Almila
I don't really remember what happened after Atia told me that she had started serving Aybanu of her own free will. I couldn't make sense of the words coming out of my mouth. The atmosphere became suffocating.
I felt as if grey, rain-laden clouds were suddenly enveloping my body.
Perhaps I should have asked her why she had acted that way. It's possible that she was saying those things under pressure. Perhaps I shouldn't have dismissed our relationship so easily.
But I couldn't stand the way Aybanu looked at me any longer, the way she eyed me sideways and smiled. I walked away without saying a word soon afterwards.
I didn't know what emotions were swirling around in my heart and mind. Was it disappointment or sadness? It was unclear.
Perhaps it was a mixture of both, a feeling I had never experienced before.
Maybe it was a combination of the two; it was a feeling I had never experienced before.
