Aziza

Description

A maid at the Locanda del Leone in Alexandria, previously noted quietly moving Freddy and Thomas’s chairs out of the sun during the party’s hungover breakfast. On the morning of departure, as Georgiana’s donkey was being led out into the caravan, Aziza approached without a word and touched Georgiana’s hand for luck.

Background

A member of the Locanda’s household staff, alongside the landlord Meo, the pot-boy Niccolò, and the inn’s nameless cook. Little else about her is established beyond her role at the inn and the single, emotionally charged moment she shared with Georgiana at the party’s departure.

By the time of the leave-taking, word of Georgiana’s mark — declared a baraka, a divine blessing, by the bath mistress Umm Salma at the Hammam al Yasmin the previous day — had already reached the Locanda’s household ahead of the party, carried on the city’s grapevine. Aziza’s touch for luck was a deliberate, informed gesture, not a naive one.

Motivations

• Seeks the blessing of Georgiana’s marked hand for good fortune, having heard of the baraka declared at the hammam.
• Distressed and ashamed when her gesture is met with a flinch, fearing she has given offense or been rejected.

Connections

• Georgiana Wentworth — touches her hand for luck at the caravan’s departure from the Locanda. When Georgiana pulls back in surprise, Aziza bursts into tears and flees inside; Georgiana dismounts, chases her down, and holds out her hand in reassurance. Aziza presses it to her forehead, smiles, and the moment closes gently.
• Locanda del Leone — her place of employment.
• Umm Salma — the source, indirectly, of the baraka rumour that reached Aziza before the party’s departure.

Appearances

Relationships

• Touches-for-luck Georgiana Wentworth — Silently touches Georgiana's marked hand for luck at departure; flees in tears when Georgiana flinches, then is reassured