1 In a cold, dark cell

Time was beginning to lose its meaning. Shadia lay half dressed on the cold stones of the prison floor. As if the humiliation of having been arrested and paraded in the city had not been enough, the guards had stripped her naked and the security inspector had probed her body for whatever she could have hidden inside herself. She had cried so much her eyes burned and she had a blurry vision at best. Her mother and sister must have gone mad from worry till then. The guards of the Morality Patrol of King Xahaav had arrested Shadia two nights ago at her favorite pub where she had gone to sing and earn some money. But that was the catch right there: King Xahaav had banned all females from singing throughout the whole country for in his faith, women's voice was seductive and a gateway to sin and corruption. So many singers had fled the country, but Shadia had not been one of the lucky ones. She had no money to migrate. Moreover, she had an old, sickly mother she would never abandon. She had done what she thought was best. She had tried to work. But lately, the king's morality patrol had been going out of their way to make life miserable for the likes of her.

Her stomach growled as if it was in agony. They hadn't given her anything to eat from the early hours of the same morning. She wrapped herself tightly in the dirty piece of carpet they had given her to cover herself and tried to go to sleep. Her wrists hurt bad from her chains and the cold wind that penetrated the ceiling made it impossible to fall asleep. There wad an excruciating pain in both her shoulders that would only get worse.

Shadia closed her eyes and felt nothing. She was afraid that if she opened them again, she would find herself surrounded by the cold, windowless walls of her cell again. What had she done wrong? She had never murdered anyone. She had not stolen from anyone. She had always been kind and caring and was never the one to cause trouble. But why was she there now? Did she deserve to be treated this way? Only for singing songs?

No one knew what would happen to her. She had no friends, no connections or money to get her out of this. Anything could happen. Anything the king would decide tomorrow.