---Nadir's POV---

A cool breeze rushed through the window as I slowly dressed myself. The cold sweat that coated my body made me shiver instantly, eyes flitting to the fluttering drapes on the opposite side of the room.

The view on the other side momentarily stole my breath, diverting my attention from the nightmares that haunted my dreams.

The sun was slowly rising, announcing its presence to the world and heating the surface of the now cool sands. Dark blue skies slowly gave way to delicate pinks and streaks of orange.

Now would be the coolest period of the day, or at sunset. A time where you could walk barefoot over the sand and enjoy the soft surface give away underneath your foot.

Another shiver ran over my spine, this time not caused by the breeze. The scars on my back burned viciously, as even phantom pains in my hips reminded me of the horrors of my past.

There was no use trying to fall asleep again; my mind would only summon more unwanted memories, one after another, until I felt like throwing up.

So instead I dressed myself, quietly making me way down the stairs and nodding my head at the yawning Achmed, who seemed surprised at my early presence.

Slipping outside, I quickly made my way towards the barn, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as the doors closed behind me.

AS if he sensed my approach, Tahir's face leaned over his stall, nickering softly with ears perking towards me.

"Good morning to you too. I hope at least you had a good sleep, my friend." I murmured, stepping into the stable. Tahir snorted, lowering his head whilst smacking his lips, as if to reply to my statement.

After all these years, the stallion could read me like no other and he always had seemed to understand whenever I felt... troubled.

Today was no different, as he reached forward, soft nose brushing against my cheek before almost playfully grabbing at my hair.

"Yeah, I guess it's getting too long, huh?" I said with quivering voice, leaning against his warm neck, closing my eyes. Tahir stayed perfectly still, allowing me to slowly regroup until I snorted when Tahir started to nudge me in the leg.

A smile started to bloom as I watched the stallion gently starting to groom me, telling me with his grooming where he himself was feeling a tad itchy.

So I complied to his silent wishes and grabbed a brush, working slowly, meticulously. Each speck of dirt was gently worked out of Tahir's fur until the stallion was gleaming and the sounds of people roaming the streets filtered through the stables.

And even if I felt tired enough to go back to bed, I knew I couldn't. Not because it wasn't exactly proper to sleep the day away unless you were sick, but I instinctively knew that the nightmares would return with a vengeance.

I guess even if I managed to kill off all my horrid masters and survive the ordeal, I would be forever marked, in more ways than one.

Tahir snorted, moving his weight to his other leg and gently nudged me to the side before lifting his front leg. Rolling my eyes at the stallion, I grabbed the tools necessary to clean out his hooves.

"If I didn't know better Tahir, I would've thought you were a princess instead of a stallion." I muttered, starting the maintenance on his hooves.

But I was glad for the distraction he provided though. Working on his hooves, and having to deal with Tahir attempting to return the favor by grooming me, resulting in a few pinches on my ass, turned out to be quite enough to keep my mind of the past.

As I cracked my back and stood upright, groaning from having to bend over Tahir's hooves like that, I heard a little sound behind me.

The stable boy was leaning on the door, blushing slightly at being caught before he grinned. "Sorry Sir, it's just, he didn't act that way when I brushed him on your arrival."

He eyed Tahir as the stallion was lipping at my shoulder while I scratched his. "Why does he do that? I've seen other horses do that as well, and it often hurts."

A smile slid on my lips at the true curiosity in the youth's eyes as I dusted off my clothes and patted Tahir on the flank. "Horses can't exactly reach far enough to scratch themselves. Most of them have a buddy that they mutually groom with."

The boy's eyes shimmered as a grin bloomed on his face, puffing his cheeks up. "So if a horse does that to me-" I nodded, grinning, stopping my hand Tahir to show that, when I stopped my grooming on him, he paused as well.

"Some horses haven't really figured out that our skin isn't as thick as their own. Tahir used to be a bit more forceful as a colt but if he learned to restrain his strength when I stopped his grooming session and walked away."

The boy glanced outside, where some horses stood in the paddock. "Oh! I've seen one of Uncle's mares do that! She went from one mare to another and refused to let the other one groom her."

"Bashir! There are customers waiting for you to put their animals to the stable!" Achmed poked his head inside, nodding once in my direction with a warm smile.

"Sabaah al-khayr. Sorry to interrupt your conversation with my nephew, I hope he wasn't bothering you." (Good morning.) Achmed said with a playful glare at Bashir as his nephew rushed past to take the animals to their stables.

"Sabaah an-nur. Not at all, he was simply curious and I was eager to teach him more about horses." (Good morning.) I replied, watching as Achmed chuckled slightly and shook his head.

His eyes darted to his nephew but Bashir didn't seem to even realize as he was busy guiding a few stubborn camels down the stable towards the paddocks outside. I grinned as well, because Bashir's attention was drawn instantly to Tahir before the boy noticed our gazes and flushed.

"Horses. I should've known it was horses." Achmed stated with a good-natured shake of his head. He motioned to the paddock outside, where four Arabian horses grazed from the dry grass.

"My jadd had invested in horses and lived long enough to see my brother bless him with a great-grandson." (Grandfather) Achmed stated, grinning as the second that Bashir had locked the unruly camels away, the boy instantly ventured out towards the horses.

"Bashir became absolutely infatuated with the horses, so jadd had made my brother promise that Bashir would inherit the horses, only if he proved himself to care for them." A snort escaped both of us; Bashir would've but crawled under the fence to be with the horses.

With the way Bashir looked at the horses with awe and how their coats shone in the upcoming sun, it was all too obvious that they were well taken care of.

I patted Tahir on the neck, tickling his soft nose and chuckling as he snorted and shook out his manes. This was certainly a place I could trust to care for my horse.

"Latifa started breakfast, so if you are feeling hungry..." Achmed paused, breaking out into laughter as my stomach gurgled loudly, leaving no doubt that I was indeed looking forwards to breakfast.

Achmed patted me heartily on the shoulder as he guided me towards the inn, where I could already see several people waiting for food.

"You're in for a treat, my friend. Fatima studies different recipes to make sure she can satisfy the tastes of any wary traveler. Today she has several dishes prepared, so you can eat to your heart's content."

Saliva instantly flooded my mouth as soon as I entered the inn. The delicious scents that greeted me only succeeded in making my stomach gurgle even louder than before, much to the amusement of Achmed.

The owner guided me to a table, returning a few moments later with hot mint tea and Latifa following close behind with several dishes.

My eyes widened, stomach growling before I blushed at Latifa's giggle. "I shall take that as a compliment. Enjoy while it's still hot."

I wasn't even sure if I would be able to eat it all! Fluffy Manakeesh, a za'atar flavored flatbread, along with grilled halloumi, a plate filled with golden crusted fatayer or the succulent grilled lamb that was waiting for me to devour.

And of course, the second I reached forwards, I heard a little tap on the table and saw that Latifa had delivered a plate of freshly baked naan bread, along with hummus and fool.

Have I gone to heaven?

I would like to say that I slowly ate with the grace and self-control of an adult... but then, I would be lying. The spinach, sumac and walnut stuffed fatayer exploded with flavor as soon as I took a bite, followed by the tender and juicy lamb.

By the time I had finished my meal, I noticed the amused look from Achmed and his wife chuckling behind her veils.... And the smear of food around my lips.

A blush heated my cheeks as I cleared my throat, using the napkin that was provided to make sure I was once again presentable. A glance to the side didn't really help my embarrassment, as Bashir was enjoying his meal as well.

The lad was eating more proper and clean than I had!

Achmed cleared the plates from the table, placing down a dish with a few baklava pieces on it. He winked and chuckled "All is well, my friend. You should've seen the mess I made when I first tasted her cooking."

Latifa's laughter chimed through the dining room, hiding her face behind her veils as several customers turned with an amused smile.

"I remember father wondering if you had lied about your true age, seeing you eat with such gusto." She giggled again, blushing as Achmed smiled at her with love clear in his gaze.

I could tell that he wanted nothing more than to hug his wife, perhaps even kiss her. But I also knew that among the Islamic, affection between spouses was considered a private thing.

It wasn't that they didn't love one another; on the contrary. In a culture of moderation, couples are encourage to only show affection in the privacy of their own home.

They saw their love as such a beautiful thing, that they didn't want to put it on display like a cheap commodity. But that didn't mean that they couldn't show it in other ways.

I grinned, seeing how, at every chance he could, Achmed thanked Allah for putting Latifa in his path, praising his wife's cooking or her character in general.

And Latifa, while embarrassed by the attention and stating that she shouldn't be praised for such a mundane task as cooking food, seemed to also strive to make herself reach her husband's praises.

"Achmed, please. People will start to think you're lying by heaping such praises on my cooking." Latifa said with a little indignant huff.

One of the clients, seemingly a regular, smiled and looked at Achmed as he stated, "I don't see any wrong in these praises; they're not relying on falsehoods, nor are they exaggerated in the least."

Achmed grinned victoriously as he added with a glance at his wife, "Plus, Latifa is so humble and shy of praises that I do not fear any sign of corrupting her, nor her getting arrogant due to my praising."

I felt pity for the poor woman as you could nearly see the heat coming of her bright red cheeks. She huffed and shook her head with a slight smile. "Well, I'll pray to Allah and ask him for forgiveness if my fool of a husband has angered him by worshipping me instead of Him."

Achmed paused before cocking his head with a gentle smile. "But, is it also not His gift unto you? By praising you, I also thank Him for granting us with his amazing blessing he gave you, my dear."

Latifa didn't know what to say and Achmed chuckled before cleaning off the table. It was amusing to watch the couple work and teasingly bicker.

A sigh escaped my chest as I realized that it would soon be time to head out to the next place. To take the next step and cross one more name off the ever shortening list.

I bit back a smirk as I took a sip from my tea because I know I was saving one of the worst for last.

Soon. Your time will come... soon.