At Large [LE, Ra'Shari Camp]

[Aydi al-Qais]

"Having you all to myself is a proposition that is giving me a lot of wild thoughts, Sayyeda." He bit his lips before a small laugh. "To the point I am reluctant to bring up any heavier topics. But as your friend I feel I must. You spoke about your concerns with regard to your role in your family. I know that kind of pain when one struggles to discover one's purpose they've been groomed for. I wish you weren't in such a position. I wonder how and why it can't be clear."

[Soraya al-Menjari]

Sora tutted softly, "Now now... wild thoughts tend to leave messes, and that is the last thing I want to have happen to Raya's home again, when we're the ones looking after it for her. As to your concerns..."

She thought a moment, "...well, my concerns I suppose. As far as those go, you must understand, a lot of that has always just been a background curiosity for me; Father treated me as special because I was his precious daughter, and I reminded him of mother when she was younger. The fact he didn't want me to take over the financing business or get married young were always just extensions of that to me. Whenever it was brought up as potentially unusual by friends, the daughters of other Dabahi merchants that lived nearby, it was never THAT big of a concern; After all, better over protective than beneath concern. And it's not like I wasn't provided for or given tutoring or abused or anything even remotely like that."

[Aydi al-Qais]

That dismissal coupled with 'again' made him feel both rebuked and provoked, and if her intent was to discombobulate him, that was successful. He needed a moment she fortunately provided with her explanation, during which he could stay silent and slowly refocus.

"So, it's not much of a history, just a concern that is cropping up just now? Have you had any conversations with your father about his ideas for your responsibilities within the family?"

[Soraya al-Menjari]

"I... well, I suppose so? I have asked him about such things, and he's said he just wants to keep me safe and happy. When I've pressed him further, he's said I help him and the family just by being a bright light amongst the Menjari, a sort of beacon of hope at parties and such. I think I know what he means? When father holds parties or such, I AM always invited after all. And he has me meet a lot of people and such. But at the same time I don't really get it; Is something happening with the Sultan or the city where the Dahabi are in difficult times? Or is there some sort of fighting I don't know about? I've asked guests and they seem to say roughly the same things as father, about it not being anything so sinister, that it's just refreshing having someone who believes in them and wants to hear about their troubles and every day lives."

She frowns a bit, resting her chin now on her knee. If she'd provoked Aydi she hadn't realized it it seemed, the princess too caught up in princess troubles to have noticed at the very least.

[Aydi al-Qais]

"Okay, so you feel like there's some inner circulation you have no access to while your peers might? Or is it common among the Dahabi to introduce heirs into family affairs gradually? Does your father hold any strong convictions about gender roles? It sounds a bit like that to me, but I don't want to assume." Her every motion was an inadvertent distraction to spurred thoughts inconducive to dedicating to the subject at hand, so for the moment he dropped his gaze onto the colourful cushions somewhere between them. Flowers and rectangles.

[Soraya al-Menjari]

"Gender roles? I guess I have not asked. He had a small harem at one time I understand, but I've heard of merchants of all genders having such practices. He DOES treat me like a precious princess while he's much more up front with my little brother, but I have no idea if that's related to what I was born as. Like I said, he's said I remind me of my mother when she was younger, and that he loved her very much back then, and that checks out with the older servants I've managed to get to talk about such things. Then again, mother was part of said harem and not his wife as such, so I only remember talking to her a few times growing up, and never really before she left back for the Ivory Kingdoms."

[Aydi al-Qais]

"I think the bigger question is then: what would you like to be responsible for? I imagine your father is not old enough to start loosening his own grip over the reins of the family. Perhaps you should put his intentions to a test, by asking for a way to test your mettle beyond public functions and carousing. If he refuses a particular thing, you can try to pry for reasons."

There was more to unpack from what she'd said but Aydi had to stay focused.

[Soraya al-Menjari]

"Honestly, the more I learned about the family business, the more I was glad not to be involved with it. Just counting and storing and changing money all sounds dreadfully boring. When I asked if it was like charity work I quickly got dispelled from that notion, so I wouldn't even really get that satisfaction. So it isn't as if I mind the prospect of being a kind of mascot or such... it's just the feeling of being stuck in that and not getting to choose. Not to mention how it feels like, if that's what I indeed am, it makes everyone handle me with kids gloves. I am a grown woman, and I should be treated like one. And not just in the way of having people oogling me at parties. More like having my opinions asked about or getting to be more independent."

She let out a small sigh before sitting up and stretching her arms behind her head, "...it all leaves me slightly confused, to be totally honest. I am 'special' to these people because of some reason, but why? And what does that actually mean for my future?"

[Aydi al-Qais]

Registering motion, he couldn't help himself and looked up at her. "If this uniqueness is something you're not aware of, I can suggest the following explanations. First, the circumstances of your birth could have been special, either because of bloodlines, or portents, or both. You seem to know too little about your mother..." As I do about mine. "...so maybe part of the secret lies in her heritage. Second, you've been groomed for a singular purpose that is being withheld from you until a moment when you won't be able to turn it down or escape from it anymore. I don't know if such sinister intent is possible in your family, but when power and money rule, sentiments often fall victim to bigger considerations. Third, your father simply doesn't have a plan for you but he doesn't want you to leave the cage, hence the broad strokes." He flooded his thoughts about her curves with mental processing. It worked, so far.

[Soraya al-Menjari]

She leaned back on the cushions a bit, crossing her legs a bit in the robes as she thought.

"...You put it most succinctly, Aydi. I can say a bit on both of the first two; For my mother, I do know a bit. I had talked to her every once in a while when I was younger, after all. I know her mother was from the Ivory Kingdoms, and her father was a member of the Qabal who studied the magic of those lands. She lived here in the city but was... sold after her father was killed when the Qabal was outlawed. She was one of fifteen women at one time in my father's harem, and the only one he had a child with in myself. Still, I don't remember him treating her with especial consideration, other than keeping her around longer than others when he freed many from his harem. When I was eleven, she left to go to the Ivory Kingdoms after learning she had relatives there and an inheritance of sorts, leaving with a Ra'Shari caravan."

Sora paused, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.