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
"Wallahi I don't know. She didn't tell me her name. She promised the child won't be harmed. Just that I need to hide away the girl for some time."
"Who was she?"
"She was covered from head to toe. I don't know. I swear. I didn't recognize her."
"So you agreed to do it to a helpless child without your conscience making you question it?"
He closes his eyes and tosses back his head as his vizier continues to investigate the culprit they've caught. But to their disappointment, the man is proving not to be of much use. His general stands by the chair where he's sitting, the culprit on his knees before him and Zahir behind the man with a dagger to his throat.
"What did she offer you for it?" his vizier continues. "What did you sell yourself for? How much gold for the heinous act?"
When the man doesn't answer, Adam straightens back and looks at him. The fear in his eyes is clearer than the day. He's terrified, as he should be.
"Answer him," he demands calmly, directing to the man, who stutters a few times before confessing.
"She offered me herself. But she didn't come to me. I didn't touch her. Trust me I don't know who she was. She fooled me. Forgive me, sayidi. I beg you. Have mercy. I'll never in my life commit such a sin again. Let me go please."
His gaze meets Zahir's. There's an unspoken communication between them. He leaves the choice to him. And his vizier makes one, swiftly and cleanly slitting open the man's throat. He falls at his feet. Lifeless. Zahir drops the dagger to his body and turns away.
"I would've forgiven him was it for myself. But the love for one's child is a wrecked, wrecked thing. So forgive me for not being myself this once, my Ameer."
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Her
He doesn't return to her that night. And when the dawn breaks but she still doesn't find him beside her, Noura knows he's not coming.
It's later that day when she's taking a stroll through the garden when she asks Daud about him. The events of last night had come into her knowledge. She was grateful the little girl was found safe and sound. Daud tells her that her husband had been busy investigating the matter and that now he was out in the city for business.
Of course. She scoffs mentally. So like him to keep her waiting without so much as a message.
Tamara accompanies her as she comes across the pond with a gazebo built on it-- her favorite spot in the palace. Noura slows down as she notices two children playing near it-- a boy and a girl. The girl has a wooden stick in her hand and is crouching down, drawing something in the sand of the pond's shore. The boy, looking slightly older than her, is standing over her with a wooden sword in his own hand and watching her curiously as she draws. Two maids stand close by keeping an eye on the children. Noura turns to Tamara.
