Queen of Persia ✔️

i. night one

"Long ago, in the Persian Empire, lived two dwelled brothers. One was named Kazim and the other was named Ali baba. These two boys were the son of a well-known merchant. The first son, Kazim, was married to a rich woman and lived in pure luxury. However, the second son, Alibaba, worked as a woodcutter to gain money for his family."

Parisa paused in the middle to take a short breather.

"One day, when Ali Baba was out in the jungle collecting wood for his family, he saw men riding on mighty black horses. Assuming they were thieves, Alibaba climbed onto a marvellous white pine. As they travelled closer to Alibaba, he carefully counted the men. Too many of them. Forty to be exact. One strong man jumped off his saddle with a loud, thump. Walking closer to the massive bush right under the white pine, he said two words exactly: "Open Sesame." And with that, the two doors within the bush opened to reveal a massive cave. All forty thieves stepped into the cave and with another two words: "Close Sesame." The two doors closed."

"Is this story supposed to be real," Arman quietly asked Parisa. She paused to look at him. Surprisingly, he seemed to enjoy the story. Parisa shook her head softly as an answer, before looking outside to see the dark sky. Not dawn yet, she thought. And so, she continued.

"Curiously, Alibaba peered down from the tree to look at the cave. For about an hour or so, he sat on the tree branch patiently waiting for the thieves to come out. After a long time that seemed like a lifetime, the thieves opened the cave and walked out, closing it behind them. Once they disappeared out of sight, Alibaba jumped down the tree to stand in front of the cave. Carefully he cleared his throat to repeat the same two words: "Open sesame," he said. At his voice, the cave of wonders opened to view a dark and empty cave. At the end of the cave, was a bright light. Allowing his curiosity to take the best of him, Alibaba, walked into the cave. What he saw was unbelievable,"

"Let me guess, he found gold?" Arman asked again. Parisa laughed at his response. Her laugh made Arman want to smile, but instead, he kept it in and held a steady face. Her smile was wonderful.

"Yes, my shah, it was gold. I'm starting to think you know this story all too well," Parisa replied, avoiding eye contact with the boy-king in front of him.

"Alibaba found mountains of gold pilled on one another. So much gold, he could barely see the walls. No man had ever seen so much gold in one place. Grabbing his hem sack, he placed in as much as gold as his horse could carry, and hurriedly he walked out of the cave saying two obvious words once again: "Close sesame." And with that, Alibaba rode his horse and bag of gold home back to his beautiful wife. Once he showed his wife all the gold he had gathered, his wife jumped around in excitement screaming, "We are going to rich! We are going to be richer than your brother Kazim!" At his wife's excitement, Alibaba too laughed in triumph. As dawn arrived, Alibaba left to travel to work. Back at home, his wife, Laila, invited her co-sister-in-law, Latifa, to share her excitement. Latifa, being Kazim's wife, went home and told Kazim everything. Kazim was known for his cruelty. He was known for being selfish and horrible. Everything about Kazim was tremendously bad. He was also known for murdering innocent people for his enjoyment."

Arman looked extremely uncomfortable as Parisa explained Kazim's life choices.

"Is Kazim supposed to be a reflection of me?" he asked with uncertainty. He wanted her to say yes because they both knew it was true, but instead, she gave him a subtle look.

"No, but if he is what you desire to be or what you believe you are, then, by all means, be him," she explained. Arman didn't know if he wanted to continue the conversation or not, so instead, he began to listen once more.

"One day, Kazim travelled to his brother's house in seek of the same gold. Out of the kindness in his heart, Alibaba decided to tell where exactly he found it and offered to take his brother there. Together, the two brothers rode back to the same cave. Once Alibaba yelled the password, the cave of wonders opened once more. However, this time in front of the cave stood a stone guard. The stone guard slammed his staff onto the ground and with a strong harsh voice spoke: "Only those may enter whose worth lies far within the diamond in the rough." The two brothers nodded in agreement, walking into the cave of wonders. Together, they gathered so much treasure, their hands were almost full. Alibaba agreed to take the bags back to the horses so they can gather more and more gold. Once he strapped the gold bags around their horses, he heard horse steps. Hurriedly, he ran into the cave to warn his brother. But, Kazim being the horrible selfish man he was, trapped his brother in the cave, closing the door behind him. Alone in the dark, stood Alibaba, a poor boy betrayed by his own brother, wishing for the Huma Bird to arrive,"

Suddenly, Parisa stopped to look outside. The sun was rising slowly, but fast enough for the whole sky to light up. It was dawn. She had made it until dawn.

"Why did you stop?" Arman asked once more, "Was that the end?"

"No, my Shah, that was not the end. However, I am afraid you will have to wait until tomorrow night to hear the rest. That is if you keep me alive, sarvaram," she said with a slight grin of triumph painted upon her perfect face. Annoyed and almost played, Shah Arman stood up furiously.

"You are a horrible, horrible girl," he muttered, "you played me. You did that to keep yourself alive," he realised. He then paused for a couple of seconds, "Fine, but you won't be alive at dawn tomorrow and you will finish the story. You are foolishly intelligent, brave girl" he snarled once more.

"Of course," Parisa said with sarcasm in her voice. She felt much more alive than ever. She felt like a winner. And he felt like a sore loser. A king who lost himself in the Queen's eyes. And with that, he left the room. One night finished. One thousand more to go.