The biggest mystery is that since the day we found ourselves in this land, I stopped seeing the darkness I used to feel inside. Until today, I am still unable to distinguish what I saw that day by the sea before I lost consciousness. Was the image I saw, and the wisp of hair blowing in the wind, real, or was it just my imagination? But the call I heard, where my name was mentioned—something only my parents knew—only God knows. As for me, since I’ve regained my mind, I have discarded everything; I don’t want to remember that dark day, which will never fade from my memory except for the day I return to my Creator.

Now, I have nothing but this chain my father gave me. Whenever I feel sad, I take the chain, look at it, and cry. Seeing how the chain comforts me, Mama Maria noticed that I took it off and put it aside. She stopped me from taking it unless she wasn’t watching. But this action of hers eased my sorrow of missing them immensely.

Mama Maria is a noble woman from Egypt. She is married with two children, and due to the circumstances of life, she took a job in the palace. Allah helped her to become a woman of integrity and trust, which is why the king and queen trusted her thoroughly. Despite her service to them, they didn’t allow her to leave the palace unless it was for something very important. She said that she was troubled because her husband and children were not well, so they couldn’t eat, drink, or wear good clothes.

She was not wrong; she was paid handsomely. I’m always amazed by the way she handles everything because of her children. One day, I sat and cried as I remembered my father and mother. Living with Mama Maria helped ease my longing for them, as she treated me as if she had given birth to me. She taught me Arabic, though I understood it but not perfectly. Now, if I switch languages, you wouldn’t know I speak Hausa. Most of the people here, like Mama Maria, don’t speak it well, and even my name, *NADEEYAH*, she couldn’t pronounce properly; she could only say it as *NADINE* in their language.

Anyone who knows me here calls me by the name they use. Furthermore, the language of success in our school here is English. In our region, there is a special guard who teaches us English because it is almost a law to learn it in order to avoid any interaction with the powerful elite.

I often feel they prioritize English over their native language, especially for the children of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) because they are from the elite educational backgrounds. Thus, their religious knowledge is quite limited.

I have been in the Egyptian palace for seventeen years. King Saifulmulk and Queen Aira abdicated the throne, and their son was given the title *EZKE'IL* (some say *AZRAH*). From what I hear, he is a very dangerous person. He has no faith and no mercy. Mama Maria always warns me to be cautious and never to cross paths with him, and I’ve heard that he may change.

On the day of his coronation, no one in our section of the palace was asleep. We worked throughout the day with no signs of children. Especially those of us in the kitchen. Mama Maria even became ill due to fatigue and her increasing age. I often told her to rest, but work became a part of me. Without the pain in my body, I wouldn’t know what else I would be doing. On that day, we left our section and took food to the storage area to be stored in the palace.

Since food was taken out, I’ve never been the one to take it outside. Usually, it is the guards who take it out. However, that day Mama Maria took the food herself and didn’t ask me to come along. While preparing the food, we met Fahima. We embraced each other with immense joy at seeing each other again. From that day on, we’ve been secretly meeting. She works in the laundry section.