His Queen

Chapter 32

Queen Banafsha’s POV

When I woke this morning, I felt a lot better, I was able to move on my own, my injury didn’t hurt so much anymore, one of the first thing I checked was that I could move my hands on my own, I was glad, very glad indeed,

Junnut came to check on me and found that I was already awake and seated on my bed,

“Banafsha why did you get out of bed on your own? You should have waited for me or better still you should have called for me” she said as she helped me out of bed,

“I feel much better today, so I can get out of bed on my today, you don’t have to worry about me so much” I said with a smile,

Junnut had been worrying about me for so long now, and we had been having many quarrels since I woke up, I didn’t want that anymore, Junnut was just like a sister to me, I hated fighting with her, we never issues before but we always had one thing or the other to argue about since we arrived in Atrabad.

She looked at me and smiled “I am glad you are feeling better today Banafsha” she said and hugged me, I hugged her right back, it was warm and I found that I was really in need of a hug.

When she finally pulled away, she had a bright smile on her face “Let me prepare your bath so you can have your bath and then have your breakfast” she said and rushed away,

My other maids trouped in and they were happy to see that I was feeling better and they also rushed in to the bath house to help Junnut, I could hear them as they chatted and laughed with it other as they readied the bath.

I decided to go out for some air, it had been so long since I last went outside, I had been in my room for so long that just the thought of going out and feeling the breeze on my face had my heart racing,

I walked to the door and pushed it open, the air rushed in, it was glorious, a smile crossed my face, I stepped outside and the guards greeted me, I greeted them as well and headed straight to the gardens, the scent of the flowers greeted me, it was a warm day and the sun was bright but it wasn’t hot,

I brushed my fingers on the top of the flowers, this was the first time I had really appreciated the beauty of nature, I watched the bed as they flew and sang in the trees, if I going to be very honest with myself, I would say that I loved the beauty of Atrabad, it was a beautiful place filled many wonderful things, I loved even the architecture of the palace, I had not seen much but from what I had seen, it was really a beautiful place but of course, I was not going to be honest with myself and therefore I will never accept that Atrabad was a beautiful place,

This was not my home, I was a stranger in this land, there was no reason for me to like what they did or how beautiful their land was, no matter how welcome they tried to make me feel, it will never change the fact that I did not belong here and I will always be a stranger.

This was one of the reasons I had not wanted to get married, I had felt that I will have to leave Marwa and live in a strange land with strange people, that why I had rejected many offers for marriage from many kings, my best option for marriage had been Jawhar, if I had married him, I would not have had to leave home, I would have stayed in Marwa for ever,

I had wanted to marry Jawhar but it was something I hoped to do after getting my revenge from Gulshan, I had wanted to marry him with no grudge in my heart, he had suffered enough for me so I didn’t want him to suffer anymore but of course fate had other plans for us, we were not just destined to be.

I needed to have a proper discussion with Jawhar, I had to apologize for everything I had put him through for all these years past, he was a good man that didn’t deserve the hand he was dealt, he deserved to live a life a peace and happiness, he had done enough and now, I wanted to tell him that he was free to do as he pleased now, he had done enough and now, he had his own life to live.

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King Humair’s POV

The morning assembly had concluded and pressing issues had been sorted out, I had decided to have my breakfast after the assembly with Nihal in the gardens, we were currently seated enjoying the cool morning breeze and sipping from our wine goblets, this was how life was supposed to be, no stressful thinking about stressful wives and enemies lying in wait,

“So I heard the queen invited you to dine with her tonight” Nihal said as he casually sipped his wine,

All the previous thoughts I had earlier suddenly evaporated into thin air, you could always live up to Nihal to dampen the mood,

“Seems like word travels fast in the palace” I said and sipped my rich grape wine, it was rich and sweet,

Nihal shrugged his shoulders casually and said “It has always been that way I am afraid, the king and queen’s private are never really private, in the end it becomes general knowledge”

He was right, another so called burden of the crown, the affairs of the royal family will always be discussed no matter what.

“Yes I am scheduled to have dinner with the queen tonight, she sent me the invitation through her maid yesterday after our lunch together” I answered,

Memories of yesterday’s lunch flooded into my mind forcing me to reach for my goblet once more and quickly drink the contents, the sweetness calmed my mind.

“Interesting, and you will attend?” Nihal asked,

I smiled, why was everyone finding it difficult to believe that I will be honoring her invitation? Did they perhaps believe that I would treat her like she had treated me all the while since we got married, I had no reason to treat her that way, just like I felt she had no reason to treat me as she was doing, most people expected me to be angry with her by now but like I had said many times, she was a woman unlike any I had ever met and she intrigued me and appealed to me in a way that was difficult to understand.

“Of course I will be attending” I said with a smile,

Nihal was quiet for a while then he said “You harbor strong affections for the queen don’t you?” a small smile playing at the corner of his lips,

“You know me well my friend, so I believe you already know the answer to the question you ask” I said,

“But isn’t it dangerous to do that? She is woman who has no affection for you, she had made that very clear from the beginning, don’t you think it unwise to continue to humor her? Is not better to stay away from her?” he said,

I smiled and said “It is not like I chose to feel what I feel for her on my accord, I didn’t choose to fall for such an arrogant woman, but since it has already happened then I believe it cannot be helped, we just have to leave in hope that the future will be as trying as it is now”

Nihal was quiet for a few seconds then he said “If that is the case then I wish you all the best in taming the wild heart of the queen” a smile at the corners of his lips.

“And I thank you my friend” I said with a smile and we both sipped from our goblets.

I placed my goblet on the table, I was really looking forward to whatever promise this dinner with my queen held, I knew she had something up her sleeves and I just couldn’t wait to see what it was.