✵ featured ~
❝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...
The moon is lonely The galaxy is lonely On the night of separation The sky is lonely
— Rashiduzzafar
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Him
"You're leaving?"
"Yes."
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"Where is your home?"
"Faraway."
She blinks at his reply, her big brown eyes both curious and sad as she stares at him. "Will you come back?" she asks after a while.
"I don't know. I'll ask baba."
She pouts, clearly upset, drawing lines in the sand with the stick in her hand. "But you said we can be king and queen?"
He looks at her, not knowing what to say to her to comfort her. Then, he sheepishly pats her head. "I'll come back soon. I'll bring you a crown with me too."
She ponders for a moment, then grins at him in excitement and nods. "I'll wait here."
"At the palace?"
"Yes. Baba says Baghdad is our home."
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Her
"The first time I saw you was in the bazaar of Isfahan. You were with your mother. I didn't recognize you, and that day we could've been mere passersby were she not with you. She called you by your name and got my attention. I recognized her at once. And then you, at second sight. When my eyes fell upon you again, wallahi they had been seeking you ever since. You burnt my heart, Noura."
The winds in the sky howl. Then they go silent. His words echo off the heavens back at her. She stares blankly ahead into space though his presence beside her feels ablazed. She allows him an explanation without a promise of redemption or forgiveness.
"I was in Isfahan looking for Yusuf. We hadn't found him back then, but my men had found Buraq there, and so I went in his search. But we were unsuccessful in locating him and decided to return to Baghdad. I wasn't supposed to stay any longer, but I did. God, I did. Because I had found you."
Things don't make complete sense to her. What he tells her sounds like a half made puzzle to her. But she waits for him to fix the puzzle himself rather than finding answers and led into deception again.
"You were memoir of my past-- of a blissful time. Looking at you made me happy. Looking at you reminded me of my beautiful days. You made me forget everything. You suspended me into oblivion. I liked that feeling. I liked being around you."
