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“Kalim!” Jamil rushed towards the large doors that were led into the palace. “Where were you? Did you go out by yourself? Without anyone to attend you?” He was flustered.
“Oh Jamil! It’s fine, don’t worry! I just went out to the marketplace for a stroll!” Kalim smiled a radiant, innocent smile. “I was just bored in the palace. You were busy and I didn’t wanna bother ya.” Jamil shook his head, head in his hand.
“You mustn’t leave the palace unattended. We already have concerns of poison in your meals from malicious actors on the inside. Walking alone in public streets would make you an easy target for such characters,” Jamil sternly spoke. “No, it’s fine. See?” Jamil took his index fingers and pointed towards the headscarf wrapped sloppily around his head. “The perfect disguise! No one suspected a thing!”
Jamil gazed at Kalim from head to toe. “Kalim… Wearing expensive clothing and throwing on a headscarf is not an efficient way to disguise yourself,” he sighed. “Well, I suppose as long as you are back safe in one piece, that is what matters.”
“Yeah yeah!” Kalim nodded joyfully. The young noble reached within a pocket nearby his breast. “I even still have my- huh?” He glanced down and pulled the cloth farther from his body.
“Kalim,” Jamil crossed his arms, tapping a finger on his arm, “Did you drop your coin purse?”
“No I-“ Kalim casually looked up toward the ceiling. “Was it when I bumped into that one girl…?”
“Kalim!”
“I’m sure I just dropped it!” Kalim waved his hand dismissively. “I couldn’t resist the smell of some shawarma and bought myself one. When I was walking away to put it back, a girl bumped into me. She was wrapped in some grey cloth with a hood, but I could see her eyes looked of sapphire. Oh!” He grinned, “Luckily, I didn’t drop the shawarma though!”
“Kalim, do you honestly expect me to praise you for saving your shawarma and losing track or your money?” Jamil turned around, his voice echoing off the tall walls and high ceiling of the building, “Kalim’s money was stolen! Find the village girl! Sapphire eyes and a grey wrapped hood!” There was as bit of a panic among the servants as they started to rush about.
“Wha- Jamil! I probably just dropped it! There wasn’t too much in it anyway!” He protested.
“Whether you feel no remorse of the loss of your money is of little importance, Kalim. You should know in the Land of the Hot Sands, stealing is prohibited. We cannot let this go unpunished.” Jamil began to walk away, to start investigating himself the whereabouts of the girl mentioned before. He stopped in his tracks and looked back towards Kalim. “Do not go outside alone again, Kalim. We are lucky only your coin purse went missing.” The ruby-eyed boy crossed his arms and gave a poutful sigh, “Fiiiiiine.”
A few days later…
Kalim strolled through a long, tall hallway. The walls were made of clay with a gold trim towards the floor. The sound of his footsteps would echo against the walls. A few servants would hurriedly pass by, bowing and greeting to him as they did. The young noble appeared to be lost in his mind with his hands clasped at the back of his head. “I wonder where Jamil went…” he pondered aloud. To his right, he began to walk towards a huge balcony, with tall archways opening to it. Pillars separated the archways, and ceiling-to-floor length drapes were bundled at the pillars to let natural light in. Kalim paused by one of the archways to look outside. “It’s almost sundown. The evening breeze feels nice this time of year,” Kalim smiled softly. “I wonder if Jamil is in the kitchen preparing the evening meal?”
“Kalim!”
Kalim looked down the hall and saw Jamil briskly walking towards him. He looked like he had been rushing around the palace looking for the noble. “Oh Jamil,” Kalim smiled towards him. “There you are! Can I ask what’s on tonight’s menu?”
“More importantly,” Jamil stopped in front of him, a bit out of breath, “we believe we found the girl that matches your description.”
Kalim tilted his head. “Girl? A match?” He thought a bit to himself. “Oh!” He looked up towards Jamil, “When did you start playing matchmaker, Jamil? I don’t remember telling you what type of girl matches my type…”
Jamil quickly shot him down. “No, Kalim, not that type of girl. The girl you bumped into the other day at the marketplace. We found one trying to pickpocket again that fit your description today. Please verify if she is the one who bumped into you.” Kalim’s shoulders slumped. “Is that all? Here I was hoping you found a dream girl…”
“Kalim,” Jamil sighed. “Just- Please follow me.
Jamil lead him towards the entryway of the palace. Occasionally again, servants would pass by and greet them accordingly, but Jamil was focused on reaching his destination with little delay. Kalim just tried to keep up with Jamil’s pace, and even hummed a bit to himself. Finally, the two reached the grand hall, and at the entrance was the girl in question. Before even reaching the hall, the wails of, “Please! Let me go! I’m sorry! I had no other choice!” among other cries could be heard echoing the hall. When Kalim began to hear such cries, the humming subsided. By the large doors leading to the outside was a girl draped in a grey cloth. The hood was down, revealing her ragged shoulder-length brown hair. It swayed about as she struggled to be released by the two servants gripping her thing frail wrists. Her skin was damp with sweat, and a few of her hairs stuck to her cheek. Her face looked thin, and from what could be seen of her exposed arms, she appeared malnourished. As Kalim and Jamil approached, her sapphire-like eyes shot in their direction. The girl looked scared and desperate. She started to tremble as Jamil at the sight of Jamil. With her wrists still clasped by the servants, she fell to her knees on the cold marble floor. “Please!” she begged. “I had no other choice!”
“Kalim,” Jamil turned to him, “Is this the girl you bumped into?”
Kalim was speechless. The boy had been raised in such comfort. He always had food available to him, and never had to cook it himself. Before him was a girl that looked uncomfortably thin and malnourished, he never saw someone like that before. The poor girl glanced towards Kalim, afraid of what may come. “Please…” she started.
“Silence,” Jamil said sternly. “Kalim?” he pressed again.
Kalim knelt down towards the girl to get to eye-level with her, and she flinched in response.
“Hey… Do you like shawarma?” He smiled towards her.
“Uh… Wha…?” she blinked.
“Kalim-“ Jamil started.
“Jamil! Make us shawarma for dinner!” he turned to Jamil.
“But Kalim-“
“Oh and have ice cream prepared for dessert!”
At dinner, the two sat close by a balcony within the palace. It was a clear night sky that evening, with a gentle cool breeze offering a cool release from the midday sun. As they waited for the food to be prepared, the servants of the palace cautiously observed the setting from different positions of the room. Kalim smiled sweetly to his guest, but she was scared stiff. Her cup of black tea in front of her was left untouched.
“Oh,” Kalim made a small realization. “Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned. Jamil made it, so it should be safe!” Little did the noble know this brought no comfort to her. Knowing the one who found her red-handed on the streets trying to steal from another citizen of the Hot Lands and bringing her here against her will… She only felt more suspicious of the tea in front of her.
At this point, Jamil and a few other servants came out from the kitchen with the prepared evening meal. The expression on Jamil’s face looked less than pleased. After presenting the meal, he sat next to Kalim, glaring at the poor girl coldly. This was not left unnoticed by her.
“I’m sorry…” she spoke dejectedly. “I…had no other choice.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it!” Kalim spoke as he began to munch on his food. Jamil looked towards him, ticked a bit. “It was chump change anyway. If you can return what was taken, we can let this go.” He happily chewed his delicious, Jamil-made shawarma.
“Kalim, that can’t work. She stole-“ Jamil started.
“If she returns what was stolen then it negates the crime right?” He glanced at her, smiling. “We can let it go.”
The girl looked down, biting her lip. She had yet grabbed the food placed before her. “I… I don’t have it anymore.”
“Hm?” Kalim loudly chewed. “What’d ju spen’ it un?”
“Kalim, finish your food before speaking,” Jamil scolded.
She began to tremble, and tears started to form in her eyes. The dewiness of her eyes only complimented her beautiful blue eyes.
“My… My brother is very sick. The doctor told us to keep him hydrated and fed to get better but…we can barely afford a loaf of bread every day. I began to give him my portion too but, his condition got worse,” she breathed heavy. When she spoke up again, her inhale was a bit choppy. “He needed medicine. The price was the same as an entire month supply of food. I didn’t have that money, but I couldn’t continue to watch him suffer…” her voice drifted. “I used the money for medicine for my brother…”
Kalim swallowed the bit of food in his mouth and set down his food on his plate. “Hmm…”
“Even so, stealing is against—” Jamil began.
“What was your name?” Kalim interrupted. Jamil turned to him, irritated.
“A…Anna…” she said quietly.
“How old are you?”
“I’m sixteen…”
“And your brother?”
“He’s about eight-years-old, sir…”
Kalim laughed. “Sir? I’m only a year older than you! …Since you can’t pay me back with money, I’ll have you pay back with your body…”
Anna looked at him terrified.
The noble turned to Jamil, “Hey Jamil, see to it Anna and her brother can have a space in the servants’ quarters.”
“I’m sorry, Kalim. What?!”
Anna looked up, bewildered. Kalim shrugged, “She has to pay for her crimes somehow right? Have her work here to as a servant to as punishment and to pay me back. Oh, but make sure Anna and her brother are well-fed and clothed. Also, our guest apparently isn’t a fan of shawarma, so bring out the ice cream.”
Jamil had given up, placing his head on his hands. “Yes, Kalim,” his voice muffled from his hands. He stood up and walked away.
“I- Wait why?” Anna asked. Kalim looked back at her, grinning. “Oh, and we’ll be sure to take care of any medicine for you or your brother. Sorry about the Shawarma.” Tears flooded Anna’s eyes, and she tried to rub them away. The next thing she did was move towards Kalim and bowed on the floor. “Thank you… I don’t deserve this…” she sobbed.
“Your brother is probably too young still but,” Kalim gently smiled toward her, “I’ll have you report in the morning, okay?” the noble winked.