His Queen

Chapter 10

Queen Banafsha's POV

I sat before my mirror brushing my hair absent mindedly, it was early in the morning, I had been woken up by my hand maidens and they had helped me take my bath but I had decided on brushing my hair on my own when they kept pestering me to get treated.

My hair was thick and black, I missed Junnut, she was the perfect person to take care of my hair but now she was nowhere to be found,

The only comfort I had was that she will be arriving today, that alone was enough to comfort me and know that I will not be so lonely here,

I gave up on brushing my hair, I threw the brush on the dressing mirror, I stood but quickly sat down again when a sharp pain travelled from my stomach to every part of my body, I grabbed my stomach in pain and panted, the pain was excruciating, I sat there for a while before finally gaining a little strength to walk over to my bed.

With great difficulty, I stood up and walked over to my bed, I was a few steps away when my vision became blurry and I felt my head going faint, I was going to fall when I felt strong hands around my waist, the hands steadied me and led me to my bed, I lay down and it took me a few minutes to calm down and regain my senses,

A few minutes later, a cup of water was held to my lips, the cold water slipped down my throat and I found it comforting, the cup left my lips and my head was eased back to the pillow,

The pain was subsiding but I still felt weak, I lay back on the bed wishing for the pain to go away,

I wasn’t sure who the person was but I knew it was a man, he came closer to me, I felt something moist dab at my forehead, when he came closer, I perceived the smell of musk, it was deep and masculine and somehow I found it comforting.

“You are unwell and you need to be treated immediately” I heard the person say, the voice sounded far away and I couldn’t decipher the owner of the voice,

“No doctor………I am fine” I muttered but it seemed like the person heard,

“Summon the physician immediately” I heard the voice say and this time I could decipher the owner of the voice,

I jerked up so suddenly that pain shot through my body but I fought back the pain,

He stood watching me with keen eyes, he had a cloth in his hand which he had no doubt been using to damp my head,

I felt anger flair up in the caves of my heart, I was angry that he had come into my chambers but what was most annoying was the fact that he had seen me at my weakest,

“I ask that you stay away from my chambers till after the wedding ceremony your majesty, it’s all I ask for” I said,

I watched him hand the cloth over to a maid waiting in the background, he was still watching me with those eyes, those eyes that I felt were looking deep in my soul,

“I apologize for my behavior, I will keep away from your chambers till after the wedding” he said and turned to leave,

I watched him till he got to the door, then he stopped and turned back to face me, he had a thoughtful expression on his face,

“I hope you get better soon queen Ifza” he said and then he was gone.

*************

Banafsha’s POV

Long after the king had left and I had dismissed my talkative maids, I lay on my bed,, thinking about how I had reacted to the king, Junnut would have thought I had over reacted but honestly, I felt like I had done the right thing, the sooner he realized his very presence sickened me the better it will be for him, I didn’t want him getting any ideas that this was a marriage where I will allow myself to treated as anyone saw fit,

Just because I had agreed to marry him did not mean that I will be submissive to him, this was a political marriage and nothing more, if the king failed to remember that, I will make sure to always remind him of that.

I am the great queen of Marwa, I never needed a man to tell me what to do and that will not start now, I was a warrior and I will be one and the king of Atrabad will just have to live with that.

A gentle knock sounded on the door, I raised my head to look toward the door and the sight saw really gladdened my heart, it was Junnut with a smile on her face but her eyes were red and swollen indicating she had been crying,

Before I could stand and welcome her properly, she had already closed the distance and hugged me, it felt nice to have someone hug me like this but at the same time, it was something I was not used to, so I gently disentangled a crying Junnut from my body,

“Don’t worry Junnut, don’t cry I am doing okay” I said, trying to make my voice sound confident and strong but right now, how I felt was nothing close to any of those.

Junnut looked deep into my eyes, her brown tear stained ones made me feel like hugging her again but I managed to stop myself,

“Banafsha, you don’t need to blame yourself, the people of Marwa are with you and they are grateful for your sacrifice, the street of Marwa are filled with people chanting your praises, they sing praises of a great queen, a great queen who fought for them and protected them, they sing praises of their Ifza, their protective angel, so do not be sad Banafsha, your people still love and adore you” Junnut said,

Her words comforted me greatly and I felt a little better that the people still believed in me despite my failure.

I managed a smile and she rewarded with a smile that made me feel like I hadn’t completely failed those who cared about me, then I remembered someone I had failed more than anyone else,

“What of Jawhar? How is he?” I asked, I was surprised at how desperate and hurried my words sounded,

A smile crossed Junnut face, but it had a hint of sadness to it,

“Jawhar arrived with me, he is outside the queen’s chambers right now, he is not allowed in, the soldiers outside said, he could come in if he received special permission from the king, so he told me to go in and inquire about your wellbeing and return to him” she said,

I was out the door before she could finish what she was saying, the maids and soldiers bowed their heads as I passed by but I ignored them and rushed out of my chambers, once I was outside, I looked around until my eyes rested on him, a tall dark figure in the shade, he had his back to me,

I walked slowly towards him, he must have heard me approaching because he suddenly turned around, his eyes softened when they fell on me but it was replaced by pain almost immediately, I stopped when I about two feet away from him,

“Greetings my queen” he said and bowed his head slightly,

I remained quiet because I had nothing to say,

He raised his eyes and they met mine, I saw pain flash in their depth,

“You look unwell Banafsha” he said, his deep voice said,

Those simple words that were not supposed to make me like crying suddenly made tears well up in my eyes, I looked away, so that I may hide my tears of shame from him,

I heard his footsteps as he walked closer to me, and then warm fingers touched my cheeks, I looked up at him quickly,

I was met with his eyes once again, and this time, I saw a number of emotions crashing against each other, emotions I never thought I will see in Jawhar’s eyes, in those eyes, I saw all the love he had for me and the pain he felt in losing me,

He was looking down at me with rapt attention ,his fingers brushed against my cheek wiping my tears away,

“Don’t cry Banafsha, I hate to see you cry more than anything in this world” he said,

That only caused the tears flow even more,

“If you continue to cry, it will make me think of ways to get you out of here before you get married to that man” he said,

Those words brought me back to reality, I was getting married in two days’ time and I had to ensure I got married to make sure my people were safe,

I stepped away from Jawhar, he stayed where he was, I was grateful that he didn’t come closer,

“I came to say my final goodbye Banafsha, I am returning to Marwa this night” he said,

I felt my heart break into a million pieces, I didn’t want Jawhar to leave, he and Junnut were the only family I had left and I wanted them close to me no matter what,

“Don’t go” the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them,

Jawhar’s face remained expressionless, but in his eyes, I could see the conflicting emotions,

I know it was wrong of me to want him to stay but I didn’t care.

Finally he said “As you wish”