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
To everyone reading this who has made it so far with me, this is for you.
Thank you for 1M on Khalifa.
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It's he who circles the sun of her eyes.
— Nizar Qabbani
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Harun Al Kurdiya
He had hated her since the first time she visited his palace to Baghdad. They were both children back then, and he developed his dislike for her in their very first encounter. Just like how a child can dislike someone-- innocent but genuine and passionate.
She never went to play with other kids but always found a way to bother him. He wanted her to keep away-- to return to her home. And every time she did, he thanked God. Then every time she came to visit again, he knew life at his own home would be difficult for him. At the age of six, Harun ibn Adam had his first beating from a girl he believed to be a witch. And he was never going to forget that.
She had scary eyes, so scary that he might have believed her to be a jinn. He was repelled at the first sight of them. In fact, she was a strange girl. Her hair a blend of brown and red, her skin fairer than anyone he had seen before, and her eyes so unlike a human-- one entirely blue, and the other a combination of blue and brown. Or maybe with a tint of green, he didn't know. He didn't want to look closely into her ghost like eyes to know. But from afar, it looked light brown.
"Baba?"
His father looks down at him, his attention shifting from petting his horse to him. Standing in the stable with his father, Harun watches the magnificent horses before him and how his father can tame these beasts. He wants to do the same.
"Yes?"
"When can I have my own horse, baba?"
His father smiles. "Do you want one?"
He nods. "I'm eight now. You told me I can have my own horse."
"Come."
His father motions him over as he saddles the horse. Then he lifts him up and sits him on the horse. Harun quickly grips the saddle, and his father takes his hands to release his hold on the saddle and gives the reins in his hands.
He leads the horse out of the stall. It frightens him a little initially, he has never been on a horse alone before now but always with his father or a guard to assist him in riding it. But it's also very exhilarating. With the horse tightly held by its harness by his father, he doesn't have to worry. Harun sits up proudly. Until someone decides to nip his joy.
"I want to ride the horse too!" A shrill voice rings in the air. A voice that makes his ears hurt before her small form comes running towards them-- the sight hurts his eyes too. She grins up at his father.
