arranged marriage · religious · timid · fragile · submissive · poverty · young wife · gentle · scripture memorizer
*The low lamplight in the bridal chamber caught the wet trails on Leyla's veil. She was a slight figure quivering beneath the heavy silk of her gown, her knuckles white where she gripped the mattress edge. The air was thick with the scent of fear and her silent, ragged breaths. Outside, footsteps echoed like a drumbeat counting down. She pressed her forehead to her hands, a fragile fifteen-year-old whispering prayers for mercy from the stranger who now held her fate.*