Page 39 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Zahra darted toward the alleyway. The man lumbered toward her, grabbed her arm, and threw her against the wall.
“No, please!”
He pinned her squirming body against the clay house.
“I have nothing for you!”
“I know.” He secured her under one arm, freeing his other hand. She turned away from his leering gaze as his fingers brushed her curls away from her face. He rubbed his thumb along the purple and black bruise by her eye, and she whimpered. He gripped the earring on her ear and tugged. She cried out, closing her eyes as his disgusting stench washed over her. “Look at you, so clean and well fed. Tell me, did your master beat you because you are a thief?”
“I am innocent.” He stroked her cheek, and she flinched, a sob building in her chest. “Let me go.Please, let me go.”
“The Pharaohs loved us once,” the man slurred. “They cared for us, and their servants provided work and homes for us.” His fingers knotted in her hair, tugging on the strands. Zahra cried out, unable to move. “They allowed your kind to enter our walls—filthy, disgusting beasts so beautiful if not for the atrocities you committed.” He yanked her hair and forced her to face him.
She opened her eyes, her lip trembling. “I did nothing wrong.”
The man slammed her head against the wall. Pain reverberated through her skull and down her spine. She gasped, whimpering as he forced his weight onto her.
“Nothing?” he spat. “You took everything from me! My master sacked me in favor of asobki. I lost my property because of you. I live on the streets because ofyou!”
Zahra sobbed as he pushed her head harder into the wall.
He grinned, his teeth yellow and his breath rancid. “The new Pharaohs will see your worth is nothing more than the pathetic land you came from.”
Zahra twisted her knee, shoving it as hard as she could into his groin. The man howled. She grunted and shoved him aside, running through the creek. Warm blood spurted from a wound on her head where he had torn out her hair. She was halfway across the creek when the man tackled her. Zahra’s face struck the rocks.
Zahra gasped as water splashed on her cheeks. “I did nothing wrong.” She gagged and sputtered as water entered her mouth and nose. “I did nothing wrong!”
The man grabbed her head as she squirmed. She screamed, and he shoved her down into the water. Rocks struck the side of her head, digging into her skull as he pushed. The water lapped around her nose and mouth, drowning out any attempts to call for help. He forced her face deeper into the water, until she couldn’t taste air on her lips.
Liquid burned her nose and throat. Her arms and legs flew, hitting him and clawing at anything she could reach. Her lungs were on fire, and she screamed beneath the water. The creek turned red. She could taste dirt and blood in her mouth, but she couldn’t escape his hold on her.
The man’s grip relented, and she pushed herself to the surface. She gasped, coughing. Wet sand fell from her mouth rather than water, and she cried out, scrambling backward.Coarse sand surrounded her, and when she looked up, she saw not the man who had tried to kill her, nor the houses she had hid behind, but the vast desert of the Duat.
Harsh wind tightened around her throat as she gasped for air. She couldn’t breathe. There was no air, and each breath filled her chest with water, though there was none around her.
A voice came from beside her. “Please, Asenath. Breathe!”
Zahra turned toward the voice, gasping as she clutched her throat. A young Auran woman lay on the ground in a pool of blood, her skin pale and gray. A man was bent over her, his hands firmly pressed against a bloodied wound. His face was shrouded in darkness, but his emotion was clear in the way his hands trembled and the quaver in his voice.
“Asenath,” he cried.
Blood seeped between his fingers, and red markings of a language Zahra did not recognize appeared on Asenath’s arms. The sight made Zahra’s eyes burn, and she blinked hard as her eyes watered.
Asenath’s head moved to the side as she struggled for breath. Her eyes were as black as tar, and her lips were cracked like the barren desert.
Zahra shut her eyes as the man screamed. “Please,breathe!”
In a moment, Zahra was back in the stream, thrashing and screaming. The world flashed before her, pulling her between two places. The man’s cries and Asenath’s lifeless eyes remained with her as her own senses faded into darkness.
9
The Young Maiden
Aaliyah traded payment for the fruit in her basket. Zahra was quiet, her gaze focused on the fruit stand but her thoughts elsewhere. The vision of Asenath was stuck in her mind, and Zahra couldn’t get rid of the image.
Zahra took a deep breath while picking out some melons.
Aaliyah lingered by her side. “Zahra, are you well?”
