His Queen

Chapter 22

General Jawhar’s POV

My chambers stood on the far end of the palace, it was secluded from the remaining parts of the palace, I was glad that I had been given this part of the palace, it was peaceful and I hardly saw anyone, I was on my own, I hardly knew what happened in the palace, the only time news from inside the palace reached me when the maids came over to bring my meals, they loved to talk a lot, they were always trying to talk to me, there was a particular one that more persistent than the others, she kept coming even when I told her that I needed nothing and I could come for my meals myself, she paid me no heed and continued to do as she pleased.

Today I was in my chambers once again, I was going through some of the books I had brought with me from Marwa, it was quiet a peaceful night and I was thankful for it, it had been a few days since I visited the main palace, I had nothing to do there, I had nothing to report to the king yet, the informant I had sent was yet to return from Dulkhan, I had sent someone from Marwa to check the situation of things in Dulkhan when the king had ordered for information on Dulkhan to be brought to him.

I was seated under the date tree in the courtyard, when suddenly a familiar voice cut through the silence and disturbed me, it seemed like she had no particular time to visit my chambers, I wondered how a woman could have such a loose character, I sighed and put down my book, I already knew who it was, she had said her name was Haifa, I looked up and there she stood holding a basket in her hands, a bright smile on her round face, she had round figure and she certainly was not blessed with height, I felt she would barely come up to my chest and very peculiar thing about her was her affinity for loud colors, like the cloth she was wearing now was an odd combination of yellow and pink, then she had a bright green veil around her head. The colors were blinding, I was grateful it was dark because if it had been during the day then the colors would have hurt my eyes for sure.

“Greetings General” she said in her voice that for some reason I found too loud, I was used to soft spoken women but this one knew nothing about speaking softly.

“Greetings to you” I said,

She dropped the basket before and dropped on the floor a small distance away from me “I brought all the nice things I could find in the kitchen, there is fresh bread and grape juice, I also put in some tender meat and lastly I put in some fresh dates, I heard you like dates a lot” she said, the bright smile still plastered on her round face,

I had no idea where she heard that from but the truth was that I didn’t like dates very much, I found them a little too sweet, but all the same I said “Thank you, I will enjoy my meal”

Those words seemed to make her blush, because she looked away and her smile looked a bit shy, I couldn’t understand her, I had been nothing but cold to her since I arrived but she kept coming, it must a character of the women here, a woman of Marwa would never had brought herself to this position, she would have held her head high no matter and never bring herself to go after a man.

I said nothing and put the basket aside, deciding to eat the food later,

She quickly turned to me and said “You do not wish have your meal now?”

I cleared my throat and said “I am sorry but I am not in the mood for food right now, I will have it later and deliver the basket to you myself tomorrow”

She looked crestfallen but she quickly recovered and said “I believe your situation is to be understood after all”

“What situation do you speak of?” I asked not knowing what she was referring to,

She looked at me like I had grown a second head “The queen” she finally said,

That only made me more confused “What about the queen?” I asked,

“The queen is unwell, she has been for days, since the day of her wedding to the king, it was said she fainted not long after the ceremony and that right at this moment, she lies unconscious in her chambers and the royal physician cannot say when she will regain consciousness” she said, looking at me in way that made me like I was a complete fool,

She had looked unwell the last time I had seen her, if what Haifa was saying was correct, even when the assassin had attacked, she was already unconscious and had been for days already and I had no idea.

Without thinking I was on my feet and on my way to Banafsha’s chambers, I heard Haifa’s voice calling out to me but I didn’t listen, she was the least of my problems right now, I had to get Banafsha as soon as possible, I ran all the way to her chambers, my heart racing in my chest and I kept praying that she would be okay by the time I arrived there, I will never forgive myself if something happened to her before I got there, I had abandoned her and I had promised her father I would keep her safe no matter what.

Finally I reached her chambers, it was until I got there I remembered that things were different now, we were not in Marwa anymore and Banafsha was now a married woman and also the queen of Atrabad, which meant I couldn’t see her, I could not just go into her chambers to see her, I needed the permission of the king to see her and that was almost impossible, I doubted that the king will willingly let me into his queen’s chambers easily, I couldn’t blame him, I would do the same if I was him.

I stood a small distance from her chambers, I kept pacing, I was losing my mind, I had no idea in what condition she was right now and how severe her injury was, I wanted to see her, even if it was just to confirm that she was still alive and breathing, at least I could be at peace for now but even that was impossible.

I had never felt so powerless in my whole life, I was frustrated and worried at the same time, I didn’t know what to do right now, tired of pacing around, I sat down on the root of a giant tree, I tried to calm myself and think clearly, I knew I will never be at peace until I saw Banafsha at least, the most important to me right now was getting past the door into her chambers and to do that, there was only two options and one was seeking the king’s permission and the other was to break in but of which were impossible to do, the first was because I was sure the king will not give his permission and the second because I didn’t know the secret passages but I was sure they existed, every palace had them and if by chance I was caught, I might end up losing my life and putting Banafsha’s character into question and that was something I could never do.

I sat there starring at the door that kept me from seeing Banafsha, I sat there and I was sure it was almost mid night now and still I had no way of getting in, I had been praying that I might see Junnut but she was nowhere in sight.

Just when I was about to completely lose my mind, I saw the king approaching, I stood up quickly and thought of going up to him and asking for permission to see Banafsha but then I thought of how absurd my request sounded, I knew I could not go to the king with such a request but I was desperate.

I watched as he went into her chambers, I resumed my pacing, I had to see Banafsha this night, there was no way for me to be at peace without seeing her, I had no see her no matter the cost, deciding on the most absurd option, I stood up and walked towards Banafsha’s chambers, I will ask the king to grant me permission to see Banafsha even though I had no hope that he would actually accept.

I got to the door the exact moment came out, his eyes fell on me and he looked a little surprised, taking a deep breath, I walked up to him, I bowed my head and said “Greetings your majesty” I raised my head to find him looking a little puzzled,

“Greetings general Jawhar” he said,

“I am sorry for seeking you out so late at night your majesty but I have a favor I must ask of you tonight” I said and knelt before him,

“And what is this favor you seek that is so important that you have come to me so late at night?” he said,

I hesitated for a minute then finally made up to say it “Your majesty…….” I was cut short by the screams of a woman,

Both king Humair and I were immediately alert, I was on my feet before I knew it, the king turned to the door and ran to it and I quickly followed,

My heart was racing and I kept praying that nothing had happened to Banafsha, when I got in, I saw that her maids had surrounded her but what made heart stop its racing was the fact that her eyes were open and she was staring at us,

She looked so pale and weak, I had never seen Banafsha look like she did right now, my heart broke for her, I wanted nothing more than to hold her close to me, I couldn’t believe Banafsha could look as frail as she did right now, I found that I could not move, I was rooted to where I was, I could nothing but stare at her,

It took me a while to remember that the king was also standing beside me, when I looked at him, he looked like he was also unable to move, his eyes were fixed on Banafsha, he was looking at her like she was the only one that existed in the whole world,

I turned to her once again, her eyes were not on the king but on me, she was looking at me and then she called my name, I felt like rushing over to her and comforting her but I knew I couldn’t,

I turned to leave, I heard her voice again, she was calling my name again, her voice sounded tired and weak, it broke me, with all the determination I could muster I walked out of the room.