The Blinding

Chapter 3 - Tissa

I awoke with a stir, pulling me away from my dreams. The visions of the night before had me tossing and turning. I dreamt of giants and wars while Idil's words repeated in the background. I shook my head and decided to ignore my internal dread. She must've been mistaken. Someone would have known. Someone would have told me. Yes, I thought. That was it. Idil was mistaken. Nodding my head to myself, I reached for my baati and threw some cold water on my face over the wash basin. With any luck, today would be just like any other.

Throwing on my usual slippers, I made my way to the kitchens again. Iftiin greeted me.

"Well hello there!" she exclaimed, walking over with a cup of qahwa. "So, how was your night at the festival?"

"Fine," I mumbled, inhaling the smell of spices rising from the copper mug.

"I gave you the whole night off and that is all you bring forth?" Iftiin asked with a tone of disbelief in her voice.

"Indeed, it was... pleasant. I sampled a few refreshments and briefly wandered among the stalls."

"Is that all?" Iftiin queried, her voice tinged with skepticism.

I offered a slight shrug, "I found myself weary and had no desire to squander all my coins."

"Indeed? Very well," Iftiin responded, casting a dubious glance in my direction.

I let out a breath of relief, glad that this line of questioning was over. I'd chosen to ignore what I'd learned, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

"Well get up then, there's much to do today. Now that you've had the night off, I need you to go down to the hall and start cleaning. The ballroom has been a mess since the feast."

She handed me a broom and some wet rags, and headed to the ballroom, ignoring the routine stares from the others.

The hall was filled with servants wiping down and putting away tables, taking down the Legacy Day decorations of cowhides and tribal flags, and sweeping their own corners of the large ballroom. Others were dusting off the chandeliers and replacing the decor with the usual paintings. Looking at portraits of the prime minister and the first family, I wondered if they were really capable of killing of innocent children? "Stop Tissa," I said to myself. "Ignore it, forget it, it's not true."

I turned away from the portrait and almost slammed into the tall, lanky body of Farah.

"By the stars," I murmured in exasperation.

"What do you think you were doing last night? You think I didn't notice your little joke with the seating chart?"

I let out an audible sigh, letting my eyes flit heavenward briefly. "My apologies, 'twas unintended," I muttered, my attention diverted to the broom in my grasp.

"Stupid!" he yelled. "I'm going to have a word with Iftiin about this. "Go back to cleaning and mind you don't mess up this time," he stomped away mumbling about dumb magicians.

My fingers gripped the broom handle as I moved it back and forth forcefully. I bit my tongue and swept away my aggravation along with the dust. I knew Batuulo would forget.

Farah had let all of the servants go, forcing me to finish what was left of the cleaning. And after hours sweeping, I was ready for a bath and a nap.

Alas that would have to wait. Batuulo was waiting for me at the entrance with some sweet dates.

My anger returned at the sight of her. I'd gotten an earful from Farah after she conveniently forgot to talk to him.

"I completely forgot to talk to Farah last night; I was just so exhausted," she said, observing my expression. Despite her words, there was no hint of apology in her demeanor.