✵ featured ~
❝Once upon a time in Baghdad, a street girl teaches the Khalifa of the kingdom why a king needs a queen.❞
✵
Started: June 5, 2021.
Completed: March 30, 2022.
✵
cover by @xniftykayx
featured on wattpad historical fiction, undiscovered...
What do you see when you think of me, / a figure cloaked in mystery
— Uzma Jalaluddin
✵
Him
The horse trots to a stop outside the small house bundled up among the others in the deserted street. The dawn has only cracked and the darkness still looms like a shadow on the world. He throws a brief glance to the sky, quickly dismounting his horse and tying it to a nearby tree before knocking on the door. He has to return back before the time runs out.
It takes only a few seconds before someone receives him at the door-- a loyal servant he notes to reward later. He can never disregard those standing on his side, fighting alongside him, offering him so much as their lives. He remembers them. He vows to pay them for their sacrifices.
"You received my message?" the voice asks as soon as he enters the sitting area. He shifts his gaze towards him, taking a step in his direction, dropping the hood of his cloak off his head before meeting his eyes.
"How do you think I'm here then?" he asks, a smile slowly forming on his lips at the sight of him. "Welcome back, my friend."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Her
"So you're the new girl in the harem."
"I'm not in the harem."
The queen lifts her chin at her response, looking at her under her nose, before arching a challenging eyebrow.
"Every person within this kingdom is under the rule of Al Shafay, let alone a woman within the walls of this palace. Everyone and everything here belongs to the Khalifa."
Arwa bint Atta is a woman crafted to the perfection by God Himself, that Noura knew right at the moment she first looked at her. She's the epitome of feminine beauty, still in her delicate youth, effortlessly drawing every eye to her by just a flutter of her eyelid in the room, speaking with such elegance and power that none can dare to interrupt her but Noura alone as she answers her questions. It's as clear as daylight to her why Yusuf bin Khalid dedicated his heart and crown to this woman and made her his queen, never even considering another one. But it's something else about her too that tells Noura why she has been holding her position even so long after when her husband isn't the caliph anymore-- the wit besides the charm she carries in her big, dark eyes like a bottomless ocean ready to drown whoever tries to stand against her. The authority in her aura alone is enough to terrify any transgressor.
"I'm not brought as a slave here, sayidati," Noura utters, somehow managing to keep her voice from quivering.
"But you're brought here for a theft."
"A false theft I'm being accused for."
Arwa smiles a delighted smile, the intensity on her exquisite features giving way to something soft. She gets up from her divan and walks towards her, stopping a few feet away.
