Episode 16
1753 Words
Chapter 16
The Woman Who Survived
Arzoo forgot how to breathe.
For twenty years, everyone had believed the Falcon Dynasty had died in the palace fire.
Her mother.
Her royal family.
Her entire bloodline.
Gone.
Yet now, an old woman had appeared inside the Imperial Palace carrying a portrait of Queen Aaliyah—and asking specifically for her.
Arzoo looked at Zayan.
He was already moving.
"Take me to her."
The servant hurried ahead.
Arzoo followed.
Hamza fell into step beside her, while Zayan walked several paces in front.
The palace corridors seemed different tonight.
Darker.
More dangerous.
Every shadow looked capable of hiding a secret.
Arzoo's hand instinctively tightened around the Falcon ring.
If this woman truly knew her mother...
Then tonight could change everything.
They reached the Queen Mother's chambers.
The guards outside immediately bowed.
"Your Majesty."
Zayan stopped.
"Who found her?"
"Two attendants, Your Majesty. She was standing inside the private chamber."
"Did she resist?"
"No."
"Did she explain how she entered?"
The guard hesitated.
"No, Majesty."
Zayan's eyes narrowed.
"Then how did she get past twenty guards?"
No one answered.
Arzoo looked toward the closed doors.
"Perhaps she didn't."
Zayan glanced at her.
Arzoo lowered her voice.
"Perhaps someone wanted her to be found."
His expression darkened.
"Stay behind me."
Arzoo almost argued.
Then she noticed his hand resting near his sword.
This time, she obeyed.
Inside, the chamber was silent.
An elderly woman sat beside the window.
Her silver hair was hidden beneath a faded veil.
Her clothing was plain.
Far too plain for someone who had somehow entered the Queen Mother's private quarters.
But it was her hands that caught Arzoo's attention.
They were scarred.
Burned.
Several fingers were twisted with age.
The woman slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes found Arzoo.
And froze.
Tears immediately filled them.
"Oh..."
Her voice broke.
"Those eyes."
Arzoo stopped.
The woman rose unsteadily.
"Queen Aaliyah's eyes."
Arzoo's heart twisted.
"Who are you?"
The woman stared at her as though trying to memorize every detail of her face.
Then she whispered—
"I held you the night your mother disappeared."
Arzoo felt the world tilt.
"You knew her?"
"I served her."
"Who are you?"
The old woman lowered herself back into the chair.
"My name is Mariam."
She looked toward Zayan.
"And I know exactly who you are too, Your Majesty."
Zayan's expression became guarded.
"Then you know that making accusations against the emperor can have consequences."
Mariam smiled faintly.
"I've survived worse consequences than death."
Arzoo stepped forward.
"What happened to my mother?"
Mariam's eyes filled with sorrow.
"That is the question I've carried for twenty years."
"You said she disappeared."
"Yes."
"Not died?"
Mariam looked directly at her.
"No."
Arzoo's heart stopped.
The room seemed to shrink around her.
"My mother survived?"
"For a time."
Zayan suddenly stepped closer.
"What does that mean?"
Mariam's eyes hardened.
"It means that on the night the Falcon Palace burned..."
"...Queen Aaliyah was alive."
Arzoo's knees nearly weakened.
She gripped the edge of the table.
"Where was she?"
"Below the palace."
"The underground passages."
Zayan's eyes narrowed.
"Who took her there?"
Mariam looked at him.
"Your father."
The room went completely silent.
Arzoo slowly turned toward Zayan.
His face had gone cold.
"My father?"
Mariam nodded.
"Emperor Rashid ordered the royal guards to evacuate Queen Aaliyah through the eastern passage."
Zayan's voice was controlled.
"My father was dead by then."
"No."
Mariam's answer came softly.
"He wasn't."
Arzoo's eyes widened.
"What?"
Mariam looked between them.
"Your Majesty's father did not die before the fire."
Zayan's jaw tightened.
"That's impossible."
"History says otherwise."
"History was rewritten."
Mariam's voice trembled.
"Because the people who survived were afraid."
Arzoo stared at her.
"Afraid of whom?"
Mariam didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she reached beneath her shawl.
Arzoo instinctively stepped back.
Zayan drew his sword.
Mariam stopped.
"Don't."
She slowly pulled out a small object.
Not a weapon.
A locket.
An emerald locket.
Arzoo's breath caught.
She knew it.
She had seen it in the portrait of her mother.
"My mother wore that."
Mariam nodded.
"She gave it to me."
Arzoo approached.
"Why?"
"Because she knew she wouldn't be able to keep it."
Mariam opened the locket.
Inside was a miniature portrait of a young girl.
Arzoo.
But there was something else hidden beneath it.
A tiny folded piece of paper.
Mariam handed it to her.
Arzoo's hands trembled as she opened it.
Only four words were written.
Find the woman beneath.
Arzoo frowned.
"What does this mean?"
Mariam looked toward the enormous portrait hanging above the fireplace.
Queen Aaliyah.
Arzoo's eyes widened.
"The portrait?"
Mariam nodded.
"Your mother hid things in places no one thought to search."
Zayan immediately approached the painting.
Hamza moved behind him.
"Your Majesty."
"Check the frame."
They carefully examined it.
Nothing.
Arzoo looked at the portrait.
Her mother's painted face.
The emerald necklace.
The flowering tree behind her.
Then she remembered something.
"The necklace."
Zayan looked at her.
"What?"
"That necklace."
Arzoo pointed toward the painting.
"Mother is wearing an emerald necklace."
Mariam nodded.
"The real one was never found."
Zayan's expression changed.
"Because it wasn't jewelry."
Arzoo turned.
"What do you mean?"
He walked closer to the portrait.
"Royal portraits often contained symbolic objects."
"But?"
"The emerald necklace belonged to Queen Aaliyah's mother."
Zayan touched the painted pendant.
"It was said to contain a hidden compartment."
Arzoo's pulse quickened.
They searched the frame again.
Nothing.
Then Arzoo noticed the carved wooden flower beneath the portrait.
Three petals.
One falcon.
One crescent.
One sun.
She pressed the falcon.
Nothing.
She pressed the crescent.
Nothing.
Then the sun.
Click.
The portrait moved.
A narrow compartment appeared behind it.
Everyone froze.
Inside was a single rolled parchment.
Arzoo reached for it.
Zayan stopped her.
"Let me."
"No."
His eyes met hers.
"Arzoo."
"You've already kept too many secrets from me."
His expression hardened.
"And you're still angry."
"Very."
"Then don't make a foolish decision because you're angry."
She held his gaze.
"I don't."
Arzoo took the parchment.
"I make decisions because I need answers."
For a moment, Zayan said nothing.
Then he stepped back.
"Open it."
The parchment was old.
Very old.
The seal had nearly crumbled away.
Arzoo broke it.
The first line made her blood run cold.
To my daughter, Arzoo.
Her eyes blurred.
She read aloud.
If you are reading this, then Mariam has found you.
Arzoo looked at the old woman.
Mariam began to cry.
Arzoo continued.
I do not know whether I will live long enough to see you become a woman.
But if you have reached the Imperial Palace, then the truth is closer than ever.
Her hands trembled.
Do not believe everything you have been told about the night the Falcon Dynasty fell.
Zayan's gaze remained fixed on the letter.
Your father did not betray me.
Arzoo's eyes widened.
Her father.
Not Lord Ashraf.
Her real father.
And neither did Emperor Rashid.
Zayan suddenly went still.
Arzoo looked at him.
His father's name.
The same emperor who had supposedly allowed the Falcon Dynasty to fall.
The same man Mariam had just claimed survived the fire.
The letter continued.
The traitor was someone we welcomed into our home.
Arzoo's heartbeat thundered.
Someone who knew every secret passage.
Every royal ritual.
Every weakness.
And most importantly...
The next line was partially burned.
Only a few words remained.
...someone who still sits beside the throne.
Arzoo stared at the damaged parchment.
Someone who still sat beside the throne.
Her eyes immediately went to Zayan.
Then Hamza.
Then Mariam.
Her mind raced through the palace.
Grand Vizier Kareem.
Prince Faris.
The royal council.
The Imperial family.
Someone had survived.
Someone had waited twenty years.
And someone was still inside the palace.
"There's more."
Mariam's voice broke through her thoughts.
Arzoo turned.
The old woman was staring at the bottom of the parchment.
"There is writing beneath the burn."
"How can you see it?"
"I know the trick."
Mariam reached for a nearby lamp.
"Hold it above the paper."
Arzoo did.
The heat slowly revealed faint writing.
A hidden message appeared.
One sentence.
The queen is not dead.
Arzoo's breath caught.
Then another line emerged.
She is waiting where the first promise was made.
Mariam suddenly covered her mouth.
Her face had gone white.
Arzoo turned.
"What?"
Mariam shook her head.
"No."
"What does it mean?"
"No..."
"Mariam!"
The old woman looked toward Zayan.
"Your Majesty..."
"Where was the first promise made?"
Zayan's eyes narrowed.
"I don't know."
Mariam stared at him.
"Then your father never told you."
"Told me what?"
"The place where Emperor Rashid swore to protect Queen Aaliyah."
Zayan went completely still.
Mariam whispered the name.
"The Garden of First Light."
Arzoo frowned.
"Where is that?"
Mariam's eyes filled with fear.
"Outside the capital."
Zayan's hand tightened around his sword.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because the Garden of First Light was destroyed twenty years ago."
Mariam shook her head.
"No."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"It was never destroyed."
A terrible silence followed.
Then—
Three knocks sounded on the chamber door.
Everyone froze.
Hamza immediately drew his sword.
Zayan stepped in front of Arzoo.
"Who is it?"
A servant's voice answered from outside.
"Your Majesty."
Zayan's eyes narrowed.
"What do you want?"
"Grand Vizier Kareem requests your immediate presence."
Arzoo's heart sank.
At the exact moment they had discovered that the traitor was still sitting beside the throne...
Kareem had come calling.
Zayan looked at Arzoo.
She looked back.
Neither needed to speak.
The timing was too perfect.
Then the servant spoke again.
"His Majesty must come immediately."
Zayan opened the door.
A guard stood outside.
But it wasn't the guard who had spoken.
The man suddenly raised a dagger.
Hamza moved first.
Steel flashed.
The assassin was thrown against the wall.
But before anyone could question him—
He bit down.
Arzoo's eyes widened.
"Stop him!"
Too late.
The man's body went limp.
Poison.
Hamza checked him.
"Dead."
Zayan looked at the dead assassin.
Then toward the corridor.
His voice became dangerously quiet.
"Seal the palace."
Arzoo stared at him.
"Why?"
Zayan's eyes met hers.
"Because whoever is behind this..."
He looked toward the old letter.
"...knows we have found the Garden of First Light."
Mariam suddenly whispered—
"Then you must go there."
Arzoo turned toward her.
"Why?"
The old woman's expression crumbled.
"Because if Queen Aaliyah truly survived..."
She looked at Arzoo.
"...she may not survive much longer."
— End of Chapter 16 —
- Writer
