His Queen

chapter 35

Junnut’s POV

Yesterday I had waited for a long time but it seemed like the king and queen will not be needing us anytime soon, we decided to leave them alone, I wondered what had happened between Banafsha and the king yesterday, the palace gossips had said the king had not returned to his chambers till very late at night.

I will be a liar to say I was not curious to know what had transpired between Banafsha and king Humair, I was wondering if they fought again, but If they had fought then the king would not have spent the night in her chambers, something must have happened, there was no possibility that nothing happened, but then again, had Banafsha’s heart finally shifted towards the king? Had she finally decided to act like she was supposed to from the beginning? Many questions ran through my mind at the same time, but of course all my questions will only be answered when I finally went to Banafsha’s chambers.

I was a few meters from her chambers when I met with someone I wished hadn’t met, general Nihal was approaching from the other side, he had already seen me so it was too late to turn away, if I ran away from him now, that will make me a coward, squaring my shoulders and keeping a straight face, I matched forward.

I had intended to just walk past him but he said “Greetings to you Laylah”

I could have just walked away but I disliked the fact that he referred to me as Laylah when he knew my name, I turned to face him,

“I am sorry my lord but that is not my name, I believe you already know my name” I said, keeping my voice steady and my head low,

He was quiet for a few seconds then he said “You know that you do not have to speak to me in that manner, you can speak with me like you had always done in the garden”

I wondered why he almost sounded desperate when he was asking me this, why was it that he had refused to let me be since the first day he met me and I was finding it difficult to get him out of my mind since the day I met him, I needed to get him out of my mind as soon as possible, we had no reason to be together, that was why I had no reason to keep standing here and speaking to him,

“I have nothing more to say so I will take my leave now” I said and slightly bowed my head, with that, I turned on my way,

I had taken a few steps away from him when he called out to me “We will meet again, I am sure” he said,

Taking a deep breath, I walked away from him, was there ever a man as insufferable as him, I just had to forget about him and that was it.

When I arrived Banafsha’s room, she was seated in front of her mirror, she was running her hairbrush through her hair absentmindedly, she looked very deep in thought, she had not even acknowledged my presence when I entered,

I walked over to her “Banafsha what are you doing? I hadn’t expected you to be up?” I said,

She seemed startled when she heard my voice because she suddenly jumped and said “Oh Junnut, I didn’t hear when you came in, when did you arrive?”

Banafsha was acting strange, very strange indeed “I just arrived actually” I said with a smile playing at the corner of my lips,

It was interesting to see Banafsha act like this, I was used to her behaving in a completely perfect manner, it was nice to see her act like someone who could make mistakes sometimes,

She ignored me and continued to brush her hair absentmindedly, I simply shrugged my shoulders and let her be, it was obvious she was not in talking mood, I decided to tidy up like I normally, I went to lay the bed, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight that greeted me, the bed was in total disarray like a battle had been fought in it, it looked like Banafsha had tried smoothening out the edges because it looked like it had been pulled but it was poorly done since this was something she had never done before, I said nothing and simply lay the bed properly,

After that the floors were next, I was sweeping the floor when I noticed the pearls I had woven into Banafsha’s the previous scattered all over the floor, they were everything, suddenly it dawned on me, the rumors that had been going around in the palace all morning finally started to sound unlike rumors, they began to sound like something had really happened between Banafsha and the king, without thinking, I rushed to her,

She was a bit startled when I ran to her and sat by her on the floor with a wide a smile on my face, she quickly down at me and said “What’s the matter with you Junnut?”

“Tell me Banafsha, did the king really spend the night here last night?” I said, the smile on my face getting wider as Banafsha’s eyes widened,

She quickly stood up from her chair and walked away from me, she had her back to me and I could no longer see her face but I was sure she had an expression on her face that will no doubt confirm my suspicions, it seemed like things had not gone as gone Banafsha had intended yesterday night, things must gone another way because if this had been Banafsha’s plan all along then she surely wouldn’t be behaving like she was right now,

I stood up and walked up to her, I turned her to me and she had the most confused expression on her face, she was finding it difficult to look at me, her eyes were looking at every single place but my face,

“Banafsha you know you can tell me anything right? You have never kept anything from me before, we have always told each other everything” I said,

Her eyes finally met mine, she took a deep a breath and finally said “I kissed the king yesterday Junnut and the spent the night in my chambers, he left not too long ago”

My eyes went wide, this was news, this was shocking news indeed, “You kissed the king? You really kissed his majesty?” I said and Banafsha simply nodded her head,

Banafsha had not kept her hatred for the king of Atrabad a secret since we arrived here, she had openly scorned him and had not missed a single opportunity to ridicule him so I was shocked as to why Banafsha had kissed him as she said,

“I thought you hated the king, you had always old me you thought an arrogant man, so forgive me if I am unable to understand you completely Banafsha” I said,

She turned away from me and walked away, she looked like she was thinking, I stood there watching her and she stood a few steps away from me, looking deep in thought,

“Or perhaps you have changed your mind? Perhaps you do not see the king that way again?” I asked, I found that I was anticipating her response, could it be that Banafsha had finally listened to the words of reason I had been singing in her ears? Had her heart finally shifted towards the king,

She turned to look at me, her eyes held nothing but confusion, then she cleared her throat and said “I will be a liar if I told you that I was sure of my feelings for king Humair, I do not what I feel for me, I am no longer sure if I hate him as I said or if I still find him arrogant as I thought but one thing I am sure of is that I had not wanted him to leave this morning, I had wanted him to stay beside me, that’s all I know”

Those words warmed my heart, never in my entire lifetime did I think Banafsha capable of uttering such words, I had thought that it will take nothing short of a miracle to soften her heart towards the king, I rushed to her and hugged her,

“You have no idea how happy those words make me Banafsha, I am so happy to hear them” I said as I hugged her,

“What are you so happy about? I just told you that I had no idea how I feel toward king Humair, is that something to be happy about?” she said,

“A few days ago you had told me that you hated the king, you had so very sure about what you were saying to me but the fact you are not so sure anymore really gladdens my heart, that is good enough for me” I said as I stepped back and looked at Banafsha who had a small smile on her face,

“You are quite a character Junnut, you really are” Banafsha said, a smile on her beautiful face,

I smiled and said “I better clean up those pearls before anyone trips and fall on them”

Banafsha’s eyes widened, then she cleared her throat and said “Yes I supposed that will be for the best” then she walked away and I could not seem to wipe the smile from my face and that was how I carried that smile along with me all day long.