📌 Previously in Chapter 40:
Zayd expanded the workshop with 75 workers and decided to recruit the entire village for mass carriage production. Amid hammering and laughter, a business empire was beginning to take shape.
📍 Scene: Al-Qarah Village – Evening under the Palm Trees
The workshop clanged no more that evening. Workers were dismissed early, dust brushed from tunics, and tools placed gently into wooden racks. It was a rare moment of calm.
Zayd, Qadir, and a few others sat by the riverbank, sipping warm tea and watching children play tag in the tall grass.
QADIR (stretching):
"Ahh… if life stays this sweet, I may grow fat."
ZAYD (smirking):
"I give it a week. Then I'll have to build carriages for cows if you keep eating like this."
QADIR:
"At least cows don't give advice every hour."
They both laughed.
📍 Scene Change: Zayd's Family Home – Night
Later that night, Zayd sat beside his father, Suleiman, under the flickering oil lamp. His mother prepared sweet dates with honey and milk. Nimr perched near the window, preening its feathers.
ZAYD:
"Abba… can I ask something?"
SULEIMAN (smiling faintly):
"Go on, son."
ZAYD:
"I've heard whispers. That our name wasn't always… Suleiman. That we were something more."
His father fell silent. The flames danced in his eyes.
SULEIMAN:
"We were once known as the House of Zaq. Merchants, judges, scholars. Our name opened city gates and closed deals across rivers."
ZAYD (quietly):
"What happened?"
Suleiman looked down at his hands. His voice lowered.
SULEIMAN:
"War came. The Abbasid crown placed too much trust in one man — your grandfather. They made him commander of supplies in a campaign that failed. Food never reached the front lines. Whether he was betrayed or failed… no one knows."
ZAYD (softly):
"They blamed him."
SULEIMAN:
"They hanged him. In Baghdad. The banners of Zaq were burned. Our lands seized. We fled, became farmers, bakers… smiths."
Zayd sat still. Not in sadness, but in thought.
ZAYD:
"Then we'll rise again. Not with swords or crowns — but wheels."
His father chuckled, pride softening the sorrow in his eyes.
SULEIMAN:
"You've already brought honor back to our house. Even if it's not called Zaq… the fire still burns."
📍 Scene: Village Bonfire – Later That Night
A festive bonfire had been lit in the village square. Musicians played flutes and small drums. Workers sang folk songs. Some danced.
Qadir tried to flirt with a baker's daughter, only to be chased off by her older brother.
QADIR (yelling):
"It was just a poem! Not a marriage proposal!"
Zayd laughed heartily as children tied garlands around Nimr's perch. Someone brought roasted lamb on a skewer, and Faisal tried to juggle dates — badly.
RAFI (facepalming):
"If we're relying on him for numbers, we're doomed."
Zayd leaned back on a blanket, eyes on the stars, heart at peace — for the first time in a long while.
He whispered to himself.
ZAYD:
"Let the cities sleep… the forgotten sons of Zaq are waking up."
End of Chapter 41