The Circle Of The Qur'an #2[The Arkaan Series|Book One]

17 |The Marabout's 1000 Profound Steps.[The Tie]

Then he thought about how he'd feel towards the prince Reyaz if he'd overtake him, and he realized that the calmness and composure he had always thought he felt, that contentment that things were always going to go his way, ..was actually a brittle wall of fallacy he had built around himself, perhaps, because he had never felt the need to compete with anyone before. He realized it was a feeling he'd feel against someone who wanted to compete with him on basis of equal right, for the rulership over his country!

So it was without a doubt, what answer he would present when Shabaan asked the question. It was no surprise, that his blood also boiled with competition.

"Challenge the quest again, and rise even higher." He answered, his voice was firm, and his gaze held an undersurface steely look that made Shabaan to feel a sort of pressure, even though he did not let it show on his face. Considering Ihtisham had never once before showed this competitive side of himself, he wondered why he had remained dormant at the position of Number Four, and not once shown discontent and rivalry towards those immediately above him. He had always thought of him that he was like prince Firdaws, who was eccentric, and only saw competition as a kind of play, like sparring with a fellow colleague for pointers, and not something of a feud. Had he only been okay because, he was still considered among the most exceptional - The Top Four, and had thus decided to lay low out of the exhaustion from all the rivalry??

He looked at the prince Firdaws to see his reaction, only to witness the ghost of a smile shimmer from the first Prince's lips.

"Well, it was about time for this resolution, don't you think?" Prince Firdaws muttered to himself, his tone quiet.

"Pardon?" Ihtisham turned to him, looking taken aback. All this takes time to write about, but happened in no more than a dozen or so breaths of time.

As if the prince's statement was the cue, the Doyen Sheikh Tariq concurrently announced,"It so happens that we just completed a compulsory official challenge of the quest, but will have to organize another one so soon.."

"Ahn!" Prince Firdaws exclaimed, murmuring to his two companions,"Why would the Doyen say so?"

They equally had blank expressions on their faces. It didn't take but the next moment for the prince's eyes to glow in comprehension.

"Unless.." Even though uncommon, ties had occurred before in the hundred years history of Sky Legacy Haven, and whenever it occurred among the Mureeds, the scholars would appoint a day for an official challenge of the Qur'an quest in order to break the tie, and every Mureed would have his unique individual ranking.

"There's a tie among the Mureed positions!" He said it at the same time the Doyen spoke those same words.

"The fourth Prince has tied with the first Prince's score, and has subsequently displaced Ihtisham to the Number Five Mureed position with a score of 739 ãyaat." The Doyen said slowly, and solemnly. His words rang through the crowd for a momentary silence, before which the bedlam of voices arose.

"Ihtisham was actually displaced! Yaa Salaam! Sooner or later, trust me, there's going to be a war of the elites here in Sky Legacy Haven!"

"Yaa Allah~! Prince Reyaz is really that good! To have actually moved from the position of Number Seven Mureed to topple the Number Four Mureed, and contest for the position of Number Three Mureed-that's what we call an epic rising in ranks!!!