Your heart and my heart are very, very old friends.

— Hafez Shirazi

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Him

The fire burns but provides little warmth to him. So he leaves it and let the cold night takes him into its embrace. The sky is a starless blanket and he comes to stand underneath it, carrying her letter in one hand and a candle in another.

I'm not happy at your palace.

Her words sound like echoes in his ears. Her words are knives piercing his flesh. If she's not happy, what good is anything else to him-- what meaning do they hold? If she's not happy, what worth is his love to her? He cannot fathom, neither the spiraling of his emotions out of his intellect nor this greed to have her with him. The world is a distant thought and her presence is only what he wants near.

She calls him hers, yet she speaks of leaving him. How does he allow this? Maybe at the cost of his own will and happiness, if that's what love is about.

My Khalifa, her letter reads, and a smile graces his face.

"The Khalifa will always only be yours, Noura."

Her

"It has been a while. Did you miss me?"

"Are you crazy?"

"You cannot answer my question with a question."

"You need to leave, Hadi."

She reaches out for the balcony door but he shuts them before her. The room is filled with dark except for one candle lit in the corner and she can barely make out his form. Panic settles in her gut and she hurries to put distance between them but he trails after her.

"There are soldiers on watch outside. You want me to get caught?"

"How did you climb up to my room?"

"I know a few tricks. But I can't get lucky every time."

They're speaking in hushed tones so as not to be heard by the guards on the other side of her chamber doors. Noura goes to light a few more candles to ward off the black veil enveloping them. It is only adding more to the distress that his presence around her at this inappropriate hour has brought her.

"I'm going to distract my guards and you're leaving my chamber," she orders. "You're not climbing down my balcony."

"But I just came."

She gives him a glare of disapproval and he raises his palms in a calming gesture.

"I had a small business at the palace. I thought to drop by you before leaving. Let me at least catch my breath."

He casually comes and offers her a chair, adjusting one for himself too. Noura can only gape at his nonchalance.

"Hadi." She grabs him by the arm before he could sit. "If you're found in my room in the middle of the night--"

"Who'll find us?" He leans towards her. "Are you expecting company?"

"No!" She tugs him towards the door. "But you're leaving. I'm not taking anymore risks with you."

He doesn't budge, tugging her back to himself instead. "You're no fun, malika."

"I'm not mali--"

He spins her and traps her between himself and the wall. "Yet." He grins, and whatever words were to come out of her mouth dies there.

Noura tries to get away from him but he puts his hand on the wall besides her, the table on the other side already blocking her escape. She looks at him, his unlike eyes appearing inky and unlit in the dark. But there's something there, there always is, both a familiarity and a puzzle. She certainly has known him, but without a name, like the rest of everyone from her childhood. She struggles to find the missing thread, weave him into the picture, put a face to the blurred images from her the flickering yesterday. Though names haven't been something she was good with learning, but if those orbs have left an imprint, she must have known him for a period longer to recognize him as Hadi. But she doesn't. That isn't who he is, her heart just knows it.

"You returned my gift to Fereydun," he says, interrupting her musings, and she blinks before realizing he was referring to the anklet he had send her. "Did you not like it?"

"You should be more concerned about Fereydun being demoted from governorship than me declining your gifts."

"That is for me to take care of. Why worry yourself with politics, my queen?"

"Hadi," she hisses before he could take it any further. "Whatever it is that you're trying to kindle between us, don't. You're wasting your time and threatening my reputation."

"God forbid." The playfulness leaves his features, leaving them rough and unnerving-- almost chilling. He removes his hand from her side but doesn't allow her to move away. "Was it my approach towards you that was upsetting in any way, or is it someone else having already kindled a flame with you?"

She purses her lips. He is a complicated man-- from his demeanor to the powers he hold. She knows nothing about him, and what she knows seems to be adulterated with doubt. Why he's interested in her affairs is beyond her comprehension, but she cannot let her actions be precipitate around him.

"I don't see how anything about me concerns you when I don't even know you," Noura replies. "You don't trust me to tell me anything about yourself but just riddles I fail to solve. What do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you to be a little more patient with me. Have you witnessed me causing any harm to you so far?"

"But you're dangerous, Hadi."

"And you can't be daring, Noura?"

She doesn't say anything in response. He searches her eyes, as if fishing for an answer. She shifts uneasily on her feet in the tiny space and he takes a step away for her sake.

"Eskander seemed unsettled by my interest in you," Hadi tells her, sitting down and making himself comfortable. He gestures for her to take a seat too. "I didn't understand his reaction. I explained to him that I didn't mean to disrespect his family's honor in any way. My intentions are pure. I don't seek to start a fling with you."

"What did you say to him?" she asks in angst, carefully dragging his chair slightly away from him and sitting down as well.

"That I've taken a liking to you and if you agree, maybe we can proceed to make it legal?"

Dumbfounded, Noura only stares at him. He arches an eyebrow, calmly awaiting her response as if discussing weather with her.

"No," she flat out refuses after coming out of her shock.

He frowns. "Why not?"

"I know nothing about you. This is a child's play to you. If you expect me to be patient whilst keeping me in oblivion, don't come to me proposing and expecting this is going to work."

"And if I tell you about myself?" he suggests hopefully.

She simply shakes her head. "This can't be. I only want to return to my home away from all of this mess."

"I can move your mother to Baghdad, your whole family, so you don't have to be away from them." He reaches for her hand but she leans away. He pleas with her as his eyes go soft once again. "They'll live in luxury, no problem whatsoever. You meet them whenever you want. You won't be lonely. We'll do it as you say."

"How are you going to do it?"

"I've the means to."

Noura gazes at him. He never was ordinary to begin with. It was her misjudgment of him to have brought them here. But what he can execute with the strength he possibly possesses still remains unclear. There's a caution associated with him, and she cannot simply ignore it. Aside from the fact that she nurtures no feelings for him, and what started as an innocent exchange between them that has turned lethal, it is Hadi himself who spells peril. He's an endless abyss but she's not blind. She cannot fall prey to his offer no matter how tempting.

"What happened to Fereydun, can happen to Eskander and you too," she warns. "If the caliph finds out about your deceit, he might as well execute you for treason."

"We all strive for something greater, and nothing great comes for free. We must struggle for it." He shrugs and cranes his neck towards the candles. His tanned skin appears aglow in their light and his scars striking. "Fereydun lost governorship, but who knows? He could become a vizier of the caliph someday. And from the general of Baghdad, Eskander can be promoted to have the command of the whole army of the kingdom. If there's a possibility of death, so is one of glory. The sands of time will run out, tables might flip, and it will all come to where one's loyalties lie."

"And your loyalties lie with prince Sulaiman?"

He grins, gaze snapping back to her, the curve of his lips both sly and naive. "Where do yours lie?"

"Yusuf bin Khalid is alive," she states firmly, meaningfully, and he hums, nodding and rubbing his palms together.

"So has the news been circulating. But no rule lasts forever, does it?" He straightens and produces something from underneath his waistband. "Here, let us not discuss tedious things tonight. That's not what I'm here for. Give me your hand."

She hesitates, not complying. "Why?"

He sighs in exasperation. "Give it to me. I won't touch you."

"I'm not accepting anything from you."

"Why this stubbornness towards me, malika?"

"You're the one who's stubborn, not me."

He clicks his tongue and places whatever is in his hand on the table beside them. An anklet. But not the one he hand gotten her before. Instead, it is the same as the one Eskander had gotten her and which broke-- two golden chains with a crescent moon attached to them.

"You wound me," Hadi says without looking at her. "I specially went to the goldsmith and made it for you. I thought since you didn't accept my last gift, I could replace your broken anklet with a similar one."

"You didn't have to."

"Why?" Their eyes connect again, his more fierce than before. "Tell me, what am I doing wrong to offend you?"

"This." She motions between them. "You think sending me flowers and notes wasn't enough, you climb up the balcony to my chamber at midnight?"

"I'm on my best manners," he argues ingeniously, giving her a sweet smile. "Did I bother you so far? I only came to talk."

"You couldn't find a better way or time?"

"No, unless you actually wanted us to get caught."

She cannot bear his insouciance anymore. His indifferent attitude picks her. All he cares about is what he wants and not the consequences of those careless desires. Standing up, Noura nods towards the anklet.

"We're done talking, Hadi. Take it back and leave, please."

He gets to his feet too. "What do I do with it?" he refers to the anklet. "Keep it with you."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I've no right over you to be accepting gifts from you. It'll only give you false hope."

She reaches forward to push it towards him but he stops her and his hand lands on hers. She quickly attempts to pull away but grasps her wrist.

"You're saying this without giving me a chance?"

She forcefully tugs back her arm from him and he releases her. Noura stumbles back into the table and the water vessel lying on it crashes to the floor with a loud clash. No later than a minute a knock comes at her door and her heart jumps to her throat in exhilaration.

"Sayidati, is everything alright?" Faris's voice comes through the other side.

Before she could open he mouth, Hadi places a finger to her lips, shushing her, whispering lowly, "Tell him all is well."

Noura doesn't say anything, her pulse racing in trepidation, and Faris knocks on the door again.

"Sayidati?"

"Noura," Hadi bores his eyes into hers. "I don't care about him walking in on us. He wouldn't dare to question me. But I really don't want Eskander to know about it and misinterpret anything."

She grits her teeth, and on the third knock of Faris, urgent this time, she calls back, "Everything is fine."

Hadi smiles down at her in satisfaction. His gaze tumbles over her face, his sight fixated on her in reverence the reason of which only coils her gut in foreboding. "Thank you," he mumbles.

"It wasn't for you," she retorts, brushing off his fingers as he they grazes hers.

"Even if for Eskander, I appreciate it. I value my friendship with him. I don't want him to think I'm going behind his back with his sister."

"That you are." She moves away from him. "You're a nameless memory, Hadi. What I do or don't remember doesn't change anything in my heart for you. The life I'm living here is nothing but a nightmare. And once I'm out and away from here, it will be no more. Then, I wouldn't want to remember anything about this present either."

"What I can give you, Noura, no one else can." He edges forward and she steps back. He halts his advances. "Is there any way I can make you agree to it? Or at least for you to give it a thought?"

What does she tell him? She cannot reveal to him that she's already married, or that her heart is aching over another one. She cannot ask for his secrets when she has her own meticulously kept hidden. There's nothing to consider, neither anymore wishes in her bosom remaining to be fulfilled. All she wants, only the caliph can give her, if God softens him towards her and he accepts her request in the letter she has sent him. This is all she prays for.

"If you've any respect for me, then you'll leave now, Hadi."

Without waiting for his response, she walks to the door and opens it, finding Faris on guard. He comes to attention upon seeing her.

"I mistakenly broke the water vessel. Can you get me more water please?"

He nods and leaves and she looks at the other guard on duty with Faris.

"Is Eskander at the palace?" she asks him.

"I don't know, sayidati," he replies.

"Please go find for me," she requests but finds him swithering to leave her alone. "I'm not going anywhere," she assures him. "You can just go around the corner and ask someone who knows. I'll be at my chamber."

After a moment more of dithering, he finally goes to check and she's left alone with Hadi without the guards. He comes up behind her and she turns to him.

"Will you make it out of the palace safely?"

He smirks and tips his head. "Your concern for me amuses me. I don't know what to gather of it."

"Don't be ironic. No matter what, I wouldn't want any harm to befall you."

"Don't worry, I'll make it out in one piece." He pulls the hood of his cloak over his head and covers his face. "This turned out uneventful, didn't it?"

"When have our encounters been eventful?"

"They always are for me." She can almost see him grinning through the mask. "But maybe I expected something more this time."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you then." She gently pushes him out of the door. "Now leave before the guards return."

"I haven't given up yet." He gives her one last, lingering look. "See you again soon, malika."

With that, he walks away down the corridor. She watches him disappear around the corner and heaves a sigh of relief, only for her breath hitching in her throat as she notices another shadow forming after him before blending away into dark.

Whoever that has been spying on her, probably has discovered another secret of hers.

Noura quickly gets into her room and shuts the door. What has just happened, she cannot figure. But every minute seems to be adding only more to the pile of things she has to deal with.

Her eyes fall on the balcony doors, then on the chair where Hadi was sitting, finally coming to rest on the ornament glittering on the table.

He has left her the anklet.

She clenches her fists. He's stubborn and defiant, very much so. She has no doubt he'll return for her.

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Hadi and Noura, yes or no?

Wattpad has been crashing down for me a lot lately. I'm going on hiatus in January for my finals, and really hoped to finish the book before that, but if I disappear anytime soon, just letting you know that I'm experiencing trouble with the app to update new chapter.

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