𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧 | 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟎𝟏

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟕

HARIS

“According to the current governor, everything is the same as the former Sultan left. All his orders have been followed including making an orphanage for all orphans, a separate school for girls and a nursing home for elders.”

I stare at the report filled with lies in my hands which the current governor sent yesterday while Zayaan repeats the main points of the report.

“However,” I place the report on the desk and look at Zayaan with a boring expression, “all these were non-existent when I entered the town.”

There is only a daycare which is used as a hospital, orphanage and a nursing home. And one school for both boys and girls.

“The former Sultan didn’t leave to check if orders were being followed neither did he let any one of his pasha go and see for themselves.” Zayaan states.

I hum, “who is the current governor?”

“Sohail Bin Tariq.”

“Do you know anything else about him?”

Zayaan nods and continues, “he was selected by your father to governor the town and send monthly reports to the Sultan about the affairs. All those reports contained sugary lies about how everything was going as expected of the Sultan’s orders and that no one had any complaints putting the Sultan at rest.”

This explains why Waleed pasha was always worried about Abbu’s position.

“Continue.”

“He has two sons apart by a year. The oldest is expected to be the next governor when Sohail steps down and… we don’t know much about the younger except that he owns a work shop in the town.”

“Names?”

“The oldest name is Jamaal and the youngest name is Taimoor.”

Taimoor.

Rings a bell. He must be the man I saw at Zoya’s bakery.

I sit back in my chair and interlock my fingers under my chin as I go over the events I witnessed the past two days I visited the town.

First and foremost, not everyone in the town is mean or disrespectful. After visiting the bakery, the day took a good turn and I ended up landing on some shops and stalls whose owners were very nice.

One of the women gifted me a handmade necklace and bracelet to give to a loved one. I gave the bracelet to my sister but kept the necklace safe in my drawer. For now.

“What is your next order, Sultan?”

I release a small breath, “we’re going to let Sohail enjoy his position as the governor for a while before I choose someone else for the position.”

“Are you going back to the town?”

“Yes. I want to look around more and maybe ask the people their opinion.”

“Okay.”

“Do you have anything else to report?”

“Yes. Nadia Sultana has sent a letter containing the news of her arrival to the kingdom soon, along with princess Kiran.”

I suppress a sigh, “Is my sister aware?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, make sure that their bedrooms are prepared before their arrival. I do not want the Sultana to find a new excuse to complain.”

“Right away, Sultan.”

Nadia Sultana is my father’s sister. Just like me and Aiza, Abbu and Nadia phuppo are only two siblings but they’re very different from what me and my sister are.

I was never attached to Nadia phuppo because I don’t like her character. She has always been judgmental about the tiniest things and was very mean to my mother.

According to her, whatever that went wrong in the Kingdom was Ammi’s fault because she kept him distracted.

She’s currently the wife of Falakistan’s Sultan and in my case should stay there. We won’t mind her absence.

“Anyways, aside from the news of Sultana’s arrival, I have something to ask you.” I say,

“Yes?”

“Do you remember Zohaib?”

His shoulders tense before he forces them to relax and says, “yes.”

“I assume you both were close.” He nods, “Was there something that Zohaib wanted my father to overlook?”

“Yes. Zohaib mentioned that the Sultan wasn’t aware of the actual situation of the town and passed on his views. The Sultan, however, took his views as if he was disrespecting him and dismissed him.”

That explains why Abbu suddenly turned cold towards him. Zohaib was the son of Abbu’s most trusted soldier and always favored him.

“Did he mention passing his views to me?”

“Yes. He said you received them.” A frown forms on Zayaan’s face as he says, “Did you… not read his request?”

“I never got it. I would’ve looked over it.”

“that’s not possible… Zohaib made sure you’d receive the request- if you didn’t get them then…”

Someone misplaced them on purpose.
Zayaan and I share a look.

We have much to unravel then we expected.