Khalifa

08 Crescent

They step out of the palace down the other direction where bushes line the cobblestone pathway leading towards the entrance of a garden with a huge, vine-covered archway. They step past it inside, and for a moment Noura is mesmerized by the beauty of everything her gaze falls upon. Maybe in the daylight when it's more visible, it'll be more breathtaking to her. But even in the black of the night, the serenity of the place lulls her into another world. She inhales deeply, the smell of flowers and cool air offering her a glimpse of paradise. This can be her favorite spot in the palace, she decides.

When they get deeper into the garden, she notices a figure at a far end sitting on a bench by the tree, busy doing something. Noura squints her eyes to see who he is but his head is tilted down and his hands work on whatever he's holding in them. She observes him from a distance, contemplating, before moving towards him. He looks up at the sound of footsteps approaching and the moonlight glides over his face, dipping into his orbs where it is swallowed without being reflected, revealing to Noura his identity.

"Stay here," she asks Hafez who hesitates at her command.

"General Eskander--"

"--won't kill you," she cuts him before ordering more firmly, "Stay."

Hafez stops following her and Noura walks up to the man who has a million pieces making up his personality, none of the piece she has so far been able to interpret. Despite the time she has spent with him and the little exchange of words between them, he has mystified her more than untangling the mess for her.

"Adam."

He stares up at her. "What brings you here at this hour of the night, sayidati?"

She catches sight of the object in his hand that had his attention, a dagger half glinting in the starlight where the metal is clean, the rest stained with something she assumes to be blood. Adam was probably busy cleaning it.

"I couldn't sleep." Noura sits down on the opposite edge of the bench without his invitation. "I thought of taking a walk instead."

He simply goes back to wiping the dagger with a cloth without proceeding the conversation, making her feel unwelcomed. She shifts uneasily and looks up at the sky. The stars will forever remind her of Eskander. She closes her eyes.

"The stars fascinate you, sayidati?" Adam asks, taking her by surprise. During the days she has known him, he has kept to himself and avoided indulging in any lengthy or unnecessary talks with her, until now when he's striking a discussion.

"They do," Noura answers. "They beautify the darkness for me." Like Eskander beautifies her life for her.

Adam smiles ironically without so much as glancing at her. She frowns at his attitude.

"Is it funny to you?"

"No. I've just always seen it the other way around."

"How so?"

He pauses his work, tilting his head towards her now. "Darkness conceals everything ugly. In reality, it is what beautifies the flaws that the light so blatantly exposes."

Noura purses her lips, not knowing how to respond to it. He returns his attention to his dagger once more and she to the stars.

"I took the horse I rode on with you to the bazar today," she tells him. "It's a good one. I really like him."

"Have you named him?" he asks.

"Not yet." Her gaze sails across the sky, anchoring each star, admiring the constellations they make. "What about Buruj (stars)?"