Tales of the Jewel

While Qasim himself had an estate outside of the city along the river he did occasionally come and walk among his family members and visit his father and their family estates, he had a room there after all for when business ran too late to make the trip out of the city.

Today he walked along the streets admiring the fine houses and talking with other members of the Dhabi, he was almost as much showing off as he was visiting. He wore his finest silk Thawb and his hair glistened slightly with aromatic oils . He was a fourth son, to have amassed as much wealth as he had with little help from his family was a feat in and of itself. Everyone was smiles but there were always some who would resent his success.

He may have also had memories of a certain Princess dancing through his head and a faint hope of seeing one that was usually kept within the district.

The hope proved fruitful; With that morning's shenanigans having had time to settle, and the archery contest over, Soraya had been brought back to the Dahabi district to 'cool off' a bit after all the excitement and blood and such. And truthfully, the Khadi's last event had been most horrific; Nearly killing unarmored contestants while you yourself were half invincible seemed barbaric, at the very least.

Still, it hadn't really been her intention to come back to the walled off section of city here, but her father had offered her sponsored archer more treatment than the facilities at the event had offered, so here she was sitting outside the estate on a bench, while Yarut was tended to in the back gazebo.

Soraya still hadn't changed for the party later, and was in her more usual blue two piece princess outfit, which she had worn to the archery contest.

Qasim approached the fellow Dahabi with a smile on his lips that was more genuine than most of his smiles tended to be "We'll this morning was certainly eventful wasn't it?" he asked in a jovial tone a touch of warmth spread into the words this being the first time he had seen her since she spirited away from his shop in the we hours of the night "Your archer faired quite well, I suspect I am looking at the victor of this little contest." he said with a chuckle.

He made no mention of the previous evening but his eyes did roam a little more than usual and there was a touch of heat in his eyes as he regarded her.

Sora looked up and saw Qasim approaching after he spoke up, a soft smile touching the corners of her mouth, "Oh, good afternoon. And you think so? It was hard to tell for me; Semmed like a lot of contestants got shot up pretty bad, and I don't think our generous host got more than a scratch. Miss Yarut is out back with one of House Hazzad's even, seeing if they can't do anything for her wounds..."

She trailed off and the smile returned with a bit of warmth, it having faded as she spoke, "Still, if you were paying more attention than me, it is likely you are right then. I would certainly need to make sure to congratulate her if that's the case."

Qasim drew a little closer to her, not inappropriately so but certainly a familiar distance "Yes I would say she likely dealt the most powerful blow meaning she would likely place first today. Combined with her solid performances in the other rounds I'd say yes you have a very good chance of winning the whole competition. I am sure she was or will be fairly compensated for her efforts, not to mention her name will be on the tongue of everyone in the city soon enough."

The soft smile turned a bit whimsical, Sora looking down at the stones of tge street, "Really...? I'm glad. I wonder if I was able to do anything to support or encourage her, in the end? Or if I was nothing more than a source of coin for the entry fees and such..."

Qasim moved to sit next to her and gently placed a hand on her knee smiling softly to her "You had a good eye, you saw the talent she had and gave her the means to show everyone else what you saw. Patronage is more than just being a source of coin it is opening doors for people, it is giving people opportunity that they would otherwise miss out on. Never feel like "just a source of coin" in this city coin is the key that opens many doors."

"It isn't as if I don't know that. It just doesn't feel like something I personally accomplished. Money is just money, no matter how important it is. If someone were to rob me and take all my money, then it would be their money. But they couldn't take my personality or experiences or such, the things that actually make me me. So I'd rather the ways I help people have to do with that sort of thing, rather than just what I happen to possess."

She didn't want to say that it was her father and not herself that had picked out the archer anyways; He'd wanted to make sure it was someone who wouldn't be a bad influence on his daughter, but ultimately an outsider and disposable.

Qasim thought for a moment and then sighed a little before smiling to her "Soraya, I understand the way you feel but it's more than that. Money is privilege, you have access to something that not many others do. Growing up here and surrounded by it I know it might seem like it's nothing special but money can do a lot of good for those that lack it. At the end of the day it will be you helping these people, it will be your compassionate heart, your inspiring sense of giving. Those are part of you. Youre right anyone can have wealth, it's what we do with it that matters" He gave her knee a gentle squeeze.

"And if you want to do more hands on help there are ways to do that, this city has no end to the amount of need. You would just have to get out from under your father's thumb as to do the real good you have to put yourself in less safe situations."

He thought for a moment "perhaps tomorrow you could convince him to let you come to my estates outside the city along the river. Or sneak out if you need to, we could discuss possibilities." He said the last part in a hushed tone only for them and smiled to her

Sora thought about what Qasim said; She may have been naive, but she really did understand some of what he had said beforehand. Money was a tool, and like any tool it could be used to great advantage if you had it and someone else did not. The last part kind of caught her off guard though.

"Outside the city? Really? That is... unusual. Why did you not choose to live in a manor in the area House Basiri owns? I'm sure even if you had some more unique needs, you would have been able to make or find something to meet them. They say it can be dangerous to live outside the city walls."