Queen of Persia ✔️

chapter one

Part one : Dusk
غروب
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No woman lasted till dawn. This was the life Parisa Elaheh was entering. A life painted with different shades of black. Different shades of grey. But never any shade of white. Women never live to see dawn, was what Parisa was told before she made her decision. And now she stood there contemplating her choices. Trying to understand what her life was and what it was about to become. From freedom to a caged life. No matter how much she despised her decision, she knew that the only reason she had volunteered was to save her family. To destroy the monster and set her brothers soul free.

Parisa's mind travelled back to the small cottage on the farm, where her and her family lived. Where her brother use to live. Not long after her fifteenth birthday, Parisa lost her brother to the Roman-Persian war. A war for power. A war to magnify the power of both empires.  And now, almost five years later, her first love was about to be drafted for the same war. The same war that took everything from Parisa and her family. Leading on from those events, she made a plan. A plan to end the war. To stop her lover from being killed in the same tragic way. And so, she sacrificed her life, but she was about to be the first woman to live past dawn.

Marrying the Shah meant that she had to live in a particular way. It meant that there might be a chance that she was to never see daylight again. Shah Arman wasn't known for mercy, quite opposite actually. He was known for being cruel and careless. He was known for starting the very same war that took Parisa's brother from her. He was known for horrible acts. He was also known from marrying a woman every week and killing her before dawn. However, no one knew the reason to this doing. Some said he was cursed, whilst others said it was a sacrifice to the Huma bird. Parisa, however, thought the only reasonable answer would be his cruelty. His heartless mind. That could be the only answer to such cruel acts. Afterall, he was the monster. The monster Parisa wanted to destroy.

"Shahbanu," the maid called Parisa quietly. Shahbanu. The name used for the queens. Parisa slowly turned her head towards the maid, acknowledging her presence. The maid did a slow curtsy before having the courage to speak again. "Shahbanu, I need to get you ready for the wedding," she spoke a little faster this time. Parisa nodded in agreement. When she was little, she would dream of this very day. The day she would finally marry the one she loved. But she had never imagined it to be so dry and painful. A few months ago, her and her first love, Afshin, had talked about the same day. He had told her that he would ask her hand in marriage in the most special way. He had said that he would scatter rose petals all over the ground, with beautiful candles to light the night sky. Back then, Parisa had laughed at such gesture, but now she desired it. She needed it. But life had failed her. The Huma Bird had failed her.

"Please, do not call me Shahbanu," Parisa informed the maid. The maid looked hesitant at first, but Parisa's stern look persuaded her. "Just call me Parisa," she added. The maid nodded before leaving the room. The room was small but bright. Too bright for a castle designed for a monster. Parisa had never seen the Shah. She had only heard of his appearance and acts. But she knew he wasn't far off from a true demon.

✸

When Parisa had told her mother about her idea, her mother had stared at her in shock.

"Janedel, please don't do this. Don't walk into the mouth of a lion bare handed. Afshin will survive this war," her mother had pleaded her. But Parisa no longer believed in hope. She knew she had to take things into her own hands. Her own bare hands, just like her mother had pointed out.

"Mama, I have to do this. For my sake. For Afshin's sake. For our countries sake. I promise you I will live to see dawn. I will live long enough to kill that monster. I will live long enough to take that throne from him and stop this war. I will do it, whether you agree or not. I can't live to see every single one of my family members die in this stupid, useless war. I won't. And I will do this, even if I'm bare handed," Parisa had answered her mother. Her mother knew she was right. She knew that the war had to be stopped. But she didn't want to see her daughter die too.