| Previously Featured |
| Book One of the Moon Chronicles |
"To hear, one must be silent."
The Power of the tongue and intelligence of a human being is what makes them different from God's other creations. It is what makes them powerful, it i...
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"Are you absolutely sure, Ayah?"
We were sitting in my chambers along with Aqib, Omar and Master Wali. Nala stood in the corner of the room alert if she was ever needed. The way all of them were staring at me, it felt that I was planning to go to war.
My brother stared at him wide-eyed with concern. He had dark circles under his eyes. He had not slept well the last two nights, once he had learned the story of the Monarch. He had taken it more personally than I had. He felt guilty of thinking ill towards a man who was suffering so much.
I nodded in response to his question and he sighed loudly as he leant back to his chair.
"As I told you, Ayah, Monarch Qamar is not as he was before. He is turning worse. His delusions are more real now. He cannot differentiate between what is real and what is not" Master Wali spoke as if he was a doctor listing out symptoms of a patient. His voice had no emotions and I wondered how he did that. How did control his emotions so much? I knew he was not indifferent to this matter.
His black eyes betrayed nothing.
I thought I was brought here because of that, I signed to my brother who translated.
"Omar may be having second thoughts--" Aqib tried to explain but one look from the Prince shut him up.
"I made a promise to your father," Omar told us quietly. I wanted to roll my eyes in frustration. All I wanted was a meeting with the Monarch. I wanted to see his condition for myself. I wanted to know if I could help him. Was it too much to ask?
They could not bring me in deep and expect me to not take any action. If I were to help, I wanted it done by my own rules.
I remained stubbornly quiet. I was not planning to budge from my decision.
"I want to talk to Ayah." Omar suddenly said his eyes trained on me. I met his gaze steadily and lifted my chin up.
The other men slowly got up and left the room. But before Aqib left, he bent and whispered to me -
"Omar is in a position no one wants to be, Ayah. Cut him some slack. He has to choose between two people who mean a lot to him." His brown eyes looked at me meaningfully, then shaking his head ever so slightly he left the room closing the door.
Nala still stood in the corner of the room, unsure whether to leave or not. I glanced at her. I wanted her here, now that my brother was not, she could help translate for me. Omar rubbed his face exasperated. He was tired, always so tired. I pitied him but at the same time, I was done playing by his rules. I knew the Monarch was his brother but this was something, I felt, that I needed to do by myself.
"Why can't you take Aqib and Asad with you?" Omar asked. I did not know whether he was annoyed or not.
I do not want to scare him, I looked at Nala as I signed. She nodded and translated to the Prince. He looked a bit surprised to see her there but quickly gave her a small smile.
