CHAPTER 11 - The Weight of Being Seen
261 Words
The next few days passed with an uneasy rhythm.
Amina worked harder than before, her movements more careful, her attention sharper. Every surface she touched, every task she completed, carried the silent pressure of not making another mistake.
But it wasn’t just the work that had changed.
It was the feeling of being watched.
Not constantly.
Not obviously.
But enough.
She noticed it in the way conversations paused when she entered a room. In the way certain workers looked at her with curiosity, while others looked with quiet resentment.
And once__
She felt it again.
That same presence.
Amina straightened slightly, resisting the urge to turn immediately. Instead, she continued wiping the table in front of her, steady and controlled.
Then she turned.
The prince stood at the far end of the corridor.
Not moving.
Not speaking.
Just… observing.
Their eyes met again.
And for a moment, the world narrowed to that space between them.
Amina was the first to look away.
Not out of fear.
But out of awareness.
She understood enough to know that attention like that could become dangerous.
Very quickly.
Later that evening, she sat alone, her back resting against the cool wall of the staff quarters.
Her body ached.
But her mind refused to rest.
Why had he looked at her like that?
It wasn’t judgment.
It wasn’t indifference.
It was something else.
Something she couldn’t name.
And that uncertainty unsettled her more than anything else.
Because in her world—
Things that couldn’t be explained often led to trouble.
And she was scared, very scared
- Writer
