Rumaysa Read online

  For my heart and soul, my baby L

  An illustration shows a small scroll tied to a raven’s leg.

  CONTENTS

  Part I

  Part II

  Part III

  Part I

  I

  An illustration shows a hand reaching for an apple.

  Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a couple named Naina and Samar. Naina was a seamstress and Samar a labourer, and they took work wherever they could find it. Though they had little, they were happy with the life they had together. But that was before their baby girl was stolen from them.

  A witch had lurked in the land of Splinterfell. Her name was Cordelia, and she was one of the most powerful witches to have ever walked this earth. She was feared by people from all over the land, from the palace to the villages, such was her cruel reputation. Cordelia lived in a dark house at the edge of the woods and had a bountiful garden full of fruits and herbs that all the villagers knew not to touch.

  But Naina and Samar had been struggling through harsh winters and bad harvests and so, in desperation, Samar had stolen from the Witch’s garden in order to feed his wife, who was with child.

  But the Witch would have her revenge. On the night of their daughter’s birth, Cordelia came to collect what she believed to be rightfully hers. Naina and Samar had barely named their daughter Rumaysa before she was taken away from them.

  The pair spent endless days and nights looking for their child, but it seemed the Witch had disappeared completely. Her house and garden had been charred to ash with no trace of where either she or their daughter had gone.

  The days bled into weeks, and the months bled into years, as Naina and Samar travelled through different towns and countries, beseeching anybody they could find for help. But Rumaysa seemed to have vanished without a trace.

  Splinterfell and its neighbouring lands were no ordinary places. They teemed with magic and monstrous creatures, cunning kings and queens. But they were also full of friendly beasts and good people, humans and magical alike – if one knew where to look. For the world is full of both good and evil, but sometimes it’s not always clear which is which . . .

  As Naina and Samar scoured the land, they were forced to learn how to defend themselves from bandits, ‘merry’ men, thieves and all manner of people, and they were taught by those who wished them well: how to use swords and bows, how to skulk in the shadows unseen and how to tread the earth without making a noise. They lived off fruits and vegetables they found growing on trees and bushes, and set up camp in quiet places as they ruled out city after city, endlessly searching for their lost daughter.

  Once in a while, Naina and Samar would return to Splinterfell, to their village of Ujabad, to see if anything had been heard of Rumaysa. Their neighbours were always sorry to have nothing to report, but as the years dragged on the sympathetic faces turned into blank expressions as, one by one, the villagers lost interest and forgot about their lost girl.

  But Naina and Samar couldn’t forget. Rumaysa’s disappearance had left a hole in their hearts so wide that nothing could fix it. They were forever bonded by the loss they carried with them, unable to do more than bear it together in solitude.

  For twelve long years they continued like this, living in both hope and torment as they searched for some word of their daughter.

  Until, one auspicious night, Naina and Samar returned to Ujabad once more.

  The stars shone especially bright in the night sky as the heat of the day faded away into cold air. Their horses trotted through the dried muddied lanes, and the familiar sight of leafy palm trees and wild bushes welcomed them home.

  Naina and Samar had changed over the years, their frames worn down by living in the wild. Samar let out a sigh as they passed through the streets where the faded ‘Missing’ papers they put up every so often were now peeling off the lantern posts. Naina tried not to look at the papers, another reminder of their failed mission. Her warm brown eyes stared down instead, focusing on the dark mane of her horse.

  As they approached their village, they saw everyone gathered in the communal courtyard around the roaring fire pit. Orange and yellow flames crackled high, smoke tendrils curling into the air. It seemed they had arrived in time for story night, a weekly affair in Ujabad.

  Naina and Samar dismounted from their horses, their weapons clinking at their belts as they did so. They fetched some water for the horses, and tied them up near their small hut to rest after their long journey home.

  ‘Shall we go to the pit?’ Samar asked in his quiet, gravelly voice.

  Naina gave a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘I guess we can for a little while,’ she replied. Not much interested either of them these days, but it saved them from going back to their empty home for a time, at least.

  Naina and Samar approached the group gathered around the fire, and sat down tiredly on a wooden bench. A few people smiled at them, noting their return, while others ignored them, staring, seemingly fixated, on the storyteller.

  ‘. . . Some call this girl a fairy godmother!’ Umar, Ujabad’s biggest gossip and most dramatic storyteller, said excitedly. He was an old man with thinning hair and a rounded body, dressed in a white tunic and trousers. He leaned on his cane as he spoke, his voice rising dramatically as he continued. ‘Some call her a magnificent dragon tamer – I’ve even heard someone say Rumsastiltskin!’

  The crowd broke into excited whispers.

  ‘She can turn anything into gold with a single touch!’ Umar went on impressively, his voice booming over the murmurs. His dark eyes were wide in the firelight. ‘She can speak with animals and spirits, turn up in a flash of purple light and will disappear just as quick!’

  An illustration shows a group of people sitting on logs around a bonfire in a forest clearing. Samar and Nanina walk into the clearing, towards the bonfire.

  ‘What is she?’ a child demanded, awed and afraid.

  ‘Nobody knows,’ Umar said slowly in a hushed voice. ‘She is an unusual girl with unusual gifts. Some also say she is a witch’s child, daughter of the feared Witch of Whistlecrook!’

  ‘Whistlecrook?’ somebody in the crowd repeated worriedly. ‘That’s the land next to us!’

  ‘I didn’t know witches were still alive,’ another person added.

  ‘This is all just a myth – none of it’s real!’ a young boy scoffed.

  ‘Your lack of imagination is a shame for someone with such a big head,’ Umar said gravely to the boy.

  The boy touched his head uncertainly.

  ‘What’s the girl’s name?’ someone asked.

  ‘I was getting there,’ Umar grumbled. ‘I can’t tell the story if you all keep interrupting me!’

  ‘Hurry up, then!’ a woman heckled.

  ‘All right, keep your hijabs on!’ Umar retorted, wielding his cane at the crowd. ‘Do you want me to continue? If I don’t have quiet, I’ll leave!’

  The crowd fell silent.

  Umar smiled in satisfaction. ‘Good. Now, her name –’ he paused dramatically, peering around the crowd – ‘is Rumaysa.’

  Naina and Samar froze while the crowd whispered excitedly around them.

  ‘She can—’

  ‘What did you say?’ Naina asked loudly as both she and Samar rose hastily from their seats.

  ‘Rumaysa,’ Umar replied, rolling his eyes and losing his theatrical voice. ‘Honestly, don’t you people listen? I might as well go home—’

  ‘Where is she? Do you know where she is?’ Naina demanded, her face ashen.

  ‘Umar, how did you hear of her?’ Samar pressed, his eyes bright in the firelight.

  ‘What’s wrong with you two?’ Umar asked as everyone looked between them curiously.
‘It’s just gossip – Oh.’

  As one of Ujabad’s oldest residents, Umar was one of the few who still remembered why Naina and Samar were absent from the village most of the year. His eyes widened with shock. ‘I-I didn’t realize,’ he said in a near whisper.

  ‘Could it be?’

  ‘What’s going on?’ a young man demanded from the crowd.

  ‘This story night is terrible,’ someone else grumbled.

  ‘Oh, go home, the lot of you!’ Umar snapped, getting up from his seat. Naina and Samar hurried towards him.

  ‘Is it really her? Is it our Rumaysa?’ Samar asked urgently.

  Umar hesitated. ‘It is possible . . .’ He didn’t want to get their hopes up; Umar had watched them come and go over the years, each time returning a little more heartbroken than the last. ‘Although it’s said that the Witch who took her was from Whistlecrook.’

  ‘That’s where Cordelia must have taken her,’ Naina said, looking urgently between Umar and Samar. ‘It explains why she was never seen in Splinterfell again.’

  ‘How did you hear about this?’ Samar demanded.

  ‘I was at the fruit festival just a few days ago,’ Umar said. ‘My friend was telling her tale; it sounds like this Rumaysa is quite popular. She turns up out of the blue and helps save people from all kinds of situations: dragons, bad people, wolves – all sorts!’

  ‘She’s just a child – she shouldn’t be . . .’ Naina said faintly. She felt so unwell. How could this be? Was her daughter really out there?

  ‘Where is she?’ Samar asked again.

  Umar pulled out a piece of parchment from his robe. ‘I wrote down all the places my friend said she had appeared. It was such a good story that I didn’t want to miss anything. I’m sorry – I should have realized from her name. I’d . . .’

  ‘Forgotten about her?’ Naina finished for him sadly. ‘You’re not the only one.’

  Umar lowered his eyes. ‘I hope you find her,’ he said quietly.

  Naina and Samar took the piece of paper in Umar’s outstretched hand and rushed back to their hut. The horses were disgruntled to be disturbed so soon after they had arrived, but Naina and Samar were frenzied. This was the closest they had come to even a whisper of their daughter in twelve years. They consulted Umar’s list and set off immediately to the last city in which their daughter had been seen.

  II

  An illustration shows a hand reaching for an apple.

  Reader, I’ve heard it said that what you seek is often seeking you.

  It just so happened that our young hero, Rumaysa, was at that very moment searching for her parents. The same day that Naina and Samar set off from Ujabad to find their long-lost daughter, Rumaysa was travelling through a forest near the land of Bishnara. She had spent the previous day helping a mermaid to escape captivity from a haughty king, and she was looking forward to spending a night of well-deserved rest at a local inn. She had ended up having to break a dam to free the magical sea creature, leaving her hands sore and chapped, and her muscles aching all over.

  She took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh summer air as her feet crunched along the dry forest path. Rumaysa lived a very busy life, always travelling from one land to the next, so it was good to be able to slow down for a moment to enjoy the sunlight spilling in between the bright green leaves and take note of all the curious plants that grew from the earth.

  Rumaysa loved being outside, though she supposed that it was only natural, having spent the first years of her life locked up in a tower. She hummed to herself as she walked, taking in the bright blue sky and the warmth of the sun on her face. Every now and again she patted a purple onyx necklace that hung round her neck, as though trying to soothe an impatient child.

  It was a curious object, this necklace. It had been given to Rumaysa by a boy named Suleiman, someone she had met when she escaped her tower. Suleiman had given the necklace to Rumaysa in the hope that it would take her to her parents.

  An illustration shows a necklace with a stone pendant.

  Rumaysa, however, was being taken to everyone but them. She wasn’t sure how the necklace worked – Suleiman had just told her it would take you to the one most in need, and who could be more in need than parents missing a child? But the necklace had other ideas, whisking Rumaysa away in a swirl of purple smoke to faraway lands and other people in need of help.

  The day stretched into early afternoon as Rumaysa ambled through the woods. She heard the sound of gushing water and followed the noise, finding a large winding river lacing through the forest. Hopping down to the riverbank, she clambered over large rocks to get to the running stream. She washed herself quickly, and had a few sips of the cool water to quench her dry throat.

  She peered into the stream to see if she could find a fish to roast, but her attempts to catch anything only left her rather sodden and even more hungry. Sighing, Rumaysa sat down on one of the rocks and took a few moments. The crystal-clear water sparkled in the afternoon sun, reflecting the green canopy of leaves rustling above.

  Rumaysa’s stomach gave a loud grumble, and so she got back up, setting off once more along the forest path. The trees around her started to thin slowly, and she spotted signs for a town market, where rooftops loomed further down the lane. The smell of raw meat and fish began to waft into the air, and Rumaysa heard a growing hum of voices along with wheels trundling across the ground.

  As she made her way into the market, Rumaysa’s eyes lit up at the sight of the busy stalls laden with all manner of things. The stone that hung round her neck began to tug her in the opposite direction, but Rumaysa was too hungry to heed its call. She tucked it away beneath her tunic and walked forward. Her stomach grumbled again as she smelled an inviting mix of cooked foods, from fried samosas to fragrant rice dishes, pastries and sweets. Butchers called out the best deal on their meats to passers-by, and a woman swung various fish in the air as she tried to entice customers, causing a few droplets of fish water to land on Rumaysa’s hijab as she walked by.

  ‘I really need to change my clothes,’ Rumaysa muttered to herself. Hygiene is a curious concept for adventuring heroes, Reader – after all, how is one meant to maintain a level of cleanliness when one has no permanent abode?

  ‘Can I help you, miss?’ one of the stall owners asked, a woman with a large display of cakes and sweets. ‘My truffles are to die for – try one!’ She held out a tray of chocolates.

  Never one to turn down free food, Rumaysa took one. The chocolate melted in her mouth, a warm blend of cocoa and nuts. ‘This is incredible,’ she said to the stall owner.

  ‘I’ve got a special rose cake you should try,’ the lady said eagerly, ushering Rumaysa over to the side displays.

  Rumaysa followed excitedly, caught up in the delights of all the treats before her.

  ‘Mama!’ a child cried from behind them.

  Rumaysa looked round and saw a small child screaming and in tears, upset at being put down by her mother. She watched as the child’s mother scooped her back up again and cradled her to her chest. Rumaysa’s face fell.

  ‘Which cake would you like to try, dear?’ the stall owner asked after a moment.

  But Rumaysa had remembered she wasn’t here to sample cakes, after all. With a sigh, she said, ‘I’m looking for my parents.’

  ‘Oh, what do they look like?’

  Rumaysa hesitated. If she were to tell the truth, she had no idea what her parents looked like. She didn’t know what their names were. She didn’t even know if they were alive. But in every town she had stepped foot in since her escape, she always asked around in the hope that somebody might, just might, know something from all those years ago.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Rumaysa admitted as the woman stared at her with open curiosity. ‘I was separated from them as a baby. I wonder, have you ever heard of a witch stealing a couple’s new baby?’

  The woman gasped. ‘Goodness, no! That’s awful! I hope you find them, dear, but I’m afraid I’ve never heard such a
sad tale before.’

  Rumaysa nodded, trying not to show her disappointment. She bought herself a few sweets from the woman anyway and carried on through the market, asking the same question whenever she found the opportunity. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, only sometimes Rumaysa felt as if the needle didn’t even exist.

  The necklace began to pulse again, gently at first, against her chest. Rumaysa ignored it, not wanting to give in to its pull just because nobody in the market was able to help her. She sighed in frustration, but she refused to give up.

  The magical necklace always wanted to take her to enchanted lands and troubled people. She had met a few royals along the way, befriended dragons, attended balls, explored many a forest, desert, mountainside – you name it, she’d been there. The once-trapped girl was now travelling the world, desperate to find the family she’d never had a chance to know.

  Rumaysa had just one clue as to where her parents might be. She’d rescued a princess named Sara who had fallen into a cursed sleep – people had affectionately started calling her Sleeping Sara – and Sara’s grateful parents had pointed Rumaysa in the direction of Splinterfell.

  And so Rumaysa had set off, but it seemed there was no end to the number of people the necklace wanted her to help.

  She had tried pleading with it to take her to Splinterfell, even begging it, but it was no use.

  Before it had brought her the mermaid, the necklace had taken Rumaysa to a dark forest where she’d happened upon a young girl called Little Red Riding Hijab, so renowned was she for wearing red clothes. LRRH (honestly, it’s a very long title) journeyed through the woods to take food to her grandmother every day, but a cunning wolf had been stalking her, intent on eating them both. Thankfully, Rumaysa had been able to banish the beast before it had the chance.

  Before that, she had been teleported to the desert, where she’d found an innocent man trapped in a cave of wonders. He had been lured there by a greedy sultan to steal a treasure, for only those pure of heart could enter the cave. Rumaysa was able to free the man at the last moment and foil the Sultan with her powers.