Chapter 51: chapter 49: where?

"sometimes changes give birth to weird side effects - hafsa."

Afra stared hard at Sulaaymaan who was dancing up and down on his feet in urgency . She squinted her eyes even harder at him when he began to look around and twist his head in all directions while examining the ceiling .

"Why do we need to run away ?"

His head snapped at her . For a few seconds , he dived into the depths of her eyes that showcased her valiant spirit and fearless heart .

She was a warrior .

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair when her eyes were fixed at him . He could already make out that she'd take nothing as an answer except the absolute truth .

He desperately wanted his hand to be alright . It shattered his hopes of being able to protect Afra . Those guards out there were armed well and he couldn't put Afra's life at stake .

Whatever happens , it's for the best . Whether it be your arm getting hurt or Afra being in danger , there is a very good reason behind it . Trust the Almighty's power of knowledge that you are unknown to and move along .

He looked at her , a different enthusiasm controling his body . The power that his Lord's name had pn him made him approach the situation with a much broader and positive perspective .

Although his guards were waiting for them at the hospital exit , he couldn't say if they would be able to escape the VIP section in the first place .

"This place gives me a weird feeling . Earlier I also found out a little fact that could get us trapped and vulnerable ."

Afra's eyes had already widened with panic . Without giving him any answer , she pushed the covers aside , held a hand against the left side of her abdomen and winced in pain while pushing her feet into her slippers .

"Let's go then ."

Sulaaymaan looked at her from head to toe , assessing her physical condition . When she shrugged at him  — as an indication of what he was doing —  he shook his head with a small smile and lead the way .

With his hands clutching the handle tight , he turned around once more in to  her blazing eyes . They were flashing with power and bravery and Sulaaymaan couldn't help but feel proud of her at the moment .

"Once we go outside , I'm sure the doctor is going to question our actions . Stay alert and answer only during the times I nudge your foot . You're smart and you will get the hang of it . Okay ?"

She took a minute to procees the words , sucked in air and pushed her head up to look at him .

"Okay , I'm good ."

He smiled enthusiastically at her and after he mumbled a few duaas , his fingers clutched the handle and pulled it down , letting the door crack open .

The guards turned around to face Sulaaymaan and examined him for a mere second before turning back to their initial position .

Just as he had thought .

He snickered at them and turned to Afra .

He knew it was wrong , but ended up securing his fingers around the wrist of Afra's free hand . Her hand went stiff but he didn't react and pulled her behind him .

While he was trying to make our an exit plan , anyone could easily pull her along with them and she wouldn't be able to fight back keeping in mind that she had just been operated on .

At the reception desk , a petite woman wrapped up respectfully in Hijaab jolted up from her seat and bowed her head at the sight of him .

"I want her discharge papers to be readied right this instant. "

He made sure to look her in the eye and sound as strict as possible . At times as such , he needed to keep his standards high and use the title he was born with to his advantage .

She hesitated , her hands crossed in front of her as she mumbled something in Arabic .

Sulaaymaan sighed and leaned forward , his eyes dangerously flashing glares at her .

"When I said I wanted her discharge papers ready , wasn't I clear ?"

She shook fervently in her position and quicky sat down on her seat , her fingers immediately typing away on the keyboard .

In the meanwhile , he cautiously glanced at the guards from over his shoulder . One of them was busy mumbling some Arabic words  — which was all that were understandable —  into the Bluetooth in his ear .

"He's speaking to some authority guy . Keeps saying to block the way ."

Afra murnured over his shoulder , making him turn his head to look at her which resulted in his nose touching her temples .

"You know Arabic ?"

She looked at him and shrugged .

"Is that all you registered while I talked ?"

Her voice seethed lowly on his shoulder and the blow of words made him face her out of pure shock. What seized his breath for another one more moment was how his nose was grazing against the soft fabric by her temple .

Ascerning the situation a little bit later , he stepped aside and gulped hard . His heart was about to burst with the way it's racing was intensifying with every moment .

"Yeah....NO ! I mean , I got.....your back...NO . I....I — mean , you're crazy if you think I didn't know that you spoke English ."

Afra frowned slowly at how meaningless he was sounding and stared at him in disbelief and it had taken him a second more to recall the words he had spoken .

With the intention of not eroding Afra's mood any more , he turned around to face the lady who was now printing out some papers .

In the meanwhile , he decided to keep a close eye on the activities buzzing in the cozy lounge directly in front of the reception . Nothing unusual happened and the people came in and out of their rooms , involved in personal conversations .

The woman on the desk finally stood by him on the other hand , extending a file with both her hands .

"Your...file , sir ."

Sulaaymaan turned his head to her , released his hold on Afra's wrist and snatched the file from her hands hurriedly .

He motioned Afra to walk a little causally behind him while his eyes skimmed through the details on the file .

"Your details are correct . Just making sure she didn't hand in the wrong papers . It could have been a smart move but thankfully she didn't attempt on getting involved with that ."

Afra pulled the file from his hand and tucked it in under her left arm , pulling her abaya a little up from the floor and balling it in her palm .

"You're badly injured . So let me hold  this ."

He gave a nod and she started to walk further towards the VIP area's exit that would lead into the actual building .

She looked at him with strong determination and tiptoed into the building . People moved along , hardly taking notice of their surroundings . There were two hallways on either of her sides and she turned back to Sulaaymaan for aid.

"Which hallway do we have to follow ?"

Sulaaymaan looked from over her shoulder and frowned in confusion .

"I don't think that will matter , would it ? I think both them will end up showing us to the main outlet ."

She thought for a moment , before nodding her head vigorously .

"Yup . You've got a point there . We'll take the right one alright ?"

He briskly gave her a nod and she dashed across the people , holding her head low and trying not to look at anyone lest she'd gather their attention .

They passed two receptions from the hallway and almost ended up bumping right had it not been for Afra sighting them . A large group of equipped guards were striding away towards the direction they were heading from .

Afra gripped Sulaaymaan's good arm hard and yanked him into a corner , where they she acted like she was using her cell phone .

"That was close ."

Sulaaymaan sighed and rested his head against the wall while Afra peaked into the hallway .

"Why aren't the guards holding us down ? They could easily lock us up . Just curious ."

He pursed his lips and shook his head lightly .

"That is impossible . They can't use force on any royal family member . If there's anything they can do — "

"It's to block all the exists and leave us with no proper escape route ."

Sulaaymaan gave her a thumbs up .

"I can see how you topped that exam . You have presence of mind ."

He smiled appreciatively and took ahold of her wrist .

"Why are you holding my hand ?"

He frowned .

"Why are you burning though ?"

Afra's eyes widened for a quick second and before he could grab the whole situation , she had pulled her hand out and was pointing towards the hallway .

"We don't have all day ."

He was left bewildered for a moment there . She was burning hot and it clicked him without even a distinctive thought that she was having a temperature .

A very high one at that .

"I'm so sorry Afra ."

He mumbled underneath his breath , watching as Afra kept motioning from a distance , while the people kept moving around her .

He marched with long strides and smiled down at her .

"We will need to go for the backdoor ."

She said with her gaze fixated on the surrounding and skimming around the entire area from time to time .

"Exactly ! Give me a minute though ."

He fumbled for his phone in the pocket , pulled it out a second later and dialled a number hastily . In about two rings ,the other side responded back .

"Assalaamualaikum sir ."

He pointed towards the left as a sign hung on a small dashboard caught his sight . Afra peered at it and immediately took off with Sulaaymaan behind her .

"Walaikumusslaaam . Bring the car towards the back . We're headed out ."

The other end had a string of words resulting into loud arguments before the distinctive voice was hearable again .

"We'll be there in five minutes sir ."

Sulaaymaan nodded thoughtfully .

"Okay ."

Afra snuck a glance at him , wondering why his face was twisted in worry .

"Are you okay ? Why do you look so worried ?"

He turned to face her with his mouth open like he wanted to say something . After hesitating for another moment , he shook his head and ushered her towards the end of the hallway .

"Nothing really ."

Afra stared a little unbelievably at him for a minute and gave up a second later when he wasn't paying much attention to her threatening gaze .

They could see the entrance from the pillar they had seeken refuge behind . It was small metallic door , which made it difficult to guess if the other end was packed with guards or was clear for using .

"Sulaaymaan ! Oh my god ! I can't BELIEVE I didn't realize this ."

Sulaaymaan looked her in the eyes .

"What do you mean ?"

She sighed and edged closer to him , her panting loud and heavy .

"Remember I heard them block the entrance ?"

Sulaaymaan nodded .

"Yeah ."

She paused a moment , her eyes twinkling . Sulaaymaan could say she knew something and was clearly waiting for him to guess it . But he couldn't concentrate .

Damn his heart !

When he didn't seem to give any clues , she dramatically rolled her eyes and stared harder into his eyes .

"They will be blocking anything but the main entrance !"

She shrieked , huffing out air and shutting her eyes for a second .

When she backed away , Sulaaymaan felt like his breath was sucked out of him . Of course they would increase the security at anything but the main entrance in order to catch them .

"Oh.My.God !"

Afra looked up to meet his eyes .

"Miss Afra , this is what they'll do ."

He breathed out and started to pace up and down the small area .

"Not trying to sound reclusive , but they could have hidden some guards in the main entrance too . You never know what plan they'll opt for ."

He began to panic . Sure they would do anything to keep them within the vicinity .

"That's true too ."

She hit her head against the wall a few times with her eyes shut , not answering his remark . It was evident that her thoughts were focused on squeezing in a plan of illusion and magically disappearing right under their noses .

A few people passing by shot them weird glances and Sulaaymaan had started to grow horribly anxious . If any of them — even remotely — recognised him  , they could be done for . But there was no way they could risk searching for any better hiding place .

"Sulaaymaan ! Got it !"

Afra jumped onto him with her hand squeezing his shoulder in pure delight .

"Yeah..?"

"We are two People running away right ?"

He nodded .

"Right ."

She paused , her eyes searching his for any noticeable changes .

"A man and a woman . Right ?"

He nodded a little slowly .

"Right....—  "

She gulped and sucked in air . Drawing a little closer to him , her eyes shone mystically .

Each word left her mouth with so much intensity , that Sulaaymaan had held his breath and had only realised it when she had stepped away .

"But what if two women moved out from two different exits ?"

Sulaaymaan's eyes lit up . He kept opening and shutting his mouth . The impact of the plan was intense and his words seemed to get stuck right in his throat .

"In case you're wondering from where we'll get an abaya — "

"Mom's are always stocked up on those ."

Afra had carefully snuck Sulaaymaan into the ladies washroom after bribing the women in there with his thoub .

A thoub was all it took .

"You can even take his other garments ."

Afra rolled her eyes as she gazed with  helpless cringes at the girls who were ogling the door behind which Sulaaymaan was protecting himself .

She could feel her anger boil at how they were standing like ridiculous statues .

Astaghfirullah .

She grimaced and crossed her arms albeit a little disgruntledly . With her face scrunched up , she saw them giggle and slap their faces with bottles of grossness and wear on fake smiles .

Although the agony remotely brought tears to her eyes as she trudged across the floor , she didn't stop .

It was too difficult to focus on the task at hand with the squealing going on and mad women at hand . Her palms were sweaty and the palpitations that she was so bravely trying to control , were only worsening as every second passed by without any trace of the Queen .

When the door of the washroom swung open forcefully about ten minutes later , Afra pressed her eyes shut with the notion that they had been caught .

Until a hand rested over her shoulder .

"Afra , Habibti ?"

She sucked in a deep breath and pursed her lips to keep her cries in .

Alhumdulillah , it was the Queen .

"You're here Queen ."

She turned around , blinking rapidly in order to make sure her tears faded away .

The Queen didn't seem very happy though .

"Afra , why would you want to surprise a friend of Sulaaymaan's in such a bizarre manner ? Especially when you're gravely ill ."

The scolding tone the Queen used often left Afra speechless . And under that circumstance , she couldn't seem to find her voice .

"We need to do this Queen Basmah . He hasn't met his friend in years and what better way than to surprise him ? We'll be safe and I promise we won't cause any mischief ."

Queen Basmah's eyes softened and she sighed , peeking a glance at the girls stuck to the door Sulaaymaan was behind .

"Fine . I'm heading to home now . If I don't have you both at home by an hour , you're both grounded ."

Afra smiled as casually as possible and nodded in assurance . The Queen looked at Afra a little unsurely before handling a huge package to her .

"Thank you Queen Basmah ."

She gave her a small smile and turned around to go , muttering how she had never met any of Sulaaymaan's friends ever .

Afra felt like the air was sucked out of her when those words echoed in her ears .

She watched the Queen leave and immediately turned around , pushed the girls aside not caring about the seething gazes she was inviting . She kicked the package in and knocked with a knuckle .

"Get ready soon sir ."

She sweetly ordered him , not wanting to invite any more suspicions than they were already dealing with .

Sulaaymaan threw his thoub out and got to work . However , what he had missed out on was the way a grand fight had started . Afra backed away to the farthest corner , watching in horror as the garment was torn to bits in the struggle to own it .

Five minutes later , Sulaaymaan's door clicked open and his stilettoes clicked against the marbled floor as he walked out .

He looked remarkably tall for a woman and the bag that hung on his good arm accentuated the look .

Afra held a hand to her waist and studied him from head to toe .

"I'm not liking this very much ."

He mumbled sadly , his eyes so gloomy that Afra couldn't contain her giggles in .

"Look Miss Sulaaymaan , I'm sorry to get you into this mess . But stop whining and be a Woman ."

Sulaaymaan rolled his eyes and huffed out air irritatedly , his niqaab flying a little off from his face .

Afra glaced at the advancing crowd behind them and leaned closer to him .

"I don't want to petrify you , but there are cloth ripping monsters advancing at you ."

She playfully smirked and before she could tell him that he could slip past them , he had dashed at a quick speed leaving them all staring in open air .

When she discerned what had happened , she broke into light laugher and grasping the situation , jogged out of the washroom and down the hallway until Sulaaymaan pulled her into a corner .

She looked at him and cracked into a smile .

"Well , what do we do now ?"

She couldn't keep her smile in when his frustrated voice whispered . Her gaze was fixed over how gorgeous his eyes looked .

She had never taken notice of them .

"Miss Afra ?"

He snapped his fingers and she instantly jolted .

"Uhm , sorry ."

He frowned at her a little , unsure of her condition .

"It's alright . So what do we do next ?"

Afra sighed , holding a hand at her throbbing wound . It wasn't getting any better .

"Okay , so , you take the back door , the one you've asked the car to arrive ."

He nodded , his eyes focused .

"And I'll take the main entrance . Risky yes , but it'll be worth it ."

Sulaaymaan didn't seem to be alright with that .

"I...you should — "

She smiled and patted his back .

"We'll be alright . In Shaa Allah ."

He watched her nod and sigh , putting her hand back down .

Both of them took to different routes , making sure to cleverly blend into the mass of people .

And according to the objective , they had been very gingerly mistaken for actual ladies and the guards had even lowered their gaze as they had walked by their sides .

I'm sending a different car just incase . Stay right there Miss Afra .

She breathed in the fresh air , the sun's bright rays making her smile with joy and satisfaction .

Okay .

Letting her phone rest in her palms , she observed her surroundings and made sure nothing looked out of the ordinary .

The guards were not even acknowledging her presence there even though their eyes seemed to be in pursuit of the preys .

A jet black Hyundai rolled into the driveway and out came two men who stopped in front of Afra .

"Miss Afra ?"

She recognized the men . They were the ones who guarded the mansion's entrance .

"Yes ?"

A man to her pulled her shades off and bowed his head .

"We've been asked to escort you . I'm Mustafa . "

She nodded and glanced at the other man , who hadn't even looked at her .

"Sure ."

She shot the other man a mysterious glance and followed Mustafa . He swung open the car door and held it open for her until she got seated comfortably .

As the car started to move and the hospital started to diminish , her eyes kept track of it until it went out of sight . Never in her life had she been involved in such complicated alliances .

After staring out the window for a few seconds , she instantly bolted upright and unlocked her phone .

Miss Afra ?

Did you get in already ?

Why aren't you answering ?

Have the boys reached yet ?

Miss Afra ?!

She slowly scrolled the messages and depicted the urgency in his words . A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as her fingers hovered over the keyboard .

You should walk in those stilettoes once again , Miss Sulaaymaan .

Afra giggled silently .

She scoffed as her gaze fell on the man seated at the passenger seat , who had weirdly clicked as rather offensive to her .

Her phone buzzed in her palms and her eyes skimmed through the words .

Sorry to inform you , but Miss Sulaaymaan committed suicide a few minutes ago due to the embarrassment she had to face .

By the way , Mama came to pick us up . *Rolls eyes*

Afra stifled her laugher , cupping a hand to her mouth .

Really ? Is the Queen torturing your existence ?

She let the phone rest on her lap and turned to face the views out of the windows .

Not very surprisingly , she found Sulaaymaan's car stop right by her side . It wasn't intended , but she couldn't get her eyes off of him .

The glasses were tinted with black — which meant she could easily examine him — without having any anxiety of getting caught .

To her dismay , his eyes skimmed over the words on the phone on his legs and a wide smile spread along on his lips . It only kept widening as he — with great agonization — typed away a response . Every few seconds , he held his injured hand up and evaluated the bandage .

The vibration of her phone brought a soft smile on her face as she impatiently scrolled through the messages .

I can't risk letting go of Jannah . So I might as well be tortured .

She laughed softly , earning looks from the men seated in the front for s brief second .

Sulaaymaan — from the time they were sneaking away from the guards — kept on saying that the Queen would be there to pick them up .

And she had been .

His logic specified that the Queen Basmah would end up throwing fistfuls of questions in his direction . He had tactics and tricks that would make her questions bounce off of him .

However she wouldn't have been able to get through the stage and the Queen would easily extract the details from her .

Not to mention , he wanted to never tell the Queen of the real occurrences .

Why did we even run away in the first place ?

She was curious . Way too curious . She had been stabbed by a shred of glass — although not deep enough to cut through her intestine — and was given about twelve stitches .

But for some reason , they had ran off like bulldozers and ended up calling out for his personal security .

What was the matter exactly ?

She felt like her abdomen was being jabbed with a knife every moment she sucked in air and it was not pleasant .

While I was walking in , I had taken into notice the dark star logo on the pockets of the uniforms the gaurds were wearing . However , the guards lining the pathway to your room , had nothing of the sort . Whoever is behind this , either didn't think it would be noticeable or they didn't have the means to prepare those . They probably had their fingers crossed and thought they'd blend in . Additionally the doctor who treated the both of us had some sort of conversation with one of them that had let the latter to land a strict gaze on me before nodding .

Afra's jaw dropped . She huffed out a sigh disbelievingly . What had seemed like a protected hospital visit had turned out to be yet another nightmare .

This was all planned wasn't it ? I mean right from the chandelier collapsing .

The reply that followed made her heart clench with regret .

I'm so glad though that this time I got what I deserved .

« Assalaamualaikum Princesses ❤ .

I hope you're all doing well . ❤ . One of the longest chapters I've ever written . ❤ .

I sincerely hope this was worth it . I hope it was good enough . A lot of imagination went into writing this piece of the book and I really do hope it was okay . ❤

❤❤ .

I love you all really very much . thank you ever so much for all the love and support and encouragement .

Take care ❤❤ .

Lots of love ,

Me ;) »