warrior's heart

chapter 52

P. S.  Unedited..

Nawfal paced back and forth in the palace garden. The war had ended a fortnight ago and Marliyyah had been unconscious since then.

"Call the hakeem immediately! Ask him to come to my tent right away! "

Nawfal dropped Marliyyah gently on his bed with tears clouding his vision.

"Ya Salam! Marwan she is losing so much blood!" he said,  his voice cracking.

"Ya akhi, sabr, the Hakeem is almost here,  she would be fine by the will of Allah. Please get a grip on yourself" marwan said,  comforting him.

As soon as the Hakeem came,  Marwan left the tent to give them privacy.  The Hakeem got to work,  cleaning cuts and stitching as best as he could.

After a while,  with a grim expression,  he said,

"Sultan,  this is not something I can do alone and this treatment is certainly not for the battlefield. The queen must be returned to the palace immediately and sayyidati Maryam has to be sent for.  I understand that the queen is with child,  only sayyidati will be able to handle the matter,  given her experience.

I have applied some herbs to stop the bleeding and stop the spread of any infection from the wounds obtained.  She must be taken to Heman immediately."

After packing up his supplies,  the Hakeem left Nawfal's tent, praying for Marliyyah's quick recovery. 

General Albasha stood by the entrance of the tent, his heart broken.  Marliyyah was like a daughter to him and to imagine her in a situation like that,  pregnant for that matter.... He wiped the lone tear that had escaped his eye and loudly said the salam so Nawfal could hear him.

The sight of the king was enough to make a hard hearted man mellow.  He looked broken, defeated.  As soon as he saw the general, he broke into heart wrenching sobs.

"Ammu Farouq, my liyyah....our liyyah" he said,  unable to speak clearly. 

General Albasha hugged him close,  consoling him and making dua for him so he could calm down.

"sabr Ya Nawfal, our liyyah would be fine Bi'izinillah. I spoke to the Hakeem and he told me everything. A cart is ready to take her to the palace and a messenger has been sent to fetch sayyidati Maryam from the Bajjashi clan. By Allah's Grace,  she would be with us before the end of the week. 

You are our sultan Nawfal,  our leader. It is not befitting of a king to break down like this.  Your men look up to you,  we all do.  You need to get a hold of yourself, Liyyah would not be happy to see you in this state. You have to be strong for her sake, only then will you be able to help her.

Now go, go and get ready while I send the cart here."

"And the men?"

"Do not worry about the men son, Ali is here with me,  we would mobilize and travel back with them as soon as they are fit for the journey. Let Murad and Marwan go with you."

Nawfal hugged him one more time,  short of words to express his gratitude. He then turned around and went into his tent. Pulling out a fresh set of thobe, he gently changed Marliyyah's clothes and then put his ghutrah to cover her neck and hair,  before he picked her up and took her out to the waiting cart. 

He met Murad and Marwan waiting atop their horses for him.  With reassuring looks,  he mounted his horse and they left for Heman.

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"If you keep walking like that, you will not have the energy to carry your child  Ya sultan."

Nawfal turned to the sound of the voice and saw Marwa. He smiled a little and went to sit on one of the benches in the garden.  Marwa took the other bench beside him and said,

"I may not understand what you are going through Ya akhi but I know that worrying will not bring forth a solution.  You have to be strong and make dua for her.  Have faith that Allah will heal her, transfer all your pain to your dua, only then will you feel peace......

"she is awake!  The queen is awake!" Nisreen came running as fast as her chubby feet would allow. 

Both Nawfal and Marwa jumped off their seats and rushed out of the garden, to meet Nisreen at the entrance.

"Ammu! Ammati liyyah is awake!  She is asking for you...."

Before she could complete her sentence,  he had taken Off,  cursing himself for not being able to run any faster. 

As soon as he entered the chamber in which she lay, he stopped abruptly, unable to run any further and even more so, unable to take his eyes off her.

When Marliyyah laid eyes on the face she had been longing to see, the tears came. Sayyidati Maryam signalled the other women present in the room to leave the duo alone, shutting the door behind them.  He walked up to her and sat beside her, eyes roaming her face, searching,  memorising, afraid that it was beautiful dream he would be oh so cruelly woken up from. 

"Habibi" came her voice,  like a whisper,  with tears drenching the pillow she lay on.  He picked her hand gently and kissed her palm,  his own tears wetting her hand.  He picked up the other hand and held both close to his face,  as if he was drawing strength from them. 

Unable to bear the distance any longer,  he lay his head on her chest,  right where he could hear her heart beat and he cried.

He cried for all the pain they had been through,  for the fear he felt every time he saw her unconscious on her bed.  He cried for the child that he found out about on the field of battle. Most importantly, he cried out of joy that she was alive and in his arms.

"Do you wish to crush me to my death you big oaf?" she teased gently, when she had gotten a grip of herself.

He let her go immediately, afraid he would hurt her. He saw the beautiful smile on her face laced with mischief and he sighed in relief, knowing she was only teasing him.

"My love,my life,  how do you feel?  Are you hurting anywhere?  Should I fetch sayyidati?"

"Hush my king,  I am fine,  we are both fine" she said,  taking his hand and placing it on her belly. 

She watched the different emotions on his face; awe, love, devotion.

"You shouldn't have my love,  you shouldn't have come to the battle field,  especially after knowing you are with child. If anything had happened to you...."

"I am fine Nawfal, our babe is fine too, fret not. "

They spoke for a while,  until he saw her eyes closing.

"sleep sultana,  I will be here when you wake up In Sha Allah."  He caressed her hair until she slept off.  There was a gentle knock on the door and after readjusting her blanket,  he went to the door.

He found sayyidati Maryam waiting for him.

"sayyidati, Assalamualaikum! I have no words to express my gratitude for your help.  Your reward lies with Allah and Him alone.  Pray tell,  what can I do for you?

The older woman looked at him with intelligent but sad eyes.  Her expression frightened him.

"Sayyidati?" he called once again.

"Ya sultan, it is with a heavy heart that I say this.  The queen's involvement in the battle greatly endangered her and the children she is carrying.  I am afraid the chances of their survival is very low.

"Chil....Children....? " he asked with a broken voice.

"Yes your highness, the queen is carrying twins. "

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Assalamualaikum everyone!  I hope you are all doing well.  We are on break now so I thought to update.  I hope you will enjoy the chapter, do keep the votes and wonderful comments coming.  Until next time In Sha Allah!