Malika

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"Azar?" Noura calls her guard, getting his attention as she recalls a matter to discuss.

"Yes, khanum?"

"Did Eskander speak to you after the incidence with syed Daryush?"

She catches a glimpse of him ducking his neck.

"Yes, khanum."

"What did he say?"

"That I should tell him if I'm a troublemaker or a guard so he can find me a more suitable job."

Noura resists rolling her eyes. "You could've told him you're guard to a troublemaker, so if he could replace me to ease your job."

Azar only smiles and lowers his eyes. "You'll not see me complaining, khanum. And I cannot say that to the general. But he did ask me to inform him of any precarious activities of yours in the future."

"Will you?"

"I'm a servant to him, Noura khanum. I'd rather not be in a position to take sides between you and him."

Noura doesn't push the conversation any further. She doesn't need an answer from Azar, or to press him to tell her if a situation arises, whose side will he stand on. He may be serving her, but that too under Eskander's command. She already knows which side he will choose. And she would rather not test her luck by relying on him too much.

As she crosses in front of the harem towards her chamber, someone calls her name from behind her.

"Noura Al Makhzum!"

Noura halts in her way and turns around. She sees Maysoon bint Khalid walking towards her, followed by two of her handmaidens and a guard. There's a storm in the princess's eyes, and something tells her she knows why. Noura calmly meets her glare as she approaches her.

"Amira." She smiles in greeting, both ironic and ingenious. "I wonder what makes you seek me out today. I thought you were avoiding me like a plague since I arrived at the palace."

"But that you are, Noura, a plague infecting everyone," Maysoon lashes, her voice low but angry. "You think you can charm my brother and trick him?"

She drops her smile but not the sarcasm. "I think me hitting you with a candlestick the last time did your head some damage."

Maysoon scoffs in disdain. "So you deny seeing him privately in the courtroom?"

"Are you upset about me seeing him, or are you upset about the reason I saw him for?" Noura mocks. "For I think it gives you yet another wounds to have your scheme failed. Is it not, Amira? Is one rejection not enough that you must scar your ego?"

"Watch your tongue!" Maysoon snaps, and Noura notices girls from the harem crowding at its doors as their argument escalates. "Not everyone can be your puppet like Adam. Not everyone will dance at your fingertips. Especially not Sulaiman. So don't try to drag him in where it benefits you."

This flares her fury and Noura feels her composure cracking, one word away from unleashing her wrath for all Maysoon has ever done to her, and what she accuses her for. But somehow she manages to keep herself collected and not lose it, given the place and situation they're in.

"You think Adam has ever been my puppet?" Noura let out a humorless chuckle. "Why, have you forgotten how it was everyone dancing on his fingertips, not mine? Didn't you feel like a puppet yourself when you learnt the truth of Al Shafay? A man like him can only be a master, Amira, not a puppet. And as for your brother, he's no child unless you see him as one. I can manipulate him no more than you."

"So why ever meet him in secret?" she bites back, and Noura knows she's not only referring to their recent meeting but each meeting that came before it in the past. Her dignity takes a blow at this.