To the girl who has always been a sister and a friend more than a reader. May I always have you in my life. Thank you for making this request. I hope I've done it justice.

PS: your card is attached above.

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There are worlds beyond the stars too
And many more trials in love still to go through.

- Muhammad Iqbal

Halah bint Al Malik

The first time she sees him is in the palace of Baghdad. Sharp brows draw above his eyes into a frown-- eyes that are wildering but assertive. And lips that are pressed into a line. Well built, like most trained men around, long hair tied back and a short beard lining his jaw. She finds him a fairly attractive man at that very first glance. Handsome indeed.

The first time Halah sees him is enough for him to catch her attention. She is curious about the new man at the palace. But not so much where she would inquire anyone about him. Though her curiosity keeps burning more every time she comes across him. Until one day when she's with her brother in the courtroom and the man is called in. That is when their gazes meet, though only briefly before he lowers his, the frown no more pulling his features taut.

"My sister," Khalid introduces her, "Halah bint Al Malik."

"My Amira."

He tips his head at her in greeting and she returns the gesture.

The caliph then motions towards the man. "This is the governor of Qahira, Marwan Al Kurdiya."

That is a name she may never forget like that face, she thinks, even if she never crosses paths with him again.

"Welcome to the palace, Ameer Marwan," she says.

"Thank you. A pleasure to be here."

Those eyes flick up again-- eyes with a night sky in them, starless, dark, but bewitching. And when has anything bedazzling ever been simple? He doesn't seem so either.

One would wonder what does it take for one to fall in love? How many days? How many glances or smiles? One might never know.

How many moons set in his eyes and how many suns rose to illuminate them, she doesn't feel a need to keep count. Or maybe it is not love but she's fascinated-- charmed by this man the more encounters she has with him over the course of his stay at the palace.

"Do you like it here, Ameer Marwan?" she asks him one afternoon as they walk through the garden.

"I do, Amira. The palace is beautiful, and Ameer Khalid has hosted me honorably."

"What is your palace in Qahira like?"

"How shall I describe it?" He gives her a soft smile. "How does one describe their home to someone?"

"One describe it as their home makes them feel," she suggests.

His smiles broadens slightly and he looks up at the sky. "My palace is beautiful to the eyes, Amira. But to my heart, I think it has been a little cold."

"How come?" she poses with interest.

"Every night when I return to it, it greets me with silence. Every morning when I leave, there's nothing awaiting me to return." He ties his hands behind it's back. "It can get very lonely sometimes."

She gazes at him, the way sunlight grazes his lashes, then falls around the shadows over his cheekbone.

"Then don't you think you should get married, sayidi?"

He looks at her. There are no words spoken. If there are, she does not remember. Whether the moment stretched or it evaporated in a blink, she cannot recall that either.

And how is it that time changes? A heart changes? What one never has thought of, such things happen. Where two roads intersect. Where two souls entwine. She might never understand. She may never know when she stepped from one page of her life into the next. Life after all is a river always flowing. Who has ever known when the water has changed? But that at the beginning and end of the river it is not the same.

So they marry. And she never would have thought when she had first seen him of something like this which could come true. But then suddenly he was a dream she was chasing. And how it has come true.

"Halah."

The first time he says her name it comes to her like a song-- something so sweet that her ears cannot be tired of hearing. And his name-- something so holy she's not sure of how to recite.

"Do you like my palace, Halah?" he asks her.

"I love it." She looks at the gardens before her from the balcony of their chamber. "It's more beautiful than I thought."

"It doesn't have as many flowers as the palace of Baghdad. But it has you." He steps closer and caresses her cheek, his eyes growing fonder as they swim into hers. "The most beautiful of all flowers."

Her face feels warm. She's sure she is blushing as her lips pull up into a grin.

He leans forward to kiss her temple. His hand drops from her cheek and she takes it in both of hers.

"Marwan?"

"Yes, my beloved?"

"I hope your home is no more cold to your heart."

Is it time passing or is it life? She never bothered figuring out before. But that as they pass they give and take a lot from one, as if trading with one, until dawn adds to dawn and days feel different-- life is different.

Some things come as a blessing-- a joy and a gift. Some things change life in such way where the heart has been to heaven before the eyes can see it. Such things make life worth to live for.

"My son."

It feels like a dream. Even though he's real. Even though she has waited for this day so long. Yet holding him feels unreal. It is like carrying too many emotions all at once-- something almost humanly impossible.

Marwan grins at the baby and takes him in his arms.

"I name you Adam, my son. You're Adam ibn Marwan Al Kurdiya. May my Lord bless your fate, raise you in ranks, grant you honor, and make you among those who succeed."

Afterwards, he becomes the center of her universe. And so is he for his father. If they were each other's solace before, each other's home, their son has only beautified that home for them.

"Adam."

Halah laughs as he crawls towards her. As he's growing, he brings something new with him every day-- something of greater joy each time.

"Come to us, namir," Marwan crouches on the floor with his arms extended towards him. "Come here."

He crawls to them until he's into his father's arms and Marwan lifts him up. Adam smiles and so do his eyes, the black of them brighter than anything else in the world for her.

"He will grow up to be handsome like his baba," she says, smiling at her husband. "His eyes are brilliant as yours, habibi."

Marwan kisses his forehead, and crosses his legs, settling on the floor of their chamber with Adam on his lap.

"May he grow up brave and courageous, Halah. Fearless in his pursuit of his right. May he be wise and just. Guided in his pursuit of right."

"Ameen."

Halah caresses the baby's head and now he looks up at his parents with curious eyes. She prays a thousand times for him. She prays God give him more than that which she can word or imagine. She leans down and kisses his forehead as well.

When he can finally stand, Marwan offers him his finger to help him walk. When he can finally walk, he takes him one day to walk with him as he strolls through the garden discussing affairs with his officials. Halah finds the sight adorable and amusing.

"Umi?"

"Yes, my prince?"

She fixes his hair as he comes to her out of breath one day. She wonders when she spun from one year of life into the next, but that years have been adding to one another and days that have passed are too many to count. Her son is growing up too quickly and she tries to keep every moment spent with him etched in details on her mind.

"Can I go horse riding?" the young prince asks.

"With whom, azizi?"

He points to a guard in the distance.

"Where is your baba?" Halah inquires.

"He left without me."

She smiles at his sweet complaint and fallen face.

"I'll ask your baba to take you with him tomorrow. Or I can take you myself."

"But I don't want to ride in a carriage," he objects.

"I'll make a note of it." She gestures to where some of the children of the officials are playing. "Now how about you play with those boys for today, my prince?"

He looks in the direction, then shakes his head.

"I'll play with my bow."

"You can share with them," she suggests.

"They don't like my bow. They don't know how to play with it."

He goes to sit at a side where his bow is lying and plays with it on his own. Halah doesn't know why her son prefers not to mingle with others.

"Habibi?"

That night she walks up to her husband sitting in a chair and studying some papers. She comes from behind him, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders.

"Yes, hayati?" he replies, relaxing back against her.

"Your son has requested you take him for horse riding tomorrow."

He chuckles, then hums, sending the vibration of his voice through her.

"Then I must."

"You must." She presses their cheeks together. "I worry sometimes, Marwan. He's drawn and keeps to himself. I urge him to play with the other boys but he prefers not to."

"He's a little shy, Halah. But he'll make a friend. Give him some time. His interests may differ from those of others his age, but he's an intelligent boy. He prefers someone to play swords with him than chase him around the bush."

"He has taken after a certain someone," she teases.

He chuckles again. "Why, I'll be proud of that. But I wonder what made you say that."

"Aren't you a man of small company and few friends?" She tilts her head towards him and he does the same. "Weren't you quite unapproachable when we first met?"

"I thought I was quite decent."

She grins and pecks his lips. "And charming. But unapproachable nonetheless."

He smirks at her. "I'm glad you crossed into my borders despite that."

"So am I, my Ameer." She straightens and pulls away. "Do not overwork yourself. Come to bed early."

He only nods in reply.

As she makes her way towards the bed, he calls her again.

"Halah?"

She looks back at him.

"May you always be the home I can return to. May these arms that held me always be warm towards me."

They visit Baghdad. She has received news that her brother Khalid hasn't been well lately. And her husband has been summoned to assist him in some matters.

"That little demon calls the prince Joojoo," her handmaiden informs her, pointing to a girl running circles around a rose bush with Adam.

Halah watches them with interest and amusement from where she's sitting under a pergola.

"And she's making my son chase after a butterfly around the bush." She smiles to herself, glad that finally he has managed to make a friend. "His father will have to reconsider his opinion of him."

"The prince likes to play with her, my Amira. Even though I took him to play with prince Sulaiman earlier."

"Who is she?"

"She's the daughter of the caliph's vizier, Saud Al Makhzum."

"I see."

Later that night, Marwan sits by the fireplace as he cleans his sword and her son lies in her lap on the divan. She runs her fingers through his hair, smiling down at him.

"What are you thinking, my prince?" she asks softly.

"When can I have a sword like baba?"

"When you're a little more bigger, habibi."

"But I'm grown up already," he argues and his father looks up at him with a fond smile.

"This one is too heavy for you, namiri (my tiger). What about the one I got you?"

"I gave it to Noura."

He lifts both eyebrows. "And who might Noura be?"

"My friend."

"Al Makhzum's daughter," she clarifies. "The advisor in the council."

Her husband hums in recognition. "So, your friend likes swords, son?"

"Yes," Adam replies.

"What else does she like?"

"The crown."

"The crown?" he repeats with slight bafflement.

"Yes. She wants to be a queen." He shifts in her lap. "Can I be a king?"

"Yes, if you wish to be."

She gives Marwan a look of disapproval. It doesn't matter to her if he said it only to answer his innocent question with something pleasing to him. She doesn't want him to instill the desire of something in her child's heart which belongs to someone else.

So she asks one of the handmaidens to take Adam away, and when she's left alone with her husband, she voices her thoughts.

"You should not be telling our son that he can have something which is not his."

He responds without looking at her, "My son can have whatever he desires, Halah."

She's taken aback by his response. This isn't what she expected to hear from him.

"The throne does not belong to you, Marwan," she reminds him, as if he has forgotten. "All parents have their children precious to them. That does not mean they can give them everything in this world."

"Certainly. But God is to decide what belongs to whom. That does not mean you cannot raise your child capable of achieving something seemingly unobtainable."

She stands up, and he shifts his gaze to her.

"This was my father's throne. This is my brother's now," she declares. "His sons will inherit it after him. Why are you speaking of it like a traitor?"

For the first time, she notices his eyes going hard. For the first time, he feels like a different person.

He abandons his sword on the floor and stands up too.

"Why shall Adam submit to anyone if he grows wiser and more capable than the rest? This authority of your nephews over my son is nothing but a privilege of their lineage. And it holds little meaning in my sight."

"I didn't say they're above my son--"

"Then he can have what they can have," he proclaims without leaving any room for argument. "They're only inheriting it. My son will earn it."

With this he walks away. She's left stunned staring after him.

When did the dusk fall? When did the spring pass? She never realized when things changed. Was it too sudden? Was it there all along but she was blind to see? Maybe she'll never know.

They return to Qahira, but it is no more a home she has returned to. And every day that passes only seem to push her more into the darkness of the night-- every night darker than the last one.

The moon is never full. The roses are wilted. She waits for the dawn to break but it is as if dawn never comes. The sky is an inky blanket of nothingness. Her homes has become cold to her heart.

"Halah?"

His voice is never sweet, his arms never warm. He has left her and gone far away. Or maybe she has. When did they drift apart?

"Habibti?"

She looks into his eyes. Where once she would build dreams with hope, there are only ruins now. Her heart is broken. His love has faded.

"What did you do?" she whispers, grazing his cheekbone with her fingerstips-- with a touch of disbelief. "Why are you doing this?"

"What am I doing?"

"You're rebelling against Yusuf."

"He's a naive boy--"

"He's a grown man!"

She steps away. He tries to reach out for her but she pushes against his chest.

"I will leave you, Marwan. I will take Adam away from you. I fear my son will become greedy like you."

"All I'm doing I'm doing for him."

She laughs in mockery. "He does not need your evil. May he never become like you."

His expression colors into hot rage. His eyebrows meet in displeasure.

"I swear if you try to escape with him--"

"I swear in the name of my Lord that I will!" she threatens before he can threaten her.

"Your safety is with me!" he booms.

"And so is our damnation!"

"Halah!"

And she knows they've fallen apart. She knows they no more belong to the home they built together. She knows the dream she has lived is evanescing. Everything passes after all. Everything flows towards its end. But this is not what she wanted for them. She wanted them to last.

Yet suddenly they're both stars apart. Suddenly the past they shared is so distant she cannot even make it out. And the only thing it holds is their names. Everything else has perished. Their life together in this palace has only become a story.

And so she vows to keep her promise. She will take her son and leave. And she does so the first chance she gets when the war breaks loose.

She takes Adam and leaves the kingdom of her past.

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Hello butterflies,

I know I promised these bonus chapters a century ago but here we are finally. I hope to provide you with glimpses of the lives of our side characters from the series. Maybe slowly, but steadily, since I'm working on 'To Love a Villain' alongside. Enjoy!

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