His Queen

chapter 39

Banafsha’s POV

It had just been hours since Junnut left but I missed her greatly, my other hand maidens had tried to keep me company but it just wasn’t the same, I had asked them to leave me alone claiming that I would like to have some sleep but if was been honest with myself, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy their mindless chatter, they spoke too loudly and it wasn’t of anything that vaguely interested me.

So now I lay on my bed, staring at my ceiling, my thoughts were filled with king Humair, why had he bothered to help me rescue Junaina? He had even sent the general of his army, why was he been so nice to me? He had no reason to do any of these things he was doing, I had been nothing but nasty and rude since I met him, I had never missed an opportunity to ridicule him, but he was still been nice to him, I wonder how it was that I assumed his arrogance when I had not even myself the chance to know him for who really was.

My mind travelled to the night he had spent in my room, I had felt safe when I was cradled in his arms and when his lips had touched mine, the entire problems of the world seemed to vanish into thin air and fade from existence and my traitorous heart had beat widely in my chest, I had thought it would desert me and jump out my chest.

I turned on my bed, what was going on with me? Why couldn’t I get the king of Atrabad out of my mind? I was thinking about him like some silly little girl with childish dreams about finding my one true love, I had no reason to be acting like this, I was supposed to be thinking to get my revenge on Gulshan, I had think of a way to be done with once and for all, I couldn’t let him keep bothering my life all the time, once Junaina returned safely, I will make sure I end Gulshan once and for all, this battle had gone on long enough.

A knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts, I sat up on the bed and said “Come in”

A few seconds later, one of my hand maidens walked in with a wooden tray covered with red velvet, on top of the tray was beautiful box, I looked at the box questionably,

“What is that?” I asked,

The girl had a silly smile on her face when she said “His majesty sent this to you”

“Why was the king sending me things?” I asked myself as I reached out to collect the box from the maid’s outstretched hands,

The box itself was beautiful, it was a golden box with intricate carvings and few gems were embedded on it, taking a deep breath, I opened it and when I did, a small gasp escaped my lips, inside the box was the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen, I had loved jewelries a lot in my younger day but I had not time for them since the fall of Marwa and the death of my parents.

The necklace before me was simply breathtaking, it made of diamonds and sapphires, black diamonds and red sapphire stones were cut and arranged into a beautiful necklace, looking closer, I noticed that there was also a pair of matching earrings, I was short of words, I just stared at the beautiful necklace before me.

“Your majesty, it’s pretty, it is absolutely beautiful” my hand maiden was saying, that pulled me out of the dazed state I found myself,

I smiled at her and said “Was there no letter attached to it?”

She made a face to show that it had slipped her mind before reaching under the velvet cloth that covered the wooden tray and pulled out a white piece of parchment, then quickly handed it to me,

Putting the box down, I collected the letter from her and opened it, the king’s handwriting was long and slanting, he wrote a very fine hand indeed, I read the words written on the piece of parchment.

I hope you like my gift and I hope that you will wear them tonight when

I come to dine with you at dinner time.

Humair

I read the letter about half a dozen times, he was asking me to wear his gifts when he came to dine with me, the thought of him coming into my chambers once again made heat flood my body, the king was becoming a threat to my sanity.

Taking a deep breath, I looked from the box containing the necklace and back to the letter in my hand, if I accepted to wear his gifts, it meant that I was not looking at him at the arrogant man I had always thought him to be, it meant that I was willing to give him a chance, I was not sure if I wanted to give him a chance, I had things to do and no one was going to do them for me, I had no time to entertain the advances of the king of Atrabad.

I looked down at the letter one more time and my eyes fell on where he had written his name, he had simply written ‘Humair’ there was something intimate about him just writing his first name, he had not even put his tittle before it, for some reason I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the name written in long slanting letters,

“Your majesty, should I keep the box with your other jewelries?” my hand maiden said,

I looked up at her, I had almost forgotten she was still in the room, I looked at the box one more time, then finally I said “Yes you can keep it with the rest, I won’t be wearing it anytime soon”

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General Jawhar’s POV

I returned from seeing off Junnut and general Jaan to find Haifa about to leave, when she saw me, her eyes widened and she made to quickly rush past me,

“Wait Haifa” I said,

She stopped but didn’t say a word, she didn’t even look at me, she kept staring straight ahead,

Taking a deep breath, I said “I am sorry for how I spoke to you the last time we met, it was rude and I had no right to have done that, you are a lady and I was wrong to speak to you that way, so for that I ask that you forgive my behavior”

She finally turned to look at me, her eyes were moist “There is nothing to forgive general, I was at fault” she said and turned to leave once again.

I looked at the food basket she had brought and a groan escaped my lips, without thinking I said “Have breakfast with me” the words were already out my mouth before I could stop them,

She turned around to look at me, she had a ghostly smile on her face when she said “Thank you general, I must return to the kitchen now, I would not want to bother you with my presence”

I watched as she walked away with a sad dejected look on her face, she looked heartbroken and it was all my fault, I muttered a few curses, I used to pride myself on been a gentleman but right now, I felt like a complete donkey.

I let out a deep breath, my life will be much easier without the women in it, I was still nursing my broken heart over losing Banafsha, I am still very worried about Junnut and the journey she was currently on and now, I had Haifa to worry about.

Taking one more look at the food basket, a loud groan escaped my lips, I grabbed the basket and headed inside my chambers, this was a situation that needed remedying very fast, I hated the feeling of guilt so I usually stayed away from anything that made me feel guilty but Haifa seemed ready to push me to all my limits.

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I couldn’t believe I was really doing this, I don’t know what madness possessed me into thinking this was a good idea, I was currently in the kitchen holding the food basket Haifa had brought along with her, there were over a dozen women gawking at me, they kept batting their eyelashes at me and it was really tiring,

“What can we do for you general?” one of them said, she was a pretty woman with long lashes which she kept batting at me,

I cleared my throat and said “I am looking for Haifa, do you know where I can find her please?”

They seemed shocked by my answer because one of them asked me “Are you sure its Haifa you seek?”

“I am absolutely sure, do you know where I can find her?” I said,

One of them reluctantly pointed me in the direction where I could supposedly find Haifa, nodding my head in gratitude, I turned away from them and headed in the direction they had shown me.

I walked for a while until I came to what looked like a small stream, it was a quiet place with trees, the only sound I could hear was that of the birds as they flew from one tree to another, I looked around and finally found her the woman I sought, it was a wonder how I had not noticed her in the first place, she was dressed in a yellow and green attire, a small smile crossed my lips, it was a wonder how a woman could ever dress like that.

I cleared my throat so I could inform her of my presence, she turned around quickly, I watched as her widened when they fell on me, she stood up quickly and rushed to me, she stopped a good distance from me,

“What brings you here?” she said,

“I wanted to return the basket” I said with a smile,

“You could have simply left it, I would have come back to retrieve myself” she muttered,

Clearing my throat, I said “Actually, I wanted to apologize to you for my behavior and I really mean it this time, I am thankful for you’re the care you have given me, I have not been fair to you so thank you”

She smiled and blushed a little “You are embarrassing me general” she said,

I handed the basket above to her and said “Thank you very much for the food”

She smiled and collected the basket.

I smiled and walked away, with every step I took, I felt the guilt disappear.