A Dragon's Heart

18.

I shifted nervously on the ottoman I was sitting on, my hands clasped against each other on my lap as I sat before Jaddah’s scrutinizing eyes, with a large platter of food in between us.

Since we exchanged greetings, she had not uttered a single word to me and had just been taking small bites of her food. Great! I knew this was going to be a disaster. I turned around, hoping to see Bilal walking back into the majlis, but nothing. Since he disappeared more than thirty minutes ago to check on the castle grounds and security, he hadn’t returned. Even worse, Yasmina was still not back from where she had gone.

It was just me and this old woman who obviously didn’t, and perhaps may never, like me. Dressed in one of her numerous jilbab, this one white in color and paired with a black hijab, she looked formidable, even more so with the kohl on her eyes, which emphasized her look even more. I was sure that this woman, even in her prime, was not an easy person to deal with.

‘Ugh! I wish we never came. Why did Bilal have to leave us alone with her? She looks like she’s ready to jump on you at any moment,’ Jay whined, wagging her tail around.

‘Tell me about it, Jay. Tell me. I am going to gauge his eyes out when we get home.’

After a moment of silence, Jay said, ‘What if this was his way of getting you two to bond with each other? I mean, he already knows what you think of Jaddah and what you think she thinks of you, right,’ she squinted her eyes. ‘Wow, yeah, those were a lot of thoughts in there.’

‘Bond? Bond with who? I highly doubt she and I will ever bond over anything.’

Jay was quiet, and I watched as Jaddah took a sip of her hot shai, eyes pinned on me. Once we locked eyes, she smiled, and it did nothing to settle the nervousness in my stomach.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Jaddah asked, drawing me out of my little cocoon of reverie. “Is the food not to your liking?”

I forced a smile. “Of course not, Jaddah. I am just not hungry right now.”

She smiled as well, but I guess hers held more meaning than mine did. “I guess I shouldn’t have stressed my weak bones for your sake then,” she murmured, sipping more of her shai.

It took me a moment to realize what she had just said. My eyes trailed over the varieties of food in front of me. From the different rice dishes, to different types of meat, fruits, samosas, and dips. She made all of that?

She cracked another smile when I looked at her, and this time, I picked up a samosa and took a bite.

‘Is she saying she made all these?’ Jay asked, suspicion laced in her voice.

I swallowed and simply nudged her, afraid that Jaddah would hear anything else I said. Not that it made any sense that she would hear my conversations with my wolf, but this was something anxiety would make you go through.

“No comment?” she asked, raising her brows.

“Na’am?”

“Isn’t it polite to give compliments when someone cooks for you?”

“Oh,” I chewed on the samosa in my mouth nervously. “It is very delicious, Jaddah. Shukraan.” I spoke Arabic, hoping that would at least earn me some points with her, yet the cold look remained as she regarded me for a while, saying nothing but simply sipping her shai. This was utterly uncomfortable. No lies.

Needing something to occupy my mind, I allowed my eyes to take in the room we were in again. Nothing much, but it screamed power and royalty. It screamed luxury. A thick persian rug was spread on the floor in the middle, with large ottomans paired with soft silk pillows on their sides. One side of the wall was covered in silver decorations, which were mostly silver plates and jugs. There was nothing more to it.

The castle was, however, bigger than ours. Maybe even two times bigger. Jaddah didn’t offer me a tour, nor did I ask for one, although I'd really love to see the castle.

“I am not sure if I will ever get used to you, Tiffany,” I heard Jaddah say. I shifted again, adjusting my sitting and focused all attention on her. “I still don’t know why Bilal’s mate had to be a wolf, and not a dragon like everyone else, and left to me, Bilal wouldn’t have married you.”

“Why?” I heard myself say before I could stop myself. “Because I am not a dragon?”

She chuckled. “Well, you seem to know the answer already,” she popped a grape in her mouth and chewed slowly, and for a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to say anything more, but then she continued. “I am not one to discriminate based on species, but there’s just something about you I can’t seem to place anywhere. Something that screams like you don’t belong here. That you shouldn’t be here.”

I furrowed my brows, and I was sure she could see the confusion. I mean, wasn’t that discriminatory enough?

“Don’t get me wrong, not that I care if you do, but still, don’t get me wrong. There will be issues, internal issues where Bilal’s subordinates will retaliate for him taking you as a mate. Those issues have already started, and it won’t take long for them to escalate. All it takes to ruin a perfect rice dish could be a speck of sand scattered in it, and you are something like that in this empire. The first wolf amongst us.”

“And that makes me a liability,” I echoed her thoughts.

She nodded. “Yes. It makes you a liability, not just to Bilal, but to me as well. You are also an easy target for anyone who wishes to harm Bilal…”

“And what makes you think I am an easy target? Because I don’t have a dragon?”

“Obviously,” she sipped her shai, “But even more than that, is the fact that even as a wolf, you are of the lowest rank. An omega, isn’t it?”

I forced down the knot in my throat, balled my fist and sat straighter. “I didn’t know my social status mattered more than my position as your grandson’s wife, Jaddah.”

Of course I knew! Who was I kidding? Wasn’t that the reason it took me so long to accept his proposal of coming here? Because I knew I wouldn’t fit. I never fit anywhere.

‘Tiffy…’

‘Don’t say it, Jay. Don’t tell me I fit when you know I never did.’

“I have nothing against you, Tiffany. But I am concerned for my grandson, and I suppose that makes me selfish. But I need to know I can trust you to be there for him, as I am sure he’d always be for you. You are going to face a lot of challenges, and I need to know you are strong enough to take it all without pulling your husband down. All I am saying is that I need you to show me how capable you are of being my granddaughter.” she finished with a small smile, and I could swear this was the first genuine smile she ever shared with me since I arrived at the caliphate.

“Status matters here. The higher your status, the more powerful you are. Your husband may be powerful, one of the strongest besides the sultan himself, but that is him, not you. And while people are scared of crossing him, some would still take the risk of attacking you because they know you aren’t the powerful one, and that a small scratch on you can hurt Bilal deeply, which is all they need to finish him. Just a c***k, Tiffany, and in this instance, you are that crack.”

I was an easy target. An easy c***k to break through and hurt my husband. To break him. I was just the weak link to him, and until I could prove otherwise, I would always be the weakest link to get to him and nothing more.

‘Don’t you dare think of doing anything stupid like leaving him just because…’

‘Who said anything about leaving him? Not me. I will not leave him, not now, not ever. I will fight for him the same way he fights for me, and I will become his strongest link. Damn anyone who thinks I am anything less.’

‘Hell yeah!’ Jay cheered. ‘That’s my girl!’

Facing Jaddah, I took a sip of my shai and smiled. “Then I will become his strongest link, Jaddah. I will show you just how worthy you are of having me as a granddaughter. I am what people call a full package.”

Jaddah stared at me for long seconds, and then she laughed, the sound foreign to my ears, yet beautiful.

“That is the fire I have been looking for in you, Tiffany,” her voice was soft, soothing, and it held a certain warmth that wasn’t there before. “It won’t be easy,” she murmured, “But knowing that you are willing to make the effort already makes you a formidable opponent. I will teach you all I know if you’d let me, but know that I am not an easy teacher.”

“And I am not an easy student, Jaddah,” I smiled, the knot in my chest loosening significantly. Not that I felt any better, or that her words still didn’t make me second guess my place here, but because I knew I could fight. I could do it my own way.

I would not bring Bilal down. Ever.

“What is that on your wrist?” Jaddah suddenly asked, her voice catching. “Come, let me take a closer look.”

I looked at the burn mark on my wrist and stood up. Jaddah grabbed my hand as soon as I sat beside her, her brows furrowed as she scrutinized it. “What happened? How did you get this?”

I explained the incident that had happened earlier today. “It doesn’t even hurt much anymore,” I finished.

She placed her hand on my forehead, and asked, “Do you feel sick? Or anything new about you?”

“Um, no, Jaddah. I feel perfectly fine.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, gripping my hand tightly.

I winced. “I am sure, Jaddah.”

She looked at me warily. “If you feel anything new, send a hatchling to me. Fast. Do you understand?”

Dumbfounded, I simply nodded as she released my hand.

“Go back to your seat and eat. Not nibbling, eating!”

‘Geez, is she bipolar or something? I was beginning to like her.’

I started to eat my rice, all while staring at my burn mark. ‘Why do you think she acted that way?’

‘No idea. But I find it weird and worrying at the same time. She never really cared about you before.’

What could this mark mean? And what could it be about?

*

“You still won’t tell me what you and Jaddah talked about?” Bilal asked for the… what time was it already? No idea. But he has been asking since we left Jaddah’s castle.

“That is between us, Gorko am. Stop being stubborn.”

“Hmmn,” he hummed, drawing me closer to him as we walked to our quarters after dropping out of the carriage. “I am not sure I like this sudden bond between you and Jaddah, Noorie.”

I simply smiled.

Dinner turned out better than I had expected, even though Jaddah and I didn’t say much to each other after Bilal returned. But he must have felt the change. The hostility was gone. And he wanted to know why, but I said nothing. It was between Jaddah and I, and I didn’t want to worry him unnecessarily anymore.

But as we rounded the last corner, approaching our quarters, I saw people waiting.

“Oh, right. Your guest is waiting. Want to meet her before we retire to bed? Especially because we are going to the capital tomorrow.”

Excitement, as well as nervousness coursed through me as I gripped Bilal’s hand tighter.

“Who is she? Please give me anything…”

“Shush,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss my forehead. “We are here already.”

We stopped before Samirah, who had a woman standing beside her while Zayyad stood by the side, hands on his double pointed scrim.

“Marhaban, Sayyadi, Sayyada,” Samirah greeted, bowing a little and the woman beside her mirrored her actions.

But what caught my attention first, was her dressing. She wasn’t dressed in an abaya, a jilbab, or the large trousers popular here. Instead, she wore tight-fitting jeans that hugged her thick thighs, probably as thick as mine or even more, a white button-up shirt and black braids with a hint of red and a dazzling beautiful smile.

Bilal released me, moving back just a little. “Noorie, meet a distant cousin of yours, Cretia. Cretia, this is Tiffany.”

The smile on the woman’s face widened even more as she stepped towards me, closing the space between us and pulling me into a hug. “Hello, Tiffany.”

‘Wait! Back the hell up! A cousin? How come I never knew her and how did Bilal find her? What the heck is going on?’ Jay asked, sounding frantic.

“Hi, Cretia,” I answered, as I hugged her back timidly.

She pulled away, holding my hands and her smile still intact. “You and I have never met, but I’ve heard about you and I am sure you’ve heard about me at some point. My dad is a distant cousin of your late father. And although we have never met before your husband found me and asked if I’d like to come stay here with you. I agreed.”

I didn’t know what to say. Didn’t even know how to react to this. I was not sure if I’d ever heard of her, but it was obvious she’d heard about me; evenmoreso, the fact that Bilal found her and asked her to come here.

He knew I needed someone like me. Knew I needed that connection, and he went out of his way to get her here.

Clogged with emotion, I pulled her into another hug.

“Thank you for coming. Thank you so, so much.”

She hugged me back. “Anything for the family, Tiffany. Anything.”

We broke apart after a while and smiled.

“I need to rest, as it has been a long journey getting here. We have a lot of catching up to do but that will be tomorrow or so.”

“Yes. Yes, of course. Have a good night’s rest, Cretia. Make sure she has everything she needs,” I told Samirah.

I said nothing as Bilal led us inside. Instead of taking me to my room, he took me to a bigger room. “This is our room. You can still use yours when you need privacy, but I thought we would sleep here onwards.”

I nodded, my throat still tight with so much emotion. Unable to hold back any longer, I turned around and pulled him into a tight hug. I burrowed my face in his chest, sucking in his scent, allowing my pores to open to his warmth. His hold tightened as he circled his arms around me and pulled me closer.

“I don’t know what to say,” I finally whispered. “I don’t know how to start thanking you. What to do to make you as happy as you are making me, Ya Omri. I don’t know what or how…”

“Shh…” he murmured, kissing the top of my head. “You don’t need to say or do anything. Having you here is all the thanks I need, Nurayn.”

I lifted my head, staring into his eyes, and wondered just what I did, how lucky I was to have him as my husband.

“Nothing will ever make me as happy as I am when I am with you. You are everything I need, everything I want, and everything I will ever obsess over. It doesn’t matter what anyone says, you are it for me, and will always be. Nothing or no one can ever change that.”

‘Awww!!! He’s making me hella emotional right now,’ Jay cried.

“Ya Omri…”

“I like you. I want you. I want a family with you, and I can go to whatever length for you. Always. What I feel for you is no joke, Nurayn, and I hope you know that. And when the time is right, I will give you the well-deserved confession. For now, just take me as I am, with all my faults and mistakes…”

I didn’t let him finish before I pulled his head down and kissed him. Fiercely.

“I like you too. So much,” I said, knowing that what I felt for him was more than just a like, but I was yet to finish figuring that out so we’ll stick to liking for now. “And you are in for a ride with this wife of yours,” I added, sucking on his bottom lip.

He groaned, lifting me from the floor and carrying me to the bed. “I wouldn’t want you any other way,” he whispered against my mouth. “Now, you need to stop kissing me and rubbing yourself this way before I lose the little control left in me.”

I could hear Sameer’s loud snicker from outside as I laughed, snuggling deeper into Bilal’s embrace, my heart fully happy.

One of these days, I was going to make a statement of my love for him.

But was I already in love with him? Less than two weeks of truly being together?

‘I suppose you are. Because I know I am.’ Jay mumbled.

I suppose I was.