of her waist and complemented her oriental beauty. Early in the morning, the girl had already packed her things; it was a small bag and hid it under the bed. After the performance, she was to be brought home, and two guards were to guard the entrance to her house. When she was brought back, she looked for her friend with her eyes, but for some reason he was not in his place. There was another one instead. Her heart was pounding. What could have happened? She did not show that she was worried, but inside her soul was all in tears. In the morning, Sultana went to the door and tried to eavesdrop on the conversation, tried to hear a familiar voice, but it was in vain, she did not hear anything. Realizing that something had happened, and deciding not to find out what had happened to her savior, Sultana began to eavesdrop on every word.
Sultana was allowed to leave the walls of her house on certain days, strictly accompanied by guards, and of course, so that her master was notified of this. Sultana worked every evening, and sometimes at night. She no longer liked dancing as much as it once began in her hometown. When it all started, Sultana was a very young girl, and was under the wing of her father. She always came home, and was not afraid of anything. Now the dance meant nothing to her, it was just a reminder of her mother, sometimes she danced so expressively and this made the dance even more spectacular and attractive, at these moments she remembered how her mother taught her. Sometimes she liked to dance for the audience, because it was her only entertainment. Sultana loved dancing, but lately she believed that dancing had ruined her life, and now her life will never be the same.
Exactly a week has passed, and every evening, returning home, Sultana looked imploringly and questioningly into the eyes of each guard. But there was silence in response. Sometimes she tried to talk to each of them, but all her attempts were in vain. Each of the guards was working his shift, but none of them said a word. Deep down, she hoped that her lover would find her and they would run away, as he promised, but her heart told her something completely different. Every morning there was a change of post, and Sultana eavesdropped on their conversation, hoping that someday they would blab. One shift was too harsh, she did not like them, and she never went shopping with them. Sultana studied each of them, and waited for the others, who were constantly whispering, and thus she sometimes learned news, including those that concerned her.
– God forbid anyone such a fate. She heard.
– It is your own fault. Contacted a woman. So I got it.
– May Allah rest his soul. Hearing these words, Sultana’s legs gave way and the girl realized that her savior would not come again. She covered her mouth with her hands and continued to listen so as not to miss a word.
– May he arrive in paradise. He died for love, and is worthy of paradise.
– Yes, yes, he will arrive in paradise. The lesson to be learned from this is that our host Arthur does not forgive such tricks. We need to be extremely careful.
– «You’re right. And what will happen to her? To be honest, I feel extremely sorry for her. He’s got to get rid of her, too.
– I think so too. As soon as he does not need her, she will face the same fate as her fiance. I feel sorry for her too, but I do not want a bullet in the forehead. Sultana pressed herself against the door and tears flowed down her cheeks. After hearing everything she needed to know, and realizing that she would no longer see her own father, and that she was no longer a tenant in general. Sultana realized that she was just a temporary bait for money. She sat on the edge of her bed and hung her head on her hands.
– I will not give up. I will run away, even without a passport. I will run away anyway. She decided so and lay down on the bed. Her thoughts were confused, tears choked her, she could not afford to cry, so as not to swell her eyes, pain tore her chest, and the girl fell asleep. Waking up, Sultana quickly came to her senses, and immediately decided that she was running at the first exit to the street. – I will run away to my city and tell the police everything, they know me there, and they will protect me there, even without a passport. I will hitch a ride, she thought, and warmed up her food. The evening was as boring as all the previous ones yesterday, Sultana brightly made up her eyes to cover up the traces of emotions. – Although he already knows about everything. Sultan was taken away to perform. She prayed to God that God would spare her from unnecessary meetings with Arthur.
In the morning everything was according to the standard, Sultana had breakfast, cleaned herself up and asked to take her to the shopping center. As usual, two guards accompanied her. They were the ones she did not like. Sultana could not wait any longer and decided to try her luck and escape today. There were few people in the mall, she looked around nervously, and feeling her helplessness, she wanted to call for help. But quickly recovering, she continued the hike. Her body was trembling, but the girl did not show it, and did everything on autopilot so as not to arouse suspicion. They went into a clothing store, and she picked up a whole bunch of things.
– Why does she need so many clothes? She does not go anywhere. Is she going to get married?
– Yes! To the late groom!
– I will go to him myself soon!
– Quiet. We are in public.
– Exactly. I forgot. She probably took it with her to Moscow. It will be like a madam walking there!
– That is right. If he has time. Sultana listened attentively to every word, and pretended that she did not even hear what they were talking about. She laughed sweetly with them, pretending that she did not understand what they were laughing at.
Sultana went into the booth, closed the curtain and let out the air that had accumulated in her chest. The next booth was occupied on one side, on the other was empty. Thinking how she could escape, she bent down and tried to see the guards’ legs, and not seeing them, she was afraid to look out, so as not to attract attention. Sultana tried to see them through the curtains, but they were dense and nothing could be seen. Deciding to go to the extreme, she began to look through the crack. There were no guards in sight, and she had to look out even more, they were standing to the side and for some reason with their backs to her. She began to shake even more, or she was just confused, or it was fright, but Sultana hesitated and did not know what to do.
– «She won’t run away from us?» One of them said, and turned to face the booth.
– If he wants to die prematurely, then let him run.
– Let her die, but I do not want to die because of some girl.
– She has many rags, let her measure. Relax. And if she runs away, we’ll catch her and get praise from the boss.
– A good option. I like the way you think. The partner smiled contentedly and looked at the fitting room. They were still standing with their backs to each other, but this time Sultana did not hear their conversation. She hung a fitting room door with rags, quickly changed clothes, wrapped herself in a long shawl, put on glasses and quickly left the booth, leaving the curtains closed and silently slipped into the rows of clothes. Sultana was choking with fear and confusion, not knowing where to run. She quickly and silently made her way to the exit and walked at a brisk pace, and then ran and ran out into the street.
During the year of living here, Sultana had studied this area well and already knew from which bus stop and where the bus goes. Jumping into the first oncoming minibus, and all, trembling with fear, she sat down in the farthest corner, the door slammed shut, and the minibus drove off. Having reached the final stop, the girl got out of the gazelle with fear, and realizing that she was on the outskirts of the city, she breathed a sigh of relief. Now she had to get to her hometown and tell her father and the authorities everything. – How to do it? Go by bus or hitchhiking? Therefore, and so dangerous? Sultana understood the danger she was in, and if she were found, she would face the same fate as her fiance. She did not have a passport, so they will not put me on the bus. We will have to get there on our own. But Sultana was a woman, a Muslim woman, and hitchhiking was much scarier. Moreover, many men of the capital knew her by sight. Sultana went to the