17| Bangles And Fear

I am sorry guys. You all had to wait. Something's had been happening in my life and so I couldn't bring myself to write.

Also a big thankyou to everyone who's been giving this story a shoutout or has added it to their reading list. Means a lot❤

I request you guys to please pray for me. I really need it.

Enjoy the chapter ❤

B A N G L E S    A N D   F E A R

Hayat didn't sleep well that night. She couldn't stop thinking. She didn't have the map. She had no clue what she was to do next.

Her dreams were filled with visions of her parents smiling face and the sound of doors slamming shut in a black void. Voices filled with pain and betrayal echoed in her ears.

Once she pried open her eyes to the morning light, she rolled over and shoved her face into a cushion, feeling the bitter exhaustion settle between her shoulders.

It was then that her fingers accidently touched a piece of paper. She jolted from the contact and sat upright.

She looked around to make sure there was no one in her room.

There wasn't.

Nobody was there.

The door was locked and the paper was rolled like a scroll and tied with a black ribbon.

She tried opening her eyes completely to have a look at it. It was the map. To say that she was shocked would be an understatement.

Usman.

He brought it for her.

She huffed a sigh of relief. She knew it was a matter of time before they gave her some similar task again.

How many times would he save her and why?

She was constantly being tested and tried. There was a limit to how much she could take. She was no pro in spying because this wasn't her profession. She had no plans of coming to Al Qasr.

Now she was just a doe in a jungle full of lions all around her, waiting for just one moment of weakness.

She was out of her trance the moment she heard a knock on the door. She hurriedly went to her chest of drawers and opened the one that was only used by her. She placed the map underneath the books and then rushed back to the door.

Leila's merry laughter lilted around her, clear as a bell and just as annoying, once again.

Hayat was happy to see that she looked her normal self now.

"Rise and shine my lady." She greeted as she entered. Now that Leila was nore comfortable with Hayat, she mostly ignored all of the formalities and treated Hayat more like a peer.

Except, she wouldn't stop calling her my lady.

Hayat groaned as she made her way back to her bed and fell atop. She wasn't faking it.

She had the map. She could now sleep peacefully.

"A day that I am gone and look what you've done to your room!" Leila walked about in the room, collecting things that looked out of place.

"You haven't completed your lessons?" She collected the papers from Hayat's dining table.

"I forgot." Hayat mumbled into her cushion. She hadn't completed her work since the past 2 days.

Strangely she hadn't received a lesson yesterday.

"Can you read the line that's written in arabic?" Hayat shouted again.

"Umm. Yes. I can. Do you want me to help you with the studies?"

"No I want to know what's written in the last paper of my writing lesson."

"Umm... Wait a minute! Let me check." Leila went through her papers. Hayat waited patiently for her reply, "My brave lioness.."

"Not that one. The one's I received day before yesterday, on the day of the tournament."

"Oh! That!. Ummm... Yes got it." Leila paused before continuing, "You are powerful, beautiful,  attractive, brave and brilliant. You are enough." Hayat could hear the chuckle in Leila's voice.

Hayat tried to avoid acknowledging the warmth of his words that swell her heart with an unexplainable feeling. He probably wrote it  on the day of the tournament when Altamash had tried to rob her off her confidence.

"These are from the prince, right?"

"Yes!"

"It's good to see you two fall in love."

"Nobody is in love." Hayat stated plainly while lazily getting up from her bed.

"You wish! I don't understand why you are holding back yourself. What's the matter?" Hayat watched Leila move about in her room casually, placing everything in it's proper place.

"Nothing."

"Deny all you want but that wouldn't change the truth."

Hayat sighed at her handmaiden’s cursed persistence. “I am not denying anything. I am merely stating the truth.”

Leila kicked off her sandals and sat cross-legged on the carpet, “We women are a sad lot, aren’t we?”

“What do you mean?”

“We are strong enough to take on the world with our bare hands, yet we permit ridiculous boys to make fools of us.”

“I am not a fool.” Hayat replied defensively.

“No, you’re not. At least not yet.” Leila grinned. “But it’s inevitable. When you meet the one who makes you smile as you’ve never smiled before, cry as you’ve never cried before . . . there is nothing to do but fall.”

“I—” Hayat chewed on her lower lip.

“You can speak freely, My lady. What you say will not pass these walls.”

"I've had my share of love. I once fell in love with a boy who made me smile like I've never smiled before. He never made me cry though. He was so caring and thoughtful. He was everything I could have ever dreamt of but that was snatched away from me by your prince. Do you expect me to fall in love with the killer of my parents and the man whom I'd given my heart away?" Hayat felt her words taste bitter on her own tongue. She hated the way she had started to feel about Tayyab but she knew it was probably because she was lonely and she just needed somebody, anybody to give her hope, to make her believe that she could avenge the death of her beloved.

Strangely, she hadn't expected that someone to be the one who she was seeking revenge from.

"Nobody is that perfect and if you really say he never made you cry, then it probably looks fishy to me. He wasn't his normal self with you because every relationship has its share of ups and downs. Nobody is perfect." Hayat wanted to tell her it's not true, that she had an unbreakable bond with Ahmer but she felt herself being robbed of words.

Leila edged closer. “When I was a little girl, I remember asking my mother what a good heart meant. She replied, ‘A heart where love dwells.’ Of course, I then demanded to know what constituted an evil heart. She looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘A heart absent love. I asked her who a perfect person is and she told me that its the one who makes mistakes but is quick to realise it and rectify it.” Leila studied Hayat as she spoke.

Hayat returned Leila’s scrutiny while toying with the silver laces of her shamla. “Hebajan is quite wise.”

“She wasn't that wise. She fell in love with the wrong man. They got married. He promised her the world and then left her with nothing but a child in her belly." There was no hint of pain or malice in her voice.

"I am sorry.... How did you end up in the palace?" Hayat couldn't help but ask.

"The general and the prince found us homeless. The general was once injured in the woods. My mother and I were wandering in search of food but stumbled upon them. My mother helped them. The prince was so impressed that he offered her a place in the palace. My mother said that she wanted to earn her living and hence we became a kaneez at Al Qasr." Hayat tried  to tell herself that it didn't prove anything. He tore apart many lives too.

So what if he made one!

“I’ve lived in this palace for many years, and I’ve always found Sheikh Tayyab Al Zubair quite aloof, yet strangely honorable. No matter what rumours have circulated in the streets of Hudaan, we know him. We know there is a lot to him that people don't know.”

“But how can you continue to defend a prince who kills his people without any proper explanation? When he clearly is cruel in his ways of torture!” Hayat fisted the folds of her Shamla unknowingly.

“I came to this palace as a slave; We know what goes on within the walls of stone and marble. I have never seen him do anything cruel to people who don't deserve it. You misunderstand the prince my lady.” Leila retorted drily. “The future Caliph of Hudaan may very well be a monster, but to me he’s always been a troubled prince with good intentions.”

“Good intentions?” Hayat spat. “Tell that to the families of the people he murdered. Tell that to those who loved them.”

Leila flinched, and Hayat looked away, rising from the bed in a rush to conceal her pain.

"I am in this situation because of him. I am homeless, orphaned, unsafe with nobody to protect me, alone struggling for every breath because of him. I sleep with fear. Fear of not surviving the other day." Hayat further added.

Silence befell her chamber as Leila stared at the floor. Hayat sucked in a sharp breath letting the reality of her own words sink in too.

“You are safe, my lady. Nothing will happen to you. Why do you think there hasn't been any attempt on your life yet? Because nobody would dare to cross the prince. Everyone knows what you mean to him. It's getting evident now. For I have it on high authority that any attempt to harm you will be treated as a direct attempt on the life of our prince and he doesn't forgive.”

Hayat’s stomach clenched. She glanced over her shoulder at her handmaiden, in stalwart silence.

Leila sighed. “You are as important to him as his own life. I don't know what he felt earlier but all I know is that his feelings for you have changed” Hayat looked away because she couldn't deny her words. They made sense.

....

Later that morning, a khadim came to inform her that her classes with Umar had been cancelled for that day.

He had some important business to attend. Hayat was glad she'd have some time to plan for the ball. A few hours later, another khadim informed her that she had been summoned by the King.

When she walked into the throne room, a heated conversation was already going on. She wondered why the guards at the door hadn't asked her to wait.

The King sat proudly on his throne, his fingers placed elegantly on the either sides of the armrest. Umar stood beside him along with Ali.

On the other side of the dais stood an elderly lady with two young girls. One of them looked around Hayat's age and the other one looked around seven years old.

The elderly woman was nearly- toothless, her sun-worn face in a perpetual snarl.

"I need the money. How else am I supposed to marry my daughter?"

The council sat on their respective mattress, scrutinizing the lady with distaste and boredom.

For a split second Altamash glanced at Hayat too but then his attention had been secured on the woman and her children.

Tayyab sat on one of the mattress, he didn't look at her or the elderly woman, his face remained stoic as he started into oblivion,  his chin slightly dipped. He looked exhausted and sleep deprived. Hayat wondered if he even heard the woman.

"What do you expect khatoon? Do you think the kingdom will help the family of a criminal rather than helping a martyred soldiers family." One of the councilmen scolded her.

Aziz swore loudly and foully and without a care. He did earn a glare from the king but that seemed to not bother him.

Hayat stood at the entrance. She didn't know where to go, so she waited and watched with curiosity.

"You are all cowards. My son was no criminal. Your cruel prince murdered him in cold blood." The lady spat, angry tears tainted her cheeks. Umar regarded her with a critical stare. Her words had made Hayat flinch but she risked herself a glance at Tayyab, his expressions remained passive.

Yet another life destroyed by him!

“Watch it, khatoon!”  “You’re liable to lose every last toe that way. We will not hear a word against the prince.” The king dipped his head in wordless acknowledgment but didn't say a word.

The toothless woman tried to push past the guards again, moving with uncanny efficiency for someone so slight. "I will kill him with my bare hands without any regret. He will get what he deserves. ALLAH is the most just." She cried, her furious gaze literally could have pierced through Tayyab's skin. Hayat had watched Umar clench his teeth but a slight look of disapproval from Tayyab had him gulp down his anger and he only ended up curling his fists in an unyielding grip.

Tayyab didn't spare Hayat a glance nor did he look angry. He only nudged his chin toward the shadows.

The guards had held the woman by her arms whilst she struggled, "Any other word against the prince would be treated as treason." The king said with authority and the lady immediately stopped struggling. She wiped her eyes with a loose end of her hejaab and held her young child closer to herself.

"What is your source of earning?" The King further asked.

"I make and sell these bangles." She sulked, while raising her hands to show the bangles in her hands.

"How much do you earn from it?" The vizier asked.

"On other days, I barely earn. The people of the kingdom don't buy from us easily. They treat us bad because they think we are the family of a traitor, a criminal." And with that she began to cry again.

"But we earn a good amount of money on fridays." Her elder child informed.

"And why is that?"

"It's because of a darvesh, an angel sent from  my rab. He helps us in making the bangles and then he goes to the souq to sell it. If not for him, we wouldn't earn a single penny in this cruel kingdom of treachery." The lady spat again.

"You expect us to believe that?" The council mocked.

"Believe all you want. May ALLAH bless the boy with good fortune. He is not like you all. His mother raised him well." The lady defended.

Hayat didn't even dare to fidget, the stillness and silence that followed was deafening.

The king adjusted the front of his rida’ so he could address the woman without impediment. “I think we are done here. I am sorry but we cannot help you. Your son had not just robbed innocent people. He was selling the woman of our kingdom to the other kingdom for a price. The prince killed him in defense. If we provide for the family of a criminal, it will set a bad example. I think it'll be better for you to ask for help from the nameless darvesh whom you can't stop praising.” Hayat didn't fail to note the venom laced in his words. He raised his hand, dismissing them.

The woman began to sob as the soldiers began to drag her away. She didn't struggle against their hold.

When she passed by Tayyab, she scowled at him. "You will burn in hell." Tayyab stiffened at the curse, then relaxed as if used to it. He tilted his head back, affecting a look of ease.

Something weird caught Hayat's eyes. While the woman and her elder daughter scowled at him, the younger one that followed behind them smiled at Tayyab, a hearty smile it was as if they were old friends who shared some funny secret, and what was even more amusing was that the cruel prince of Hudaan smiled back at her.

As they began to pass her, Hayat’s pulse slowed in time. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the bangles in the woman's hand. The one's similar to hers. The one's that were brought to her every week. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

The sound of her surroundings were lost in the bitter rage echoing through Hayat's mind. The strangled screams of a wrecked heart.

She didn't know what made her furious.She didn't know what she felt.

For the first time, Hayat seriously considered fleeing from the throne room, but instead lifted her chin and met Tayyab’s gaze.

He did not falter.

Nor did he look away.

Her fingers reached out to touch her bangles, the one he probably made and brought for her. His gaze had followed the movement and she knew he realised that she was aware.

In an instant he averted his gaze.

She couldn't help but think whether there was really more to him than he let people see.

This newfound hope weirdly eased the weight on her heart.

But then she remembered how foolish she seemed to her own self.

Her body tensed; her eyes tapered to slits. She wanted to rail against him. And shove him away from her mind and life.

Just as she began to drift into thoughtful solitude, a burst of nearby laughter jarred her into awareness. Altamash had laughed about something but she had been too occupied with her own thoughts to hear his lame joke.

"My daughter!" The king announced delightfully.

Hayat ambled towards the front of the dais and touched her brows with her finger. "I am sorry that you had to wait and watch what happened. I only called for you to inform you that the day for the ball has been extended. It will take place the next week. You have a lot more time now." The king did sound cheerful. It was as if he had two sides. If Hayat dared to believe then she'd think he really adored her.

"I wouldn't disappoint you my king." Hayat dipped her head out of respect.

She then excused herself because she didn't feel like staying in the same room as her husband. She wanted to stay far far away from him.

That evening, soon after she had informed whoever it was behind the kitchen door that she had the map and had to give it, she made her way back to her chamber.

While passing through one of the corridors she had heard Usman's voice from the other end. She could barely understand what he was saying but It looked like a heated conversation.

A right turn would have taken her to her chamber corridor but a left turn would take her closer to where Usman was.

Being the curious self that she was, she took a left turn. The corridor was vacant and dark. Every bone in her body had screamed at her to run back but she had to hear. She had to know if more people were involved with the rebels.

She walked as slowly as possible and when she was about to round the corner of the small corridor, she heard Usman yell. It made her pause immediately. "I don’t know why you are doing this but you are out of your mind. For once, please think before taking such reckless decisions."

It was in that moment that she felt a gust of cold wind bristle at the back of her neck. She immediately stumbled and turned around.

All colours seemed to have drained off her face when she came face to face with Naaf.

Her breath became heavy as she stared at its  wrathful eyes, into two blazing pits of fire. "Someone's eavesdropping I see. One more spy in the palace!" Hayat had forgotten how guttural its voice had been.

She stood frozen and the voice of Usman had also seemed to disappear as if she had been imagining it all the while, as if it had all been a trap for her to encounter Naaf, the creature.

Its black shadows swirled around him as it floated above the floor, "I...I was just lost..an...and trying to..to find my wa..aay back." Hayat stuttered and she hated her coward self at that moment.

"You must leave." It screeched before stepping out of her way. Hayat gulped the lump that had formed in her throat and then she made a run for her chamber. She didn't wait to see if it was still there.

But she had a feeling that it followed her till she was inside her chamber. She locked the door to her room even though it was futile since she'd seen Naaf walk through the wall. She panted as she slumped to the floor, with her back pressed against her door. She was panting. Naaf was a horrific creature. It scared her to her core. Every thing about it screamed of malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces and the stony grin of unearthly malice.

It took a while for Hayat to calm her rapidly beating heart. The bad day had given her a headache.

She was unaware that the worst was yet about to happen.

At midnight, she heard a lot of commotion from outside her chamber. Leila had slept in her chamber because Hayat didn't want to be alone.

They had gone outside in the corridor to see the guards running Helter-skelter. Other people had come out of their respective chambers too with confusion.

Hayat stopped one of the guards, "What's wrong? Has there been an attack on Al Qasr?"

"No my lady. A traitor has been caught with letters from the rebels." He informed. An awful sense of powerlessness grew steadily in Hayat's mind, as though she were inhaling a great breath of air and was unable to stop. The horror became overwhelming, and from some hidden place in her mind she felt a darkness, something huge and unnameable, begin to form.

"Ya rab!" Leila had gasped.

"He tried to flee and has been caught in the premises." He further informed.

"Let's go. We can see from the balcony." Leila ushered her in. Hayat couldn't think straight. She followed her kaneez into the balcony and looked below at the grounds.

There were about forty guards and a man who was dressed in a khadim's uniform was held by two of the guards in a tight grip. He was dragged to where both the prince stood and it looked like he bad been beaten already by the guards with fresh bruises all accross his face. The general stood beside Tayyab, a lit torch in his hand.

There was far too much anger in the air. Far too much hatred. Too much fear. Such emotions made it difficult to think rationally.

It was clear there was too much at stake for all involved.

Tayyab held the traitor's jaws in a grip and forced him to look up at him. He said something she couldn't hear and then he jerked it away, barking orders at the guards.

"I think the palace will be searched. If there was one traitor, there could be more." Leila said.

Hayat felt the blow of her words and dread began to fill her mind.

She was doomed.

She had the map. If the palace was searched, they'd kill her without any interrogation.

She hadn't noticed Tayyab's gaze that had settled on her with a coldness that could make her skin crawl back in fear.

Darvesh is a person who wanders from one place to another randomly helping people or preaches Islam just for the sake of ALLAH

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Thankyou for being a source of constant happiness in my life.