Hearts On Fire

29: Winner Of The Game

"Whatever token it is, you know I'll do it for you. But why do I feel like this is a trap? You just know the name from Jamila may be and you're joking me around?"

"Jannah, speak. May call his name, greet him or anything." Fatima Zarah ordered, and she watched as Jannah fidgetted with her fingers, and she nodded her head encouragingly at her, "Come on, he doesn't bite."

Jannah opened her mouth, "Good morning, Ali..." she found it hard to mention his name, "Haidar," she completed her sentence. Because to her, Haidar was so much unlike his name, even though it was the same name.

"Fatima Zarah Tambuwal, that cool voice, she really is the one!!" He was beyond elated and they could sense it. Fatima Zarah chuckled and Jannah ducked her head down, she was shy. She didn't know why she was feeling something, just something she had never felt before. It was alien.

"I'll let you know what will be my token for now. But mind you, she's my sister, take a very care of her. I don't allow you two to be alone, always have a third party, she's innocent, know the kind of words you'll use with her. Just be careful."

He laughed, "Why are you so protective, Fatima Zarah? She Jannah, My Paradise, I won't dare tamper her with anything bad, will I? You needn't worry. And Jazakillahu khairan for this."

"Take care of my sister, not being holy holy in my presence."

"How did she become your sister? I'm confused. Did Ammi gave birth to an 18 year old over night?"

"Do you have to be related by blood to become sisters?"

"No," he replied sharply, as if something struck his heart in a speed.

"Then, goodbye. See you on Monday, may be I'll be too occupied to come to court." She ended the call without giving him the chance to reply, and he smiled to himself, because he was accustomed to Fatima Zarah's favorite part in a phonecall.

❀

Even when he was done with everything, he texted her to come out so they'll leave. Fatima Zarah was certain that it was a necessity for them to go to the palace together, he wouldn't have wait for her. And nothing was shared between them until they arrived in front of the hall and she didn't spared him a glance when she moved towards the entrance the female used, she had had more of him these days, and she would make sure what he did to her yesterday didn't go unnoticed to the world.

She had noticed today he was too extra in his dressing, or she'd rather say too royal. Because that wasn't the way he dressed. She walked up to where Mama Fulani was seated with her throng of people and sat down, after all the greeting she fixed her eyes on the man doing the opening prayers. The eyes staring at her, which she was used to, mouths poking at her thinking she wasn't noticing, everything. She casually glanced up to where Al-mustapha was seated together with the other princes, and he was busy checking up something on his phone.

Everytime she attended this royal gatherings, she was always bored and couldn't wait for the time to be done. One, because she didn't understand what they were talking about. Two, the royal family were her least favorite people. Three, she hated the person who was her reason of attending the gathering. She had noticed as if the main leaders of the palace were having a serious discussion, and Fatima Zarah figured it would be the perfect time for this.

Despite the eyes staring at her curiously, she stood up from her seat and walked up to the stage. Some thought she was going to see Al-mustapha but as she passed where the princes were seated, all eyes turned on her until she stood in front of the throng of royalties and collected the mic from the man. She spoke to him and sent something to the man working on the projector before she turned back to look at the crowd. The first eyes she was after her attention got back to the crowd were that of Mama Fulani, then Al-mustapha.

She held his gaze and a mischievous smile found its way to her cheeks. The smile that was graced with fulfillment. "Assalamu Alaikum, to my fellow royal family. Today, I have something huge to present to you all, that's why I haven't given anyone to do this for me, rather; I choose to do it myself." She stopped midtrack, trying to get her thoughts straight, was she really for this? Could she do it? Feeling the surge of pain of all he had done for her, she closed her eyes and opened them again. And she knew, it was now or never. To show him the kind of fire she had planned for him. And she was sure it would burn him to ashes just like she had always promised.

"As you all know, my names are Fatima Zarah Tambuwal, and I've been oppurtuned into this family as a daughter in-law. A wife to prince Al-mustapha Muhammad Maccido. He's the reason I've walked into this family and count as one of them, and he's the reason I'm standing in front of you today." She found his eyes among the thousand pairs of eyes and held them with her before she continued speaking.

"For the months I've stayed with Al-mustapha, he has never been human. I know we all see him as one, because he act and breath like one. But in his heart, he isn't human. I've once told him that I don't know where he belongs, because he definitely doesn't belong in the world we all live. He feels alien. But all I've been questioning about him became clear to him, I saw the reason why he lives and acts like a monster. It's because he truly doesn't feel, not evenan inch of love or compassion towards anyone that isn't himself. It's because he's a psychopath."

Gasps, screams, shouts, blood freezings, hearts stopping to beat, muscles slackening-these and alot more would best describe the royal family. Fatima Zarah motioned for the projector and the slides she had prepared began to show, together with his hospital file when he was 12, and she continued to speak. "He and Mama Fulani were able to hide this fact to the whole world, but I feel this isn't something to hide. I'll first begin to enlighten us about what being a pyscopath is, what suffering form ASPD turns a person into..." she spoke for minutes, minutes that took off all the grudge she had for Al-mustapha from her heart. Seeing the terrifying look in his eyes, the pain, grief and all that she had encountered while living with him.

She didn't dare look to where Mama Fulani was, because that wasn't what she was after. She could picture the way her two cats died, the way he left her stranded on the road and told her she could die for all he cared, the way he slapped her and didn't showed any sign of remorse. All that pain rushed back to her, and now that she looked into his eyes and saw the same pain as she spoke more about how a monster he was, to his family, which might be or not be the world to him, she felt glad, happy that she inflicted the same pain for him. If not even painful. Once she was done, she held his gaze for a while and a beautiful smile graced her lips, even though her eyes were misty at the reminiscent. Today, she had declared herself the winner of their game.