Chapter XXV. Zainab’s curse

Zainab stayed in place, terrified and shaking at the horror of what her eyes had seen. Her body shook as well, as though she had been touched by the devil; her eyes went red, and her face’s veins burst into flames.

Far back on the imaginary timeline, a hundred years ago.

The location, in the south of Egypt, the center of the city of Badari, on the banks of the Nile River, between the governorates of Assiut and Sohag, where ancient Egypt struck its roots in history, which will not be forgotten no matter how long it takes.

People have been spreading rumors about a secret council of wise men who know a secret that no one else knows and who pass their knowledge down through the generations. This civilization of the Pharaohs was here, and its inhabitants claim that among them are the descendants of the remaining Pharaohs on the face of the earth.

The secret of the burial, where all the secrets of ancient Egypt lie, or so they claim.

Asyut was called “Zawty”, which is derived from the word “Syowt” and means “guard” in the hieroglyphic language, that is, the border guard of Upper Egypt when it joined Thebes, the country’s capital, in its struggle against the invading Hyksos.

As for the Badari Center, or the city of Badari, it is one of the centers of Asyut Governorate and the largest in area. It includes 36 villages and is the home of one of the oldest civilizations in history, the Badari civilization of 3200 BC, which is considered the first evidence of the growth of agriculture in Egypt and North Africa, 7000 years ago.

The ancient Badarians believed in resurrection (the second life after death). They buried their dead in the desert with the head of the dead facing south, looking to the west, wrapped in mats, accompanied by his pets, or statues of animals, women, or birds.

These ancient beliefs vanished as the monotheistic religions arrived in Egypt, or at least their direct manifestations did. The way that superstitions are understood and continue to exist is always through customs and traditions.

Some Badarians carried on some of their old forefathers’ customs. Evil spirits must perish for all time, and anyone who does not deserve to be resurrected deserves to die.

Year: 1910 AD,

A ten-year-old girl was terrified as she was encircled by men wearing the “Upper Egypt” traditional clothing of the inhabitants of southern Egypt. These guys had hard features and their mouths were foaming with rage as they said ominous things like “cursed,” “get rid of her,” and other such words.

Their thick mustaches and beards did not waver as they forced a ten-year-old girl to see her sister and companion of her youth, barely a few years older than her. The father holds her firmly, holding her by the shoulders, she screams at the top of her voice, crying in terror and fear, in front of an old clay oven, with a black iron door, which is closed, and an iron bar is placed on it, and it is impossible to open it except the outside.

As she watched her sister being placed alive in the oven and the door being shut, Zainab trembled, her body started to shake, and she felt as though a devilish touch had entered her. Her eyes became red, and the veins in her cheeks burst open.

Her cries rose, burning slowly, writhing inside the furnace, knocking on the iron door from the inside, pleading, in pain. Then, a majestic silence descended, followed by a strong gust of wind, birds flying and fluttering in all directions, and finally, a final cry resounded from the furnace, its echo reaching the tombs of the ancients.

The girl then went completely silent.

Avoid surrendering yourself to the devil and allowing him to hurt you to avoid sharing her destiny. Nothing will uncover this truth, which has been hidden for many years, after today or countless other days.

Every night, the mother made sure to warn Zainab about what would happen if those signs appeared on her. Only the wise men of the sect know and see these signs because they are privy to the mysteries and secrets surrounding the ancient people’s burials, and they are the ones who decide who lives and who dies.

It was her fault that she refused, a fourteen-year-old girl whose bad luck and her beauty led her to be lusted after by a seventy-year-old.

She said no, I will not marry this old man, even if he is a wise man.

They forced her to marry, and on the wedding night, she escaped, only for hours, before returning with ropes.

Then the sheik of the sect sees in it signs of a curse that has been inherited from generations, an evil spirit that inhabits her, that dared to refuse and flee, a curse that must be burned, for the devil may expose the secrets of the graves through her tongue.

The girl was burned, and the fire was put out in her bones, but the old man’s thirst was not quenched since it needed to be sated. He also needed to be made whole for the cursed one, and nobody could do it except for her sister Zainab.

A ten-year-old girl doesn’t have the confidence to run away, but something changed that day, as if an aura from her sister’s cry moved into her soul, making her extraordinarily strong and driving her to rebel. On the night before the wedding, she made the decision, mustered all of her strength, and fled. She wandered around aimlessly all night, she was pursued by the furnace, the torches, and shame, and in the morning she was found unconscious beside a small waterwheel.

Her eyes were opened by a hand wiping her face with water. As soon as the veil covering her eyes was removed, she beheld a face as round as the moon, with brown hair, blue eyes, and skin as white as snow. A young man, barely seventeen years old, who was not native to this nation but had a civilized, audible Egyptian accent. What’s wrong with you, young lady? Where are you from?

She stuttered, her heart beating strongly, she remembered who she was, and where she came from, she jumped in terror, looking around in fear.

The young man immediately realized that, in these places, girls only flee from death and frequently die while doing so.

He carried her and hurried her into the horse carriage, a large basket full of dates, emptied it, put the girl inside, and sped off, running away with her.

A young man of Turkish origin, a descendant of the Ottoman warlords.

Fate wanted him to be here today, to save Zainab.

Or maybe to save the curse from annihilation!

Or perhaps, to write the first letter of a story whose event begin and end, at every moment….

The Moment of Baibars…