📌 Previously in Chapter 18:
Zayd uncovered the smuggling route used by the lion-marked conspiracy, quietly passed the information to the merchant guild, and impressed several influential figures in Damascus. Meanwhile, his subtle connection with Layla bint Samirah grew stronger, even without direct words.
📍 Scene: Damascus — Guest Hall of Ustadh Daoud al-Yunan
A long table of fig wood stretched across the hall, adorned with platters of roasted quail, grape leaves, and saffron rice. ZAYD IBN SULEIMAN sat quietly between noble merchants and guild emissaries, his eyes alert, his manners impeccable.
Across from him sat Layla bint Samirah, dressed in silver and white. Their eyes met only once — brief, but layered.
As polite conversation floated around him, Zayd tuned into whispers:
"The lion seal again — it's spreading beyond Antioch now."
"The boy with the hawk... he doesn't speak often, but when he does…"
When silence came for a toast, Zayd stood, raising a single silver goblet.
ZAYD (softly):
"To trust, the rarest silk in all the markets."
Layla tilted her head slightly — the smallest smile graced her lips.
📍 Scene Change: Al-Yunan's Private Chamber — After Dinner
Ustadh Daoud al-Yunan, wrapped in a maroon cloak, faced Zayd beside a window overlooking Damascus.
DAOUD:
"You could stay, Zayd. The city would open its vaults for someone like you."
ZAYD:
"It's tempting. But I have a family far from here… and debts of the heart that only home can pay."
DAOUD (grinning):
"Then take this — not as coin, but recognition."
He handed Zayd a velvet pouch and a scroll sealed with copper wax — a letter of merit, marked by the Damascus guild.
ZAYD:
"Thank you, ustadh. I will not forget this."
📍 Scene Change: Road South, Outskirts of Damascus — Morning Fog
NIMR the eagle soared high above the caravan path as Zayd's horse trotted quietly toward the horizon. Traders came and went beside him, but Zayd was deep in thought.
Names. Talents. Secrets. Promises.
He had a list — blacksmiths, bookbinders, stable hands, an orphan with sharp eyes — people he had quietly supported or promised to help when his time came.
And that time was near.
📍 Scene Change: Caravan Campfire — That Night
Zayd sat by the fire, a small notebook in hand, Nimr perched beside him.
ZAYD (thinking):
"Six years. From boy to blade. From student to shadow.
One last journey home… then I build."
He looked up at the sky. The stars were no longer unfamiliar.
Closing Narration
The wheels of fate turned ever slower now, as if the world held its breath.
For in the coming chapter, Zayd ibn Suleiman would return to Al-Qarah — not as a boy who left… but as a man who remembered.
🔜 Next in Chapter 20:
Zayd reaches his hometown. His family sees a different version of him than the boy they once knew. He reconnects with his cousin (same age), and quietly lays the first foundations of what will become a business empire.