12-30-2013, 12:26 PM
Barely able to stand as she was, Amira's good leg threatened to give way as the Ascendancy -- Nikolai -- strode across the room and grasped her hands. Firm, strong hands gently gripping her own, so warm and unlike anything she had felt before. She'd never been touched by any man not tied to her by blood before. Goosebumps prickled her flesh and her stomach fluttered as those intense eyes locked with hers and he spoke soft wordds to her. She barely remembered what she said in response, only that it came out in a whisper.
The visit was brief, but enough to last a lifetime for her. The man's presence and attention had awoken a flame within Amira. Cameras and reporters would come later from time to time, and they found a different woman than the broken young girl they had expected to pity. She flashed her smiles for them, and spoke of how wonderful her brief time with the Ascendancy was. The world raved of her beauty and ate up the touching story of a young girl harmed but not broken, desirring to shed her cocoon of seclusion and take flight like the butterfly she was at heart.
* * *
Ashka scowled as he watched the latest news team drive away. It was scandalous how Amira was flashing her face across the airwaves for the whole world to see like some western harlot of a movie star. She had always been one to watch for fear she would cast away her modesty, but now things had gone too far. He and Rasha had tried to keep the news crews away at first, but they had tried doing even worse by camping outside and watch for activity by the windows -- and she would try to encourage them with rare glimpses of herself beyond the curtain!
It was all that man's fault. He'd behaved so inappropriately -- calling on an unmarried woman unannounced, speaking softly to her, touching her hand? -- he had obviously corrupted her just as he was corrupting the whole land. Kuwait had never been a propr place to raise a young girl but it seemed one could no longer even make the attempt to follow the will of God without outside influence. The devil was everywhere and he had found his way into Amira.
Ashka found Rasha sitting alone in the small living room. He approached and took his brother's hand. "Brother, where is Amira?"
Rasha scowled. "She has left with one of those reporters. I forbade it unless one of us went with her, and she laughed at me! Told me there was no law against it and she was free to do as she wished. Threatened to have a Custodian come."
Ashka sighed. Did she truly no longer care about the highest law, the comand of Allah? "Brother, we made a promise to her father before he passed. We said we would keep her pure of heart and body. If we do not do something, she is going to call down the wrath of Allah upon our whole family for generations."
Rasha nodded, and a tear escaped one eye and ran down the side of his smooth cheek.
* * *
The media firestorm that surrounded Amira was set off anew once her body was found on the steps of the mosque, wrapped in clean white linen. The was no question who was to blame. Her cousins were immediately taken into custody and they did not attempt to hide what they had done. Honor slayings had long been forbidden even before the rise of Dominance V, and they were expected to be put to death for their crime.
The Dominance mourned Amira, and as with any great tragedy in the media, whispers of hindsight and second guessing grew. Who was culpable for this terrible act? Although her cousins had been the ones to commit the act, whispers rew from speculation that none of this would have happened if Nikolai Brandon hadn't decided to visit this girl and propel her into the spotlight. And those whispers refuse to die, instead spreading and gaining wings of their own: the fact of the matter was, he was a foreigner who failed to understand the ways of the peoples he claimed to rule, and he had blundered in his ignorance.
The visit was brief, but enough to last a lifetime for her. The man's presence and attention had awoken a flame within Amira. Cameras and reporters would come later from time to time, and they found a different woman than the broken young girl they had expected to pity. She flashed her smiles for them, and spoke of how wonderful her brief time with the Ascendancy was. The world raved of her beauty and ate up the touching story of a young girl harmed but not broken, desirring to shed her cocoon of seclusion and take flight like the butterfly she was at heart.
* * *
Ashka scowled as he watched the latest news team drive away. It was scandalous how Amira was flashing her face across the airwaves for the whole world to see like some western harlot of a movie star. She had always been one to watch for fear she would cast away her modesty, but now things had gone too far. He and Rasha had tried to keep the news crews away at first, but they had tried doing even worse by camping outside and watch for activity by the windows -- and she would try to encourage them with rare glimpses of herself beyond the curtain!
It was all that man's fault. He'd behaved so inappropriately -- calling on an unmarried woman unannounced, speaking softly to her, touching her hand? -- he had obviously corrupted her just as he was corrupting the whole land. Kuwait had never been a propr place to raise a young girl but it seemed one could no longer even make the attempt to follow the will of God without outside influence. The devil was everywhere and he had found his way into Amira.
Ashka found Rasha sitting alone in the small living room. He approached and took his brother's hand. "Brother, where is Amira?"
Rasha scowled. "She has left with one of those reporters. I forbade it unless one of us went with her, and she laughed at me! Told me there was no law against it and she was free to do as she wished. Threatened to have a Custodian come."
Ashka sighed. Did she truly no longer care about the highest law, the comand of Allah? "Brother, we made a promise to her father before he passed. We said we would keep her pure of heart and body. If we do not do something, she is going to call down the wrath of Allah upon our whole family for generations."
Rasha nodded, and a tear escaped one eye and ran down the side of his smooth cheek.
* * *
The media firestorm that surrounded Amira was set off anew once her body was found on the steps of the mosque, wrapped in clean white linen. The was no question who was to blame. Her cousins were immediately taken into custody and they did not attempt to hide what they had done. Honor slayings had long been forbidden even before the rise of Dominance V, and they were expected to be put to death for their crime.
The Dominance mourned Amira, and as with any great tragedy in the media, whispers of hindsight and second guessing grew. Who was culpable for this terrible act? Although her cousins had been the ones to commit the act, whispers rew from speculation that none of this would have happened if Nikolai Brandon hadn't decided to visit this girl and propel her into the spotlight. And those whispers refuse to die, instead spreading and gaining wings of their own: the fact of the matter was, he was a foreigner who failed to understand the ways of the peoples he claimed to rule, and he had blundered in his ignorance.