Khalifa

22 Dark

"No news from Eskander?"

"No, sayidati."

She stands up and turns around to face him. "I want to see Fereydun if he's at the palace."

Hafez nods and both of them make their way inside the palace. "I'll go find if he has returned," Hafez suggests. "You should wait for me at your chamber, sayidati."

Noura wants to protest and tell him that the quiet and void of her chamber has started to haunt her-- that she doesn't want to go there. Without her mother, and without Eskander, every place no matter how fancy will be rotten to her. And by now her patience already has begun to thin.

But instead of speaking out her thoughts, she turns towards her chamber and Hafez waits until she's at the door before he goes around the corner towards Fereydun's chamber.

Noura stares at the wooden door a long moment. Then deciding against going inside, she walks through the corridors, torches lightening them, coming to where long glass windows and open balconies are overlooking the gardens. But before she could step outside, she hears voices coming from the other end of the corridor where the courtroom is located.

She hesitates going any further, but doesn't attempt to go back her way either. Maybe she would have ignored them and continued strolling around or stargazing from the balcony, but the situation provides her a reason to give into her curiosity when she hears her name being mentioned.

"There are greater things to deal with than love affairs. But here I am stuck with clearing the mess created over a girl." She hears Ameer Zakariya saying. "Noura is not a harem woman. All these rules broken for her makes us answerable for her."

"Answerable to whom?"

Her breath hitches in her throat. Adam. The nonchalance of his tone surprises her. Against her logic, her feet take her closer to the courtroom on their own accord.

"I thought you're more responsible than this," Zakariya scolds.

"You cannot doubt my loyalty towards the crown. You know I can sacrifice my life for my Khalifa."

Noura wants to scoff and yell how he has trampled over this said loyalty, shaming it. Certainly Adam is nothing but devil dressed in silk.

"Just because the Khalifa is lenient towards you doesn't mean you do as you please. Your actions can impact those around you too, adversely to say the least," Zakariya continues, and she inches nearer to the closed doors to hear more clearly. "You're like a son to me. I don't doubt your loyalty. But I cannot keep ignoring each of your mistakes, especially if you've been this reckless."

She doesn't know what they're talking about, but from the sound of it she gathers it must be her marriage and caliph's displeasure. It only adds fuel to her curiosity.

"I understand," Adam replies, only with a tinge of apology. She cannot even figure if it's genuine or not. "I'll meet Khalifa and explain things to him myself."

"I know you only listen to your heart, but I've an advice for you: stop exploiting your powers like this. It'll cost you your head someday if you aren't careful enough."

The warning in Zakariya's words sinks into her like an anchor. Whether Adam has taken it seriously or not, she fears it might unfold a future she has no desire to see.

She doesn't get a chance to hear more as someone behind her speaks up, "What are you doing?"

Noura jumps, startled, and turns around only to come face to face with the queen. She feels her throat go dry suddenly. By the look Arwa is giving her, it clearly tells her her eavesdropping is caught and unappreciated. Noura swallows thickly.