Inscribed In The Stars

Chapter 14

"How are you finding this new change?"

She gulped, hoping to dislodge the lump in her throat, but it remained.

"Alhamdulillah," she replied, but her voice came out as a squeak.

Her mother looked at her pitifully. "Habibti,"

"Alhamdulillah, everything is fine,"

"You have been spending every other night here. I did not want to pry into the reason but I worry for you Binti, you don't have to keep your thoughts confined,"

Thaina's eyes began to glass over. "But Mama, I worry that if I voice them, it will only make things difficult. And if he knew, he would do everything in his power to stop this. Even if it meant going into war, and I can't do that to our people,"

"Ya Binti, I am so sorry for putting you through this. Your Baba and I would never wish this on you,"

Tears fell from Thaina's eyes, but not out of pity for herself. She grieved at the thought of her parents regretting their choice of marrying her to Harun. She grieved at the thought that they believed she was suffering because of their decision.

She shook her head, scooting closer to her mother, encasing her in her arms. "Mama, I will never regret marrying Harun. He is the best husband I could have ever asked for, and I love him with all my heart. There is no doubt about that,"

Thaina shut her eyes, rocking her mother in her arms, just like her mother did for her as a child.

"I-I have never let my emotions, my nafs, take over my reasoning. And InshaAllah I never will," she sobbed. "It is hard, but I bear it with beautiful patience,"

"That man is despicable, how could he poison his niece and brother?" Ruqaya whimpered.

Thaina sighed deeply, quelling her indignation, for she was amongst those who demanded retribution against her treacherous uncle.

***

The more he visited, the less Dalia hated him. To her surprise, it turned out that the King of Balqaas was nothing but an honorable man. He never skipped out on visits and kept his distance still when they sat for tea and snacks. He never imposed a conversation on her but asked about how she was settling in and if there was anything that wasn't to her liking. They even spoke about the room allocation, and to her surprise, he apologized.

Dalia felt an unnerving warmth bloom from her chest, rising to settle on her cheeks. The corner of her lips would raise slightly, at the thought of him, and the anger she harboured towards him slowly dissipated into nothing.

She knew all too well what the feeling was, from the novels she had read as a teen, but she reminded herself that her situation was different; the King of Balqaas would never be hers. And so she kept the warmth at bay.

Dalia's days were occupied with lessons. She had agreed to take them, thinking that they would be a breeze since she had gone through royal formalities and mannerisms as a child, but the rules of Balqaas were so starkly different from back home. They never bowed to their King or any man in fact, opposite genders rarely interacted unless for formal circumstances, and all women covered their hair in public spaces, following the commands of their religion. Although Dalia was accustomed to wearing the face veil, she found the latter rule hardest to accept. She bombarded her teacher with questions about its necessities, why women only had to cover, and why were there some women who didn't cover. But her teacher remained so patient answering each of her queries with statements that made her question why these laws had not been implemented in Rughad. Would Rughad be safer for women if these laws had been enforced?