This book is a sequel to Khalifa and cannot be read as a standalone. To avoid spoilers, description and excerpt are added inside the book.
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Started: May 2, 2022.
Completed: December 3, 2022.
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cover by @xniftykayx
You alone were my fate, I would've done anything for you.
— Anna Akhmatova
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Her
"Do you, Noura Al Makhzum, daughter of Saud Al Makhzum, accept Adam Al Kurdiya, son of Marwan Al Kurdiya, under the agreed upon mehr and in the presence of the witnesses, as your legally wedded husband?"
She can feel his eyes on her through the holes of the wooden partition. She can feel him waiting for her to respond. As if it's their first time. As if they aren't already married. As if afraid she might refuse. As if she ever could.
Yet still, the exhilaration she feels makes it as if they're marrying for the first time. As if new in love. She lifts her gaze and it goes crashing into his through the frail net of her veil. Her heart flutters and her eyes quickly fall down to her hands-- to the bizarre pattern of henna he had messed up for her. She releases a shuddering breath and answers.
"I accept."
"Do you accept?"
"I accept."
"Do you accept?" the imam asks for the third and the last time.
She looks back up at him and this time finds a ghost of a smile kissing his lips. "I accept," she finalizes.
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Him
He sits in the lawn of her house under the orchid with Eskander to his right and an imam (officiant) sitting in front of them. Noura's uncle and Eskander's soon-to-be father-in-law is serving as wali (guardian) both for Noura and his daughter, Laleh, as he had learnt. There are four men serving as witnesses for the nikkah sitting with them. A wooden partition divides the lawn in two, separate for both men and women. His eyes keep seeking her through it. But she's not yet here.
The evening has fallen and the place is lit with candles covered by glass tubes so as not to be blown out by the wind, and flowers the smell of which waft in the air. He inhales deeply and once more his gaze jumps to the door of the veranda waiting for her to arrive so the ceremony can be started. Every second feels like a torture. He has been away from her so long, he cannot any longer. But it is as if she will make him beg for every fraction of it.
Then the door opens and his gaze snaps to it in excitement. A woman in pale green wedding dresses walks out accompanied by two other women. She glances at Eskander and he sees her smile coyly at him through the veil. He hears Eskander exhale slowly beside him. Adam lowers back his gaze. His bride, he thinks.
The door opens once more and he quickly looks up again. This time, his bride walks out. He holds his breath. She's wearing a simple red dress with a veil over it. She bewitches him at once. She makes his heart go berserk. He cannot help staring.
