Entry: Zerzura the City of Doves

I guess this is where my true journey begins. Maybe it was before this time. I’m never really sure. My memory has always been shifted and different. I lose myself after every kill I think—so many of them. I found a place to find myself though. An absolutely gorgeous place. The White City, better known as Zerzura. I, however, call it The City of Doves. There are so many of them around here and it was almost as if some of them were pets to the people that I’ve come to know. One little girl, in particular, her name is Suhana.

She has beautiful black hair, as dark as the night when there are no stars. Her eyes were of two different colors, one of them as blue as the Egyptian sky and the other as green as the palm trees that grew all around us. She is the sweetest child, and, unfortunately, my next victim.

She isn’t more than maybe 12 years old. She’s the daughter of the Emir here and he wants her dead for all the unknown reasons.

Her mother disappeared under the cover of the moon. Was she taken? I’m not sure. It was long before I got here. The Emir hates Suhana, apparently because he somehow feels like she’s not actually his.

If I’m being honest, I don’t think her mother would have chosen anyone here. I know I wouldn’t but my taste has varied over the thousands of years I’ve walked this Earth. When I first arrived Suhana and her stepmother Sahar were the first to greet me. They knew what I was almost immediately but they also knew I wasn’t there for either of them. At least, not at the time. I was tired and hungry.

On this side of the Nile, things are very scarce. So when I stumbled upon an entirely white, gated city, with 19-foot dark skin giants in the front, operating as guards, you can imagine the skepticism of my own eyesight. Coming from Heracleion, you would think I knew better. My city was a grand place. Yes, was. I often miss it. A place of magic and peace. A place where I was born into my profession.

Being an assassin is not as dreary as I make it sound. It can sometimes be rather fun. Not the killing part, of course, but the traveling and seeing the different lands but above all, the fortune I have acquired for my services.

I don’t often speak on my home. Mainly because no one has ever actually seen it. My descriptions of it leave people skeptical of its existence in fact. I describe it in such detail. I’ve been captured and tortured for my descriptions of the place to be perfectly honest. They then go in search of it, only to either never find it, never return, or worse they return completely insane.

Exceptional spellwork, courtesy of my mother. Weirdly enough, as I express myself to you, I feel a wave of sadness wash over me. I miss her dearly, and my sisters too. Oh and my father! You couldn’t imagine how much of a daddy’s girl I am. You’d be shocked. He actually got me the first weapon I ever used on an assassination. A curved dagger. It has a diamond and ruby-encrusted handle and the blade is smoothed to perfection. It is made from the purest molten silver and another metal we never knew the name of. You would think it’s heavy but you would be more than wrong. She stays on my hip at all times, even during rest.

But, I do digress. I’m talking to you not because I miss home, but because I have reached a dilemma. Suhana, if you remember. She’s innocent in this situation and honestly, I don’t like wasting innocent lives. It’s an unnecessary addition to my body count and it is quite bothersome. What should I do? I know, right is right, and wrong is wrong. But this is work and in my work, there is a blurred line between right and wrong. Or is there? There must be some reason he wants her dead. She’s only 12, she can’t take over anything.

I do wonder though…maybe she’s magically inclined. I didn’t particularly feel anything magical about her when I first got here. But we are fairly drawn to each other. She tends to be around me a lot. Would she be able to hide her magical status? Or does it only reveal itself when she’s fully aware of it? This does seem to need further investigation. It would make sense if that is the case. People here, on this side of the Nile, are not fond of the magical and mysterious.

Superstition and fear of course. I have come to understand the fear over my many years, but I also know that everything associated with magic or myths is not based in evil and it can be hard to make others understand that simple fact. They take it as a challenge and retaliate in any way they see fit, including violence and death. That then makes me wonder about her mother. She stated to me in secret that her mother disappeared under the cover of the moon.

Based on the fact that her father now wants her dead, it would be completely plausible to assume that the father actually killed the mother but doesn’t want to kill the girl himself because he would be too clear a suspect.

When talking to Suhana about her mother, she stated that her mother would often wander off for several hours during the day and at night she was restless and took walks around the city. I was able to confirm this with other citizens. They would see her grace the streets at night in a beautiful white nightgown and no sandals. She often went to the center of the city and sat at the fountain there. She swirled her hand in the water and stayed for a few hours before going back to the palace at the other end of the city, closest to the entrance.

An odd place to keep a palace in the city by the way. I do apologize but I must go off on this tangent. Who keeps their palace by the entrance to the city? Say I wanted to kill the Emir? As soon as I enter the gate, I am at the palace steps. Ideal for the assassin but not for the ruler of the city. I wonder why that is. Quick escape? Maybe. However, if I was the Emir and I just killed my wife, I don’t think I would want to attempt to move her body through the entire city. Especially when I can just go outside and then be outside the city in a few steps.

The city knows my wife is a free spirit and a wanderer, so her disappearing at night is not of particular urgency. The only problem I now have is my daughter who is either not mine or is magically inclined. And it is something she would have definitely gotten from her mother. To keep suspicions down to a minimum I lie to my citizens and take another wife. One who has been around my daughter for most of her life so she won’t feel uncomfortable and I miss the chance to get rid of her.

I can’t kill her myself though. But AHA! A stranger happens upon my lands and they look to be of the occupation I am in need of. What else would I do besides inviting them in and making them feel comfortable here and then, once I know I have them where I want them, ask them my favor? I can offer to pay them with treasures acquired through trade. A brilliant plan Emir, except, I cannot be fooled.

I had taken a walk outside of the city with the girl and her stepmother. You know me, curiosity. I needed to know why this young girl had such a high price on her head. And from her own father in fact. We didn’t walk too far away from the front gates, if something were to happen I could get them back to safety in no time flat.

We talked and walked, she told stories of her mother and her stepmother chimed in happily. Adding some of the missing pieces to make the story more delightful than it already was. It really only confirmed my suspicions that she definitely didn’t leave on her own accord. When Suhanna went to one of the springs to play in the water, I pulled the stepmother to the side. I asked Sahar what she knew of Suhanna’s mother. She spilled everything she could. The mother’s name was Nahina, she was a young woman about 20 years old when she first showed up at the gates of the city. Sahar was in charge of caring for Nahina.

The Emir was infatuated with her from day one and made it overly known in the city. It was especially interesting since he had a wife dying in his bed already. He seems to go through a lot of women. I didn’t mean to say it out loud but she definitely agreed. She continued to tell me that Nahina was definitely not from this side of the Nile.

While everyone in this gated city was fair-skinned with bright, curly hair, Nahina was about my complexion. Brown skin with one bright blue eye and one bright green eye. She was slim in the upper part of her body but had thicker hips. Her hair though, is what interested me the most. Sahar described her hair as being red, but not just any red. A deep red, like a desert rose, yet Suhana’s hair was a pitch black. And she is for sure Suhana’s mother?

The answer couldn’t come fast enough. Yes.

Before I could ask if she was sure, she went into the story of being the one to take care of Nahina when she got pregnant. She explained how, because Nahina was so beautiful, once the Emir set his sights on her and asked for her hand, Nahina never left her room, let alone the palace. The even crazier thing was that not one man in the city had black hair, they were either yellow or red. She also stated how she was Nahina’s midwife and had the same questions we all did when Suhana was born. The eyes matched yes, but the hair belonged to neither parent. She surely had the skin and certain facial features of the Emir, in the right light they were practically twins. But like me, the hair stumped everyone. Especially since the Emir who would be the obvious choice had bright yellow hair. Not necessarily blonde… but a bit brighter than that.

After our little trip outside the city, when we got back into the city I could see the disappointment on the Emir’s face when the young girl arrived back with life still in her body. I motioned to speak with him alone, this was something I needed to figure out. He knew what I was going to ask. Before I even said a word he broke down how Nahina was the love of his life. He, however, couldn’t help but think something was amiss with the birth of their daughter. Every day Nahina was beating herself up about the appearance of her daughter, she seemed truly confused.

He admitted that he took her outside of the city, feigning an emergency, and killed her. He buried her body beneath the sands and let a storm finish her off. I simply listened, for I already knew the truth. What I didn’t mention before was that her body was near the small spring and Suhana visits it every so often. He wouldn’t know that because he never leaves. A smart girl indeed. She was the witness, and to keep her happy and quiet, he married Sahar to make sure nothing went wrong when it came to the child until someone came along who could bear the burden of killing her off. I agreed to rid the city of its embarrassment once and for all. He seemed a little too relieved for my taste but I needed to do what I could. After all, he was paying me. Tonight should be fairly interesting I do believe.

The next night..

I would like to think that my mother would actually be pretty proud of me. How I handled last night was one for the books! Well, for you, the best book. He thought he was safe. As it turns out, everyone here knew exactly what happened to Nahina. It also turns out the Emir not only had pitch black hair but was also magically gifted. THAT was his secret! He came from a city that was formed in stone in the middle of the Kalahari. He didn’t care if he got caught for Nahina’s death, but the lie about magic is what he couldn’t let get out. These desert people…

I can’t expect everyone to act the way I do though.

That would be foolish indeed. Anyway, his people also had incredible magical gifts and more importantly, they had pitch black hair. When their home was destroyed, they all disguised themselves and went elsewhere. Everyone separated and found other cities, towns, villages, and people to live amongst. The reason everyone, including Nahina, was stumped by Suhana’s hair color was that it was her father’s. Not only was she a witness to the cold-blooded murder he committed but she was also living evidence of his deceit to these people and therefore a threat to not only his fortune but his safety as well.

I relieved him of these feelings last night. After the city was covered in darkness with only the moon giving them a sliver of light, I walked into the palace. I say walk instead of snuck because Sahar had opened the door for me. I passed Suhana’s room and stopped in the doorway. She was definitely asleep but I figured I would tell her my goodbyes anyway. Whether she received her father’s magical gifts is a mystery to me, but if she did I do believe she already knows what to do with them. They speak a type of broken language, she was able to teach me quickly and I was able to form a note for her. If she ever needed my help, I think she knew how to get to me. No matter where I was. I instructed Sahar to stay with the girl and let me do my job. She had already paid me what I was owed and had the giants outside get me a horse, food, water, and a change of clothes. I moved through the palace as quietly as I could, but I couldn‘t help but feel slightly uneasy. This man had been incredibly cunning for years, I don’t think he would have bowed out of this life without a fight.

And I was right, of course. His bedroom doors were open and he stood in front of them, sword at the ready. This made me all too excited as you can imagine. I hadn’t had a good fight in a good while. He was fairly skilled with a weapon. He ran towards me and we locked weapons. I dare not insult my beautiful katana with this battle that would be over quicker than it began. I did have a scimitar at my disposal, though, We exchanged and locked up. I gave him a kick to the stomach and ran him through with my sword, making sure to cover his mouth.

I didn’t want to wake the girl. Although the clanging of the swords may have been enough to do so. Also, he was screaming. I have never had such a noisy victim before. But he was fighting for his life so can you really blame him? I cleaned off my blade and his, and took his as a souvenir. It wasn’t like mine but it was definitely unique. Almost as if he had stolen it on his journey to this place.

The servants came and fixed his body up in the bed and went to prepare for screaming and running through the town that their Emir had died in his sleep. As I left as quietly as I arrived I passed by her door again. She was awake and waved goodbye. I nodded and continued out the door and out the gates. This was quite an adventure. I wasn’t surprised by the ending though. Were you?

No, of course not. It is a good thing that they gave me food because I actually am hungry.