The Emperor's Captive Queen

Episode 15

The Man She Was Told Not to Trust

Arzoo read the sentence again.

Then again.

She couldn't make the words change.

My daughter, if you ever discover this letter, do not trust the emperor.

The library suddenly felt too quiet.

The flames of the lamps trembled in their holders.

Somewhere beyond the heavy doors, guards moved through the corridor.

But inside the room, Arzoo could hear only her own heartbeat.

She slowly raised her eyes.

Emperor Zayan was watching her.

Not angrily.

Not defensively.

Something far more unsettling was written across his face.

Pain.

Arzoo tightened her fingers around the letter.

"How did my mother know your name?"

Zayan didn't answer.

"She wrote this before I ever entered your palace."

Still nothing.

Arzoo took one step backward.

"Did you know her?"

His jaw tightened.

"Yes."

The single word struck harder than a confession.

Arzoo stared at him.

"You knew my mother?"

"I met Queen Aaliyah when I was young."

"How young?"

"Nine."

"Then tell me what happened."

Zayan looked away.

Arzoo's voice sharpened.

"Tell me."

He finally faced her.

"Your mother saved my life."

That was not the answer she expected.

"What?"

"During the final days of the Falcon Dynasty, there was an uprising inside the palace. My father had been invited to negotiate with the royal family."

Zayan paused.

"Someone poisoned the negotiations."

"Your mother discovered the plot."

Arzoo's fingers trembled.

"She saved you?"

"She saved my entire family."

"Then why would she tell me not to trust you?"

Zayan's expression became unreadable.

"Because she had a reason."

Arzoo's anger rose.

"That's not good enough."

She threw the letter onto the table.

"You knew her."

"You knew about my family."

"You knew I was connected to the Falcon Dynasty."

"And yet you allowed me to believe I was nothing more than a noblewoman accused of treason."

Zayan remained silent.

"Why?"

"Because I wasn't certain."

"Not certain?"

His voice hardened.

"Your identity had been hidden for twenty years. Every piece of evidence surrounding your family had been destroyed or altered."

"And you thought I was part of the conspiracy."

"I thought you might be."

Arzoo laughed bitterly.

"So you kept me close to investigate me."

"Yes."

The honesty almost made it worse.

"Then why protect me?"

Zayan's eyes met hers.

"Because someone else wanted you dead."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It does."

"No, it doesn't!"

Her voice echoed through the library.

Zayan didn't flinch.

Arzoo's eyes burned.

"You could have handed me over to the council."

"I could have."

"You could have let them execute me."

"I could have."

"Instead you kept me inside the palace."

"Yes."

"Why?"

For several seconds, Zayan said nothing.

Then quietly—

"Because I didn't know whether you were my enemy."

His gaze dropped to the letter.

"Or the last innocent person left in this war."

Arzoo's anger faltered.

Only for a moment.

Then another thought struck her.

"If my mother knew you..."

"Why did she hide me from you?"

Zayan's expression changed.

That question had found something.

Arzoo stepped closer.

"She trusted Lord Ashraf."

"She trusted the man who raised me."

"Why?"

Zayan slowly walked toward the window.

"Because your mother didn't trust the Imperial Court."

"She trusted almost no one."

Arzoo frowned.

"Then why did she trust you?"

"I don't know."

The answer was quiet.

Too quiet.

Arzoo studied his back.

"You're lying."

Zayan turned.

"I don't lie to you."

"That's exactly what a liar would say."

For the first time, irritation flashed across his face.

"Do you want the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then stop asking questions you aren't ready to hear the answers to."

Arzoo's eyes narrowed.

"Try me."

Zayan stared at her.

Then he said—

"Your mother believed the person responsible for the destruction of the Falcon Dynasty was not outside the royal family."

Arzoo froze.

"She believed the traitor was someone close to her."

"Who?"

"We never discovered the name."

"Never?"

"No."

"Then why did she write this?"

Zayan looked toward the letter.

"Because she believed someone from my family had helped the traitor."

Arzoo's stomach tightened.

"Your family?"

"My father was emperor."

"Your mother was queen."

"Your aunt was Princess Mahira."

He paused.

"And I was the crown prince."

Arzoo stared at him.

"So my mother believed one of you betrayed her."

"Yes."

"And you still don't know which one?"

"No."

A sudden crash came from the corridor.

Both turned.

Zayan's hand went immediately to his sword.

The library doors opened.

Captain Hamza rushed inside.

"Your Majesty!"

"What happened?"

"The eastern wing is on fire."

Arzoo's face went pale.

"The servants' wing?"

Hamza nodded.

"Someone set fire to the archive rooms."

Zayan's expression hardened.

"What archives?"

Hamza hesitated.

"The old royal records."

Arzoo immediately understood.

"The Falcon records."

"Yes."

Zayan grabbed his cloak.

"How many guards?"

"Thirty."

"Send twenty more."

"Already done."

Zayan turned toward Arzoo.

"You're staying here."

"No."

"Arzoo."

"If they're burning the records, I need to see what they're trying to destroy."

"You don't know what you're walking into."

"And you do?"

His eyes hardened.

"Exactly."

Arzoo stepped closer.

"Then don't leave me behind."

For one long moment, they stared at one another.

Finally, Zayan exhaled.

"Stay beside me."

Arzoo nodded.

"I was planning to."

The Burning Archive

Smoke had already filled the eastern corridor.

Servants ran toward the courtyard.

Guards shouted orders.

Buckets of water passed from one person to another.

The ancient archive doors were burning.

Zayan pushed through the smoke.

"Open the eastern chamber!"

Hamza and four guards followed.

Arzoo covered her mouth with her sleeve.

The heat was intense.

Ancient manuscripts were already burning.

Years of history disappearing in minutes.

Arzoo's chest tightened.

"My mother's records..."

Zayan scanned the room.

"Find the royal registers."

Arzoo moved toward the shelves.

"Here!"

She pulled out a half-burned ledger.

A beam cracked overhead.

Zayan immediately grabbed her arm.

"Move!"

The ceiling collapsed.

He pulled her against the wall as burning wood crashed where she had been standing.

Arzoo looked up.

Zayan's arm was above her head, shielding her from falling debris.

For a brief moment...

Everything stopped.

His face was dangerously close.

His eyes searched hers.

"Are you hurt?"

Arzoo swallowed.

"No."

"You're certain?"

"Yes."

He stepped back immediately.

The distance between them returned.

But Arzoo's heartbeat didn't.

Hamza shouted from across the room.

"Your Majesty!"

Zayan turned.

Hamza held a metal box.

"It was hidden beneath the floor."

Arzoo hurried toward him.

The box was blackened by smoke.

But the Falcon emblem on its lid remained intact.

Zayan's expression changed.

"Where did you find it?"

"Under the old royal archive."

Arzoo reached for it.

Zayan stopped her.

"Wait."

He examined the lock.

"There's a trap."

Hamza frowned.

"How do you know?"

"Because my father used the same mechanism."

Zayan drew his dagger.

He carefully worked the lock.

Click.

Nothing happened.

He opened the box.

Inside was a single parchment.

And a small ivory key.

Arzoo's breath caught.

The parchment had one name written across it.

Aaliyah.

They escaped the burning archive and returned to the library.

Zayan placed the parchment on the table.

Arzoo stood opposite him.

"Open it."

He broke the seal.

The parchment contained only a few lines.

But they changed everything.

If the Falcon heir survives, she must never be allowed to return to the throne.

Arzoo's stomach dropped.

Below it was another sentence.

The heir is not the greatest danger. The man who protects her is.

Zayan's eyes hardened.

Arzoo looked at him.

Neither spoke.

Then Hamza pointed toward the bottom.

"There's a date."

Zayan bent closer.

His face went pale.

Arzoo noticed.

"What?"

He didn't answer.

"Zayan."

He finally looked at her.

"This letter was written..."

He swallowed.

"...three days after the palace fire."

Arzoo's heart stopped.

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

"Because everyone believed my mother died in that fire."

Zayan nodded.

"Exactly."

Arzoo stared at the parchment.

Her mother's letter.

The hidden archive.

The warning.

And now this.

Her mother had written something after the night she was supposedly killed.

Arzoo's voice dropped to a whisper.

"My mother survived."

Zayan said nothing.

She looked up.

"Didn't she?"

Still nothing.

"Zayan!"

The emperor finally answered.

"I don't know."

Arzoo's eyes filled with tears.

For twenty years, she'd believed her mother was dead.

For twenty years, she'd carried a memory that wasn't even hers.

And now—

There was a possibility that Queen Aaliyah had survived.

But if she had...

Why had she never returned?

Who had hidden her?

And why had she warned her daughter not to trust the emperor?

A knock came at the door.

Everyone turned.

A palace maid stood outside.

She bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty."

"What is it?"

"The Imperial Council has summoned you."

"At this hour?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

The maid lowered her gaze.

"They say the council has reached a decision concerning Lady Arzoo."

Arzoo's stomach tightened.

"What decision?"

The maid hesitated.

Then—

"They want Lady Arzoo removed from the palace."

Silence.

Zayan's expression became icy.

"On whose authority?"

"The council's."

"Who requested it?"

The maid's hands trembled.

"Grand Vizier Kareem."

Arzoo's eyes narrowed.

Of course.

The man who had been quietly tightening the court's grip around her.

Zayan looked toward Hamza.

"Double the guards."

Hamza nodded.

Then Zayan looked at Arzoo.

"You're not leaving."

Arzoo stared at him.

"My mother told me not to trust you."

His expression didn't change.

"But?"

Arzoo glanced at the letter.

Then at the emperor.

"I haven't decided whether she was right."

For the first time...

Something almost like a smile touched Zayan's mouth.

"Good."

Arzoo frowned.

"Good?"

"I'd be more concerned if you trusted me easily."

Before she could answer—

A scream erupted somewhere deep inside the palace.

Everyone froze.

Then another.

And another.

Hamza drew his sword.

"Your Majesty..."

Zayan was already moving.

They rushed into the corridor.

A servant came running toward them, terrified.

"Your Majesty!"

"What happened?"

"The Queen Mother's chambers..."

The servant could barely breathe.

"Someone has been found inside."

Zayan's face changed.

"Who?"

The servant stared at Arzoo.

Then whispered—

"An old woman."

"She was carrying a portrait of Queen Aaliyah."

Arzoo's heart slammed against her ribs.

"Where is she?"

The servant swallowed.

"She's alive."

A pause.

"She asked for Lady Arzoo."

Arzoo stopped breathing.

The woman had survived the palace fire.

She knew her mother.

And somehow...

She knew Arzoo was here.

— End of Chapter 15 —