"let the scars speak of how much you've grown - faaris."
A far more prestigious nikaah ceremony lay ahead of him , but he was tensed about his birthday celebrations .
"Habibi , you might need to fix it better than before . I don't know why but the chandelier fell a few days back ."
He spoke at the man who was standing high up on the ladder , looking down upon the prince with his mouth agape .
"It fell ?"
Sulaaymaan nodded with pursed lips .
The man went back to his work , twisting and turning the piece of metal to understand what could've happened .
"Sir , I think someone cut the thing off ." He paused and pulled at the chain , holding a hand at his waist . "Someone tampered with it for sure."
Sulaaymaan felt his stomach sink . It was true that someone had toyed with it , hut he had wished against all odds that it shouldn't be true .
"Oh...Oka..okay . Thank you so much . Please go about and finish the work ."
The men shot him smiles and immediately went back to work . In the meanwhile , he stepped to a corner and pursed his lips tight .
The tension that had been pressing him at the back of his mind made his heart beat accelerate a hundred times .
The chandelier had been meddled with and there was a secret passageway in the back of her wardrobe .
He never knew about it .
He held a shaky hand against his forehead and lay against the wall . Balloons were being hung by the walls , the Triplets were dancing around behind Queen Basmah who was trying to keep them involved in some work , the stage was being laid down and sparkles were being used to spice up the layout .
He shut his eyes and with every passing second , the innumerable possibilities of being endangered haunted him .
Not for himself but for Afra .
The last night too , he had tossed and turned around but no matter how exhausted and sore he was , he just couldn't push away the thoughts that haunted him .
Slowly he lifted his eyelids open and found Afra standing right in front of him , blinking rapidly .
"Miss Afra ?"
She didn't respond but sighed loudly .
"I got you some water ."
When the getsure and her actions sunk in , his eyebrows arched downwards slowly .
"I didn't ask for it ."
"You look distressed ."
Sulaaymaan nodded briskly , not having the heart to let the frightening incidents be told to her . He pulled the glass from her hand and absently stared down at it .
The last night though , he had found her look absolutely baffled and in tears . Upon confrontation , she had merely dashed away from him .
"Yeah , I'm just stressed about some things . My birthday's coming up , certain parts of our investigation revealed disastrous results , I was forced to bring a new chandelier to be hanged , my arm seems to be worser than the last day , I didn't sleep a wink last night and - "
He stopped , sneaking side glances at her who was gazing hard at him . "- I talked to mama about our wedding ."
Afra's eyes widened at him before she hurriedly averted her gaze .
"Are - you alright ?"
Her head snapped to his side , a weird anxiety lingering in her eyes . She kept her gaze on him for one more second , before taking off quickly towards the other side .
"Man , I shouldn't have said that ."
He shook his head and raked a hand through his hair irritatedly .
The stage had already been decorated with large glittery letters that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOUR HIGHNESS .
Once the words sunk in , he instantly took off to the men who were working non stop .
"Habibi , pull off the words 'your highness' ."
The two men looked at each other puzzlingly and then back at Sulaaymaan .
"Sir - "
"Please pull it off ."
And without giving them any chance of arguing , he turned around and rapidly moved away from the commotion . The facts of the events were already leaving him with sleepless nights and he just couldn't deal with the nauseousness of being the birthday boy .
He was often referred to as 'His Highness' . And countless times , he had strictly prohibited people from referring to him in that manner .
If there was anyone capable of being addressed as that , it was Allah . The Almighty , the most Supreme .
Nobody understood the simple meaning his argument carried and no matter what , they'd still be stuck to that title .
Except for his guards and Mr Haamid .
Strolling within the luscious grass and with his slippers dangling from the tip of his forefinger , he strolled with the grass tickling his toes .
The other night , he had spoken to Queen Basmah and she had been happy with his confrontation .
Although it had taken quite some reassurance to let his point be accepted heartfully by the other side , he had been successful .
But the only thing that had been making him extremely anxious was that she was determined on talking to Afra after lunch about it .
It was so that their Nikaah could be done by the next day or if possible that night itself .
Overcome with extreme distraught and worry , he dropped his slippers to the ground and carefully adjusted himself on the cool grass .
The one thing , other than their marriage , that was making him restless was that Afra's room had a secret passageway . From where the threatener probably pulled off his actions and where he hid during all times .
It was a dark room , with a muddy bottom that felt like moist soil . Other than a few cobwebs , weird musky smell and few wrappers sprawled around , nothing else was found .
Aasiq and his team had done all that they could do in their power to reach beyond the wooden door that was latched from the other end . That door mostly lead to where the threatener resided and perhaps he had taken the initiative to lay down an almost broken door for his security .
Although Sulaaymaan didn't see how that could help the threatener .
They could have easily broken down the door that prevented them from moving ahead , but they couldn't risk the noice it would create .
And for that reason , they decided to install a mini CCTV somewhere around one of the legs of the bed facing the wardrobe .
Sulaaymaan was given the access to it alongside Aasiq of course . However , he hadn't had the courage to check it out . It was nerve wrecking .
He pulled up his legs and rest his head on his knees.
The day had been hectic and with the several impeding dangers lingering around all the corners , he wasn't sure of his next move .
While that was subjected as one stressful situation , there was yet another one which equally mattered .
He had to speak to Afra's parents regarding their Nikaah .
"Ya Allah ! Help me please . I understand that I'm blessed to have been given the opportunity to go through such ordeals but it's also equally necessary that you show me some paths that could lead me to answers . I have , but no knowledge than what I'm fated to know . Ya Allah , guide me . Have mercy on me . And on the brothers and sisters who are suffering ."
He raised his head to face the sky , the sun blinding him . There weren't many birds but the trees made up for that as they swayed and the leaves rustled against each other .
"Subhan'Allah Walhumdulillah wa laa ilaaha ilallah ."
His lips chanted the duaa constantly . All of the time , the burden in his heart seemed to drift away just as soothingly as a cloud of mist that weighs off .
And as every minute of him indulging into the Almighty's remembrances passed by , a new path of light engraved his heart and soul .
All he had to do was trust and not despair . For the lovers of Allah didn't worry nor got anxious . Verily those are the whisperings of the Shaitaan .
The last night - out of the blue - Afra had watched Sulaaymaan pop right behind her .
Of course she was frightened out of her mind , but what caused to run back to her room was that she had overheard his and Queen Basmah's conversation and she didn't want to face him immediately after .
That night was a mystery of her own affairs . The dark didn't bring peace to her mind that day like it always did . Instead , it scared her of the posed threats .
And while she was outlying the countless hours , staring at the ceiling , the horrors that she encountered in her past made her illusion them in the darkness .
"So , how's your stay here in the royal palace until now ?"
Afra looked up from her mug of Arabic coffee and her face broke into a smile when Queen Basmah leaned forward over her arm .
"It has been amazing so far . I'm absolutely honoured to have been a part of all of your lives ."
Queen Basmah smiled but there was a mischievous glint in her eyes .
"Would you like that to be permanent ?"
Afra straightened into her seat , trying to act causal and unknown to it than panic and start breaking into cold sweat .
"Sor-ry , I.... don't...- "
The Queen waved a hand around and fixed her gaze at Afra wiggling her brows .
"Would you like to become a member of our family permanently ?"
Afra's eyes widened and she quickly looked away , before the Queen's smile faded into a serious look .
"Afra , Habibti , it's all on you but I'd still like to let you know one thing ."
Afra slowly gazed back at her , watching as she extended her arms from over the table and took Afra's hands into hers .
Her thumbs caressed the back of Afra's palms and she remained doing that for a while without looking at her .
"I've seen a new Sulaaymaan ever since your graceful footsteps marked his heart . Being a mother who's well aware of her son's detrimental condition , I cannot be more satisfied ."
She stopped , her eyes twinkling with tears as her gaze skimmed across her hands .
"Sulaaymaan confessed to me last night . He told me the truth . I can tell you that he genuinely meant every word . Because he was shedding tears ."
Her slow voice had made Afra feel guilty . She had by all means heard them talk but she didn't in the least expect Sulaaymaan to have cried .
"What...what do you mean ?"
The Queen smiled weakly , brushing away a few tears .
"And I will be honoured to have you as my son's wife . A remarkably beautiful soul like you would only being prosper to our lives ."
Afra gulped uncomfortably . It might have been true that they liked her but she wasn't a 'remarkable' person . Infact , she was anything but good .
All she did was being pain to Sulaaymaan .
She looked up at Queen Basmah with a serious expression and pushed her cup of cold coffee a little away .
"I do not want to sound rude . But I don't think Sulaaymaan or any of you at that deserve me . I'll be brutally honest with you since such a matter concerns nothing except for my true emotions . I have to let it out to you that I absolutely loathed Sulaaymaan ever since we met . He seemed like a rich , arrogant , stereotypical brat to me . It wasn't until a few days back that I realized how much he stood out and how heartless I was in forming an opinion about him . Personally I'd.....â"
She stopped , fiddling with her sweaty palms and keeping her eyes fixed on her lap . Although she could feel the queen's eyes pierce into her as she confessed , the audacity to not want to continue any longer and face someone as selfless as her made her hate herself horribly .
Tensed silence passed between them and Afra wished she could be sucked in by the defeaning silence that the kitchen had fallen into .
When the Queen hardly even moved from her position , Afra defeatedly understood that she wanted to hear the full truth .
"Personally , I'd like....l-ike....to be his wife . But I don't deserve his kindness ."
She broke into loud sobs , crying into her palms .
For as long as she knew , there was nothing more blissful than true love that's what Mariam - Inaya's mother - had always narrated to them .
During all times , Afra and Inaya would laugh their heads off at that one statement as none believed in faiy tale love stories .
But here she was , crying her heart out with resentment as she barely managed to discover the hidden true love that Sulaaymaan had for her .
"Afra !"
She kept her head low while her blemished heart wrung with pure regret and immense sadness .
"Afra ? Look at me ."
She visioned from her peripheral gaze that the Queen had gotten up from her seat , walked on the other side , turned a chair beside her and sat down with her hands on Afra's knees .
"Afra , you better stop crying right this instant or be prepared to be hit ."
The impact from the queen's sudden growl made her jolt straight into her seat and snap her head up .
After a few seconds , the Queen sighed and held Afra's hands .
"Look Habibti , I don't know why you think you don't deserve him , but I am your elder and certainly know more than you think . I have seen many kinds of people in my life , although no one grabbed my trust and compassion as soon as you ."
Afra slowly looked up and saw her smiling sweetly .
"If there is one thing that I have always loved about you , it's your honestly and bravery . And what more than to take in a humble revert and a fellow Muslim who needs support as a wife for my son ?"
Afra sniffed and harshly brushed her tears off from the back of her palm .
"And as far as you undeserving him is concerned , I can only say that both of you are being abnormally silly . If Allah Subhana wa taa'la chose you both for each other , you're questioning and doubting his choice ?"
Afra's eyes widened as the Queen looked at her with a strict gaze . When the queen's words made sense to her , she gasped aloud .
"Ya Allah !"
Afra mumbled unbelievably .
"Queen Basmah I... didn't mean to criticize Allah's decision for me . I happen â "
The Queen pulled Afra in her embrace , rubbing her back while muttering encouraging words .
"Afra , Habibti , relax . It's all okay . You children tend to make mistakes and we adults are there to correct you all . Now that you've learnt to comprehend the circumstance , you can understand that not everytime things happen as you want them to . Sometimes you're supposed to have faith and blindly follow the path that opens up ."
Afra politely pulled away from the Queen .
"And in this case , I'm supposed to be marrying Sulaaymaan . The path that Allah opened up for me ."
«Assalaamualaikum Princesses ⤠.
I hope you're all doing well . I love you all soo so much .
Stay strong through whatever you're going . There is ALLAH holding your hand .
â¤â¤â¤ .
Ilysm !
Take care .
Much love ,
Me ;) »