Spirit of hunger and fear

...

They took her to a part of the palace they call 'ancient edict' where there is a maze that has never been solved before. People were known to get lost in it and would sometimes never return with their lives. It was believed that the deaths are the result of displeasure a person causes upon himself by the ancients. They believe there are spirits in the maze that would protect a person who is innocent. So whoever emerges out of the maze alive has been cleansed and would be certified to carry out a set punishment for a time.

For Aairah, she would be thrown in the maze because she needed cleansing after giving out her body before marriage. After that, her exile will be a peaceful event and would not tarnish the name of the royal house.

But first, they took her to the center of the maze and surrounded her. The queen arrived promptly, the dowager and her cronies in tow.

"Strip her! Give her a widow's due. She must mourn the death of her virtue to increase her chances of coming out alive!" The queen ordered crisply, authoritatively.

The dowager made a noise deep in her throat to give her accent. All the other agreed interminably. So the slaves got to work.

Aairah screamed when the women stripped her. They didn't care about her screams though. They donned on her an ugly white gown which looks like a hospital gown, only longer. It all took less than thirty minutes. Aairah stopped screaming when it was time to cut her hair. Her beautiful hair.. Her mind blanked out. She sat still as they shaved her head. Every strand fell in a heap of casual dismissal. The hair she had invested so much time and effort into grooming.. Even Aaidah was envious of her hair. And now..

Aairah felt a sob rise to her throat. But it stopped there, blocking her windpipe and scorching her heart through the tautness of every nerve connecting her brain and that organs beating in her chest..

It was all over as soon as it began. But Aairah was beyond shocked when they held her face and shaved the brows too. She did not remember a widow's due containing shaving of brows. But the queen made sure they did it. The dowager would not talk even though she knew that queen Neemah is doing it out of pure spite.

Queen Neemah almost felt sorry for her when it's done. She looks pitiful and weird. She looks cartoony hilarious! Everyone keeps giving her strange looks. Okay! She looks beyond wierd. She looks ridiculous! Hahhahahhha!

"We will leave now. It will be you and your own demons now. I pray you come out of this alive Aairah. I did love your sister and I would love for you to scale this because of the Ernest relationship we have had before she died" the queen stated with a grave expression. The twinkle in her eyes says that she is enjoying this. Aairah is only glad that the queen is showing her true colors so early. It was too strange that she was too nice.

The dowager did not comment on it. She only glared at Aairah before saying to Queen Neemah. "Make sure her exile is severe enough!" With a huff, she left Aairah to her fate.

The queen made sure the dowager has left before saying to Aairah "don't hope for any help okay? Your family has moved to the sultanate for some reason. They should've said bye, but who would care for a shameless daughter like you? Who would bother about the black sheep of the family? I don't blame them. Just know, the emir will not be coming either. He would never know where you have been sent to in your exile. It's tradition that the emir cannot interfere in the matters of the inner house. If I choose to keep your exile secret, he would never know! You are over Aairah! When you come back, you would have nothing to return to and the Fillo house will eliminate you for you will have become a cancer they need to uproot severely for the emir to remain the sovereign heir without blemishes" she smiled darkly. "Enjoy your self inflicted misery!" And then she too left.

Aairah remained there for very long. It was unfair that she has to suffer all of this because unlike queen Neemah, she is a Muslim. Her Deen has specified every single aspect of her life. She should not suffer a widow's due or unfounded allegations without witnesses. She should not have suffered being kept in this maze because of spirits no one can testify, or the degradation of exile even though she is married.

Aairah knew she should summon some courage and find a way out. She didn't want to remember what they did to her or she will break down completely. She refused to remember that she didn't even have her brows. How alien she must look... Aairah said bismillah and gave up her affairs to Allah the exalted. She knows that if she died in this maze, her name would be tainted so it would make sense if bothher family and the royal house decides to make her name disappear for good. No one wishes to remember bad things.

Aairah soon realized that the only spirits in that maze are hunger and the fear of loneliness. She had spent hours trying to get out of the maze but it feels as if she was coming back to the same place she started every single time. She understands that it is easy for anyone to begin feeling like there are spirits once they went around a few times. It's like some unseen force is dragging her back where she began, making her fail every single time. Aairah is afraid to rest. It's fast approaching nighttime. She did not wish to think about how it will feel if it is nighttime. It would be too scary.

She also has the issue of hunger to put into her calculations. If she remains here long, she would die of hunger. She hasn't eaten anything since yesterday lunch before the queen and her people came to drag her out.

Aairah soon began to loose hope. Night has long since passed and the fear of shadows, the fear of darkness, kept her rooted in place. She was too afraid to move from where she was. She kept hearing animal noises that make her fear for her life, irrational though it seems. She is certain that if there are spirits here, they have to be jinns. She did not want to die under a spiritual attack. To avoid panicking, she sat there, did all her prayers and began to do zikr. She did not know how she fell asleep through it all.

But somehow, she did.