A/N Hello loves! I've been a bad bad girl, but now, I'm going to be very very good to you. Love is in the air and just in time for vday I am spreading the love and finally sharing the story I have been saying I would share for eons. This is my baby and I really hope you all like it. Enjoy xoxoxo
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Ariana Johnson awoke with a stir. Try as she might, her eyes refused to open, her body was heavy with lethargy. She moved her hands around to get some sense of where she was, but all she could feel was something hard pressing against her body.
"Where am I?" Ariana spoke aloud to the room, but received no response.
As she tried to push herself up into a sitting position she found that something was covering her eyes. It was her hair.
She pushed the thick mass of her black hair away from her eyes and squinted about the room. Sunlight streamed in from windows around her.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that she was lying on her side on the floor of an ornate room.
The room was bathed in rich burgundy color and gold trimmings. Ariana lay on what appeared to be Persian carpet with a coat of arms that had some kind of dagger encircled by words in Arabic.
A four poster bed with a canopy stood proudly behind her. There were two dressers on each side of the room with mirrors atop them. To her right there was a small desk with a laptop and door that she assumed led to the bathroom. There was another door to her left and a door immediately in front of her.
As her hazel eyes settled on the door, it immediately opened. Two women dressed in plain hijabs and abayas entered. They were short in stature and speaking to each other frantically in Arabic. They looked to Ariana like housekeepers or ladies maids.
"Stand up." One of the women said to Ariana in a heavily accented voice. As Ariana struggled to stand to her full height of 5' 9", the woman began to inspect her.
She looked at and pinched Ariana's stomach, she squeezed and hefted her breasts, she checked Ariana's teeth and lastly she tugged at her jeans, cupping her hips and buttocks.
Ariana wasn't insecure about her body by any means but these women made her uncomfortable. She constantly worked out to keep her lithe frame in shape but remain curvy.
"What size?" The older of the two asked as she stared into Ariana's confused eyes.
"Eight." Ariana replied. This gained a nod of approval from the woman as the second woman began taking Ariana's measurements.
"You will have to do. Hopefully you do better than the rest." The woman said. When the women made to leave, Ariana stopped them.
"Ma'am, could you tell me where I am?" Ariana asked meekly.
"You are in Omash." The woman answered and made to leave again.
"Omash?" Ariana said as she began to shake violently, "But that is halfway across the world, how did I get out of America, I don't even have a passport. Oh God!" Ariana exclaimed.
She clutched her sides and began to cry as horror stories of women being kidnapped and sold in foreign sex slave trades began to replay in her mind.
She thought to herself how could a young black woman such as she be involved in all this. She knew that even if she was reported missing no one would probably look for her. She didn't come from a rich family and other than her working her way through college her life was unremarkable.
Ariana began to get frantic, the women gave her pitiful look and then quietly left the room. Hearing the sound of the door only increased Ariana's hysterics and she collapsed to the ground. Eventually someone came in and left her a glass of water. The last thing she remembered was crying herself to sleep.
The next day as reality set in she decided to come up with a plan. Ariana was strong and not usually one to give into hysterics and cry. She knew that Omash was close to Africa her home was America. She didn't have any money for a plane ticket so she knew the only way to get back was to earn the money for her freedom.
The only way that she would be able to earn money was to either gain someone's trust or stash some of the money she earned.
Maybe I can convince whoever is in charge to allow me to work as a maid? Or befriend whoever is in charge? She thought.
When the two women from the previous day walked into the room, she put on a brave face and smiled at them.
The oldest woman that talked to her yesterday smiled at her in a motherly way and asked, "Are you feeling better today?"
"Yes." Ariana replied forcing a smile. "What are you names?"
"I am Ghita and this is Kadshah and we will be helping you during your stay here." Ghita said.
Ariana realized that there was no way she could get away from the Omash without gaining the trust of someone, so she decided Gita and Kadshah would be perfect.
"Nice to meet you, I am Ariana." Ariana said with a genuine smile. "Do you know why I was brought here?"
"My dear we cannot answer any of your questions. I am sorry." Ghita said as Kadshah nodded sadly.
"It will be fine. Omash is a beautiful land, you will see." Ghita said patting Ariana on the shoulder.
The women then ushered Ariana out of the room and escorted her down the hallway. As they walked Ariana took in her surroundings.
She realized she was in a beautiful palace, whoever owned it must be exceedingly rich she thought.
Pink sand and a vast body of water surrounded and open bridge way on one side while many more dome structures could be seen off to her left.
On the beach she noticed a boat that looked vaguely familiar to her but she couldn't for the life of her understand why. The last thing that she remembered was studying for her last final exam in the library.
This was her senior year in college and she wanted to finish strong. She remembered grabbing a cup of coffee from the library Starbucks before heading to her exam and then nothing. She couldn't remember if she took her philosophy final or even if she reached home afterwards.
As they walked the corridors, Ghita prattled on about how the palace had been in the Al Said Aaban family for years. She would occasional point out bedrooms, prayer rooms, bathrooms, an office and libraries as they passed by wooden doors. So far Ariana had counted twelve doors.
As Ariana took in the beautiful mosaic tiles that made up the walkways, she soon smelled the delicious scents of foods emanating from the kitchen.
"Where exactly are you taking me?" Ariana asked slightly rubbing her stomach.
"To the kitchen where you will meet the headmistress." Ghita said matter of factly. Ariana instantly got worried. She knew next to nothing about Arabic culture, especially the proper way to greet royalty and she assumed from the palace that she would definitely be meeting royalty.
