King Humair’s POV
I was not sure how I was able to listen to the ministers during the morning assembly, my mind was far away, my mind was still on the events of the previous night, once the assembly was complete, I had gone to the gardens and sat by the lake, I found this was only the place I could be at peace completely, I watched as the ducks gathered at the edge of the lake as they sensed my presence, they sought the tiny scraps of bread I usually brought with me, they waited for a while but they noticed none was forthcoming, they swam away and left me alone with my thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, I collapsed into one of the chairs by the lake, my mind flew back to yesterday when I had queen Ifza in my arms and how body had felt against mine, it was heavenly and it was surprising how much she wanted me, I could feel it in her kisses and how she pulled closer to me, it had taken the whole of my self-control to stop myself before things went too far, when I had managed to pull myself away from her, I had wanted leaving immediately but she had asked me to stay the night with her and I couldn’t her, I had lain on the bed with her and had held her close to me until she fell asleep, I had left early the next morning because I couldn’t trust myself around her anymore.
I was not sure how I was to behave around her anymore, I was not sure what to say to her when I saw her and had something changed between us after last night? Had things become better between them? Queen Ifza was a woman one could not predict, one could never be sure as to how she will react about things, but all he was sure of was that he was completely and utterly in love with her and he wanted to be with her completely in every sense of the word, he wanted her to be his wife and not just his queen, he wanted to be able to sleep in her arms and wake up to her beautiful eyes staring up at him, he wanted to see her smile at him every morning when he woke up, that was the type of life he wanted to live with queen Ifza and by God he will do whatever he could to make it a reality, even if he had to woo her.
But the question remained, how exactly did a man woo woman? He never done it so he had no idea what to do, he needed someone to help him with this and who better to ask than his dear friend, General Nihal Jaan.
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Humair’s POV
Nihal was looking at me like I had completely lost my mind since I asked him how a man wooed a woman, he had not said anything for the past 10 minutes since I asked him the question and I was getting very impatient,
“Well? How do I do it?” I said, the irritation was very evident in my voice,
He shook his head as if snapping himself out of whatever trance he had trapped himself in, he cleared his throat and said “Forgive me your majesty, I was a little surprised by your question, it was rather unexpected” he said, a small smile tugging on his lips,
I remained quiet and watched him with a blank expression on my face, when he realized I was not finding the situation funny, he quickly cleared his throat again and said “ Well I can’t say that I am skilled in such affairs but I am not completely oblivious as well, the first you do to show a woman your interest in her is to send her beautiful gifts every day, you send her jewels and sometimes flowers, if she is so inclined to such things, then after that, you can pay her regular visits and state your intention, the rest really just falls into the place as you go on” he said, the small smile still tugging on his lips,
Well sending queen Ifza gifts will not be a problem, this was going an interesting affair indeed, I thought with a smile,
“And if you wish to show smitten you are with the woman in question, you can go as far as writing love notes and sometimes the ink for the letters can be your own blood, this will no doubt show the woman how enamored you are with her” Nihal added,
I looked up at him to see a wide grin on his face and his eyes had a mischievous twinkle in them,
“I see that you find this whole situation funny, don’t you general?” I said,
Nihal casually shrugged and said “I will be a liar to say that I don’t, so I will not make myself a liar so I will not argue with you, the situation is truly funny”
I couldn’t help the smile that broke my face, I never would have imagined myself asking advice on how to woo a woman but life can be full of surprises.
“Well I am glad you can find some amusement in my situation” I said dryly,
A chuckle escaped his lips “I am glad that you feel that way towards the queen, I am happy that you were able to find a woman to love and sincerely hope she returns your advances, she can make you happy, I am sure of it” he said, this time he a sincere smile on his face,
I cleared my throat deciding to say nothing on how Nihal was behaving like mother wishing her son all the best in life instead I said “And what of you dear friend? Is there really no woman who has caught your eye? I see the way the women look at you but you completely ignore them”
I watched as a dark cloud settled on his face before a rueful smile crossed his face “The one I seek does not want me, ironic isn’t it? Scores of women seeking my attention and the one I choose wants nothing to do with me” he said,
This was interesting, very interesting indeed, the great general Nihal Jaan was in love and was been scorned, this was priceless, priceless indeed.
“I never knew you had your eyes on someone already, who is the lucky woman that has stolen the heart of the great general?” I said, making sure that he could see the mischief in my eyes.
He looked at me and said “I will only tell you when I have made progress, I do wish for you to be mocking me every single hour of the day”
I simply shrugged my shoulders, I had known he won’t tell me anyways, I just wanted to tease him “So do I know this woman that has brought you your knees?” I said,
“That you do, she is someone you know very well indeed” he said,
To say I wasn’t curious will be a lie but it was obvious Nihal was not ready to tell me just yet so I won’t stress the matter because sooner or later I will know everything I needed to on the matter.
I placed my hand on his shoulder and said “Look at us, we never thought we will find ourselves in this situation”
He looked at me and said “Indeed, we are merely fools in love with women who seem hell bent on torturing us, but we have always won every battle and this my friend, will not be exception”
“Indeed my friend, a battle that must be won no matter what” I said, a smile on my face as I thought how interesting the coming days will be.