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
She waits for him until he finishes his morning prayers. He smiles as he notices her waiting when he's done. She smiles back and he folds the prayers mat before making his way towards her. They go to sit at the breakfast table together.
"What do you ask God for in your prayers?" she asks him, always been curious given the length of his prayers. How he always takes his time.
He lifts a slice of apple to her mouth. She takes a bite of it and he takes one after her. He replies to her query a moment later.
"Let it be between me and my Lord, habibti."
She doesn't protest and let him keep his secret. "Well, I hope I'm a part of them."
He leans down and kisses her forehead. "They'll be incomplete without you, zawjati."
When he leaves that morning and she returns to their chamber after a stroll, a note awaits her on her pillow.
They want to kill him.
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Him
He pets the mane of his horse. It blows and turns its head towards him. Adam smiles and takes its bridle, leading it out of its stall in the stable.
The dawn has cracked and the air is still. The sky is clear and some of the darkness still hangs around it. The palace is quiet right to his taste. He takes his horse outside where Zahir is already waiting for him.
"My Ameer, shall we leave?"
"We shall, Zahir."
Pulling the hood of his cloak over his head and a cloth over his face to conceal it, he mounts his horse. Zahir follows after him, mounting his own. With a snap of the reins, they leave the palace grounds and make their way to the city.
He directs them to the location sent to him in the letter. He hopes everything goes as he has planned. And if it does, it'll smoothen the path for him to victory. Otherwise he'll have to find an alternative which might prove difficult, given how there are people against him and those who might betray him. Loyalty in the royal court is a fickle thing, and a blessing if one truly has it in his subjects.
But he has come prepared to meet his guest. He knows there's a price for everything. He knows he'll be asked to pay one too. And he's willing to do so. For he knows the price for losing the throne is much greater to consider. Not for himself alone, but for his wife and his subjects who so far have stayed true to him. He strives for them as much as he does for his own self. He's unwilling to leave loose ends.
He tugs the reins and the horse halts at the corner of a street. Adam dismounts it and so does Zahir. They tie them to a nearby tree.
The street is deserted and they walk ahead up to an intersection where there is a baker's shop. He looks around, searching for the man they're here for. Zahir comes beside him.
