Won't we be quite the pair? You with your bad heart, me with my bad head. Together, though, we might have something worthwhile.

—

✵

"Is it the sky that deceives, or the shadows that spin, my prince?"

"The shadows, of course, for they're fleeting. They come and go. But the sky will always have its light-- sun for the day, and moon for the night."

"Then why do you let the shadows to deceive you?" She stands up from her chair and walks over to one of the tall glass windows of the courtroom. The dwindling colors of twilight glide over her face before she tips it away and masks it. "What is the point of chasing the light when the light remains, though distant?"

He smirks, dragging back his chair and standing up too, joining her by the window. "Because this said light guides me. So when the shadows fall and I'm blinded, this hope of light keeps me from sinking into the despair of darkness."

"Every dusk has its dawn. The sun remains the same, the moon too. But the day does not, neither does the night." She turns to him and he looks at her. She takes his face between her hands, caressing it lovingly. "The night is not brilliant like the day. But some days are casted and dark, and some nights are illuminated and bright. Sometimes, darkness can be comforting too. For sometimes the light deceives too-- too much of it is blinding."

"You mean to say I should let go?"

"I mean to say that desires can be blinding, and not all light or dark things can be as they seem, like not all days and nights are the same. But we assume, and assumptions can be disappointing." She leans forward and kisses his cheek. "The love that is yours will find you, even if it takes you through the dark. But the one that ain't yours will leave, no matter how bright you see it. So be wise when to end this chase, akhi, for no one among mankind has defeated destiny. You can't either."

"The chase will not end, Arwa, I've made my choice. It is I who will end. If Noura doesn't want Al Shafay, then be it so." His gaze sails over the rays to the dying sun. He grins and flicks his tongue between his lips. "There's a man to me she fancies. I'll be that man for her."

He helps one of the the old men in the caravan set up his tent as the day begins to blend into its death. His skin glows where the feeble rays of sun kiss it and his hair shine dark tied behind his neck. She watches him intently from where she's sitting on a log besides their own tent which he had set up earlier. Her attention keeps swinging between him and the letter in her hands.

It isn't only the letter that has been bothering her immensely but also the daughter of this old man who has been pivoting around her husband like a moth around the flame, challenging her sanity. It's only been a day they've begun their journey, and if it continues, she's afraid it won't be long before the treads of her patience snap. She hasn't dealt with such emotions as strongly before now, and she's not sure how well can she handle them. Her hand fists the letter tightly in annoyance.

"Wallahi habibti, you've set your eyes on a very wrong man," she grits as the woman offers Adam water to drink, which he accepts, and she painfully drags her gaze away and down to the letter.

Nour, I'm leaving the palace without saying goodbye to you. I apologize for this sudden departure. I've been demoted from the position of the general of Baghdad. The caliph seeks a proof against me to order my execution. Under the given circumstances, it wasn't safe for me to stay any longer at the palace. I've learnt that you're granted permission to return home. The Ameer promised me and assured me that you'll be send back safely. I'll meet Fereydun in Khorasan. If all goes well, I'll drop by at home on my way. I don't want you to worry about me, I've taken care of all the things and left no clues behind me. Yet still, if things don't work out in my favor and I don't return home, take care of yourself and maman for me. I leave you in the protection of my Lord.

Eskander Teymour.

She lets out a trembling breath and folds the letter, a wrenching pain setting her heart in distress. If Eskander doesn't return, the world will turn upside down for her and her mother. After her father, it has been him who took their responsibility on his shoulders. She never once considered him any less than her family. And for her mother, she knows losing him would be like losing her blood son. She cannot even begin to imagine the possibility.

She tucks the letter under her waistband. Faris had given it to her last night, and she left the palace with Adam before the next dawn. There was no time to ponder and reflect, and Eskander had already left the palace before her. There was no reason to hold her back either, and the freedom she sought, Adam finally offered it to her. She couldn't stop for a minute longer to think-- she escaped the palace too.

The dunes stretch endlessly before her. Twilight begins to shade deeper. The sun sinks some more. Adam is done setting up the tent for the old man and his daughter and is now making his way back towards her. She waits for him to come to her, scooting aside and making space for him on the log.

"Ain't you hungry, azizi?" He settles beside her and she turns to him. "No preparation for making dinner yet?"

"I satiated my appetite feeding upon you," she nods towards the woman, "and her."

He arches a puzzled eyebrow. "What is this tone? What has upset you, Noura?"

"Don't be naive, Adam. This is the last thing I expect of you."

"You've nothing to be upset about."

"She has eyes for you. I don't like the looks she gives you," Noura admits, a bitter hiss in her voice that she cannot help.

"What kind of looks?"

"As if she wants to sink her teeth into you-- as if wanting to mark you hers."

Adam gives her a crooked smile. "That's an ominous way of telling me that she's fond of me."

"What's ominous will be me poking out her eyes with my dagger if she fails to behave," she growls out in bubbling rage.

"You're wild when jealous, you know that?"

"Oh? And here I was hoping to hear something stronger, like lethal. But then again, I'm not jealous, just sizzling a little. And you don't want to see what happens if the flames flare up."

"Definitely not." He whispers lowly as he asks next, "But tell me, my love, who do I have eyes for?"

Her fury begins to dissipate as she stares at him, the tender hue of his orbs turned golden like the desert under the faded sun. Her lips twitch upwards and her gaze shies away from him against the intensity of his own. She quickly gets up and busies herself with setting up the sticks for the fire.

"Help me with these. Let us prepare the dinner before it gets dark."

"It's already getting darker," he comments as he comes to sit besides her on the sand.

"What can I say? You were too busy with others to remember me. Bear with it now."

He chuckles at her remark. "I don't forget about you, Noura, wherever I am. The poor man is weak. I only helped him with the tent."

"You did good, I'm not rebuking you for it. But I don't like his daughter."

He only nods in response and begins to light the fire. The unease in her gut still weighs. She frowns and leans towards Adam.

"Stay away from her, alright?"

He tilts his head towards her, amusement and roguery tinting his features. "Why, habibti, is my wife possessive of me now?"

She glares at him in disapproval, though her cheeks warms up in mortification. "Did you forget about our deal? We agreed we'll respect our marriage as long as it remains."

"Did you ever keep it on your part?"

Noura clenches her jaw, her anger rising again. "Now you'll bring up Eskander in my face so you can entertain another woman?"

"God forbid." He clicks his tongue and parallels her glare, less harshly so. "When did you see me entertaining her?"

"She kept staring at you from dawn to dusk. Don't blame me when I stick my daggers in her eyes."

"Noura."

It could've only been a name, but the way he says it once more turns her fury into frost. He cools her heart, he calms her wrath. She purses her lips and doesn't carry the argument anymore.

"As I said," he adds, "you've nothing to be upset about."

"And it remains that way?"

He only smiles faintly in agreement. "Now don't bother yourself with it."

They prepare the dinner together and then sit down to eat in their tent. Outside, the wind has begun to howl. The night is settling and has brought a chill with itself. The silence between them remains until she decides to tear it.

"Do you think someone from the palace might be looking for us? We escaped secretly after all."

He shrugs a shoulder nonchalantly. "Maybe."

"What if they send guards after us?"

"They won't find us. We've left with the caravan. They won't know."

"But if they do?"

"The Ameer might send guards for more security and an order for me to return. But they won't take you back to the palace, so don't worry."

"So if they find us, will you leave?"

He grins, wide and villainous, letting the devil within him resurface. "No."

She grins back in mischief. "This reminds me of the time when we first met and you escorted me to the palace."

"And now I'm escorting you back home."

"You are." She smiles. "Who knew that it'll come to this."

"To what?"

She gestures between them. "This."

"What?" he presses, bugging.

"Us. Like this."

"Us?"

"Yes, I mean-- well, you know, us?" She feels her cheeks warming up once more. "I mean us getting married."

"And becoming closer?"

She starts putting away the utensils and steals away her eyes from him. "Sleep on your side of the tent and leave enough space for me, Adam."

"So, I'm not sleeping outside?"

She gives him a surprised look. "What would we tell the people of the caravan, who you are to me to be sleeping outside?"

"Well, I thought you wouldn't be fine with me sleeping beside you."

She puts on her cloak and pulls the hood over her head, covering away her face and avoiding meeting his eyes.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"To watch the stars."

"I'll come with you."

He slips on his cloak as well and they go to sit on the log outside their tent. Despite the weariness heavy in her body, she couldn't miss the comfort of the universe before her. Up above, there's a world vast and beautiful beyond imagination.

The stars shine down upon them like tiny gems, the moon a thick waxing crescent among them. Her gaze collides with the sky and her thoughts shatter, before she collects them and directs to him.

"Adam?"

"Yes?"

"Will the caliph execute Eskander?"

"The stars remind you of him?" he inquires. She looks at him and he smirks, a little rueful. "Will he ever stop ruling your heart?"

"Yes," she replies firmly. "But I'll never stop caring for him. He's my family."

"If he has been fair to the crown, he has nothing to fear about."

"But if he makes a mistake, will Al Shafay spare his life?"

Adam pauses, pondering, before clicking his tongue. "I don't know. What do you think? Do traitors deserve a chance? To me it is like allowing a snake to bite you twice when its venom hasn't killed you the first time."

She doesn't answer, exhaling heavily and closing her eyes. "If anything happens to him, God forbid, my mother won't be able to bear with it. If the caliph makes my mother suffer anymore than how much he already has, I won't forgive him."

He reaches for her hand, and she allows him to hold it. "Nothing happens to Eskander, Noura. Don't worry your heart for him."

"How can you guarantee me his life?"

"Hasn't everything I've done so far assure you of my capabilities?"

She smiles, scooting closer and leaning into him. The wind blows colder and he puts his arm around her, wrapping his cloak around her too for warmth.

"Do you not care for the queen anymore, Adam?" she asks hopefully.

"I still care for her very much. I always will."

A pang of jealousy shoots through her and she tilts her head to look up at him. "Then why are you with me?"

"Because Arwa is not to me what Eskander is to you."

"Then who is she to you?"

He tips his head down and his nose grazes against hers. "Wrong question, azizi. You should've said instead that Eskander isn't to you anymore what he once was."

"You already know that," she whispers, voice turning hoarse, half from sleep and half from the proximity they share. "You already knew the truth about him and the amira, didn't you?"

"I did," he affirms. "I learnt long ago when Yusuf bin Khalid sent me to Dimashq to the palace of prince Sulaiman as a messenger, and I incidentally found out about their fling."

"Why did you keep quiet about it?"

"For the sake of the caliph and the honor of the royal family. I didn't want Yusuf bin Khalid to bear through it. They had stained their names, what good would it have done me exposing them anyway?"

"Is that why Eskander left the princess?"

"He would've left her even if I hadn't found out. He never loved her. The amira is crazy over him for nothing."

"And you?" Her eyes search his, letting those midnight black orbs destroy her. "You're honorable when I'm a witness to your relationship with the queen? How is that different?"

"Let it go," he requests softly, once again bumping their noses gently. "Why can you not let a moment be about us? Only us."

"Alright, I'll speak about us then." She lifts a hand to his face, a finger dragging down his jaw to his chin. She feels his muscles contracting under her touch. "Now when I know of your potential, tell me, couldn't you find a way out of our marriage when I proposed the idea?"

"You threatened me," he excuses jokingly and she lets out a short laugh.

"Did it change anything?"

"No, but it was unexpected. I really didn't want you to expose my relationship with Arwa."

She huffs and her hand falls back from his face onto her lap. "My question remains. Answer me, couldn't you come up with another plan to avoid marrying me?"

"I didn't want to," he confesses blatantly. "The idea of marrying you sounded pleasing. If I wanted, I could've founded a way out, but I didn't want to."

She lightly hits him on the chest, feeling exhausted, trying to pull away, but he holds her closer to himself. "Despite having an affair with the queen?"

"Despite everything."

"And not because of the enmity between you and Eskander?"

"I'm not so petty to use you against him. I could've told you about his affair when I knew of your fondness for him. But I didn't have the heart to hurt you."

"How charming," she scoffs, speaking ironically. "Why are you such a good man? How did I get so lucky to marry you?"

He runs his tongue over his lower lip, grinning sinfully. "What can I say? I was crafted out of the finest of clays. Maybe you're too."

Noura gazes at him drunkenly. What a devil of a man, she thinks. Yet still, she finds herself drawn to him.

"You're a very bad man, Adam," she remarks.

"I know."

"You're wicked and you're shameless."

This gets a laugh from him. "But my heart still knows how to love."

"Do bad men even have hearts?"

"Very dark ones."

Her sleep laden eyes start fluttering shut. "I'm supposed to hate you."

"Do you?"

She puts her head on his chest and he cocoons her in his arms. "No," she whispers.

"Good." He rests his chin atop her head. "Never do, farasha."

She breathes into his musk and begins drifting away into nothingness. "Why do you call me that?"

"What?"

"Farasha," she mumbles. "It reminds me of something."

"Does it now?"

"Yes. Of a poem my baba taught me. But I don't remember all of it."

"What is it about?"

"I'll sing to you." She suppresses a yawn and nuzzles into his side. "But another time."

"You can sing?"

"Like a nightingale to a rose," she replies with a light chuckle. "Will you be a rose?"

She feels him smile against her temple before murmuring into her ear like a sinister lullaby. "I'll be the nightingale. I know the song."

✵

I'm back after an eternity long exam, and I really missed you all. How are you?

So, who's ready to finally walk the finishing line with me? Let's us complete Khalifa.

✵