Ten years ago
"Your highness, please put on your shoes!" The servant pleads
"No!" The twelve year old prince refuses continuing to throw a tantrum
"Please your highness, his majesty will be cross with me, everyone is already in the temple waiting for you" the servant pleads
"Absolutely not! I want to play, I hate boring state functions" the spoilt brat says
"But its your wedding sire" the servant says shocked at the Prince's statement
"Don't care!" The brat says
"I'll go get her majesty" the servants says hurrying to the hall.
A few minutes later, a beautiful tall woman comes to the Prince's room dressed in the most magnificent gold dress and matching head veil. Her hands are tattooed with henna in intricate designs.
"Leave us" she says to the servants
As soon as they have left, she kneels down and calls the prince softly,
"Akksam, its your mother, my child " she says
The prince runs into his mother's arms and throws his arms around her neck.
"What is this I hear about you refusing to dress up" she asks smiling
"I want to go and play mother, I don't like state functions" he says
"But we already explained Akksam, its your wedding to Prince Makkah, you were betrothed to him since childhood" she explains slowly
"I know mother, but its too soon, I don't want to leave you and the princesses, I don't want to go to Juddan yet" he says tears welling in his eyes
His mother wipes the tears from his eyes
"Did no one tell you? The wedding is just a formality, you are not going anywhere until you have grown up" the queen says
"Really mother? I don't have to go?" Akksam asks beginning to feel threads of hope
"Yes, my son, I promise, now let them dress you and keep your chin up, I have honey cakes for you later" the queen says winking at her son and waving the servants in.
The servants dress up the handsome little Prince in the royal robes of Shammad and then lead him to the hall on his side of the family.
His mother stands looking at him teary eyed with appreciation for her youngest boy. Her stubborn beautiful little prince
"My sweet son, you were truly a gift to me when we had you Kaya " She says using his secret nickname only used by family members and strictly forbidden to outsiders
It was given to him by his grandmother from his mother's house from the Royal family of Karim
His mother's people fondly called him "KK" Kaya Karim
He had always loved the visits to that side of the family
His grandparents and aunties spoiled and pampered him so much . He loved playing in their lush gardens, running wild with his cousins and playing in the desert and oasis. His favorite cousin and best friend Shah was also a Karim.
After getting dressed , he moves into the ceremonial hall and sighs at all the decoration and dramatic atmosphere
People all dressed up in expensive fabrics and gold shinning from head to toe .
The other side is occupied by the family of his betrothed from Juddan.
The little Prince strains his neck trying to locate the prince but he can't see him.
He is seated behind a thin veil and partition so it can be hard to actually see Prince properly but he briefly makes out a figure seated behind the veil on the other side.
He gives up trying to look and looks around the people seated next to him all smiling and following the ceremony
The ceremony starts and its overwhelming for the prince.
His father leads him to the sheikh who places his hand in the hand of Prince Makkah.
He looks up to see his groom but he doesn't get the chance to see him to his heart's wish. He sees the brown gold flecked eyes and the long ink black hair and a face sculpted by the gods.
Prince Makkah is sixteen years old. Already considered a man. He already had an army most people would dream of at that age
After the marriage contracts are signed and the terms spelt out. The king signs on behalf of the young Prince, Prince Makkah signs for himself and the witnesses also sign.
Then the real celebrations start. Dancing, performances, magicians, snake charmers, wine flowing freely, tables staggering over the amounts of food piled on them and musicians from allover performing.
After a while, Prince Akksam is bored and he is allowed to leave the hall to go to his own friends and quarters.
They ran off excitedly because they never liked attending the functions in the palace.
They would rather ride horses or explore the desert, go hunting or practice their sword skills.
Meanwhile in the hall, the celebrations are going on merrily but Prince Makkah is busy arguing with his father in one corner
"I can't believe I have to go through all this drama and foolery" he says
"Relax Makkah, you know how important this alliance is for Juddan" his father says
"That's why am doing my duty! I don't want to be saddled with a husband right now when I have to train my first army " he says
"I understand, but you don't have to pick him until he is sixteen years old, just endure for a little while then we can leave" the king says
"That is good news" Makkah says impatient for the ceremony to end
When it finally ends, they retire to their rooms and prepare to leave first thing in the morning, even though culture demands a week long celebration, in their case, it is excused because its a formality till the the groom is taken which will not be for a good number of years.
He needed to solidify his foot print in Juddah and he just didn't have luxury of building and maintaining a stable relationship! He would pick the prince when it was time which was many years into the future.