His Queen

Chapter 3

King Humair’s POV

Preparation was in full swing by now, it had been five days since the queen of Marwa dared me to declare war on her and her people because of what I could only term as arrogance and pride, I knew even without a doubt that she was a woman of great pride and I had been taught as a boy that pride was the downfall of any great king but it seemed like queen Ifza had never been learnt such lessons,

I had looked at the odds and I knew that there was no way, no miracle that could make Marwa win this war, it was obvious from the start, I am sure queen Ifza knew this but she was too arrogant to accept that this was a battle she was doomed to fail.

Despite her arrogance and pride, I found her intriguing, she was nothing like the women of Atrabad, the women of Atrabad possessed great beauty and they cherished it greatly, they took care of their bodies and always looked so fragile and delicate, they were women of elegance and grace, so it was more than intriguing to hear of a queen who fought wars and wielded the sword, and there was the tiny detail of keeping her face veiled from everyone, why would a woman ever keep her face hidden? The only times I saw a woman shield her face was if they had some sort of facial affliction,

I was completely sure she had the same problem, a woman with her character was bound to have a face that was unpleasant in many ways, of this fact I was very sure.

“Do I dare ask what his majesty is thinking about?” I heard Nihal’s voice say from beside me,

I had forgotten he was there all this while, we had been discussing battle formations and plans of attack but somehow, my thoughts had drifted elsewhere,

I turned to look at him, he had a lopsided grin on his face, a smile I knew only held mischief,

“The queen of Marwa” I answered, and gave him a grin of my own,

My friend stroke his bearded chin casually like he was deep in thought, mischief twinkled in his eyes and I knew he was going to be very mischievous,

“Permit me to speak freely your majesty” he said, the smile still plastered on his face,

Whenever Nihal spoke to me with proper respect whenever alone I knew that he was up to no good at all,

“You may speak as you wish general” I answered,

Nihal’s smile grew even wider, he cleared his throat and said “I think you are thinking about queen Banafsha a bit much Humair, two days ago you told me if I could obtain a portrait of the queen of Marwa, you reduced me to performing the tasks of the Liberians and scribes, it took me great troubles to find you that portrait as the queen of Marwa has no time for such things” he said an d even had the effrontery to look hurt.

Indeed I had asked him to procure a portrait of the queen, but it proved to be a waste of both my time and Nihal’s because the queen’s face was veiled and she stood with a sword that had intricate carvings in her hand, it was clear that she never sat it, it was no doubt the work of a good artist, though the art itself was beautiful and worth commending, it was not what I sought, I found that I really wanted to prove my theory on why she kept her face hidden all the time but I guess that will have to wait for a while,

I turned my gaze to Nihal, he had the same smile on his face and I suddenly wanted to wipe that smile of his arrogant face,

“Tell me general Jaan, how soon will our troops be ready to ride out?” I said, trying to infuse as much authority as I could into my voice,

I saw the sides of his lips twitch, he wanted to laugh at me but he was obviously restraining himself, he cleared his throat and said “The troops of Atrabad will be ready to ride out by tomorrow your majesty”

I simply nodded my head and remained quiet,

Finally, I could satisfy my curiosity, I could finally see what was behind the whole mystery, but at the same time, I felt sad, tomorrow men will die, it was always the case with war, lives were always lost and good people always died,

My father had once told me that a good king must try his best to avoid war, he should only use it as a last resort but if he finds himself in a situation where it cannot be avoided then he must always be ready for it.

I had a very strong feeling that Queen Ifza had never been taught that particular lesson and that was a real shame for that was a lesson that was important for every ruler to know.

Taking a deep breath, I said “We ride for Marwa tomorrow”

All humor vanished from Nihal’s face, he was suddenly alert “Yes your majesty, the troops only await your command to ride out” he said,

I nodded my head thoughtfully, I turned to my scribe who sat in a corner of the throne room, his feather pen always ready to write down whatever it was that I had to say,

“I, king Humair of Atrabad here give my royal decree for the royal army to prepare for battle on the 10th day of the month of harvest which is tomorrow, the royal troops will be commanded by the General Nihal Jaan, this is my royal decree” I said and watched as the scribe hurriedly wrote down my words on a golden parchment,

It was customary to write the words of the king on a piece of golden parchment, this had been the tradition since the time of my forefathers.

Once the scribe was done, he folded the parchment and brought it to me on a soft pillow, I took it and opened it, then I took the royal seal in the form of golden lion’s head and stamped it on the paper,

The royal seal was to show my authority had been give and it will not be questioned by anyone, once I was done, I rolled up the decree and handed it to Nihal, he collected it and bowed his head,

“You know what to do next” I said to him,

He gave me a small smile and said “Yes your majesty” then he left the throne room leaving me alone with the almost invisible scribe.

Tomorrow was going to be a dark day for both Marwa and Atrabad, lives will be lost on both sides and this could have been avoided but the pride of a queen was not something that could be easily waved aside.

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Queen Banafsha’s POV

I received a message from the scouts I had placed close to Atrabad, they had informed me that the troops of Atrabad will ride out at first light tomorrow,

I hadn’t expected an attack so soon but luckily, the soldiers of Marwa were always ready for battle, I had immediately called for a general assembly with all the ministers, they were currently gathered at the assembly hall waiting for me,

I hurried to the assembly hall, my bodyguards followed behind him, soon the elaborate doors of the assembly hall came into view, I didn’t wait to be announced before I pushed the door opened and walked in,

They all bowed and I took my seat on the throne, once I was seated on the throne, they all raised their heads,

I waited for no preamble, I went straight to the point “The troops of Atrabad will attack tomorrow and we also ride out to meet them, we must make sure that the battle is far away from our people, the people must be safe at all cost” I said,

There were a few murmurs among the ministers, then finally the minister of foreign affairs came to the front and said, “My Queen, I believe I speak the mind of everyone here when I say that it is in our best interest to reconsider this war, it is of no benefit to us in anyway, we only stand to lose if we go to war with Atrabad, we are greatly outnumbered, heed my word your majesty, this is a battle we will lose, I beg you to reconsider your majesty” he said,

The rest of the court echoed his last sentence.

I couldn’t believe that they didn’t understand why I was doing this, this was about justice for a bereaved family, they deserved to be given justice for the child they lost and that was all I was trying to do, we had always stood for justice and what was right even if it was to be our destruction, and had we not always persevered and conquered all the time? So why was it that they were behaving in such a cowardly manner now? Was it because Atrabad was such a big kingdom? I was disappointed in them greatly, once I would have said that I had loyal ministers that will ride with me to even the gates of hell but now, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

“I am disappointed that the ministers I had thought so highly of will say such cowardly words, when have we ever fought with the intension of winning, we had always fought with the intension of righting a wrong, but what are these words I hear from you, do you not think of the family who at this very moment mourn for the child they lost? Have you all forgotten the promise we made to her family right here in this very court? So what are these words of cowardice I hear from you today?” I said,

The minister of foreign affairs cleared his throat and said “Forgive me your majesty, my fear of Atrabad got the better of me, I apologize” he said and bowed then slowly returned to his place in the assembly.

“Forgiveness your Majesty” the whole assembly said,

A smile curved my lips underneath my veil, I knew I could always count on them, they had agreed with him, I knew that if I had their support I could win this battle.

Suddenly a tall, dark figure stepped to the front of the assembly, his deep dark eyes burned into mine, Jawhar.

“Your majesty, permit me to say a few words” he said, his deep steady voice filling the entire throne room,

I nodded my head, indicating that he was free to speak,

He bowed his head in a show of respect then raised it again and said “It is not a thing of doubt when it said that you are truly a just and honorable queen that will protect her people with her life”

The ministers nodded their heads in agreement,

“But I am sorry if this may seem disrespectful to you your majesty but I believe it is something that must be said, it true that we have always fought for what was true and just and we have always won but this time is different from the previous times, we have had to fight against a kingdom greater than us, we have fought against lesser kingdoms and we have won, we have to remember that we have kingdoms that look unto us for protection and any wrong move on our part will endanger those people, we must remember that we have a duty to keep our people safe and I afraid to say this as the general in charge of this war, but this is a war we will lose and no doubt endanger our people, so please I ask that you reconsider this decision your majesty, we can settle this dispute another way” Jawhar said,

I had known he was opposed to this war but I had not expected him to openly challenge me like this, I was used to Jawhar always supporting me so this was very unexpected,

I was about to say something when Jawhar continued “It may be a battle we are bound lose, but it is also a battle I am willing to fight for you your majesty because you have led us to battle countless times and we have been victorious so if this is to be our last battle then I assure you that every soldier of Marwa is willing to die for you my queen” his steady voice said,

Those words brought comfort to my heart and a smile to my face, my dear general Jawhar, always supporting me matter what.

The ministers murmured their agreement.

“Then tomorrow we ride with the intension of justice in our hearts and we will be victorious” I said,

“Yes your majesty” the ministers said in unison.