"a knight in shining armour? nope, her abaya did the job - afra."

Sulaaymaan had scolded Afra a good deal and made her plop down on the bed , while he kneeled down in front of her on a knee.

Taking her hand into his , he studied the cuts thoroughly and concluded that they weren't very deep thankfully.

Grabbing the wet towel from the nightstand , he began to pat and clean up the blood that had smeared across her palm.

All the while , Afra's gaze fixed over him. He was aware of her eyes moving along with his actions. In a way, it did intrude with his comfortableness but he didn't want to startle her much since she was deeply kept by some thoughts.

"Don't wrap my entire hand with that gauze. It will arise unnecessary interrogation."

She spoke and Sulaaymaan shook his head amusingly.

"Yeah , the kind of situation that you knowingly put yourself into."

Her eyes slowly focused onto him and the moment he lifted his head to look at her, she glared.

"Okay okay relax. God, you're scary somehow."

Her face softened and she began to play around with the bangs on her forehead.

In the meanwhile, he pressed some bandages over her cuts.

"That's it. We're done."

He stood up back on his feet and Afra dropped her head low, studying her palm.

Swinging his feet playfully, he waited for her to speak up. A few minutes ticked by with her not looking up at him.

He frowned and walked closer to her, until he stood right by her legs. However she didn't even bother to look at him. It took him a lot of strength to keep from touching her lest he should disappoint her. That's when she painfully curled her palm back and sniffed.

"Hey , you okay ?"

He dropped to his knees in front of her and ducked to get a look at her face.

She didn't seem to talk but rather bit her lip. His heart pierced with hurt realising that perhaps she didn't want him around and desired a minute of privacy.

Standing up slowly, not wanting to disturb her moment he pressed his lips in disappointment and trudged slowly towards the door.

No matter how much she seemed to try to open up to him - which he was sure to notice - there was still a rather hard wall beyond which he couldn't penetrate. Or something that she maybe called as a 'limit'.

Whether she deliberately did so or it was a natural instinct he couldn't say. All he knew was that the necessity of the hour was to let her have her space and understand that she was married.

Perhaps that was what a woman feared the most.

Having to trust a man who she barely knew.

Resting his palm over the door handle, he glanced from over his shoulder to find her head still down and a finger skim over her cheek.

Sighing with the regret of unable to do anything much, he pulled down the handle.

"I'm sorry for everything."

He paused, letting the handle relax as he turned around curiously.

She was still facing down, her hair covering most of her face except for her lips that quivered gently.

"Hey , whatever for ? Why are you apologizing ?"

He cautiously moved forward with a nervous laugh.

"Because I scolded you ?"

"Isn't it difficult that you don't only have to keep an eye open for that damn dude but also make sure to tolerate me ?"

She snapped her head up at him, her eyes wide open ; sad yet questioning.

He kept her eyes fixed on her, comfortingly smiling. She didn't seem to give any impression that the smile did anything. However her eyes spoke with a few tears slipping down her cheeks. And a little relief encouraged him to move further.

After carefully settling down beside her, his fingers interwined , he fixed his gaze over the wall absently.

"You know, when I had been diagnosed with extreme depression a few years back — "

Afra gasped.

"You have depression ?"

He shook his head softly, looking down upon his knees.

"Had. Had it when I was in my late teens. It worsened when a very dear friend was found murdered."

Afra shrieked a little, jolting upright with her hair swaying wildly. For a few seconds she kept opening and shutting her mouth, finally stuttering out some apologies.

"I'm so extremely sorry to hear that."

He smiled at her and looked down on his knees again, not having the willpower to meet her eyes.

"Mama — in all those years — tolerated my screams, ill behaviour, rude remarks and physical abuse too. Sometimes I did beat her. And.....um.....no —"

"If you find it hard, you don't have to continue."

He turned about to look at her and found her smiling pleasantly at him. A kind that he didn't ever receive before.

Her hair fell in soft waves caressing her cheeks as her smile grew.

Quickly averting his gaze, he shook his head disapprovingly.

"I'm fine. My point is that , I learnt something crucial. My mother loves me so much that she had the power to tolerate my depressed self because I truly did matter."

He smiled sadly, recalling those memories. All the pain he had inflicted upon Queen Basmah. The amount of burden she had to handle over her shoulders being all alone. How her tears had dried up at a point. How tired she was. How she never complained. 

And how she had developed Major Depressive Disorder.

"That time I realised that true love is when you can love someone at their worst. When they're vulnerable,  spiritually broken, disappointed in life. When they're in search of their own happiness yet mindless of the the fact that it lay right at their footstep."

Afra, by now, had been shedding tears constantly. He kept wriggling his fingers together and side glancing to find her looking at him.

He quitened down, the sound of just her heavy breathing keeping the environment lively.

There was nothing more to add. Yet the situation they were stuck in somehow required the essence of more interaction.

In her wonderful company — although many wouldn't get idea behind it — he had inexplicably found a special force that held them firmer than before.

A confession from him and a few tears from her.

Not a very romantic or fairytale combination to leave behind sparks. But a very powerful emotion that deepened a certain relationship exclusive to them.

Husband and wife.

"Are you....alright Sulaaymaan ?"

Her muffled voice spoke with hesitation as she held her hair back and bent a little to catch a glimpse of him.

He instantly looked up, his gaze wandering over the wall.

"I'm alright these days Alhumdulillah."

Her face brightened up and a big smile from him cheered her up as well.

"I'm very glad."

Afra had requested everyone to leave her room for the party. Sarah and Samantha had created quite some drama that relaxed her fairly a lot since she was very deeply bothered by Sulaaymaan's confession.

That man — as she had been predicting — held a vast majority of secrets. Many of them lay buried, but steadily resurfaced.

Hafsa and Inaya had to gather their spirits and pull them out with their arms. And the drama — Afra had to admit — was deliberately done. It was just so Afra could shift her mood and lighten up a little.

They, most surely, were worried that something had occured between her and her husband. It was , but obvious, with her teary face.

After bidding them farewell, she hastened in pulling off the hair accessory and tying her hair up. She took off the large abaya hanging down from the coat hanger, pulled it over her gown and buttoned up.

The scarf would have to be on for quite some time and keeping that in mind, she loosely tied it over her head to avoid any unwanted scarf troubles.

Securing the veil in place, she stepped back and carefully analyzed in the mirror to make sure she was covered up well.

Being alone in a room illusioned her with moderately a large number of threatening possibilities. It could be the cause of her having dealt with more than a few impactful incidents.

Hurriedly she gathered all of her gown and began to walk out, not turning the lights off.

Something in her head told her that it would be better to let the room lit.

Giving it one last glance while standing at the doorstep, she smiled.

"Goodbye. You were a good partner my room."

She smiled in a silly manner and shut the doors behind her.

As she moved down the steps, so much confusion and commotion met her eyes.

The doors were left wide open with Aasiq and his men standing against it. She felt herself look at them with awe. They all were dressed up in smarter and much more fitting adornments.

Sulaaymaan was greeting the large crowd of guests steering in and flashing them his cheerful smile. No matter what the situation, his smile and enthusiasm didn't falter.

He had only put down a portion of his reality. What lay beyond and behind, she had yet to be made aware.

The garden that she visualised through the doors, was illuminated with fairy lights and lots of balloons hanging down the trees and the gates.

The hall was partitioned in half by a couple of  golden curtains seperating the two genders.

The stage was even larger than the last time she had seen it. Decorated with net curtains hung around the edges with speckles of golden and sparkle, it brought life to the scene.

Big letters over the stage read 'Happy birthday Prince Sulaaymaan'.

A few men were hurriedly coping up with the last minute preparations, standing up on the ladders and shouting orders over the full fledged commotion.

A group of reporters were given a special arrangement right in front of the stage. A couple of the seats remained empty but most of them were taken.

Once her feet landed on the ground, she couldn't get much view of the other side and her eyes fell over the females sat ahead of her in tables with four decorated chairs.

"Afra ! Hey over here."

She grazed her eyes over the crowd of females who were looking at her peculiarly. Their eyes skimmed through her entire figure and stopped at her gown's train that was peeking through.

Finding her cousins seated at a table right in front of the stage, she decided to hurry up.

She had to strain through the narrow pathways and that in turn objected her as a piece of attraction.

Afra stopped at their table, rather petrified of the attention she had just gained.

"Get seated for a few minutes."

Inaya hushed in her ear and pulled out a chair. After assisting in her getting settled, she herself scooted her chair closer.

The rest of them also leaned over the table, worriedly glancing at her. Her brows furrowed in confusion over the looks she was inviting, however she didn't take it much seriously.

"The Queen's relatives are here.Look there."

She pointed her finger cautiously over a gang of members standing at a secluded area. She made out a couple of faces vaguely but didn't care much.

"We've already met them Alhumdulillah."

Hafsa added with a small smile.

"However — "

Sarah started, a look of panic making her take deep breaths.

"However, something is quite not right."

Afra turned her attention to them, resting her arms over the round table.

"What do you guys mean ?"

Samantha sighed, pinching her temples.

"What we mean to say is that someone in that family of the Queen seems oddly familiar to Inaya."

Afra blinked in confusion. When everyone nodded in agreement to her feelings of uncertainty, she turned to Inaya who kept huffing out air irritatedly.

"Inaya, why do you feel so ?"

She bit her lip, her face twisted in a painful expression.

"I....don't know Afra. He seems very very familiar to me, however I just can't seem to recall anything that may have led us to him."

Afra noticed her friend grow terrified with the thought. Her eyes sparked with untold fear of something unpredictable. Something that she normally didn't find in her eyes.

"Why does it matter though ?"

Inaya froze. Her lips had lost colour and she wriggled her fingers.

Afra could not say much to calm her down.

Inaya stuttered, tapping her feet pretty loudly. Her agitation and discomfort — Afra regarded — was evident of some shady business. Her friend was smart enough to differentiate between dangerous or twisty and playful.

"Because somehow he..... doesn't give me a good feeling."

Inaya straightened in her seat and abruptly turned to Afra.

"I would like you to be careful around him okay ? Perhaps you might recall anything that could help me remember. Just be careful when you go there that's all."

She kept blowing air out of her mouth and shooting suspicious and worried glances at the end of the hall to watch out for them.

"Inaya, you relax. I'll be alright. You have to trust me on this."

Afra whispered softly, pulling Inaya in for a quick embrace.

"Exactly ! We've been telling her to take it easy. Who knows it might just be that she mistook him for someone else."

Hafsa added, giving Inaya a calm look.

"Oh ! By the way, Afra ?"

Samantha called out and Afra peaked over from Inaya's shoulders.

"Incase you didn't quite get yet as to who we're referring to, it's Sulaaymaan's cousin." Then she paused and bounced a little over her chair to look at the Queen and her family. "You can't see him at the moment. He's been covered by them all."

She sat back down properly and faced Afra again.

"So you get it right?"

Afra smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

To refrain from Inaya having to get through a panic attack, the subject was instantly changed with Sarah bringing up some surprise news about her college.

They were just about engaged heavily in the conversation hardly aware of their surroundings when someone patted Afra's back.

She shivered in her seat and whirled around to find Queen Basmah leaning over. She slumped and relaxed a little.

"It's just me Habibti."

She softly murmured and smiled widely.

"I'm so sorry Queen Basmah."

Afra excused herself, got up from her seat and struggled over to where the Queen had walked to.

"Yes dear Queen ?"

"My dear, my brothers are here tonight on the occasion of Sulaaymaan's birthday. However they're pretty shocked about the fact that he's married now." 

She giggled and the large charming smile on her face didn't disappear even for a moment.

"Your family has already met them and now they are eagerly waiting for you."

She almost jumped and clapped her hands in delight.

"Of course ! I'm excited to meet them myself."

The Queen took ahold of Afra's hand and proceeded forward. They moved along a crowd of females who were buzzing and whispering about the "mystery" girl the Queen was so attached to.

She kept her eyes on the ground and dared to not pay heed to anything being exchanged about her.

Once they had walked over to a corner roaring with laughter and rejoice, she lifted her eyes to look at about three men and two women.

When she caught sight of a particular one in general — the one with a familiar sense — she lost interest in the others.

Bug brown eyes, dark lips and a look of hidden personality in his aura. A young man of about early twenties.

Once they approached them close enough to greet each other, the Queen loudly introduced her to all of them.

"This is Afra. My daughter-in-law now."

Afra had her gaze focused on the familiar face shamelessly, quite unaware of the confusion the others were in regarding her behaviour.

When the Queen nudged her a moment later, she jerked out of her trance and looked at the Queen apologetically.

"Forgive my rudeness. I'm Afra Aazeen Varghese."

She bowed her head for a brief moment.

Everyone fell silent before the Queen laughed nervously and held out a hand at everyone to get them introduced to her.

"This happens to be my eldest brother , Hasan. I fall in between both of these men as the only girl child."

Afra nodded absently, her mind still engrossed in what she seemed to have encountered once but failed to give much importance to.

However she did notice that he was very short, had a huge belly and a head that was devoid of any hair. However he did have a respectful smile on his face.

"And this is my youngest one , Hussain."

Afra smiled softly, not quite feeling comfortable around this man. He was almost twice the height that Hasan had. Contrary to his brother, Hussain had a head with thick and fuller hair, almost similar to Sulaaymaan's but only much light brown in shade.     This brother — Hussain as his name stood — was not very kind looking though.

"And let me introduce you to their brides now."

Afra instantly snapped her heads at the ladies. Although the same mantra of having had seen that cousin of Sulaaymaan's somewhere repeated in her head, she could slightly avert her focus to the two elderly women as they seemed quite an interesting lot.

"She's Ruqayya , Hasan's wife."

Afra smiled — yet again — the same one that she had given Hussain. They didn't exactly look friendly or good to her. And although it was rude to have judged people just by their appearances, she still found it hard to not find their grim faces unpleasant.

She didn't wear anything to cover up. Her fitted ballgown stood out with its bright yellow bodice and creme skirt. Her hair was short — with flecks of gold and blonde running through — and quite dry.

"And she is Fatima. Hussain's wife."

This time , Afra received a beautiful smile. A hearty welcome from Fatima's expression.

She was simple in her looks. Her abaya was moderately designed with some embellishments on the sleeves but nothing that could've brought attention to her.

Her thin lips gave off the illusion that she didn't have any but Afra didn't mind it at all. She loved the purity her smile carried and the love her eyes displayed.

"It's so nice to have met you Afra. I have heard so much about you from Basmah."

Afra smiled and looked down upon her extended arm. A slight contemplation tolled down on her mind but she shook it away. She firmly grabbed her hand and shook it.

"Thank you so much. However the Queen is just too kind."

Fatima shook her head.

"No no, she was true. You're a wonderful soul."

Afra smiled awkwardly, falling silent and unsure of what to answer back.

"That's my son there. Waasay."

Afra's eyes skimmed over the man she had been detecting for a while.

"Assalaamualaikum."

She gave him a curt nod, but didn't return the smile.

"Walaikumusslaaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu."

He then turned away from her and she did the same. His voice was somewhat familiar to Sulaaymaan's and a little more known than what she had thought.

Before she could think anymore, Fatima initiated a formal yet comforting conversation. And after having talked about everything they could have , she waited a couple more seconds under the dark gazes of Hussain and Ruqayya.

A few moments passed by after which the Queen cleared her throat.

"Shall we take our seats ?"

She suggested and everyone sort of agreed to it.

As everyone started to move away, Afra bit her lip hard.

She lay stuck to the floor, examining the group of people she had been a part of. Their backs retreated carefully through the crowds — with the men and women departing separately — and the Queen making some conversations in between.

But her attention wasn't on anyone as such.

What disturbed her thoughts and the relief of being guarded was the fact that the cousin was strange.

She crossed her arms and studied the man from head to toe.

A minute passed by and a lot more of secrets seemed like they were revealed.

A lot more of the situations became clearer and clearer.

« Assalaamualaikum Princesses ❤

Another chapter!

Yay !

Hopefully you all enjoy it.

Jazak'ALLAHU QAIRAN KATHEERAN and a huge thank you to all of you. Can't even begin to say how much you all influence my life. ❤❤❤. May you all continue to assist me in this task. In Shaa ALLAH.

Anyhoo, wattpad block party is to start soon. I hope I'll have you all with me on the 16th of February in Shaa ALLAH.

❤❤❤. I love you all so very much.

Stay safe and blessed and happy.

And remember you're strong and you're a fighter.

I'm always here and praying for you all.

Much love ,
Me ;) »