A woman wearing luxurious clothes consisting of a bright yellow dress elegantly tied with ribbons around her waist and surrounded by a dark green robe with wide sleeves facing the beach after she reached it with heavy steps.
The woman stared at the sea and its waves hitting her feet after she took off her shoes to the side, a sad expression appeared on the woman's face and her brown eyes looked lifeless.. empty as if nothing in this world could light them up.
She suddenly smiled and the cold air blew on her face and played with her dark hair and said:
- Who are you, Arya? Remember who you are and remember that submission was never in your dictionary, it's okay to die without a tombstone, let the sea carry your remains.
Arya walked towards the sea, feeling the cold water seeping through her clothes and into her bones. Despite the coldness of the water, her heart was boiling and her body was trembling, knowing that she would never return and that she would never see a member of her family again.
Far from her, there were two black eyes watching what the crazy woman was doing from the beginning. A man dressed entirely in black walked towards Arya, holding a sword in one of his hands, for the latter to feel it and stare at him angrily, screaming in a language other than her mother tongue:
- I will bury you here if you come near.
•
A woman with skin as white as marble opened her brown eyes, staring at the ceiling of her room. Her breathing was disturbed, as she remembered vague parts of her dream, so she sat up straight and stared towards the window of her room, finding that the darkness was about to end.
••••••••••••
Baghdad
1025 AD
Early summer
On a warm morning, the warm rays of the sun penetrate the houses. A woman in her fifties took a copper basin to fill it with water and entered the kitchen through a small door. The old woman picked up some vegetables and started to wash them while humming something. As soon as she finished, she started shouting loudly:
:- Narjis, where are you, girl?
A soft voice from inside the house answered her:
:- Coming.
The woman did not wait long until a young girl appeared, who looked to be about fifteen years old, carrying a basket half her size, filled with clothes.
:- I will spread out the clothes and then I will come to help you.
As soon as Narjis came out, a woman appeared standing at the kitchen door, wrinkles drawn on her face, but that did not erase her captivating beauty.
:- Safiya, why is breakfast late! .
Safiyya, the old woman, knew that her mistress was angry at this moment, so she replied while trying to gain her sympathy:
- I apologize, Mrs. Buran, it will be ready in a few minutes.
The woman folded her arms and went out to the living room and sat on a soft sofa while enjoying the gentle breeze that was blowing through the mashrabiya openings.
In the midst of Mrs. Buran's enjoyment, her daughter Jawaher entered while she was crying and wailing:
- Mother, are you satisfied with what happened?
Mrs. Buran took a breath and asked:
- What happened?
Jawaher answered at the same pace:
- Zubaydah took the fabric that I chose to sew and make a dress from, and she made the dress.. Are you satisfied? I loved the fabric very much and it was the last one with the merchant.
The lady added while trying to appease her daughter:
- I will buy you another one.
Jawaher screamed in frustration:
- I want it.
Her mother tried hard with her and told her that she would ask the merchant if he had another piece.
In the midst of their conversation, the person they were talking to entered, wearing a soft, crimson dress with transparent sleeves and lightly embroidered at the chest. The hem of the dress was embroidered with the same embroidery. She sat next to her mother.
- The weather today is very beautiful.
- My very beautiful dress.
Zubaida raised her head towards her sister to laugh and asked her:
- Why do I see you nervous today? Did something happen?
Jawaher looked at her with a touch of madness on her face.
- It will happen.
As soon as she was about to pull her hair, Safiya entered carrying a copper tray with several plates and placed them on a table with low legs.
:- Breakfast is ready, madam, and as for the master's breakfast, I ordered it to be sent to him in his room.
Mrs. Boran nodded for her and her daughters to sit around the table to eat breakfast.
●●●●●●
In one of the markets of Baghdad, a handsome young man with a smooth face and a weak physique stood, wearing a men's dress and over it a dark blue men's cloak with red embroidery, and a headband wrapped around his turban. He was arranging some of the needs of his store, and some of the store workers were scattered here and there to meet all the needs. The young man moved after he saw a man standing next to his store to approach him and ask him in a gentle voice:- Have you delivered all the goods?
The man nodded to thank the young man and give him his wages. The young man stayed in the store receiving some customers, both men and women, who inspected his merchandise and some of them asked him about his father's health until time passed. Then he closed his store and headed home.
••••••
About sunset
The house of the merchant Bahar Al-Baghdadi
The young man knocked on the door and the maid Safiya opened it, then he was about to enter and asked
:- How is my father?
Safiya answered while following him
:- Fine, my lady.
In the meantime, the young man took off his turban, letting his jet black hair fall out.. It was a woman disguised as a man.. A beautiful woman with calm features and clear skin like marble. The woman came forward to enter the house and smelled the delicious food coming from the kitchen and exclaimed happily
:- What did you prepare for dinner, Safiya?
Safiya laughed as she answered
:- Your favorite food, the master asked me to cook it for today.
The young woman nodded to enter the living room and found her mother weaving some fabrics and raised her head towards her
:- You came, how was work for today?
The young woman answered calmly as she sat on the couch:
- Good.
Despite her brief answer, Mrs. Boran continued her words:
- Today a maid from the palace of the King of Kings came asking you to come to the palace as some of the women want to buy fabrics.
The young woman answered as she took a grape from the plate in front of her:
- It's okay, I'll go tomorrow.
•
•
:- Arya!
The young woman turned towards the source of the voice to find her younger sister who ran to hug her:
- I didn't see you this morning.
Arya smiled as she hugged her back:
- I went out early today to teach Masoud a lesson. Right, mom, I won't let Masoud bring the goods this year. I've confirmed his thefts on all the past trips and I won't accept a traitorous man to work with me.
Her mother looked up at her and exclaimed:
Who do you want to do this trip instead of Masoud? You know very well that no one will accept this tiring task.
Arya answered while playing with her sister's hair strands
:- I thought about going myself but I don't know.. I feel hesitant.
Mrs. Boran exclaimed
:- Don't be afraid, it's impossible for anyone to know that you are a woman because you simply don't look like one, and no one has ever suspected you throughout your life.
Arya ignored her mother's veiled mockery
:- And if they find out, we will all be finished.. You know very well the punishment for this act.
Mrs. Boran threw what was in her hands and exclaimed sharply
:- Don't forget that you are the one who volunteered to disguise yourself and do your father's work.. No one hit you on the hand to do that.
Arya sighed in annoyance, refused to answer, stood up straight and headed upstairs, leaving her sister and mother alone. As soon as she got on the first step, her other sister greeted her, shouting: "You came?" She passed her as she answered yes and went upstairs. She opened the door of her father's room to see him sleeping, so she went out and closed the door quietly and headed towards her room to change her clothes.
•••••
The Caliph's Palace
At noon
Arya stood in her men's clothes, waiting for the official in charge of the harem who entered the harem wing with boxes containing various fabrics. Arya was used to the place, so she sat quietly, waiting patiently for the official to return.
The palace was bustling with movement and servants were moving here and there and the gardener in charge of the palace garden was ordering some servants to cut the grass, Arya heard the voices of the women of the harem coming from the balconies of the wing overlooking the garden and they were laughing and enjoying choosing fabrics , She smile.. Although the fabrics were around her, no one had given her any gift or a single piece of fabric in her favorite color, in her eyes every piece of fabric was like a noose wrapped around her neck.. It was like whips hitting her back.. She never liked the idea of working in this way, but what made her do everything she did was compassion.. She sympathized strongly with her father who wanted a son to inherit his business and she could understand his desire because no woman would be happy in this situation. As much as she sympathized with her mother, she hated her.. She slaughtered her emotions, femininity, and desire for love until she no longer missed herself. She saw herself as a stranger in this world, not knowing who she was or what she wanted, and all of this was because of her mother's obsession with giving birth to a boy, as if her life depended on it.
She was snatched from her thoughts by the voice of the head of the harem, as she presented her with a bag full of money.
:- Here you go, and as for the boxes, I ordered the servants to put them in your carriage.
Arya thanked her and turned to leave.
•••••
Arya entered the house around sunset to go upstairs and enter her father's room and find her mother massaging his arms, Arya came forward and put half of the bag of money that she got from the palace
:- Here, father, this is half of what I got and I saved the other half to take with me on my trip, as I decided to go myself.
Her father opened his hazel eyes and looked at her tiredly
:- I will not agree to your departure, my daughter.. This trip may be fraught with dangers.
Arya smiled as she sat next to her father
:- Don't worry about me, my dear, you know very well how strong I am and how good I am at fencing. And if you are worried about the trip itself, I would like to tell you that the best navigator in this country is the one who will lead the trip, so there is no need to be afraid.
Her mother shouted
:- Yes, my dear, Bahar, there is no need to be afraid, she is strong and no one will doubt her identity.
The father looked at his daughter and saw the determination in her eyes, so he spoke after much hesitation:
- As you wish, my daughter, but be careful while you are on the ship and do not mix with anyone so that no one suspects you.
Arya smiled and kissed her father's forehead.
- Yes, my dear, I will do what you order, just this trip and then I will leave this work.
Mrs. Boran looked at her daughter and asked cautiously:
- What do you mean?
Aria answered with determination:
- When I return, we will buy an orchard and plant it and trade in crops and we will live on that.
Arya felt her mother's discomfort as she straightened up and left the room.
- Don't pay attention to her.
Arya looked at her father and smiled and massaged his arms.
••••••••••
Two weeks later
Arya got off her horse as she arrived at the port of Basra. The port was crowded with merchants and people, in addition to the porters who carried the goods from the port to the state warehouses. Arya looked around the place as she saw different nationalities preparing to set off.
She approached one of the horse traders to sell her horse and collect the money from selling it, then she headed and approached the port more to find the boy who was waiting for her to guide her to the ship she would board.
The boy waved to her so that she would notice him, so she approached him.
:- Here you are, I searched for you a lot, I thought you would be waiting for me at the entrance to the city.
The boy smiled as he told her that he had to wait here so that they would not miss the trip, then he quickly led her to board the ship, which was huge and had large sails. Arya wandered around the ship while waiting for it to be filled with cargo and food.
After about an hour and a half, one of the sailors took the names of the passengers to hand them over to the marines. The ship's arrangement was that the soldiers were on the first floor of the ship, and on the lower floor were the passengers and merchants. Luckily, she had reserved a small room on the lower floor and had paid a high price for it.
She entered her room, which consisted of a single bed, a small desk, an office chair, and a lantern hanging from the ceiling of the room.
For a moment, she felt afraid and wanted to throw everything to the wall and go home.
:- What have you done to yourself, Arya? You don't even know if you'll be okay or not.
After hours of sailing, Arya was sitting on her bed, staring out the window and seeing nothing but the sea.
Someone knocked on her room's door.
:- Arya, the food is ready if you are hungry.
As soon as Arya wanted to answer him, someone shouted from behind the door.
:- Leave this effeminate man and mind your business, boy.
Arya was shocked when she heard him and straightened up to make sure that she had closed the door well and made sure that it was locked as well, then she returned and sat comfortably. The journey would take at least three months until it reached the port of the coastal city of Khanqo, overlooking the Great China Sea, and the ship would stop at several stations to stock up on water and food. Arya prayed a lot to reach her destination safely without any obstacles, and she decided not to leave her room except in necessary cases, such as going to the bathroom. As for food, she prepared well and brought with her several types of food that would suffice her for a week and two jugs of water.
After a week, the ship arrived at Muscat port after they stopped at Siraf port. Arya got off the ship trying not to attract attention and headed towards the city crowded with markets and merchants from different countries. The purpose of her getting off was to stock up on drinking water and food as her supplies had run out. After searching, she found a suitable source of water, so she took what would meet her needs for a month and then stocked up on food and decided to return to the ship. She was wearing black men's clothes with a turban of the same color and tied a headband around the turban, so she looked more like a man. Despite her strong build as a woman, she is very weak as a man compared to other men. What makes her armed with courage is the strict training she received since her early childhood in the arts of swordsmanship and fighting, so she grew up as a skilled swordsman who is unmatched. As soon as Arya reached the ship, she headed to her room on the lower floor, entered it and put the provisions at the door. As soon as she was about to close it, someone's leg stopped the door, so Arya raised her eyes towards the owner of the leg to find that he was "Marq"
An ugly man who works as an assistant to the ship's captain
:- What do you want?
Arya's voice came out rough and sharp, and Marq looked at her while smiling impudently, his yellow teeth showing
:- Do you know that you have become famous throughout the ship, so much so that everyone is betting on the first person to sleep with you and for you to be his destiny.
Arya's body shivered as she tried to push the door closed to no avail
:- May God make you ugly and your actions ugly. Are you trying to seduce a man? Get away from the door, or I swear to God that I will break your leg.
Marq's laughter rose as he pushed the door open wide and he repeated in a voice like the hissing of snakes: "It seems that the winner of the bet will be me." He pounced on Arya as she tried to find her blade to free herself from him, so he pushed her towards the wall and stuck to her, and his hands slipped under her violent resistance from under her clothes, and he was about to tear her underwear and touch the skin of her legs. "How soft this skin is... I can hardly believe that there is a man as soft as you... You tempt the most evil demons to defile this virgin body." Arya tried to push him away with all her might, but he stuck to her like a bull, then with a sudden movement he pushed her onto the bed and pounced on her again, taking off his cloak with one hand and tying her arms with the other. Arya started screaming as she moved her legs hoping he would lose his balance so she could escape from him, but she couldn't and the resistance was starting to tire her out. He took advantage of the opportunity and was about to kiss her lips in a dirty way, and his rotten breaths choked her chest. Suddenly, Arya remembered something, so she reached out calmly under her pillow and took out a book and was about to hit his head. The dirty man lost consciousness on top of her, so she pushed him exhaustedly, so he fell off the bed. She in turn stood up, breathing madly and looking at him with disgust. She felt disgust and hatred. Why was a woman created? So that she would be exposed to all this! The assault of a despicable, vile man who couldn't control his lust! In the midst of her confusion, she adjusted her clothes to grab the man kneeling on the floor of the room by his clothes and tried to drag him out of the room with all her strength until one of the men saw her, staring in shock at what he saw, so she shouted at him: "Carry him up quickly and now." The man was startled by her violent voice and her bloodshot eyes, as crazy features appeared on her face, so he quickly carried Marq and went upstairs, followed by Arya. The man put Marq on the ground, and several men and sailors gathered around them, wondering what happened, so she shouted harshly: "This trash tried to get me and doesn't know who Arya is. Any man in this world who tries to belittle me will get the same punishment as this scum in front of you." With a steady movement, she advanced and placed a wooden pole next to his leg. With a quick and sudden movement, she moved his leg so that everyone could hear the sound of his bones breaking. She did the same with his other leg so that the hearts of the men would beat violently.
:- Let these legs rot and let me see who dares to treat you.
One of the men shouted at him.
:- How dare you hurt him with a permanent disability! The chief of soldiers will hold you accountable and you will see how you do this.
Arya looked at the man and laughed as she shouted.
:- And how dare he try to assault me and take my virginity from me.
Arya was unconscious as she repeated that, even her fingers holding the wooden pole were trembling.
:- You are a man, what virginity!
The man himself shouted for Arya to answer him coldly.
:- Haven't you heard of a virgin man before! Or do animals like you not control their instincts like dogs.
The man tried to pounce on her until a manly voice shouted violently and in a strict tone:
- Enough.. Whoever I see trying to start a fight will be held accountable.
Everyone looked at the commander of the soldiers standing next to the captain of the ship, and he was staring at Arya who was standing strongly and staring at him.
The same man who was arguing with Arya shouted:
- But my lord, he caused him a permanent disability!
The commander looked away from Arya towards the unconscious man whose legs were twisted and turned blue, and said indifferently:
- That scum deserved what happened to him.. Didn't you, Reis?
He pointed at the captain of the ship, and the latter shook his head.
- He deserved more than that.
Arya breathed a sigh of relief, spat on Marq and retreated towards her room after warning everyone not to touch her.
As soon as she entered her room, she locked the door and collapsed on the floor, trembling.
:- You said that I am not like women.. and that no man would look at me.. you lied, mother.
Her tears streamed down her cheeks, and she was still trembling, and the situation was repeating itself in her head a thousand times.. what she had been exposed to had caused a crack in her heart that would never heal. She hated everything, hated this ill-fated journey, and hated herself, and wished she had never been born.. she wished she was really a man.. a strong man like the one in her dreams, because she hated being a woman.
•••••
After about three months
Arya was sitting quietly, wiping her body with a wet cloth. She hated taking a shower in the same bathroom as those men, even though they didn't take showers very often. She hated the whole idea.
Over the past three months, no one bothered her except for that man with the dirty tongue who defended Marq desperately. She also unintentionally rubbed shoulders with the captain of this ship and knew that she had earned his respect for what she had done and that as a man she had taught Marq a lesson.
It's all fake, and if he had known that she was a woman, he would have done the same thing that dirty man did. She knows that she is wronging him, but she doesn't want anyone to respect her or admire her. She just wants them to leave her alone.
She finished cleaning herself and then changed her clothes to darker and less eye-catching ones. Meanwhile, she heard the sailors screaming:
- Khango harbor looms on the horizon. We will arrive in half an hour.
Arya breathed a sigh of relief as her fear suddenly increased.. Fear of something she did not know and this feeling is what she hated the most.
She packed her bags and all her belongings and then carried her humpbacked sword and checked her money to leave the room and go upstairs where the air was blowing on her face and the city's port became visible to her.
:- You will love the city.
Arya turned to find the ship's captain looking eagerly towards the city of Khanqo to answer him without passion
:- We will see about that
•
•
The ship docked at the port and the sailors lowered the wooden bridge for the merchants to gather and get off.. The city was different in construction and architecture than she had seen on her journey.. In fact in her entire life where the wooden buildings had large curved roofs..
The view was majestic and strange at the same time, even the residents wore clothes with a unique design made of silk which is considered a luxurious fabric in her country.
The group of merchants advanced towards the port entrance to enter the city, only to be stopped by the guards in charge of the entrance who spoke in a strange language:
:- Your entry permit.
The men exchanged glances, not understanding anything he said, so one of them shouted:
:- Where is the translator Zaher?
The merchants looked around and did not find the person in question, so everyone became nervous and sent someone to search for him, perhaps he was still on the ship.
Arya then came forward and asked politely:
:- I can help you if you want.
The merchants turned to her with question marks on their faces, so she passed them in turn and took the initiative to speak, using the same language the guards spoke.
After a few seconds, Arya turned to her and addressed them:
:- Mr. Noufal, give me the entry permit, they need to see him.
Mr. Noufal clapped his hands together and shouted:
:- That's right, how did i forget that they need it to enter?
Mr. Noufal took out the entry permit for Arya to take and give to the guards to check it and copy their names, where they came from, their work and their destination, then they returned it to her and allowed them to enter.
As soon as they entered, Arya was shocked by the large city they entered and the majestic houses made of wood and the beauty of the neighborhoods in it. A river passed by that the translator Zaher, who followed them, called the Pearl, which separated the city into two sides. On both sides, large markets and shops extended along the river and a wooden bridge connected the two sides through which many people passed.
When they entered the city center, a number of Arab men welcomed them and Arya stood quietly to the side as she looked around the city until a soft and gentle voice from behind her caught her attention:
- I want to pass. Arya turned towards the source of the voice to find a very beautiful woman wearing silk clothes consisting of a tight-sleeved underdress tied at the waist and a long-sleeved robe over it, in addition to a silk shawl wrapped around her arms and carelessly thrown. The woman was small in size with very white skin and black hair tied up in a strange hairstyle and she wore several small clips decorated with flowers in her hair.
Arya regretted that she was blocking the way for the woman to move away and the woman advanced while smiling shyly towards her and then disappeared from her sight.
Arya remained standing while hugging her sword and crossing her arms across her chest until Mr. Nofal called her and she advanced towards him.
:- Everyone will spend the night in the guest houses designated for visitors once the transportation and storage procedures are completed and then our goods will be displayed to the Emperor of China.
Arya exclaimed in question.
:- And when will the procedures be completed? Zaher replied: Until the last commercial ship of the year docks. Arya added: When will they dock? Zaher smiled as he noticed the young man's impatience.
The wait might last up to six months... Enjoy these months, my virgin.
Arya shouted harshly: What!!!!