His Queen

Chapter 15

General Jawhar’s POV

I watched the king of Atrabad as he sat on the throne, I could see his brows were furrowed, I could tell he was angry but he was trying his hardest to keep himself under control, I had not expected him to behave like this when Banafsha was involved, I had expected him to be nonchalant about matters concerning her but there he was on his throne looking like an angry lion,

I sat on a chair waiting for the arrival of general Jaan, I remembered him from the battle, he was the one that had fought with Banafsha, a smile crossed my face when I remembered that he had lost to her, Banafsha was indeed a great woman, she was beautiful and strong and in all my life, I had never met a woman as determined as she was,

Most women would not have been able to overcome what she went through but Banafsha not only overcame it, she grew stronger than anyone ever expected, she fought for Marwa with all her strength, she gave up everything she was to become the leader Marwa needed, at the time Marwa had faced tragedy, Marwa had needed a king not a princess, Banafsha had decided on that day to become a king, it was amazing to see how she grew up from a pretty young girl to a strong beautiful woman who fit to be a queen.

The doors opened and general Jaan walked in, he was dressed in something that looked like an official attire, I found this strange judging from the fact that it was almost midnight, apparently the king thought so as well because he said,

“For heaven’s sake Nihal, it’s almost mid-night, why are you still dressed in your official attire?”

General Jaan looked puzzled “One of my soldiers came up to my chambers and told me the king had summoned me officially so I had to dress officially to accept your summons” he said,

The king was quiet for a while then he said “Well, it obviously can’t be helped so let’s go ahead with I summoned you here to discuss, we have a problem, the life of the queen is in danger”

I watched as shock registered on the general’s face “I am afraid I do not understand your majesty” he said,

The turned to me and said “This is where you come in general Jawhar”

I nodded and began “King Gulshan had just ascended the throne of Dulkhan, when Banafsha’s father was king, he was a young man who craved power, amassing wealth and land was his passion, he attacked lesser kingdoms and took over them by force, his soldiers were no different from savages and barbarians, they pillaged lands and killed men, women and children, they left a trail of blood and bodies anywhere they went, during this time, I was just a young boy, my father was one of the ministers of king Ruwayf’s cabinet, king Ruwayf was a just and noble king, smaller villages brought their plea to him and he decided to help them, he sent emissaries to Dulkhan to see if he could reason with Gulshan but he was stubborn and refused, he killed the emissaries and sent their heads in a box thereby declaring war on Marwa,

While preparations were underway, the coward Gulshan attacked in the dead of night when everyone was asleep, his soldiers attacked killing and setting fire to everything , I had never seen mayhem and death like that in my entire life,

I had been tasked with keeping Banafsha safe, when the chaos erupted, the king asked me to keep Banafsha safe, I took her and Junnut somewhere safe, Banafsha was just a young girl as at then, she had fought me and begged that I let her return to her family but I knew that if I let her go, she will die, so I kept her hidden until the screams and shouting died down,

By the time we returned to the palace, everyone was dead, the king and queen were dead, the king was beheaded and his head was paraded in the city by the soldiers of Dulkhan, Banafsha had an elder sister, Princess Junaina, the people who had survived had said, she hadn’t been killed but was dragged away.

That night, Banafsha picked up her father’s sword and gathered the people that had survived, she told them that she would protect and fight for them, on that day, she wore revenge, she swore that Gulshan and his kingdom will never know peace for as long as she lived and she will make sure her sister returned home no matter what.

So princess Banafsha of Marwa became Queen Ifza of Marwa, she began taking over kingdoms under the rule of Dulkhan, some of the people ran to her for protection and she gave it willingly,

soon Marwa grew, Banafsha kept acquiring power so that she could be strong enough to fight Gulshan and win, Banafsha is strong and powerful but her pride has always clouded her judgment, she had never allowed anyone come close to her since then, she just focused on her goal and that is to see the of Gulshan and Dulkhan.

As Banafsha took over numerous lands from Dulkhan, Gulshan got to know about her, he soon found out she was the daughter of king Ruwayf, Gulshan is a man that hates to be insulted and he saw what Banafsha was doing as insulting him so he has been trying to kill her ever since, but like the coward that he is, he attacks using assassins just like you saw today, we have countered many attacks on her life over the years, Gulshan is relentless and never gives up, he won’t stop until Banafsha is dead.”

By the time I concluded, the king and the general was quiet then finally the king said “General Jaan, I want you working closely with General Jawhar, I want you two to find out every information you can get on king Gulshan and his kingdom, then I want the queen’s palace to kept safe at all times, I don’t want an incident like today to repeat itself, the queen must be kept safe at all times”

I watched him closely, he spoke like he cared about Banafsha, like he worried for her, I couldn’t be sure, but I had prayed that he would always keep Banafsha safe and it seemed like my prayers had been answered.

General Jaan and I bowed our heads as we accepted the king’s order.

“You can all retire for the night, it’s late” the king said,

We bowed and headed out, as I left, I couldn’t help but feel at peace with the fact that Banafsha had married a man with a good and noble heart, the fact that he was her husband didn’t bother me so much anymore, it was painful to see Banafsha with another but I will try to get over it, I had to focus on keeping her safe, at least I could still that for her,

Watching her with another man was the worst thing that was why I had wanted to leave but when she had asked me to stay that day, with the tears in her eyes, I found I could deny her nothing, I had loved her from the first day I saw her many years ago and I will no doubt love her till the day I drew my last breath and that was a fact I could live with.