Queen of Persia ✔️

chapter twenty-five

For the first time, he had slept in the same bed as her instead of the uncomfortable chair. And for the first time, he had finally slept long enough to dream. Parisa, however, was awake. She couldn't sleep for the first time. The memory of the night before trailed on like a magnificent dream. She clinged onto his body like no other. Her head gently moved up and down and his chest rose up and down with his breathing. This was the first time Parisa had seen him asleep in the morning. His peaceful face was breathtaking.

Scared to wake him up, she slept there silently observing his torso. Beside his flawless skin, she saw small scars. Scars from battles. Scars from family. Scars from the monster that hid inside him. She carefully traced every scar on his shoulder with her finger, caressing them. The scars of his body sent a deep shiver through her. To think of how much every single one of those scars hurt, destroyed her from within. But now they both had each other. They had each other to kiss the pain of every scar away.

Arman tilts his head just a little. Enough for him to feel the softness from Parisa's hair. He carefully moved his hand upwards, brushing her hair continuously. He then turned towards her with a smile.

A smile.

And once more, Parisa felt the butterflies in her stomach jump around in excitement. Excitement of the love sleeping beside her. Excitement of the life she had dreamt of. Of the love so impossible. A love filled with adrenaline and adventure. A love so exciting, the earthquakes weren't strong enough.

"Good morning, Janedel," he whispered. His whisper was so kind, filled with emotion. He slowly planted a kiss on her forehead, as she shut her eyes in enjoyment. At this moment, at this point in life, this was all she needed. The embrace of forever. Forever and always. When Parisa was small, she used to hear a simple song. A song so different from the one she was hearing at the moment. And when she looked at him, she heard those songs over and over again on repeat. With the simple songs she used to hear, she wanted more. But now this song was the most beautiful by far. It was all she wanted. Just the two of them.

"Morning," she answered in delight, with her voice still sleepy. She made him the happiest man alive, and for that he was forever thankful. Loving and fighting, no matter what it was, he was going to be with her till the very end. Because he was just here for the pretty moment; he was here for every moment, good or bad. He was with her. And now, she had become a habit of his heart. He loved her beyond words. She was the air he had to breath to survive. She was the sun he dreamt to see every day.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked her with uncertainty.

"Long enough to fall in love with you once more," she replied with the cheesiest smile she had to offer. What made her comment better was Arman realising she was trying to be cringe. And so, he smiled. If she was to ever leave him, he would yell and scream for her to come back home. Home in his arms. That's where he wanted her. And she stayed. "I believe Azin is to come in at any moment," she warned him. Azin never knocked or asked to come in, she would just barge in with a joyous smile. But today she didn't show up as early, so Parisa got out of bed herself, without Azin yelling at her.

Both of them, hopped out of bed towards the bathroom. Arman quickly got dressed as he realised how late he had woken up. But for the first time in a while, he had finally gotten a good night of sleep. Parisa, however, took much longer than Arman. He cautiously knocked on the bathroom door waiting for permission to enter. Once she allowed him, he walked in to see her in a beautiful dress. Parisa was struggling with the strings on the back of her dress as Azin usually did them for her.

"I can help," he offered her. And she allowed her. His hands carefully wrapped the strings around her, trying them in a beautiful bow. Now, she was ready, with his help. He couldn't help but wonder how hard it would be to get this gown off her. He quickly wiped his thoughts, refreshing his mind with appropriate ideas.

"Let's have breakfast together," she offered him. She had never had a proper meal with him over the fifty days she had lived in this palace as the queen. The offer shocked Arman. The last time he had ever had breakfast with someone other than his servants, was with his mother and Darya. "Aziz and Darya can come too. A big happy family," she said with enthusiasm, trying to fill the cracks in their family. He couldn't argue with her. He didn't want to. He wanted what was left of his family to be with him. So, he agreed without a word. He just nodded and that was enough for Parisa to jump in joy. She too, hadn't have had a proper breakfast with a proper family. And in this moment, the only wish she had was for her mother to be here with her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, realising her sudden joy had turned into deep thoughts. She suddenly snapped out of her mind, shaking the memories away.

"Yeah," she whispered, "I just miss my mama," she spoke with honesty. An honesty that broke Arman's heart into bits. He had just realised, marrying her meant taking her away from her family. He too fell into a deep silence. Heartbreaking silence.

"It's only an hour from here to your farm," he pointed out, "And it's not too late yet. If you want, we can go get her. If you want," he told her, in a promise sort of way. Without any sort of hesitation, Parisa nodded in agreement. Her heart couldn't understand the happiness. She felt like her heart was about to stop from joy. Quickly fixing her hair, she took Arman's hand and out they went.