His Queen

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Queen Banafsha’s POV

My heart was heavy and sadness clouded my heart, I had failed to listen to wise counsel despite many attempts from people who cared about me but my pride had gotten the better of me, I had brought calamity upon my kingdom and people,

I was currently in a cell, I was alone in my cell but Jawhar and the commanders were in a cell opposite to mine, they were silent and I wished they would at least say something, even if was too blame me for not listening, i believed I would feel better even if they caused and swore at me, I wished they would call me names and call me a disgrace but still they said nothing and their silence was even more burdening than the defeat I had suffered today.

Taking a deep breath, I leaned my head against the wooden bars of the cell, I felt weakened and dehydrated, the wound on my stomach had seized bleeding but the pain was still maddening, I needed to get it treated before it got infected but that was the least of my troubles right now, right now, I was not sure the fate of my people, although the king of Atrabad had promised me no harm will come to my people, I could not bring myself to trust him, I had already labeled him an arrogant man so I had no reason to trust anything he told me.

I was sure that he and his court were probably deciding the fate of me and my people right at this very moment, it was up to us to wait with bated breath until the royal verdit was passed.

I looked one time at Jawhar and the other commanders and my heart broke especially for Jawhar, he had sacrificed so much for me and Marwa and I had thrown it all away because of my pride.

I would take whatever punishment the king bestowed upon me as long as my people could walk free and not be subjected to s*****y and hunger, I would do anything, I would die if he asked me to, I owed that much to the people of Marwa, they had deemed me their protective angel and I had failed them.

A loud breath escaped my lips and I couldn’t help but feel like a complete disappointment to my people.

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King Humair’s POV

I listened as my ministers debated on the best verdict to pass on the people of Marwa and their queen, the debate had going on for what seemed like hours, the ministers kept arguing back and fought, they couldn’t decide on the perfect punishment for so insolent a woman like the queen of Marwa, some had offered death, some had offered s*****y and some were still undecided,

I personally had no personal opinion on how best to punish the queen but as for her people, I had already given my word that no harm will come to them, they will be protected under the law of Atrabad.

Nihal stood by my side as usual, he had also said nothing, he had remained quiet and watched the ministers argument with a small smile on his face, he had once told me that watching the ministers debate over a particular issue was one the greatest source of entertainment in his life.

One minister had remained quiet since the start of the assembly, it was Mabruk Ibn Haithem, he was the minister of foreign affairs, he was a wise man and I greatly valued his counsel, he always came up with the best solutions to solve foreign crisis and I was really interested in whatever he had to say on this issue.

I raised my right hand to indicate to the ministers to be quiet and in a few seconds, a deathly silence came over the assembly hall, everyone was silent as awaited whatever it was I had to say,

I turned my gaze to Mabruk Ibn Haithem “Minister of Foreign affairs, you have been silent since the commencement of this meeting, I wish to hear your opinion on this matter” I said,

The old man turned to face me, he bowed and stepped to the front of the assembly, he bowed once more “I thank you for giving me the opportunity to voice out my opinion on this matter, I have listened carefully to the opinions of the other ministers and I believe that killing the queen of Marwa or making her into a slave will not benefit us in anyway, we need a solution that will benefit us and also make the people of Marwa feel like they have been treated fairly, we must not forget the initial reason for this war, the queen of Marwa had simply sought to bring justice for a woman that was killed, we cannot forget this reason your majesty, it is very important.” He said,

I nodded my head, the man was speaking words of wisdom, the other ministers nodded their heads thoughtfully,

“Continue” I said,

The old man bowed again before he continued “I have thought of only reason to solve this issue your majesty and that issue is marriage between the two kingdoms, that is a marriage between your majesty and the queen of Marwa” He said,

I was amazed by such a decision, it was the last thing I expected to hear, marriage between me and the queen of Marwa felt like the most ridiculous idea ever,

The other ministers seemed to like the idea because they immediately began to murmur amongst themselves,

The prime minister Nithar stepped to the front of the assembly and bowed “Your majesty, I agree with the minister of foreign affairs, despite been so proud, the queen of Marwa will make a great queen, she is exactly the kind of queen we need to make Atrabad greater, she will no doubt be the perfect choice” he said,

This was getting more and complicated by the second, I had not expected the meeting to turn out like this.

The next minister to come forward was the minister of finance, he also bowed before he spoke “I am not arguing the fact that the queen of Marwa will make an excellent queen but we must not forget that she had insulted our king and must be punished for her crimes” he said,

The court immediately went up in chaos, everyone was talking at the same time, it was total chaos, I had to raise my hand to silence them once again,

Once they were quiet, Nihal cleared his throat beside me, everyone’s attention was immediately directed towards him,

“Your majesty I agree with the minister of finance but the perfect punishment for a woman like the queen of Marwa is marriage, she is a woman that has never had to be controlled by anyone, she had led men to battle so imagine how she would feel being controlled by a man, the humiliation would be something she would feel like dying for, death to a woman like her would just be a grace, she is a warrior and death is the best honor given to a warrior, so I suggest the perfect option is to marry her your majesty, this will be beneficial to everyone in the end.” He said,

I felt like telling Nihal what I thought about his suggestion but it would not be appropriate for public hearing,

“Please consider our suggestion your majesty” the whole court said at once,

I took a deep breath, this was a decision I needed to take my time to make, it was something I needed to ponder upon,

“I ask that you give me time to consider this decision, the court is adjourned till tomorrow” I said,

“Yes your majesty” the entire court answered.