#zafira iskandar
Okay I’m officially out of my reading slump and I’m about to make it everyone’s problem
Zafira bint Iskandar x Nasir Ghameq (Sands of Arawiya - Hafsah Faizal)
Summers in Sarasin were known to be scorching. And for a Demenhune like Zafira, without the sun-browned skin of the natives to protect her from the unrelenting sun, it was almost unbearable. Sunscreen was her beloved, a squeeze tube always tucked away in her bag.
Much of the city was made of stone pathways covered in a thin, ever-present layer of sand. The black asphalt of roads proved far too hot for this already scorching climate, heat shimmering above it and burning the bare skin of any soul who set foot on it. Cars were rare in the city, with most preferring to walk or bike. Leil was a city of tan stone bleached pale by the sun. Though the buildings may be monotonous in color, the culture was anything but. A spice trader called out in rhythmic chants, pyramid-like piles of spices in every color before him. Jewels and gold flashed in the sun as a man held them up to attract customers, tinkling like windchimes. Vibrantly colored silks and linens fluttered in the breeze sweeping through the sooq.
Zafira side-stepped a young boy darting past, a piece of sticky baklava wrapped in paper carried close to his chest. Beside her, Deen laughed, the sound a part of a thousand memories they shared. Warmth prickled along the exposed skin of her forearms, the sleeves of her blue linen button-down rolled up to provide some relief from the heat. Overhead, the sun beat down relentlessly.
