His Queen

Chapter 21

Princess Banafsha’s POV

I was excited and I ran towards the direction of the barracks, father and sister Junaina were waiting for me there, Junnut ran behind me, she kept shouting out to me to slow down, I heard her but I didn’t listen, I kept running until finally, we reached.

Father turned to me and a smile spread across his face, he beckoned me over and I rushed to him leaving a panting Junnut behind, I climbed up the stairs and ran to him, a wide smile on my face, he knelt down so he could reach my height.

“Greetings father” I said,

“Greetings my princess, are you ready for your first lesson in sword fight?” he said, a smile still playing on his lips,

I nodded with enough vigor to make it fall of if possible.

Father smiled and stood up, he turned away from me and signaled to Junaina, I wasn’t sure what it meant but I watched as Junaina picked up a wooden sword and threw it my way, I struggled to catch it, I ended up catching it but it was very clumsy indeed.

I smiled at Junaina and said “Greetings sister” I said,

She gave me a small smile and said “Greetings little one”

That was how she referred to me, Junaina was not as jovial and bright as me and father, she was more like mother, they were both silent and I always wondered how they could be so graceful unlike me who was always so very clumsy.

I was more than excited when father said he would teach me how to use the sword, I had always wanted to learn but he had refused to teach me, then finally last night, he told me to come to the barracks and start my training, I had talked about it all night when mother had come to tuck me into bed, I kept telling her, I will become the best swordswoman in the whole kingdom and I will go with father to fight battles.

She had simply smiled and said “I have doubt you will my dear, you will be beautiful, powerful and strong, my little princess”

That night I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

The training was nothing like I had expected, it had always looked enchanting when the soldiers were practicing and also when father trained with Junnut but today, I had been hit and pushed in every way, I barely managed to deflect most of the attacks Junaina had thrown my way under father’s watchful eyes,

When father had said we could stop for today, I was glad, very glad indeed, my head and back hurt, I was problem standing as well, it seemed like I had sprained my ankle.

Father came to me and said “My little princess, you did well today, in fact you did very well for your first day and I am sure you will do better tomorrow and the day after and the day after as well”

Those words brought a smile to my face and I promised to always better and that was exactly what I did, I trained and became better, I trained with sword and the arrow, I became good at both them, father and mother were proud of me and so was Junaina,

I had trained with Jawhar countless times, he had always been so helpful with my training, Junnut sat watching me and Jawhar, she always had comment or the other to throw in.

Father had said that I was born to wield the sword, Junaina had been training for years but I was almost as good as she was, those words gladdened my heart.

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Queen Banafsha’s POV

That was the girl I had been, I was the girl that wanted to be as strong as her father and as graceful as her mother and sister, I was living a fairy tale life, the life of a perfect princess but it was suddenly turned upside down, I was forced to grow up, I realized very early that every princess was destined to be a queen, I had to forgo the remnant of my childhood, I had to become a queen to my people, I had felt that I couldn’t let them down, my parents would not have let them down and I was the daughter of a strong king and queen, I had no reason to give up, so I fought with everything I had, I fought to protect my people and I fought to survive.

But right now, stuck in this limbo of time, I didn’t know where I was, it was never day or night, it was always grey and white and I kept walking and nothing ever changed, I had walked around till I collapsed from exhaustion, I lay on the floor, I was tired and weak, perhaps I could just give up and succumb to the bliss death will offer, I had fought for so long and I was now very tired, I just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again, I felt that somehow I had earned that right, the people of Marwa were now safe, I had done it all, the only thing I couldn’t do was to avenge my family and Junaina, she was still in captivity, I had to save her, I must save her, I still had a lot to do, Gulshan must die.

I forced my body from the cold ground, with great difficulty and shaking limbs, I managed to stand up, cold wind brushed against my skin, I shivered against the cold, I took one step forward and then another, I thought I would make it, a small smile was forming on my lips when suddenly a strong gust of wind blew, sending me back to the floor, I lay there without a single ounce of energy, I just wanted to lie there and never get up, the cold wind ravaged my body, every single joint in my body was stiff and I just wanted close my eyes and give into the darkness that threatened to consume me if I succumbed,

The cold had turned painful and my body was numb, I closed my eyes not having any strength left to fight the cold, black surrounded and consumed me, this was the end for me I thought and my eyes closed completely and then there was silence.

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I woke up suddenly, I looked around, I was still in the grey prison, everything was the same but the cold was gone, I knew it was useless to attempt leaving, I was trapped and there was no escape so I lay there feeling tired, weak and frail.

Then I was suddenly hearing voices, I remained quiet and tried to focus on the voices and finally I recognized it, it was Junnut, she was speaking to me and also praying for me to wake up quickly, she was pleading with me not to leave her, I could tell she was crying.

I wanted to answer her and tell her that I will be okay and she should not despair, I wanted to tell her that she need not worry about me so much, Junnut had a habit for developing swollen eyes and lips if she cried for too long, I knew that will end up being the only result if she kept crying but I found I could say nothing, I could only listen to her as she kept pleading and begging, my heart broke for her but still, I couldn’t move, it felt like I was bound by chains.

I lay there listening to the cold floor listening to her until finally there was silence again, she was gone leaving me heartbroken and wishing I could leave this place more than ever, but I noticed that it wasn’t as cold as it had been initially been.

It was quiet for a while then there was another voice, I couldn’t easily recognize it but I could tell it belonged to one of my handmaidens, she was also asking me to wake up soon so she could take care of my hair, she thought it looked dull and was losing all its shine, she said she thought my hair was the most beautiful she had ever seen and with me lying down, it was difficult to take care of it, so I should wake up soon so it would not lose its beauty.

Her words moved me, this was a person that hardly knew me and all the time I had seen her, I had no doubt been nasty to her, but here she was earnestly asking me to wake up, her words made me like a horrible person.

Soon enough, there was silence again, indicating she had left, I lay there on the floor, I realized it was not so cold again, the cold was a bit bearable but I still couldn’t move.

It was silent but I could sense a presence, once I noticed its presence, I felt warmth flood through my entire body, I inhaled deep breaths greedily, I hadn’t noticed that I had been struggling to breathe until now, the grey room was becoming more colorful, the changes were faint but I was able to see them,

I wondered who this was and why did he or she’s presence have so much impact, I tried to focus on the presence, perhaps I could identify who it was but there was nothing no matter how I tried, all I knew was that there was so much from this person and it was chasing away the cold that threatened to consume me whole.

Then I felt warmth on my right hand, I felt it spread from my fingertips to my palm, then the warmth spread into my whole body, I felt life return to certain parts of my body, I could move that particular hand now but the rest remained unmoving,

Then much to my dismay, I felt the warmth slowly withdrew, I was not ashamed to say that I needed that warmth more than anything right now, I found myself seeking it out in this cold prison, I found that I was struggling to hold on to it as it slipped away but it was futile, soon it was gone and felt like I had just something vital to my survival.

I needed to wake up now, I wanted to know who this was, I felt it was vital to know or I might spend a long time believing I had lost something important, I felt like I was beginning to panic and get restless then in one short moment, I felt warmth on my forehead, warmth that spread through my body so suddenly, I almost screamed because the sensation was something indescribable, it was something I had never felt before, I needed to wake up now, I really needed to open my eyes now, and just like before the warmth left and then I heard a voice, a voice I couldn’t easily recognize but I could tell it was the voice of a man,

The words were simple and precise “Wake up please” was all I heard but those simple words were enough to make me want to wake up, I didn’t want to stay here anymore,

I felt it as the presence retreated leaving me with a feeling of loss, I couldn’t afford to let the person leave me here, I knew if the person left me here, the cold would return and this time I wouldn’t have the strength to fight, I would be consumed and end up floating away.

I fought to hold on to the slipping warmth, the words kept playing in my head

“Wake up please” the voice had said,

“I want to live” the words were out of my lips before I knew it, I had said them with so much strength,

I closed my eyes and repeated the words to myself countless times, soon I felt a gentle breeze carry me and when I opened my eyes, I was my bed in my chambers, I was awake.