Badriya As-Sahra is sick of piling up camel dung and picking people's pockets for a living. Her world discriminates against women and orphans, and it is only her damned luck that she happens to be both. She yearns for more but can't do anything else...
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There were times when Badriya was convinced that her life had always been more of a curse than a blessing.
Now, this proved her right all along, and she hated it.
Just after the djinnwho was borrowing Rashid's face told her everything there was to tell, Badriya dragged him all the way to the inn and into her room. She ignored how the innkeeper looked at her and the djinnlike they were a couple not meant to be seen together. She couldn't blame the woman for thinking that way. If Badriya ever saw someone with dirty clothes pulling a man with his luxurious ones into her room, she'd think they were up to no good.
"What's the deal with you?" Badriya demanded once she closed the door shut. "Why do you look and sound like Rashid?"
"Good question." The djinnjumped toward the single bed in the room, the white mattress creaking under his weight. "I look like this handsome fellow because he's likely my type of handsome. On the other hand, I just sound like this because I've always been annoying. Easy enough to understand, no?"
"If I wish for you to change your appearance into someone else's," Badriya said under gritted teeth, "will that work?"
The djinnshook his head. "Not quite, sayyida. It's one of the terms that I told you about. I look differently for every person who owns the Jewel. The person you see me as is apparently the person you lost as a price for pursuing your greed." He made his fingers go up and down in an odd gesture. "It's an attempt to persuade the current owner of the Jewel to stop using his, or her, wishes for self-gain."
Badriya scoffed. "Well, it won't work for me. I don't care if your stupid face will annoy me."
"I'm glad we both agree on that." He clapped his hands excitedly. "I shall call myself by your man's name now. Rashid, was it?"
"No!" Badriya hissed. "You are, under any circumstance, will call yourself that. Never."
The last thing she wanted was to feel like she was talking to Rashid. Just the thought of doing so even though he wasn't the actual person made her blood boil. He and his stupid confession...
"Fine," the djinnhuffed, crossing his arms and legs on the bed. "I'll call myself... Kareem instead. Yes, that sounds even better than Rashid." He visibly shuddered a little too strongly.
Badriya groaned. "Kareem means generous. Are you that vain?"
"Of course." He smiled sweetly. "It's not my fault that I forgot my real name in the first place. You could wish to name me something else if you want."
Grumbling gibberish under her breath, Badriya sat on the majlis in one corner of the room. The room she paid for the day was the best she could get for the little money she had. Even with its simple furnishing, it was the first time in years that she had her own room. Ever since she ran away from her old life, she mostly slept in cold streets. If she was lucky enough, stealing some good cloth and wood would get her a makeshift tent for a few days. That didn't last for long since someone else would always steal the whole tent before she could wake up.
