.
The woman's mouth dropped open in shock. "Haidar!"
The Sultan closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, much like how his son had done before their stare-off began. "Enough of this. Firnas, I bought this girl for you, not Naima. Use her as you like. I don't care what it is. If this bothers you so much, we can finish this discussion after the feast tonight. Understand?"
"Yes sir," Firnas replied calmly.
"Good," Firnas's father responded as he patted his son's shoulder. "Shamara and I will see you tonight." With his final words said, Haidar walked over to the woman that had followed him and escorted her out as they both left.
After the massive doors closed, Prince Firnas dropped his shoulders. He pushed off his turban and threw it on the table behind him. Ruffling his, now confirmed, naturally messy chocolate brown hair. He then looked over at the last person left in the room, his father's gift. The girl was staring down at her lap now, a little uncomfortable after just witnessing what had happened. She never liked being the center of attention and never knew what exactly to do when owners spoke about her.
"How organized are you?" Firnas spoke out, snapping the girl out of her frozen state. She looked at him a bit confused. "I need a personal assistant. Can you do the job or not?" She nodded her head in affirmation.
She's never been an assistant before. Cleaning girl, yes. Entertainment for parties, yes. A nanny, yes. But she had never been an assistant; that was always a too high of a position for her. But maybe it wouldn't be that hard. Throughout her time as a slave, she would see other servants be assistants for their owners and they seemed to have it all under control. "Good. I'll need you to keep up with my daily schedule. Naima can explain it all to you, but for now, just stay in my sight tonight at dinner and come when I call for you until I say otherwise. Understand?"
She nodded her head again. The task seemed simple enough. "Ok then, I'll have someone take you to your room now and then get you when it's time for the feast." Firnas then started to walk toward his door to flag a servant down so they can escort the girl to her room.
The idea of being an assistant seemed to settle her stomach. But the idea of attending this feast still made her nerves remain an absolute wreck. With her past experience, she never liked being part of a big event – anything possible could and would happen. She liked to work behind the scene more. There, she knew she would be safer in the shadows.
Firnas called in a guard to take the young girl to her room. Once the two were out and the door was closed, the Prince walked over to the chair that the girl once sat in and practically fell down on it, feeling exhausted, and stared up at his star decorated ceiling. Over at the table, a little black figure pushed its way out from under the discarded turban and flew over to Firnas.
"Was all that really necessary?" the tiny figure asked as it hovered over Firnas's face. He looked up at the little figure, his expression unchanged at the site of it. The little being was all black except for his big green, cat-like eyes. Cat-like ears sat on top of his head and whiskers protruded out from both his cheeks and one from the top of his head. Curling between his feet as he hovered over the prince's face was a black tail that would swish side to side now and then.
"Plagg, I'm not in the mood to talk," Firnas spoke out, staring straight at the little being.
"What I'm saying is, you could've just kicked the girl out right when that lady brought her in. You know, just so you could have avoided your father coming in and staring you down," Plagg responded back with a shrug. "But besides that, it was funny how you told off that woman he brought in."
"Shamara is such a pain," Firnas groaned as he closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head. "She needs to go ahead and realize that father is only paying attention to her just because he's about to marry off one of her daughters."
The little creature floated down and sat on Firnas's forehead, letting his tail rest between the prince's eyes as he laid back. "I say you should just knock her down a peg tonight. She's too smug and your father might get angry with you, but he won't be angry for long."
"If she tries to control me or talk down to me again, I will."
Plagg let a huge grin spread across his face as he laughed at the thought. "I can't wait to see that!"
The guard that the prince had called escorted the girl down the hall to a small dark wooden door with a golden handle. The door was relevantly close to the Prince's room, which wasn't surprising since she was bought to be a mistress. She pushed open the door and walked into a room much smaller than the Prince's – only enough room for a bed, small desk and chair, and a wardrobe – but much bigger and in better condition that places she had lived in before.
The color scheme in the room was mostly red, reminding her of what the room's intended purposes were. The red pillows on the bed all had gold embroidery all around their edges. Across from the door was a small balcony with red shear curtains hanging down. Through the curtains, the girl could see a little dark figure zooming by outside. She hurried over to the small balcony and pushed the curtains aside.
"Tikki!" she whispered sharply as she leaned over the edge and looked around the outside. Just below her balcony was the courtyard and there she could see people working in the gardens or just walking around and enjoying the scenery. A little red being then zoomed in front of the girl's face, its blue eyes wide and its little red chest heaving up and down, obviously out of breath.
"Thank goodness! I thought I lost you," The small figure cried as it flew into the girl's shoulder as to hug her. The little figure was red all over with the exception of black spots on her forehead, cheeks, and back. It also had little antennas protruding from the top of her head and a sort of three-tiered, bird like tail behind her.
"What happened? Are you ok?" Tikki asked as she floated up to hover in front of the girl's face. "Where are your earrings," she asked, her blue eyes widening even more once she noticed the girl's bare ears.
"I'm fine Tikki," the girl said, trying to calm the little being down. "I was bought for one thing and now I'm being used for another. And don't worry," she reached into the small pocket in her abaya and pulled out two little red earrings that each had five black dots on them, "I swiped them before they could toss them out with my old clothes."
Tikki let out a sigh of relief when she saw the trinkets gleam in the girl's hand, but then frowned once she remembered what the girl said first. "I really don't like this life for you."
Talking about the girl's life style really saddened her. Tikki wanted her to have more and be more than someone's servant. She wanted her to be happy and safe.
"I know, but life isn't always easy." The girl put the two earrings back in her pocket; still not sure whether it was safe to wear them now or not. "Besides, the two women who bought me have both said that I'll be fine, even though I'm not so sure about that yet."
"I'm sure they're right," Tikki smiled. "Those two looked really nice back in the market and if they said you'll be safe here, then I'm sure you can trust them." The girl gave the little being an uncertain look. She learned at the very beginning of her life to never really trust people so easily, no matter what. Tikki then placed her little hand on the girl's cheek. "I believe they're right. And if I believe them, then you have nothing to worry about."
The girl smiled, the first time all day. "I guess so."
"Trust me, everything will be alright and I will be right there with you every step of the way." Tikki then floated up to the girl's forehead and kissed it, finally getting her nerves to settle.
Her time to enjoy her first real room, with a real bed and with her only friend, sadly ran short. Before she knew it, the young girl was summoned to accompany the Prince to the well-awaited feast. The banquet hall was massive and was drowning in riches. Brightly colored purple fabrics were draped from the ceilings and down to the pillars that created archways leading to a massive balcony overlooking the city in the palace's shadow. Colorful pillows, seating, and rugs were placed in about every open space that wasn't being regularly used.
In the center of the hall was a massive table that could seat almost 100 people, maybe more if they were just as friendly and touchy as the current patrons were. At the head of the table sat the Sultan with the guest of an honor, a visiting friend of his sitting next to him. Prince Firnas was seated to the other side of his father with Shamara sitting next to him. The rest of the cushions around the table were filled with other guest of the Sultan's that would frequently visit the palace, nobles that proudly spoke about being part of the Sultan's court, and the rest of the Sultan's mistresses and daughters enjoying themselves and entertaining others.
Off to the side of the banquet hall, other servants and assistants lined against the wall facing the long table, each waiting to be called on to do a job. She stood in the line, the feeling all too familiar, and did what she was told earlier and tried to stay within the Prince's sight. She could tell he was obviously irritated with the entire event. When she approached his room a few moments earlier, Firnas was displeased with having to leave the room and his irritation grew when he saw that his father had him sit next to the woman that he had argued with earlier. The young servant girl understood his feelings since she was irritated too.
She never liked events like this, something bad would always happen. And with her luck, it would always happen to her. The noise just added to her suspicions. Everyone at the event was getting louder and louder as time passed. As she began to pull at her figures, she wished that Tikki were with her, quietly whispering encouraging words in her ear to calm her. But they had a deal. To keep Tikki safe, she would stay out of sight and away while the girl worked. Tikki was her only friend and she never would have wanted the possibility of losing her.
The boom of the Sultan's laugher snapped the girl out of her thoughts and jump back into reality. The guest of honor was telling stories about his travel to the kingdom and they seemed to be very amusing to everyone – except the Prince. He kept his head down for most of the dinner and only gave quick and simple responses whenever someone spoke to him, yet now, he seemed a bit different. He kept his eyes turned away from everyone and really tired his hardest to not stand out. It almost seemed like he was nervous or uncomfortable about something. He reached out for his cup and threw his head back to drink the rest of its content. As he straightened up, Firnas glared at the annoying woman next to him, who had momentarily stopped scolding him before looking down at his empty cup.
The Prince then looked around the table for a server, but was unable to find one. Firnas then stared across the table, past his father's honored guest, and over to the bare wall across from him straight at his new assistant. The girl had her head down at the moment, a familiar position to her, but could feel a burning sensation on the top of her head. Once she looked up, she nearly jumped when she saw the Prince's bright emerald eyes staring straight at her. He didn't seem to be pleased with whatever it was that had upset him. Was it the event? Where he sat? The guest? Or was it that the girl took too long to notice him?
Still staring at her, Firnas held up his cup and shook it, signaling that he was out of his drink.
She snapped right to work, looking around for the nearest jug and taking it with her to the table. As she walked around the table and to where the Prince sat, she could clearly hear the supposedly entertaining story that the guest was telling to the Sultan.
"And if that wasn't enough, the little thief thought he could easily steal from me directly," the guest of honor boasted, seeming to be a bit insulted. "That little rat might have been successful with his thefts here, but I wasn't going to let him get away with stealing from me so easily."
The Sultan laughed at the comment. "Maybe you should be my Captain of the guards then, my friend. My current one doesn't seem to be doing a good job at catching the little thief. He steals from me and all my guest practically every night and still gets away somehow!"
"Maybe your men just need to be a little more brutal, Haidar. Like me," the guest boomed. He was about as big as the Sultan's build, but he seemed to be more muscular. It was the kind of build that made the girl nervous to even be in the same room as him. "All that it took to take that little bastard down was one big punch in the gut and he ran away with his tail between his legs."
The young girl kneeled down next to the Prince and she noticed Firnas tightly gripping his stomach under the table. He was drinking more than eating at the dinner; so maybe refilling his cup was something she shouldn't do. But, she was summoned over to refill the drink, so she had to. Firnas turned back to hold his cup up to the girl, but was surprised to see her kneeling behind him. The Prince gave her a confused look, but her head was still cast down so there was no use in wondering what was going through his assistant's head. Firnas held his cup out to her as he leaned back and rested his weight on his free hand, using the moment as an excuse to further himself from the crowd.
"You there," the guest boomed from across the table, "my cup is empty as well, fill it!"
Firnas glared across the table at the rude patron.
The girl froze a bit before standing and walking to the other side of the table, trying to calm her nerves with each step. The man reminded her of the horrible people in her past that she would much rather forget. And just because of that, she went into autopilot and just moved through the motions.
Walk over. Kneel. Pour. Walk away. Don't say a word. Do what you're told. She finally came back to reality as she started to stand. So far, so good. Just turn and walk away.
The guest abruptly spit out his drink after taking his first sip. "What the hell?! This is water! I wanted more wine," he yelled, quieting the entire table.
Firnas froze from taking his own sip. He looked down in the cup and saw that it was water. 'She grabbed the wrong the jug,' he thought to himself.
The young servant was shaking with fear on the inside as she froze in place, her knees still partially bent from standing up. She looked down in the jug and saw that she grabbed the jug used to water the plants instead in her hurry over.
I messed up. Damn it. I'm dead.
She looked up slightly from the jug and at the guest, another wrong move. "Don't look down on me bitch," he yelled as he threw the contents of his drink on her. "Now go get me the right drink," he boomed again, now adding more brutality to his demand by hitting her in her face with the back of his hand, the rings on his fingers hitting her exactly on her cheek.
She easily fell to the floor and dropped the jug on the ground. Just as the jug shattered on the ground, something else flew across the air and landed on the monster of a man. Firnas had thrown a dish plate at the brute and his face was blood red and eyes angrily sharp. "Firnas," his father's current favorite mistress hissed once she realized what had happen.
The Prince stood up fully from his cushion and stomped over to the other side of the table, his expression not changing one bit. He hurried over to help his assistant up from the floor, checking to see if she was ok but his anger only grew when he saw that one of the rings cut the girl's cheek.
"You ass," Firnas snapped as he looked down at the guest. "I swear, if I ever see your ugly face or see you command my assistant around again, I will make you regret it greatly!"
As Firnas ushered the girl out, his father suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.
"You'll have to forgive him," he started as he tried to calm himself down. "I just bought the girl for him and he can be really possessive with his things. There is even this ring I gave him years ago that he still refuses to take off. No matter what the reason might be."
"Yeah, well, possessive or not, you really should teach that child some manners," the annoyed guest responded as he started to wipe the thrown food off himself as everyone awkwardly tried to start to converse again.
The walk from the banquet was tense. Literally. Firnas's grip on her shoulder was starting to hurt and she could feel his nails start to dig through her abaya. His other hand was tightly gripped around her arm, and she swore that she was going to wake up with new bruises in the morning. That was what she thought till he finally let go. She noticed that he had walked them back to his room after he pushed the door open. Firnas then released his grip on the girl and started off somewhere in the room.
"Sit," he commanded sharply. She did as she was told and walked over to the lounge chair that she sat in earlier that day.
I'm dead. I am going to die. I messed up and now I'm going to die. This is it for me. I'm so sorry Tikki.
Something cold touching her injured cheek snapped her back to reality and she jumped back as far as she could without falling off the seat. Her mind told her it was a blade, but when her eyes focused it was really a wet cloth.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Firnas spoke out as he looked down at her. "I just need to get this cream Naima put on you off so I can see how bad the injury really is." She looked at him, still uncertain about what was going on. The Prince still looked mad, but a lot less than he was a few moments ago. Firnas knelt down before her, making her jump a bit from confusion.
"It's ok. I don't like the whole servants-must-always-be-lower-than-me thing that other royals do. Now look at me," he commanded as he grabbed the girl's chin and made her look directly at him. Firnas quietly cleaned off the cream from the girl's face with the washcloth, keeping a firm grip on her jaw so she wouldn't be able to turn away again. "So that's what you really look like," he spoke out after wiping off the last bit of the face cream. "I would have to actually give Naima some credit. She really covered a lot this time."
The Prince now saw that the new mark nearly covered the girl's whole cheek and the skin was starting to swell around the fresh cut. He could also see a faded black eye under her left eye and a very light bruise protruding from her hairline with a hint of a fresh scar in the middle of it. The old wounds made Firnas's irritation grow. He looked down at her hands in her lap and quickly grabbed one. She jumped instantly from the sudden movement.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Just want to see something," Firnas said calmly as he forced the girl's hand up till she finally calmed and let him do as he pleased. He pushed back the sleeve of her abaya and could clearly see the rope burn around her wrist. He then dropped her arm and instantly grabbed one of her feet. She quickly tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight.
"Will you calm down already?! I'm not going to hurt you," Firnas snapped as he looked straight at her. She decided to just give in once again. He was obviously stronger than her, so no use fighting. Knowing that he had won, Firnas went back to pulling out one of the girl's legs from the skirt of her dress.
"There's a mark here too," he mumbled, referring to the rope burn around her ankle that her anklet tried to hide. Firnas stood up and pushed his turban off. "Naima tried, but she didn't try hard."
He then handed the cloth to the girl as he threw the turban beside her on the seat. "Put this on your wound."
She complied and put the wet cloth against the cut on her swelling cheek, the wound stinging her a bit as she did so. Firnas looked down at her again, his irritation growing again.
"Open your mouth," he snapped as he crossed his arms. She looked up at him a little shocked and scared. "Open it," Firnas demanded again as he reached down and grabbed her jaw, forcing it open after somewhat of a fight. "So you do have a tongue," he practically shouted in angered shock. She pulled her jaw away and looked away from him.
"Since you do have one, that means you can talk. Now talk because all this silence is really irritating me." If the silence was irritating him, the personal space invading inspections were irritating her.
"Ok so let me get this straight," Firnas spoke out annoyed, "someone taught you how to understand others, but didn't spend any time teaching you the basics on how to talk?! Or did you just never learn any form of communication?"
"I'm not stupid," a faint voice spoke out. Her voice. She had had it with people in this palace thinking she didn't know how to do basic functions of life. She knew how to talk. She knew how to understand people. She knew how to do a lot of things. She was just limited to actually doing those things because of her status.
Firnas stared down at her, confusion and shock in his eyes. "So you can talk," he laughed as a smirk spread across his face.
"Of course I can talk," the girl mumbled. "I just choose not to since… I'm usually not allowed to."
"Well, you're allowed to now," Firnas responded as he sat down on the ground in front of the girl and crossed his legs.
"And with that said, here are other things you are now allowed to do, but first," Firnas looked up at her, "I need to know your name."
She looked down at him confused. "My name?"
"Yes. You're my assistant. If I need to call on you, I need to know what to call you."
"Didn't they already tell you my name though? It's uh," she thought back to what her sign had said when she was bought – it usually changed every day with each market place she was taken to, "Samira?"
Firnas could instantly tell that that wasn't it. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes in frustration. "I didn't ask for your advertising name, I want to know your real name."
'My real name?' No one has ever really asked for her real name. The only person that had asked and called her by her real name was Tikki. "M-Myasin."
"Myasin," Firnas said, making sure that she was telling the truth. The name was pretty and one he's never heard before, but knowing if it was the truth or not was what mattered the most at the moment. After a few moments, and noticing that the girl wasn't wavering like she was before, Firnas decided that this name must be the truth.
"Ok then Myasin, first thing's first," he started, letting some of his irritation go and trying to seem a bit kinder, "I would really like to apologize for what happened earlier at the dinner. What that pig did was unacceptable and should have never happened."
"No, it was my fault," Myasin interrupted, mentally slapping herself after she realized what she had done, "I-I grabbed the wrong jug. I deserved it."
"No you didn't," Firnas practically shouted, making Myasin jump in her seat. After noticing that he scared his assistant again, Firnas pushed his hair back as he let out a frustrated sigh.
"Sorry," he mumbled as he stood up from the floor and started to pace around an open area of his room.
"Look, Myasin," he paused to look at her for a moment, "you're my assistant now, which means you should never be treated or let someone treat you like that ever again, no matter who it is. And if someone does end up doing something like to you again, I want you to either fight back or come to me. Understand?"
Myasin was silent and Firnas noticed that her eyebrows had knotted a tad bit.
"Of course you understand, sorry." Firnas pushed his hair back once again. "But, with that said, since you are my assistant, that also means that you are allowed to do other things that you probably weren't allowed to before. For starters, you need to stay by me and assist me and only me. That means that if I'm in the banquet hall either eating or talking to my father, you need to be there next to me. Not off to the side or behind me, but right beside me. We're equal partners in this arrangement, not master and servant."
"I understand," Myasin spoke up once she felt she could without interrupting the Prince.
Firnas looked at her a little confused. He then thought over what all he had just said and realized that he just basically repeated himself in that little rant of his.
"Right, of course you do. Sorry," he mumbled to himself. He then caught the young girl give him a confused look. "See? That was what I was talking about, with us being equals and all."
Myasin relaxed once she understood why the Prince apologized to her. 'This is a bit weird,' she thought to herself about the whole equal standing thing he was trying to explain to her.
"Yeah, so," Firnas sighed.
He then walked back over to Myasin and turned her head so he could get a better look of the cut on her cheek once again.
"It's been a long day," he said as he dropped his hand. "You might as well go to bed. Also, your cheek will keep swelling, and I'll have someone come to your room to look at it a bit more, so it won't get infected. You should really keep the wet cloth on it till then."
Myasin picked up the cloth and pressed it against her cheek again as she stood. "Is there anything I need to do for tomorrow? Since I'm your… assistant and all." The job title was completely new to her and will take some getting used to.
Firnas thought for a second and then suddenly smacked his face once he realized that Myasin was still clueless about her position.
"Damn it, I was supposed to send Naima to your room earlier to explain things. Sorry." He then looked at her with an apologetic expression. "Let's just say tomorrow will be a rest and learning day for you since your first night wasn't a peaceful one."
"Ok," Myasin said, a little confused. An owner had never given her a rest day or even a learning day before. She was always just expected to know her job and work it at all hours of the day.
"Good, now you should go to bed," the Prince spoke out as he started to walk over to one of the curtain covered walls in his room. He pulled back a section of the red curtain to reveal a door behind it.
"Um, what is that," Myasin asked, both a little curious and scared.
Firnas looked at her a bit confused. "The door to your room. Didn't Naima mention this?"
"No!" This was news to Myasin. "Um, I mean, no," she corrected herself after thinking she was a bit too sudden in her response. The thought of having adjoining rooms really made her uncomfortable and utterly shocked. This meant that Firnas had easy access to her room whenever he wanted.
"Oh," Firnas sounded, a bit surprised by the information. "Well, yeah. This is the door to your room. It's hidden on your side as well, I think. But don't worry, I won't use it and have no intention to. That is, unless I absolutely have to. But that will only happen if there's an emergency. Although for tonight, I just don't want you walking out by yourself while that bastard is here. So, if you need to speak with me, use this door while he's here, please."
"Ok," Myasin agreed, feeling a bit weird about the Prince's kindness. During her 13 years of being alive, Tikki had been the only person she had known. But, after the different levels of hell she has experienced for the past five of those years, there was a very small chance a second person's kindness will change her view on the world she lived in. A very small chance.
Firnas turned the knob on the small door and pushed it open. "Well then, good night Myasin," he said as he stepped to the side.
Myasin hesitated for a bit, still feeling uneasy about the Prince's kindness. She then slowly took the few steps needed toward the threshold. "Good night your highness."
"Firnas is just fine."
"Ok, then. Firnas." Myasin then walked into her room and closed the door behind her.
Firnas let the red curtain fall back into place and hide the door once again. "Hey Plagg," he called out as he started to walk away from the door and toward his balcony, "want to go cause some more bad luck for a certain overweight bastard?"
The little dark figure flew out from his hiding spot inside his partner's turban and had a massive grin spread across his face. "I thought you would never ask. I've been dying to get back at him for punching us the last time!"
::::
"He said that?! Really?" Tikki exclaimed after hearing about what happened to her friend. "That's so sweet!"
"He's just protecting what's his," Myasin replied dryly as she poured some more water on the cloth she took with her from the Prince's room. After ringing out the excess, she pressed it back against her wound – hissing in a breath as she did.
After the slight shock of seeing her come in through a hidden door, Tikki started up on her constant questioning of the night's events, especially questions she had about the new cut that was on Myasin's cheek.
"Whether he's being sweet, or just protecting what's his, the gesture is still really kind. He even took the time to examine your injuries and try to treat them. No one but me has ever done that before. I bet you're really happy on the inside." Tikki couldn't hold back a huge grin on her face as she floated around Myasin's head.
"Tikki, I'm more tired and skeptical than happy right now," Myasin deadpanned. "No one is ever that kind unless they have an ulterior motive."
"You don't know that! I'm kind, but I don't have an ulterior motive." Tikki tried her hardest to express a pouting expression on her face, but failed. No matter what face the little red creature made, Myasin always thought she was too cute.
"You're different Tikki," she smiled as she poked Tikki's little stomach, making her giggle.
"Ok, ok. But really, maybe this one's different from the rest," Tikki said as she floated over to the bed and landed on the silk red pillow. "I mean, after everything you told me, I think he's serious with treating you as an equal. He even saved you from that horrible man that hurt you. I think you should at least give him some benefit of the doubt."
"I don't know Tikki." Myasin walked over and sat on the bed with her friend, placing the wet cloth down beside her. "I've been owned by people who were nice at first before and each time I dropped my guard around them, they would always turn for the worse."
"But this one's not an old smelly man," Tikki said, proving a major point. "This one is younger and is trusting you with things by making you his assistant instead of his mistress. Also, you have other people here to talk to, like the nice women you met at the market."
"Naima and Kaela?" Myasin briefly tried to remember them and how they acted. She was only with them for the first part of the day and the following events made that time seem like it happened days ago.
"I don't know," Myasin sighed as she grabbed a pillow and hugged it, "Kaela seems to be too interested in my looks, and something about her constant questioning makes me uneasy."
"Then what about Naima? She seemed like someone you could trust," Tikki suggested.
"Yeah, but she kind of scares me a bit. I kept getting the feeling that she wanted nothing to do with me and that I was just trouble for her." Out of slight fear from remembering the feeling she received from Naima, Myasin hugged her pillow a bit tighter.
"Maybe that is just how she is," Tikki said as she floated up and patted Myasin's head. "I'm sure they're both wonderful people! You just need to open up a bit more. But, whenever you're ready that is."
Myasin smiled at her friend, but quickly let it fall once her wound started to hurt.
"Stop him!"
The loud commotion caught both Myasin and Tikki's attention right away. Myasin crawled over to the other side of the bed and stood up to walk over to the small balcony. "What's going on," Tikki asked as she flew over to her friend's side.
Down in the courtyard, guards were all running out with weapons in hand. The loudest person shouting commands was the Sultan's honored guest, the man who gave Myasin her new wound. Even from the top of her balcony, she could see that he must have been in a fight, judging from his disheveled look. As the man kept shouting orders to guards that weren't even his, Myasin looked around to see what or whom they were chasing. Down in the courtyard, the guards were cornering a dark figure against the wall of the palace gate. Just before the guards could apprehend the intruder, the figure jumped up and started to climb up the palace wall.
"Stop him you fools! The bastard's getting away with all my money," the guest shouted as he ran over to the astonished guards.
"Should we stop him?" Tikki asked. "I mean, I know that man is horrible and probably deserves this for what he did to you, but-."
"This is still wrong," Myasin interrupted. "I know it's been forever since we did this, but, as horrible as that man is, he doesn't deserve to be beaten and have all his belonging stolen." Myasin gave her decision a final thought. "Come on. Spots on Tikki."
Just as the intruder reached the top of the wall he could still hear his victim yell at the guards.
"What an ass," he said to himself as he looked back down the wall at the events below. The stranger was dressed in simple coffee brown colored pants, tattered sleeve-less top, vest, and a dark brown belt. His face was covered by a slightly lighter colored turban that covered the bottom half of his face, still allowing his bright green eyes to piece through the night. Around his neck was a simple black necklace with a green stone in the center that matched the black bracelets on his wrist and black metal claw-like rings around his fingertips.
He untied the bag that was full of his spoils from his belt and looked inside. "And he's doing all this for just a few coins and jewels. He's like a big spoiled child and obviously doesn't deserve this."
The stranger then turned and started his way to the other side of the wall, preparing to scale down and be off on his way. He easily jumped off the wall, still amazed at how easy his crime turned out to be, but quickly felt something wrap around his torso and stop him in mid-drop, causing him to slam against the wall.
"What the hell?!" he shouted in pain. The intruder looked up and saw someone standing at the top of the wall, holding him up with the string that wrapped around his upper body. At the end of the string, there was a rounded red disk with five black dots on it being used as the counterweight. The stranger had a black veil mask their face that was wrapped around her head with her hair tucked inside. They were wearing a red and black polka-dot shirt with a red over shirt tied in place by a black belt and a pair of black pants. This person was obviously not one of the guards.
"Give back what you stole," the person standing on top of the wall shouted.
"Like hell," the intruder yelled back. He then felt around for a small staff that was attached to his belt.
The staff was all black with a ball shaped motif at the top that had an emerald colored paw print on it. After working his small staff off his belt, he then awkwardly unsheathe a hidden dagger inside of the staff and spun it around in one hand to start cutting the string that was around him.
Once the person on top of the wall saw the shimmer of the blade and realized what the intruder was planning, they panicked for their safety. "No! Don't do that! You'll fall!"
"Don't care! A cat always lands on their feet!" With that said, the intruder easily cut through the thin string around his upper body and dropped to the ground.
"Oh no!" the mysterious person on top of the wall shouted. They instantly jumped down after them, using a second string weapon to replace the one so that they could use it to ease themselves down slowly instead of falling straight down.
Once they reached the bottom, the veiled person quickly scanned the area for the intruder. 'Where are they? There's no way someone could survive that fall.'
Suddenly, the masked person was forced backward against something hard when a bar was forced against their neck.
"You have got to be kidding me," a voice rang out angrily behind them, it was the intruder, "it was girl a trying to stop me! A small one too!"
The said girl then jabbed her elbow back into the crook's stomach, using the advantage of his staff in front of her to flip him over.
"Yeah, well this girl just put you on your back," she retorted as she slammed her foot on his chest once he hit the ground. "Now return what you stole from the palace!"
"As if that will ever happen," the thief responded as he rolled his eyes. "That bastard can survive with a few less coins and jewels." He then grabbed the girl's foot and forced her off by rolling himself with her and then pinned her down to the ground, holding her arms and straddling her. "Besides, that ass is a horrible man and deserved to be roughed up and mugged. He's just lucky I didn't take his life in the process."
The girl tried to fight off her attacker, but it was no use, he had her pinned. "Stealing and potential murder is still wrong, no matter who the victim is," the girl retorted.
The criminal was silent for a moment. "Don't care," he said dryly, "and if you were smart, you would leave me alone."
"Well then, good thing most people think I'm stupid," the girl said before she took advantage of an opening and kicked the boy off her. She stood up and quickly grabbed her weapon and stood ready for a fight.
"I'm not fighting a girl," her opponent said as he stood up and picked up his staff from the sand.
"Give me the bag and you won't have to."
"We both know that's not going to happen."
"Well then, I guess we're at an impasse."
"Guess so."
The two stood there, neither of them moving or planning to allow their opponent to move.
"You got a name," the girl spoke out after a moment.
"Why would you want to know?"
"Just would like to know the name of the ass that just tried to choke me with a stick," she said with a simple shrug. "You know, just in case anyone ask me why I have a bruise there."
The thief looked at her, a bit amused by her confidence but still annoyed at her pestering. "Sinaor Joan. You?"
"Why?"
"You know, just in case anyone ask me why I have a bruise on my stomach and why I was hanging by a string from the palace wall."
"Deasuqa."
Sinaor took a step back, but froze once again when Deasuqa took a step forward. "You know you're really annoying."
"I could say the same about you," Deasuqa responded as she started to spin the weight on her weapon around, ready to attack when needed. "You know all this will be less annoying if you would just give back what you stole."
"Ok, I change my mind, you're not annoying. You're an ass." Sinaor took another step and quickly went on to a full on run. Deasuqa retaliated just as fast and chased him down the city streets. Releasing her weapon, the weighted disk at the end caught on to Sinaor's ankles and stopped him in his tracks.
"Damn it!" Sinaor Joan screamed into the sand as he felt the pain in both his ankles and face rush through him at once.
Deasuqa quickly ran over to where Sinaor fell and grabbed the bag full of the stolen goods from his belt.
"Thanks for returning what you stole," Deasuqa said before running off back toward the palace.
Sinaor looked back and quickly grabbed his staff and pulled out the dagger inside it. After cutting himself free once again, he jumped up and tried to follow the girl's steps to catch her. Once he rounded the corner and ran into the alley, that he saw Deasuqa run into, there was nothing but a dead-end in sight. He looked around for any possible hiding places, then up. Right away, Sinaor jumped up and dug the black claws on his fingertips into the brick wall and began to climb it. Once he reached the top, he looked around again, but no speck of red in sight. "You have got to be kidding me!"