16| Fight Off The Demons

First of all, a big sorry couldn't update yesterday. I had a fever. Trust me, I tried writing but couldn't gather my thoughts.

I wrote this chapter in a hurry for Nyctophile_03 because it's her birthday. Happy birthday love! Truck loads of warm hugs and good wishes to you. May ALLAH always bless you. Hope you've had an amazing day and I wish you an amazing year ahead.

I know I am very late. I even forgot to ask you when your birthday was but then I remembered your comment. I was worried I missed it🙈 and I kind of did because it's 2Am. I tried writing really fast though so I could wish you here. Sorry nonetheless.

Enjoy everybody! Sorry for the babbling too.

Do tell me when is your birthday?

The least I could do for you guys is wish you here. You amazing people deserve so much more❤

F I G H T O F F T H E D E M O N S

We need the map in two days from now. Prove yourself worthy of the help we've been giving you. We've received no valuable information from you nor have you tried to get closer to the prince. This is your last chance to prove your worth. We are making your work easy by letting you know that the map is in the King's study chamber. Bring us the map. Our people will help you.

What help were they exactly talking about?

The only help they'd given her was at the time of her execution. That was the only time they had saved her, granted her a favour.

Hayat had read the note again and again. It was in that moment, that she knew, she had been a pawn all along. All that rebels wanted of her was to do their dirty work. They were using her in their game of treachery, they knew she had been desperate at the time of her execution with absolutely no one on her side and even though it felt like she didn't need them anymore, she couldn't think of any other option right now but to let them use her. When she'd agreed to what the rebels had proposed, she had been desperate.

Right now, she didn't exactly have any other choice either. They saved her for a price and she had to pay it.

Leila and Hayat had waited restlessly for the guards or Tayyab to barge into her chamber and throw them both into Zindaan but that didn't happen.

Leila had slept in her chamber that night and honestly, Hayat was only thankful because she didn't want to be alone.

Next day Leila had vanished, Hayat was beginning to worry but Hebajaan had informed her that she was too scared to come out of the servant quarters. Hayat didn't blame her. She was innocent and had only been in the situation because of her.

When she heard the knock on her door, it had made her nervous. She opened it to find Ali and Yousef standing proudly outside her chamber.

She would have been scared, they were warriors but the beaming face of Ali had soothed her nerves.

Ali was more of a kid at heart despite the fact that his appearance suggested otherwise, while Yousef was the mature and sensible one. Hayat thought they were inseparable. "My lady!" Yousef had bowed.

"My sister!" Ali was chirpy and Hayat couldn't help but smile. She asked them to enter her chamber.

"Umm.. We were here to help you with any arrangements for the ball." Yousef said. Hayat blinked a couple of times before answering, "I thought a few kaneez would come to my aid not the.. Warriors."

Ali's smile faltered, as his eyebrow furrowed in defense, "What? You think your brother's aren't going to be useful?"

"No! No! I didn't mean it like that brother Ali. I just thought you'd be more busy with patrolling." Hayat muttered.

"We were free. Try us." Smirked Yousef.

"Of course! Please take a seat." She guided them towards her dining table because where else would she ask them to sit. They followed her lead and began to take a seat on the chairs.

"I am sorry. These are my lessons. I had been studying earlier. It's just a bit messy. Let me put it aside." Hayat began to pick all her sheets up which were scattered on the glass table. Her previous work which were already checked by Tayyab and returned back to her, as well as the new lesson, she kept all of them on the table, which was of no use since she had to eat all alone.

Ali and Yousef eyed the paper, and began to help her in collecting it. "We'll just..help you." Ali said before picking up papers.

Ali picked up one paper and looked at it with confusion, and then he burst into fits of laughter. Hayat stared at him with a puzzled look.

Is he making fun of me? Her blood boiled.

"What is wrong with you?" Yousef gritted him with agitation while nudging him. Hayat tried to look elsewhere. "Rea.. Read this." He passed on the paper to him.

Yousef took the paper from him and began to read. Hayat watched in anger as he too began to laugh. Their chortle resonated in her chamber. She huffed exasperatedly, "Great! Care to tell me what's the joke?"

For a minute both of them had stopped laughing but it was only a second before they guffawed again.

"Okay! I am done. You can call me when you are done laughing at my bad handwriting." That ceased their laughing. "What? No! We are not laughing at you." Ali said defensively.

"Yes it's true. We were just.." They shared a look before passing on the paper to her, "Look here." Yousef pointed to one of her writing sheets. "Can you read it?"

"Noo!" She replied with feral hatred, thinking that they were mocking her further. "It's written that My husband is the most handsome man in the 7 kingdoms." Yousef smiled but Hayat felt her blood boil.

That cunningly devious devil from hell!

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist as she started at the paper.

"Who's teaching you arabic?" Ali smirked.

"Tayyab!" Her answer alone had them laughing again. "The emir loves to play evil pranks." Yousef said in between his laughter.

"I don't care. He was mocking me." She yelled. Yousef tried to defend Tayyab, "I don't think so my lady. He was only playful. He didn't mean to hurt you."

"Look at this one." Ali passed another paper to her. "It's written I do not hate my husband." Ali seemed to have lost his mind. Yousef only scowled at him but Ali wouldn't stop.

Hayat's nostrils had flared as she tried not to lash out on them. Yousef looked at her with a pained expression, not knowing what to say in the defense of their friend. "That's not all. Here look at this." He picked up a random paper from the table. "I don't want to know. I am done. Can you two please come later. I really am not in the mood to plan the ball."

The anger she felt had threatened to explode like a volcano.

Yousef had nodded in understanding as he pulled Ali along with him to the exit of her chamber. She followed them as they walked out, waiting to close the door but Yousef paused and walked back to her door, she looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say what he wanted to, "My brave lioness." He uttered.

"What?" Hayat's brows furrowed in confusion. "It was written in the paper I picked up. My brave lioness." He repeated and just like that the volcano, the fire, every emotion that she felt melted away into a puddle of nothing, only to be replaced by a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Yousef had smiled before he left with Ali.

She shut the door behind her.

Brave!

He had called her brave when she could never call herself that. She was weak. She was a coward.

She forcefully pushed back the thought to the back of her mind. She had more important things to concentrate on. Things on which her life depended. She either had to steal a map or find another way.

Now, many hours later at midnight, she sat on her bed in a darkened chamber.

Back at the beginning.

Staring at doors and fending away demons.

She was dressed in wide silk trousers and a fitted top stained a deep violet color, with thick straps that banded over each shoulder. The necklace and thin chain at her waist contained amethysts surrounded by tiny, pale pink diamonds. At her ears and along her brow were large teardrops of purple and gold. Her waist-length hair hung in shining waves down her back.

She wore yet another beautiful set of bangles, one sent to her every week. Different colour, different design yet all of them had a certain similarity that she couldn't put together and all of them were beautiful, nothing like she had ever seen.

"Where are they even getting these from? Even the princess doesn't wear these one's with intricate design on them." Leila had gasped. Honestly Hayat loved it. She loved bangles and these were exceptionally beautiful.

Hayat willed the doors to open with the force of her unflinching stare. Met by the same stoic silence as always, she rose from the bed and began pacing.

If she was going to get that map, she had to do it now.

But she was scared of Naaf. She didn't have the nerve to face him.

By now, she was well aware that killing Tayyab wasn't going to be easy. No matter what Tayyab was trying to pretend but recent events had told her that for some ulterior motive, he hadn't given away any of her secrets.

First with Zehra and now with the tournament.

Tayyab kept it a secret just like before. When she figured out he had lost on purpose, she was outraged. He had fooled her but a very unsettling thought came to her mind which had her disgusted.

Is he in love with me?

No! She frowned. He loves Meher.

But maybe because she betrayed him, he was looking for a rebound and who better than his naive, weak wife? She huffed at her idiocy.

Or she was just imagining things now?

Or maybe she could exploit his feelings to her advantage. Even though it disgusted her, she knew that was her only way to survival now. The rebels won't be a threat then and Tayyab would let his guards fall around her and then she could easily kill him with...

Poison?

No, she would slice her sword through his throat just the way he had. That would be an eye for an eye.

She tried to piece it together.

Unwilling and incapable of leaving her fate in the hands of others, she walked to the doors and pulled one open.

She had to get the map, because she couldn't trust the rebels. Maybe Tayyab felt something for her but it wasn't strong enough to make him believe that she was innocent when the rebels would give her away.

She felt herself shudder at the darkness in the hallway, halfway expecting to encounter Naaf. Her palms were cold and she tried to rub her free hand on the sides of her shamla while trying to breathe in steadily.

The guards had bowed to her when she passed by them, none had questioned her. A milky white light poured into the hallway, spilling across the floor in a large puddle. She held the lantern in one hand and walked as fast as she could. It was time for the guards to change shifts.

When she rounded the corner to the study chamber, two guards were already there. She moved back immediately to hide herself and observe them by peeking at them from the corners.

Shit!

Had they already changed positions?

In that moment, both of them began to leave. Hayat gave a sigh of relief, she waited for them to completely disappear. She was about to move when she felt a presence behind her, her breathing hitched as she turned around abruptly but found no one.

She stared at the darkness behind her, expecting Naaf to make an appearance but nothing happened. Despite the chills that she felt down her spine, she mustered her courage and walked hurriedly.

She had very less time to search for the map.

When she entered the chamber, she placed the lantern on the wooden table, and began her searching.

She was panting but that didn't make her stop. Adrenaline had kicked in. She looked through the chest of drawers, cupboard on her left but she found no map of sorts.

Agitated, she ran her fingers through her disheveled hair.

She was doomed!

If she had to hide an important map, where would she?

Perhaps a safe or a casket?

She had to find it soon.

Her thoughts had hindered when she felt the same feeling that she had felt at the corners of the hallway, a feeling of being watched. She looked around in the almost dark room. "Who's there?" But she received no response, nor did she see anyone.

She was sweating profusely as she searched for anything abnormal in that chamber once again.

She couldn't leave without it. The rebels wouldn't think before framing her.

She began to hear footsteps. That's when she panicked. Her senses were on alert. The footsteps neared the door. She extinguished the burning lantern and darkness immediately engulfed her.

No! No! No!

Ya ALLAH madad!

She screamed within the walls of her heart.

There was no place to hide either. She had no proper explanation of what she was doing there.

She was filled with trepidation. Her heart was thumping so loud that she was sure if there was anyone around her, they could easily hear it.

She felt the doors closing to her one by one, abundant mountains all around her, It felt like she was being cornered and trapped, with nowhere to go.

I am sorry Abba and Amma. I am sorry Ahmar. A teardrop fell.

The footsteps came to a halt before reaching the door. She silently waited, trying not to make any sound at all. Then she heard the footsteps moving further away from the door.

She stared at the door in confusion.

But then it burst open and in walked a very furious Usman, Tayyab's personal guard, the one who had helped Zehra.

She was bewildered. Her throat went dry as she stared at him gobsmacked.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He shouted and Hayat could do nothing but stare at him out of dread.

"Come along. Fast. They won't be gone for long." He barked and that's when it clicked.

He was a rebel. He was one of them.

This was the help they'd been talking about.

Hayat found herself moving. He didn't touch her as they exited the door together. It was as if cat had got her tongue, she was working on autopilot.

He took her lantern, closed the door behind them. "Fast." Hayat noticed he was sweating too. Her mind had been swirling with questions but she just followed him.

The guards passed by them to take their position, she tried not to tremble, Usman masked away his expression easily as his remained passive.

They rounded the corners when they came face to face with the King and her husband.

Silence befell for a second as they stared at each other, and then Usman bowed in courtesy. "My king!" He looked down.

The king and the prince scrutinised them with curiosity.

Was Tayyab finally telling his father about the tournament?

She didn't meet his gaze but followed Usman's suit. "My king!" She kissed her fingers before touching her brows.

"What were you both doing here?" The king demanded. Hayat didn't know how to answer it but Usman gladly did it for her.

"My lady wanted to have a look at the ball room. She was too excited to plan for the royal ball." He didn't raise his gaze even once and Hayat was forced to think that he was a pro in faking it because the king smiled.

"That is great. I can't wait to see your efforts as well but do sleep properly my girl. It's necessary for you to stay fine. It's also not safe for you to roam about the palace at midnight." All she could do was nod her head. Tayyab had been silent all along and it bugged her.

"Take her back to her chamber Usman." The king ordered. Usman nodded before raising his hand slightly, showing her the way, "my lady!" He said.

Hayat began walking again and Usman strode behind her.

She didn't turn around to see if the king and the prince waited for them to completely disappear.

She realised she had been holding her breathe the moment they had rounded the corner of her hallways.

She began to breathe heavily, as it all came crashing down upon her. She came to a halt and so did he. "Why me? And not you? Why did they ask me to get the map when you could have easily brought it for them? You are a trained warrior and I am not. Was this some sort of a test?" His nostrils had flared but he remained silent.

"You know you were almost caught." His voice was hoarse.

I know! She wanted to scream.

"Your people didn't give me any option. The constant threatening had made me do it. I have no alternative. I have to fight my own fights. What was I supposed to do?" She demanded as her vision blurred, the tenor of her voice clearly trying to compensate for her waning courage.

At this, Hayat saw the tiniest flicker of a response in his dark-as-night gaze.

Pity?

He . . . pities me?

That was the last thing she needed. She made an about turn to go back into her chamber. She didn't wait for him to respond.

She slammed the door shut and leaned against it, her chest starting to heave.

No.

She stifled a sob.

Enough. That's enough.

So what if everyone was using her!

What if she had nobody!

Hayat stood upright and walked, with her head held high, to the bed. She fell back onto the silken pillows, her eyes still trained on the doors.

"You'll be fine. You are brave." she said into the darkness.

I know it.

As she clung to this last thread of hope, three words kept resonating in her mind, taunting her, plaguing her with a meaning she should not see.

These three words from a boy who was less than nothing.

These three words that gave her the will to fight off the demons:

My brave lioness.

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