The Master and The Maiden

Chapter 2

*

"There she goes." said the garment trader as his friend drank from his water bottle. The latter quickly lowered the bottle, looking over the crowd of people outside the stall. The market was very crowded on this day, as a particular band of youngsters had gotten hold of a hyena. They were part of a travelling circus, and today they'd dropped their anchor in the city of Sana'a. The crowd 'ooed' and 'ahhd' as one of the boys got dangerously close to the hyena, pretending to unbuckle the muzzle. A few woman ran away, but they quickly returned to the large circle of spectators.

All he could see was a sea of black and white turbans, with occasional bursts of brown veils in the mix. He squinted his eyes against the bright sunlight, straining to see what his friend was pointing out. A few feet away, one of the boys was pretending to wrestle down the hyena.

"I don't see her." he replied, giving up. He grabbed a stool from the set beside his friend and sat slowly on it, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"You i***t, look at her there. Near the woman selling veils." the trader groaned, yanking his friend up to his feet. The latter sighed, squinting his eyes once again. He spotted the woman selling the veils, but she appeared to be dusting a few of her colourful veils. He turned to his friend, ready to tell him he was becoming delusional, when he spotted her.

"Ya Allah!" he gasped, his jaw dropping to the floor. "That is Kabeer's daughter?"

"Indeed," his friend smiled. "Isn't she a sight to behold?"

"She's beautiful." the man said.

He was right. Noor was by far, the most beautiful lady in Sana'a. Most who saw her couldn't believe that she was not from a royal family. Her poise and elegance naturally drew people to her, making all who knew her tremendously delighted to be acquainted with her.

When she finished bargaining with the trader, Noor smiled at the woman who was selling the veils, wrapping up the pair she'd bought. As she turned, the two men sighed dreamily as she looked in their direction.

Her face was oval and spot free, the oval shape emphasized by the veil wrapped around her face. She'd pinned one end of the veil to the side of her face, leaving the other end dangling behind her.

Her eyebrows were long and straight, slightly curved upward which gave her a slightly amused expression. Her nose was long, slim and straight. Her lips were as pink as could be, always stretched into a smile to display dazzling white teeth. Her jawline was hidden by the veil, but it was straight and sharp.

But it was her eyes that drew attention. Shielded behind thick eyelashes, they were a light shade of blue, with tiny specks of black around her pupil. The colour was alluring, causing anyone who stared at her to instantly fall in love with her. She had certainly earned the right to be called the most beautiful lady in the city of Sana'a.

It wasn't just Noor's outward appearance that made her enchanting though. As beautiful as she was on the outside, her soul was just as beautiful, if not more. She had a kind heart, always willing to help someone in need. She'd have easily given out her last morsel of food rather than watch someone else starve from hunger. Her mother told her that she was wasting her time; humanity doesn't deserve such kindness after all. But Noor believed otherwise. She never listened to her mother when she told her how callous and greedy humans could actually be.

"No one appreciates kindness these days, my child," her mother would always say. "The world doesn't work like that anymore. No one helps another unless they're getting something in return. That's just the way things are now. You can't break the mould."

"Yes, but I can choose to be different," Noor would always reply, immediately changing the topic.

"Assalamu alaikum," Noor smiled at the trader, pulling him out of his daydream. His friend quickly raised the water bottle, trying to shield his face.

"Ameen. Wa alaikis salam." He smiled nervously, clearly embarrassed that he'd been caught staring at her. "Noor, what a pleasant surprise to see you today."

"Oh please, Jabir. You know I always come to the market on Fridays." She smiled, running her fingers across the hem of the garments which were hung outside his shop. Noor always came to greet him whenever she passed by, though she never bought anything from him.

"Can I interest you in anything today?" he asked.

"No, thank you. I'm afraid Mother isn't interested in buying new garments. You know the pair she bought from you last time are still sitting untouched," Noor replied, feeling the silky smoothness of a particularly beautiful grey cloth with floral prints along the hem.

"Well, I do hope she changes her mind soon enough," Jabir smiled at Noor, nudging his friend painfully. The latter refused to move the bottle from his lips though, clearly not interested in joining the conversation.

"How is your father? I haven't heard from him in a while," Jabir said.

"Oh, you know Baba, always working. He left the house early this morning on some 'urgent business'. I'm sure he'll turn up here eventually."

"Well, you really have to tell your father to slow down. He needn't be exhausting himself strenuously like that. I mean, how many slaves does he have? Surely they can take care of any work he needs done. "

"Well, last time we counted, he had twenty seven. But since his return from Medina a few months ago, he's added a few more. But you know Baba. He won't trust any of his slaves with his work." Noor frowned. "He wouldn't even trust his daughter with it."

"But you're only a woman, Noor. You couldn't possibly handle the type of work your father does," Jabir said.

"And what makes you say that?" she scowled at him.

"Let's not dive into that topic again, please. Have a seat. I'll send someone to get you a drink from Laura's shed. There's a new mango flavored drink she's making, which I'm sure you'd love." Jabir offered her a seat.

"Thank you, but I must be on my way. Mother will be waiting for me," Noor said, flashing a brief smile at him. Jabir smiled back at her, nudging his friend to speak up once more. He remained as adamant as ever.

"Goodbye, Jabir." Noor smiled once more before heading off into the sea of people wandering around the stalls in the market. A second later, it was impossible to discern her from the mix.

"You're an i***t," Jabir grunted, whacking his friend across the head before returning to his seat. The latter glared at him, finally setting down the now-empty water bottle beside him before he leaned back into his seat, a ridiculous grin spreading across his face as he began to daydream about marrying Noor and having fifteen children with her.

The crowd surrounding the hyena began to disperse hurriedly, as a very old man walked determinedly toward the young boys to tell them off.

**********

"Good morning, Noor," beamed Hakeem the moment she came into view. Noor stared down meekly, adjusting her veil.

"Assalamu alaikum," she said, smiling at her favorite trader. "I thought I'd missed you already."

"How can I leave when my favorite customer hasn't arrived yet?" he said, flashing his familiar gap-toothed smile. "I was waiting for you to come before I head off to the mosque."

"Were you able to get it?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up involuntarily.

Smiling, Hakeem stepped into his shop, moving aside the various antiques he owned. His most prize possession - a golden jukebox - was placed on the highest shelf, away from all the knick-knacks.

"Here it is," he smiled, walking back towards her with a very dusty old wooden box clutched under his armpit. He grabbed a damp rag and began to wipe off the dust, beaming down at Noor whose fingers began to quiver with excitement.

"Now, the gentleman who sold this to me was very generous. He'd just told someone he wouldn't be selling it for anything less than 750 riyals. But he sold it to me for 550." He smiled at her, handing over the box. Noor grabbed it anxiously, smiling as she unhooked the latch and opened the box.

"Ya Allah!" she exclaimed, running her fingers over the contents of the box. "It's authentic, I believe?"

"The best of its kind." he smiled. "You can imagine how many people wanted to get their hands on it."

"How much?" Noor asked, covering the box once again, though reluctantly.

Hakeem smiled once more, folding his hands together behind him. "For you, 100 riyals," he said.

"But you just said you bought it for 550," Noor said, opening her mouth slightly.

"Yes I did. I would have asked you to take it for free, but I know you'll refuse," he said,

"But why, Hakeem?" she asked incredulously.

"Think of it as my gift to you. I owe you a little something from my travels after all," he replied.

"I can't accept this. I'll pay you 600." she said.

"I will not accept that." He raised his hands. "100 riyals, or you take it for free," he said.

Noor narrowed her eyes at him, setting the box down as she opened her purse.

"You are ruining your business because of me," she muttered, counting out the coins quickly. "You shouldn't do that."

"As long as it's you who's making me ruin it, then it's worth it." He smiled as she handed him the money. "Shukran."

"I'll see you next week,"she said, picking up the box and her previous package.

"I look forward to it." Hakeem smiled as Noor waved at him before she joined the sea of people once again.

**********

"You seem to be in a good mood," Safiya smiled as her daughter walked happily into the house. "Did you buy the vegetables like I told you to?"

"Yes mother, I did," Noor smiled, placing the parcel beside her mother. Safiya peered into the bag, frowning.

"Is that all of it?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so," Noor said, trying to hide the box behind her. "Hashim is being very unreasonable these days."

Her mother noticed the box, but she chose to ignore it.

"Maybe it's because your father refused him," she added tentatively. Noor pretended not to have heard as her mother stood up from the low stool she was sitting on. They were standing in the courtyard, a few feet from the kitchen entrance.

Master Kabeer's house was fairly large compared to other households, owing to the fact that he was a very wealthy merchant in the city with a respectable name.

Their house was a storey building, one of the few in the city. It consisted of five bedrooms, two at the top floor and three at ground floor. The two bedrooms upstairs belonged to Kabeer and his wife, with his on the left and hers on the right. The staircase was in the middle, leading up to a landing which separated the two rooms.

Directly underneath Kabeer's room was his daughter's. The entrance to her room stood underneath the landing, the wooden door with a brass handle hidden in the shadows of the staircase. Opposite Noors’ bedroom was the room reserved for the slaves. This was the largest room in the house, stretching long enough to fit twenty mats with enough space between them. Master Kabeer had thirty one slaves, with only two females amongst them. The males all squashed together in this room, while Noor shared her bedroom with the two female slaves.

The last room was beside Noors’ bedroom, and it was the closest to the gates of the house. It was Master Kabeers’ study, and it was closest to the entrance because he wanted to be able to slip in and out of the house without anyone noticing. This room was always locked, with the only key being in Kabeers’ possession at all times.

In the few occasions when Noor had entered the room, she'd seen the enormous, towering piles of dusty old scrolls, with several tomes placed on the bookshelves on either sides of the room. A dusty old chair was placed beside the door, with the only table facing this chair. The table itself was piled high with several parchments and scrolls, the rest placed at the foot of the shelves. The study sent a shiver down her spine whenever she entered it.

The kitchen was opposite the study room, surrounded by a low mud wall which glistened under the sunlight. The whole house was polished with mud every three months by the slaves in order to keep it shining. They placed high wooden benches along the walls and rubbed thick layers of mud on each wall smoothly, until the tiny cracks were no longer visible. On this particular day however, small cracks were beginning to appear across the walls as Safiya headed towards the kitchen.

"Would you like me to help you?" Noor called after her mother.

"Don't bother," she said over her shoulder. "Ummayma and Aisha will take care of lunch. I've already told them to start the fire. You go and freshen up; you'll be the one to take lunch to your father."

"Did I hear your mother calling us?" Aisha asked immediately Noor stepped into the bedroom. She was sitting on a low stool, with Ummayma seated in front of her as she plaited her hair.

"Yes. It's time to make lunch," Noor replied, placing the box she was holding on the only bed in the room.

"Tie your scarf, Ummayma. I'll finish the rest when we're done," Aisha instructed, being the oldest of the two. Both she and Ummayma were only a few years older than Noor.

As the two of them left the room, Noor shut the door behind them and sat on the bed, the excitement she'd felt earlier returning as she opened the box once again and gazed lovingly at the contents. There were three small books arranged on one side of the box, with a rolled up scroll placed on the other side. The topmost book read 'A Month In The Mountains: a detailed account of Mount 'al Sham and the treasures it hides (Volume 2)' by Sai'd ibn Zaid.

Having examined all the books already, Noor pulled out the rolled up scroll, opening it slowly. It was a map; a very old and ancient looking map.

Placing it on the bed, Noor held the map in place by placing one end of the wooden box on the top, and holding the bottom end with her left hand as she began to examine the map of the Persian Empire in detail. Her eyes travelled slowly over the tiny black dots marked Armenia, Bactria, and Gandhara. A smile flitted across her face as she stared at the map, seemingly forgetting where she was.

Like a spider caught in its own web, Noor's soul longed to travel out of the confines of Sana'a. Compared to the rest of the world, the city seemed tiny and unimportant. It was far too small for her wandering spirit. She longed to travel across the great desert; to feel the wind in her face as she marched to her destination; to smell the sand beneath her and feel the slow and steady march of the camel beneath her as they trekked across great dunes of sand.

Alas, it would never be so. As her mother had pointed out so many times that she had forgotten to keep count, "A woman's place is in her husband's house. Not out there in the desert trekking for days on end, but safely tucked away in her home as she tends to the household affairs."

Noor looked up slowly and stared out the window. The sun was so high up in the sky now. The heat was beginning to increase too. Any moment now, the Adhan would begin to call for the Jumu'at (Friday) prayer. Only after the prayer would her mother call her to take lunch to her father in the market. Propping up onto the bed, she pulled out the first book and opened the first page. Unlike the cover which was beginning to peel at the edges, the pages were still as neat as though the book was brand new. Smiling inwardly, she flipped through the first few pages and began to read the words written in long cursive Urdu:

'The very name Arabian Desert evokes a sense of mystery, romance and passion in the heart of any explorer or traveller. A vast land of never-ending sand dunes and empty planes devoid of any human or animal existence (or so I unfortunately believed), the sheer enormity of it was enough to drive fear in the hearts of men who didn't dream of adventure.

The journey across the Arabian peninsula was always long and tedious. One simply forgets how vast the desert is until they set foot in it once again, and they feel the heat of the sun beating their backs, and the slow but sturdy movement of a camels’ hump beneath them. It is a known fact that the desert is hot, but no one ever truly appreciates the intensity of this heat until they set foot in the desert itself.

My companions, - Hameed and Uthman - had long since forgotten about me since our unfortunate separation at Hudaibiya upon returning from the Holy City. My only companion now was my stallion. He proved to be a loyal companion, though I'm sure he'd have much preferred the quiet life in a shed where all he has to do is eat, drink and rest. My heart was set on a different path however. My soul wanders across the caves hidden in the mountains; the secrets they hold known only to those who seek them. It was these very mountains that pulled me away from my humble and quiet life into the clutches of danger and the terrifying unknown.

My first day in the mountains was proving to be a challenge, both physically and mentally. I...'

"Noor?" Ummayma suddenly flung the door open, pulling Noor back to reality in a savage manner.

"What is it?" she groaned, hiding the book swiftly.

"Your mother said she wants to see you right now," she replied, hurrying out of the room. She wasn't surprised to find Noor reading. If her guess was right, it had something to do with travelling.

**********

"Careful with that!" Lukman barked as one of the men swayed slightly with the box placed on his shoulder. "Do you have any idea what you are carrying right now?"

"Be quiet, Lukman," Master Fareed snapped, examining the contents of one crate.

"Forgive me, Master," he said, sinking into a very low bow. Master Fareed ignored him, holding up a shining golden goblet in his long fingers. He narrowed his eyes as he examined the rubies placed around the body of the goblet, each one blood-red and smooth.

"Siddiq should not have been underestimated," he said quietly. "These treasures are genuine."

"He probably stole them," Lukman muttered.

"No, these aren't stolen," Master Fareed said as quiet as before, placing the goblet slowly back into the crate. He nodded towards the men, who immediately rushed to carry the crate away. "I believe he must have bought them somewhere. As for where exactly that is, I'm not entirely sure. Yet."

"Why don't we just move them to the mansion immediately, Sahib?" Lukman suggested, bowing once again.

"Of course we will," Master Fareed replied. "But first, I want to see whether anyone will attempt to steal them while they're here."

"You suspect someone knows?" Lukman's eyes widened.

"I have my suspicions," Master Fareed said, walking to the window beside him. Lukman gazed nervously at the back of his masters’ head.

"Forgive me, Sahib," he said. "But isn't it more important to move the Jewels to the mansion at once? Consider all the trouble you went through just to get them. It will be a shame if someone were to steal them from you."

Master Fareed said nothing, standing as rigid as a metal pole by the window. Lukman swallowed nervously. Whenever the master was quiet, it never turned out to be something good.

"It sounds to me, Lukman, as though you are doubting whether I will be able to keep the Jewels safe now that they are in my possession," Master Fareed said coldly.

"No, Master," he said quickly in panic. "I was merely suggesting that..."

"That I'm a foolish man who can't keep his own possessions safe," he said quietly, turning to face Lukman, who cowered under his gaze.

"I didn't mean it like that, Sahib," he squeaked.

"I know perfectly well what you meant, Lukman. My decision is final," Master Fareed said, turning to face the window once again. Several minutes passed before he spoke again.

"Only the Jewels shall be transported to the mansion," he said. "You shall instruct some men to carry three crates from this pile and take it to Siddiq's family. Do I make myself clear? "

"Yes, Sahib," Lukman replied.

"Also, you shall pay them the amount I was supposed to pay Siddiq for his work. Dalia has messed up my plans by killing him."

"If I may add, Sahib, I specifically instructed her not to kill him. But she remained adamant. She claimed he knows too much, and he might reveal your plans to someone," Lukman said with a slight upturn of his nose.

"Though you may find it unusual, I actually trusted Siddiq. He wasn't very useful, yes, but he was loyal. I did not intend him to be killed," Master Fareed said, more to himself than Lukman.

"Rightfully so, Sahib. Rightfully so," he replied.

Master Fareed continued to gaze out of the window, his eyes narrowed against the harsh brightness of the sun. In the distance, he heard the Adhans’ first call to prayer. He must hurry. He wasn't going to miss the Jumu'at prayer. He very much intended to run into Kabeer at the mosque. It will be interesting to see his reaction if he saw Fareed at the mosque. It had been a while since he prayed there, having only returned to the city in the dead of the night. No one as yet knew that he had returned. Maybe that was why they dared to plot how they would steal from him in public. He had always known that Kabeer would stop at nothing to get his hands on the Jewels, but in the past he'd never had the audacity to discuss his plans in public when he knew there was a possibility of him being overheard. But now, he was growing reckless. And that was exactly what he needed.

"Come, Lukman," Master Fareed said. "It's time we go and pray."

"Of course, Sahib." Lukman bowed as Master Fareed passed in front of him.

Meanwhile, about five buildings away, Kabeer stood impatiently once again. It was already time for Jumu'at prayer, and it would look very suspicious if he didn't attend.

"What took you so long?" he growled exasperatedly as the young man ran up to him, limping slightly.

"Sorry, I slipped and almost twisted my ankle. Those crates are absurdly heavy," he said, massaging his shoulder.

"Is it true?" Kabeer asked. "Is Fareed back in the city?"

"I'm afraid so," the young man said.

Kabeer cursed under his breath, his hands fidgeting under his robes. "Why am I just finding out right now?"

"It appears he returned last night." the young man replied.

"Where is he now?" Kabeer asked.

"He's gone down to the mosque to pray," he replied.

"So that means the hideout is unguarded?" Kabeer's eyes widened in shock.

"No, there are five men guarding the hideout. They're highly skilled," he said. “I saw the blades they possessed, and the murderous look in their eyes.”

Kabeer paused and stared at a random spot on the wall, thinking hard. Finally, with a wild look in his eyes, he said, "Alert the others. The hideout should be stormed at once. I want those Jewels recovered before this prayer is concluded."

*