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❝Once upon a time in Baghdad, a street girl teaches the Khalifa of the kingdom why a king needs a queen.❞
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Started: June 5, 2021.
Completed: March 30, 2022.
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cover by @xniftykayx
featured on wattpad historical fiction, undiscovered...
All this time I drank you like a cure when maybe you were the poison.
— Clementine Von Radics
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Him
"Do you know the price of betrayal? I cannot think of one better than death."
He watches the traitors presented before him. None of them dare to look him in the eyes. They know their fate is inevitable. They know begging him for mercy is a futile effort.
He extends his hand to one of the soldiers who passes him over his axe. He holds it up and the metal glints from the glow of the torches.
"So neat. I almost don't want to stain it bloody. But then what good will be the weapon to me?"
He twirls it in his hand skillfully and gestures to the guards to bring the prisoners one by one.
"Bismillah (in the name of God), let us rid of the hypocrites among us."
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Her
"Here, hold your sword like this."
She remembers the first time he had taught her how to swing a sword, she could focus less on their lesson and more on him. The feeling of his hands over hers was rough, but she found his hands warm and strong. His fingers, agile and nimble, ran over hers to adjust them.
"Eyes on your opponent, Nour. Judge their movements. One slight distraction can come at the cost of your life."
Her eyes were on him, but certainly in no way as he was teaching her to. He was her distraction, and not slight at that. He could very well cost her that life he was speaking of.
"What is life at the palace like, Eskander?"
"Not as fine as you would suppose it to be."
"Why? There must be many beautiful women there, isn't it so?"
He would always chuckle at her queries. He would always found a way out of them-- palace, women, and his services to the kingdom, he preferred not discussing them. If anything, conversations with him would end up in rather fascinating stories that she would forget about her doubts of him ever drifting away towards another one-- that she would believe what she shared with him, no one else ever can.
"Did I tell you about my stay in Gilan during this one journey? It was heavenly there-- the valleys, forests, lakes. Everything."
"Really? I wish I could see it too."
"Someday I hope to take you with me to show you."
"Will you?"
"I would love to. And to the Valley of Stars on Qeshm Island. It's bedazzling. The locals have really interesting tales to tell about it."
