Zayyad

3. The El Hayat Family.

Zainab gradually continued, "Abyada has the royal family governing it. Malik Misfar Abyad el-Nassif is currently the king and has been on the throne for years. His father wasn't able to control the spread of Islam then in his reign but this king took more drastic measures. The kafir army became stronger in his power. Besides the El-Nassif royal family, some aristocratic families own military and shrine powers in Abyada. The El-Hayat family is an example."

Zayyad had read some information about the Kafir's state but Abyada being the core region, had vague information. Only by meeting someone like Zainab will one get full information. 

"These Aristocratic families have a ranking and the El-Hayats were ranked second. The family patriarch, who was my grandfather then, had a high position in the shrine, strong political power, money, and riches, which naturally involved jealousy and conflicts. This is the same for the other families because it's a norm. " Zainab explained. 

"Malik Misfar came up with an iron-handed method concerning converters. As the core city, such incidents cant be tolerated. So all the Muslims were captured, turned into slaves or even killed. The lucky ones managed to escape the city during a crisis. But even with this, there were still people who converted but had to hide their deen. When they were caught, it was a form of humiliation to their families and they were ousted or slaughtered.  The Malik was satisfied with such results but a big shock came to Abyada when a whole aristocratic family converted to Islam." 

"The El-Hayats?" Zayyad inquired surprisingly and Zainab nodded. 

"Grandfather announced this and the family gates were closed. Many showed their anger, throwing curses and rallying around the family gates. The shops that were closed were burnt and the royal family finally took action to question the El-Hayats. No one knew what happened but the king didn't give a direct death order, leaving things in the dark. At that time, all the daughters of the family married outside and faced cruelty from their in-laws. '' Zainab took a deep breath, having remembered what happened. 

"My aunt was part of an aristocratic family and her husband ousted her to the brothel. My second aunt was beaten every day and treated as a slave in her own house. The other had her kids taken and she 'committed' suicide, due to depression." 

Zayyad's dark eyes gleaned hearing this. The daughters were married out already. How did their family's mistake become their fault? 

"Out of all, I was the only one who was treated as a queen, surprisingly. " Zainab smiled mockingly. "I was with your father, Saleem, in the first aristocratic family in Abyada, Al-Matar." 

Zayyad finally heard his father's name. Saleem Al-Matar. The man who caused his mother pain. 

"Being able to be free, some thought it was because I was my grandfather's only granddaughter and he can go to any extent to get what I want but was such as incident so simple?" She shook her head. 

"Al-Matar is the first aristocratic family and they naturally feel more threatened by the El-Hayats. My marriage was an alliance to keep the families closer but will the Al-Matars let go of such an opportunity? I wasn't at home but my grandfather told me everything. My family's ancestors once had an agreement with the royal family and as long as their throne isn't affected, anything the El-Hayats do can be forgiven. So, Grandfather promised to leave Abyada with his family without taking anything but there was something he didn't tell the king. El-Hayat had a hidden cave where the family's real heirloom is kept and it has a connection that can threaten the royal family. 

It was like my grandfather knew something might go wrong, so he gave the key to me.  It was a secret, not even my father knew. Saleem treated me well and it made me suspicious. He might have found out but how?"