Chapter 31 - Battle Plans
Raafi finally paused to glance down at Claire to find her watching him quizzically. He chuckled softly to himself at the thought that Claire probably considered him to be senile. But he wasn’t going crazy, not really. It was just that finally, after waiting for such a long time, the universe had thrown a little luck his way. A single moment of clarity, washing over him with the cool breath of certainty. He was determined to make the most if it before it ran away without him.
“Raafi,” Claire began warily. “Where are you going?”
He picked up his pace again before replying, “I’m going to my father.”
If it was possible, the wariness in Claire’s voice doubled. “Why are you going to meet your father?”
“To discuss battle plans, of course!” he announced, his tone the most cheerful it had been since the beginning of today’s debacle.
Raafi soon realised that the soft padding of Claire’s footsteps could no longer be heard behind him. He turned around to find her staring at him, her mouth gaping open slightly.
“Come on, Claire,” he urged, and turned around to begin walking toward the throne room once again. The touch of a hand, its warmth penetrating through his sleeve, brought his attention back to Claire. The smile faded from his face as he considered her pale face seriously. “What’s wrong?”
A hand flew to her forehead as she looked around, as if the words she could not find would jump out at her. “You’re not… you’re not going to discuss battle plans with your father on the basis of that one rock… are you?” she murmured, staring up at him, anxiety paling her features.
He grinned at her doubtful expression. “That is exactly what I plan on doing.” Claire spluttered out fearful warnings behind him as he continued striding around with uncharacteristic boldness. “What if I saw it wrong? What if I’m not describing it adequately? I do not think His Majesty would be happy if-”
“Luck has not abandoned us just yet, Claire,” said Raafi, cutting her off as they reached the monstrous double doors to the throne room. The guards standing outside were visibly on edge, as if the all the tension contained in that throne room was emanating outside and into them. Regardless, they bowed respectfully at him and without any comment at Claire’s presence pushed open the doors to let them in.
The room was not as he had left it. The chaos had been replaced by strict organization, in all probability enforced by his father. Queen Zainab had left the room, as Queen Jamilah had. Besides Claire there were no women in the room. In their place were several bearded men, among them Sami and the other royal advisors as well as the burly commander of Mirzan’s army.
As Raafi and Claire stepped through, the guard cleared his throat and bellowed, “His Highness, Prince Raafi. And, er…” he turned around mid-announcement to glance at Claire.
“Miss Claire Browne,” Raafi filled in.
The guard nodded and continued. “His Highness Prince Raafi and Miss Claire Browne.”
Instantly, all eyes in the room flew to the doorway where Raafi stood with Claire. He felt her tense beside him as at least fifteen pairs of eyes pierced her. King Zahir stared at his son pointedly and it was only then that Raafi remembered it was up to him to speak. He did not know what had come over him. At the sight of his father and all his powerful companions, the feelings of empowerment had suddenly abandoned him. Only seconds ago, he had been bursting with confidence in his plan, sure that finally, God was allowing something to go his way.
“Gentlemen,” he began in a hoarse tone, unable to recognize his own voice. “Assalam walaikum. May I present to you the daughter of Mirzan’s trusted advisor whom I am sure you are all acquainted with – Susannah Browne. Of course, she would be here too, but disaster has struck her as it has struck King Hamza, and in turn, all of us. Susanna’s oldest daughter, Elisabeth, has also been kidnapped.” He paused to let the words sink in, hoping the men would make the connection between Elisabeth’s disappearance and Amira’s.
As his eyes drifted across the men’s faces it inevitably landed on Sami’s, whose eyes were wide with distress. Raafi recalled the way his friend had smiled ever so gently as he had confessed his feelings for Elisabeth. A pang of anxiousness ran through Raafi’s body. It was no longer just himself and Claire in this deadly game.
Trying desperately to somehow regain his optimism, Raafi continued addressing the men. “I have come to know that Elisabeth and Amira have been kidnapped by the same… thing, to the same place. And I believe I know where they have been taken.”
There was a stunned silence in the room. Raafi could not hear anything but the thumping of his heart and Claire’s shallow nervous breaths. His father, not unexpectedly, was the first one to speak. “Are you aware of what you are saying, Raafi? This is not a joke.” Zahir’s tone was filled with distate and contempt.
“Father, I know that perhaps you doubt me-” Rafi began, his throat closing up around the words as the familiar storm of anxiety closed in on him.
“Doubt you?” exclaimed the king, staring at his son with furiously wide eyes. “Perhaps you do not realise that lives are at stake here but right now, I cannot spare a moment to listen to your soft-hearted musings!”
There was a collective gasp around the room as the words died into silence. Raafi’s cheeks burned with embarrassment and anger. Fighting to control the urge to begin screaming at his father, Raafi breathed in the calming scent of Claire beside him and began in a low voice, “Your Majesty. I do not think you will disagree with me when I say that you were quite taken aback by the awful thing that occurred in this very room not much more than an hour ago. And I do not think you will disagree with me when I say that the creature who inhabited King Hamza’s body was none other than one of the Jinn.”
Before, there had been a collective gasp of shock; now, nobody in the room dared to breathe. King Zahir’s eyes remained trained on Raafi though instead of anger, it was an uncomfortably uncharacteristic fear that filled those bottomless pits. Raafi watched his father’s face tighten as an unwilling acceptance rushed through his head. The creatures whose existence he had been denying for decades now haunted his beloved palace over again. They had once granted him a favour, but they were not kind enough to forget that the king owed them. They were back for their repayment, he was sure. The king could no longer maintain his mask of hatred that so fragilely covered his fear. It was slipping, as surely as his façade of calmness was slipping. He glanced around him at his advisors and most trusted men standing around him, waiting for him to react. With his head bowed, he announced in a low voice, “Men, would you please allow me a moment with my son?”
Not a murmur of dissent passed through the men as they bowed their heads in respect and shuffled out of the stiflingly large throne room. Sami gently clapped Raafi on the back as he brushed past him toward the door. “Be brave, my friend,” he murmured. Raafi’s mind jolted in fear as he watched Claire take a step behind Sami. There was no way in heaven or earth that he could do this without her.
“Claire,” he began. He gazed pleadingly into her emerald eyes and hoped she understood how desperately he needed her. “Please stay,” was all he managed to say. He glanced at his father briefly, daring him to say otherwise. Thankfully, he remained silent. Raafi turned back to Claire’s doubtful eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want me to leave? Perhaps you need privacy now, to finally get things clear with your father,” she suggested, studying his expression carefully.
Raafi managed to force half a smile across his face. “I am afraid that if you leave my side, I will run straight out that door behind you.” Lowering his voice so that only Claire would be able to hear his next words, he confessed, “You are my strength, Claire.” Her eyes widened at the raw truth in his words. For a terrifying moment, Raafi wondered if he had said too much. He wondered if he had unwittingly announced himself as pathetic and weak. He sighed in relief as Claire’s lips pulled into a smile. “Of course I’ll stay if you need me,” she whispered. She warily eyed the daunting figure of Kng Zahir over Rafi’s shoulder. “Good luck.”
At her words, Raafi turned around to face his father. King Zahir raised an eyebrow at Claire, as so many other men had done today, but knew that the moment was too fragile to create a scene and make her leave. “Does she understand Arabic?” he asked gruffly.
Raafi shook her head. “She does not.”
Zahir seemed to relax a little at this reply, though his face was still strained with tension. “The Jinn… you say that the Jinn took Princess Amira?”
“Yes,” replied Raafi. “And Susannah’s first daughter.”
King Zahir sighed heavily and passed a hand over his eyes. For the first time in his life he looked like a man who did not know exactly what to do. “The Jinn… they are here for me. When you were young…”
“I know why they are here,” Raafi interrupted as a sudden wave of bitterness peaked in him. “I know that you sacrificed Mariam to save me.” It was the first time that he had said the words out loud and now that they were out in the open, he suddenly felt the absence of his older sister so much more. He wished that she could have lived instead of him. He would have given up the chaos of this life any day.
Zahir glanced at Raafi in surprise at his accusatory tone. Immediately he began, “You have to understand that Mariam was ill. This was what she wanted. She was always protecting you-”
“Do not pretend that you understood her worth!” exclaimed Raafi, his words dripping contempt. “No daughter was ever good enough for you, and neither was I. I do not know why you despise me as you do, but…” Raafi dug his nails into his hands, reminding himself that lives were at stake and now was not the time to lay his emotions out for his father. If he survived, he could do that later. “Look, your Majesty. I came here to save the lives of two innocent people. Do you agree to listen to what I have to say?”
Uncertainty dragged down Zahir’s features. “But how is it that you know where they are?”
Words were not enough to explain the unbelievable things that had happened since Claire had entered Raafi’s life. “I have been seeing Dunya since I was a child and of late, she had been ‘visiting’ me more frequently. She wants to destroy the lives of everyone in this kingdom and take it for herself,” Raafi explained bluntly, not waiting to care about the fear in his father’s wide eyes. “Claire’s situation is virtually the same as mine. At birth, her mother made a bargain with Dunya to let her live. If not for Dunya, Claire would not be standing next to me and thus, Dunya is now here to take her payment.”
Raafi glanced at Claire’s fragile yet unbelievably strong figure next to him. He was shocked to feel gratitude towards Dunya. The truth of his own words rang in his ears. If not for Dunya, Claire would not be standing next to him. He would not be looking into her mesmerizing eyes nor would he be feeling the warmth of her hand hanging so close to his, close enough to lace his fingers through hers.
Raafi cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand. “Claire has used her magic to discover where Dunya has taken Princess Amira and Elisabeth,” he said. At this, the king’s eyes seemed to come into focus. He scrutinised Claire with a relentlessly forceful gaze, assessing her to see if she could be trusted.
“I trust her, Father,” Raafi murmured quietly, answering the king’s unspoken question.
Not letting his eyes leave Claire’s face, King Zahir asked Raafi, “Where is it that the jinn has taken them?” he asked grudgingly, not quite wanting to believe that his son could finally do something right.
Suppressing a grin of satisfaction, Raafi replied, “The Cave of Al-Hera, south of the palace towards the outer reaches of the kingdom.”
“Are you sure that you have the correct cave?” asked Zahir with the signature note of doubt in his voice. “I cannot send my army gallivanting across the whole of Mirzan upon your say so.”
There he was, the ferocious, cruel King Zahir that Raafi knew and loved returned at last. He took a moment to think about what he had been asked. Claire had asked him so many times – did he really know where Amira and Elisabeth were being held hostage? But how could he tell both Claire and his father that the Cave of Al-Hera had been his one refuge as a child? His childish self had escaped to its rocky embrace each and every time his father had yelled at him for being a coward, for not being ‘princely’ enough. That piece of rock with the apparently indecipherable lines that Claire had seen was in fact a monument from his childhood. He had carefully carved his name into the rock in Arabic the day he had been taught to spell his name. How could he ever forget that?
“I am sure,” Raafi said in plain English, so that Claire could hear and understand the finality in his voice. She looked up at him, the doubt slowly fading away as she read the message clear in his eyes: I will not let anything happen to you. Everything will work out, you’ll see.
Raafi reluctantly pulled away his eyes from Claire and fixed them on his father, who watched him carefully from across the room. Zahir slowly paced a few steps forward, then backward, then forward again… goodness, would it ever end? Finally, he came and stood in front of Raafi, who watched as his father’s jaw tightened with both defeat and determination to finish this battle. “Well, what are you waiting for? You have to explain all this to my advisors, you realise?”
For the first time since he could remember, Raafi smiled at his father.
***
Minutes later, the most powerful men in the whole of Mirzan and quite possibly Arabia gathered around a long rectangular table that had been dragged into the throne room for convenience. As per his request, Claire sat next to him, brushing his arm accidentally at random moments, unknowingly derailing his train of thought. Sami sat next to Claire, also by Raafi’s request, as he had asked his best friend to translate the crux of this discussion for her.
Raafi cleared his throat, bringing the murmured conversations between the men to a complete stop. Several pairs of wise, calculating eyes zeroed in on him, complete dedication to whatever mission their prince set out for them already in their gazes. Well, most of them, at least.
“Firstly, let me thank you for being so willing to listening to my plan. I truly appreciate it.” Raafi paused to rest his eyes on each of the men and then continued. “I have come to possess the knowledge that Princess Amira and Susannah’s daughter, Elisabeth, have been taken by a supernatural being to the Cave of Al-Hera.” He surreptitiously sucked in a breath, bracing himself for the bombardment of questions that was sure to come.
Immediately, a man with white stubble clear on his chin interjected. “Forgive me, your Highness, but you mentioned a ‘supernatural being’?”
“Indeed I did, Abdul. Our opponent is far from human. She surpasses our mighty army in power and skill. She is none other than Dunya, the Queen of Shadows.”
At this, Mirzan’s army commander exclaimed, “With all due respect, Prince Raafi, that’s ridiculous! Jinn are not foolish enough to kidnap two women for no good reason!”
Silence rang through the room as loudly as a stampede of horses, pressing in on Raafi’s ears with an immense weight. At the sound of a soft cough, Raafi directed his gaze to Nasir, an elderly man who had been King Zahir’s advisor since he was a child. He had also been instrumental in helping bring Susannah back to her feet after she had fled Europe.
“I believe I have heard of this Queen before, Omar,” he said quietly to the army advisor. “She has a penchant for tricking humans into life or death deals only to come back and sweep their feet from under them so that she is repaid.” As he spoke these words, Nasir gazed pointedly at King Zahir. As his oldest advisor, Nasir had surely known about the deal that the king and queen had made to save Raafi.
“But why take my daughter?” piped King Hamza, who wrung his hands anxiously next to King Hamza. “I owe this creature nothing.”
Raafi wondered if he could ever explain to King Hamza that his mistake had been to affiliate himself and his family to Mirzan’s ruling family. Thankfully, King Zahir chose this moment to take control. “Hamza, old friend, you are right. You owe this creature nothing. But Dunya wants to rule Mirzan and if your daughter were to marry my son as we all desire, she would prove to be an obstacle for Dunya,” was King Zahir’s blunt reply. At his words, King Hamza fell silent and directed his gaze down at his hands resting on the table. Raafi could not help but feel pity for the man.
Now directing his attention at the army commander, Raafi began, “Though Dunya surpasses us in her power, our army outnumbers her by far. We must take our army to the cave and retrieve the princess and Elisabeth and bring them back safely to the castle.”
“Easier said than done,” scoffed the commander, just loud enough for Raafi to hear.
“You will show my son the respect that you show me, Omar. Do not test me.” Zahir’s deep voice thundered to the room. Immediately, Omar’s head was bowed. “Forgive me, your Highness,” came the soft, reluctant apology. King Zahir raised lifted his harsh gaze from the commander and met his son’s eyes, motioning for him to continue.
Raafi wondered if he was hallucinating. Had his father really just challenged someone as powerful as the army commander because the man had not been showing his son respect? Unable to refrain from shaking his head just a little in disbelief, Raafi tried to work the tense atmosphere created by his father to his advantage. Before he could say anything though, Nasir spoke again.
“Your Highness, how is it that you know that the young women are at the Cave of Al-Hera?” he asked, a simple enough question. Raafi was pleased to note that there was no disrespect or doubt in his tone.
Raafi tried not to stare at Claire for too long. He only let his eyes flit over her pale face briefly before answering the old advisor’s question. “As you would know, Susannah possesses remarkable power. Claire has luckily inherited her mother’s gift and through wielding it, has been able to see a vision of both Princess Amira and her own sister.” He wondered briefly if a shadow of doubt would darken Nasir’s eyes at this. Raafi held his breath as Nasir’s eyes locked with Claire’s, who unblinkingly returned his gaze.
“Well then,” breathed Nasir, finally looking away from Claire’s eyes. “Then there is no doubt about it.” He smiled briefly at King Zahir, nodding with approval. Then he turned his attention back to Raafi. “Your Highness, I believe you have an army to command.”
---
Z.N
---
Thoughts? Sorry for the ridiculously long wait, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway :) Remember to vote if you liked this new chapter! And, of course, let me know if I've made any errors or typos.
- Zarin. N