Disclaimer: I don't own BBC's Robin Hood, no matter how hard I wish.
Back with another update, thanks to bookworm 41 for the review and to everyone else who read this.
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Aged seven
"Djaq, wait up" Saffiya chased her brother through the grounds, stopping only to remove her hijab from her head, leaving her hair flowing behind her as she chased Djaq. She turned the corner and nearly walked into him.
"What are you doing Saffiya? You can't come with me, girls can't play with boys" Saffiya turned her head to the floor and muttered
"But I just want to play" Djaq turned to the gates where his friends were waiting before replying
"Later Saffiya" He ran to join them and Saffiya watched them as they ran through the market until they were out of sight. She pushed back tears as she walked slowly back into her house.
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Saffiya watched her mother as she walked around the room, helping servants remove clean the room. Aisha started as she turned and caught silent at her silent daughter watching her from the corner of the room. She tutted at Saffiya appearance before moving to stand in front of her and rearranged the hijab on her head.
"You shouldn't remove this" Aisha turned to walk away until she heard a small voice
"But why?" Aisha looked at her daughter determined face, sighing inwardly as she replied
"It is not fitting for a man to see your hair unless he is to be your husband" Saffiya opened her mouth but her mother held her hand and said
"Enough questions, go and play Saffiya" Saffiya slowly left the room, looking back to see her mother, who had turned her back and was singing softly under her breath.
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Saffiya walked slowly through the corridors and sighed to herself. She hadn't made friends as easily as her brother and often spent her days roaming through the house or its grounds. She was unable to visit the market without an escort or her father and she felt lonely when devoid of the freedom her brother had. She stopped at a door and looked into her father's private room. It was a simple room, with a desk in the middle and several ledgers balanced on top. Saffiya looked down the corridors before slipping into the room. She picked up the largest ledger and sat on the floor with it. She bit her lip as she opened the ledger and looked at the diagrams. Though she couldn't understand the words, the pictures fascinated her and it wasn't long until she was absorbed completely.
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"What are you doing in here?" Saffiya jumped at the sound of her father's voice and looked down in shame. Ishak chuckled at his daughter face before saying softly
"Do not worry little one. What have you been looking at?" Saffiya offered him the ledger and Ishak looked down at the page.
"Ah, how to stop bleeding, Why are you looking at this?" Saffiya looked down again and replied
"It looked interesting. Can you do that father?" He nodded and watched as his daughter's eyes widened in shock. He chuckled once more before stroking a loose hair back under her hijab and bending down to look at her.
"One day, my little bird, I will teach you too"
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Another short chapter, but I like it. So what did you guys think?