Brandon

I look around the palace in search of Princess Inaayat, but fail to find her anywhere. It's almost midnight, and she's not in her chambers. I've already made all the preparations for our escape to Britain, and I need to ask her if she wants to leave at dawn, instead of sunset.

Her cousin Sanaya said she mentioned going for a walk in the royal garden, but I've looked everywhere and yet I can't see her.

I'm about to turn around and go look elsewhere, when I hear a faint rustle of clothes from a distance, followed by the beautiful sound of anklets my princess has grown to adore. Ever since I gifted them to her on her eighteenth birthday, she wears them everywhere and never removes them.

I follow the musical sound of her anklets to the far edge of the royal garden, beside the guest courtyard entrance. I edge closer to see two silhouettes next to each other, one of them is unmistakably Inaayat, but the other is a man I can't seem to identify from distance.

As I walk closer and reach in hearing distance, her excited voice filters through the cold breeze and strikes my ears in a painful blow.

"Wow! Prince Alfaaz, it's really a match made in heaven. I'm so happy!"

My body freezes in place as her words sink in deeper, and the blow from her words seeps into my veins. A jolt of pain seizes my heart in its fist, squeezing my chest painfully and mercilessly, until my blood runs cold and I feel lifeless.

I mentally contemplate how this could be some huge misunderstanding, but my eyes and ears disagree with my brain as they witness the scene that turns my world upside down.

Inaayat jumps in joy, and embraces the smiling devil of a prince, whose arms snake around her in no time. The embrace lasts longer than any friendly hug should, and I don't want to presume, I want to deny outright what my eyes witness, and I'm ready to live forever in denial, but no, Inaayat decides she's not done torturing me yet.

She breaks the embrace and places a quick kiss on his cheek, I fume with anger as an urge to break that Prince's face overtakes me. But, I don't. Instead, I stand and watch helplessly, feeling as if I died and went to hell, scorched in hell fire, and came back to witness this wrath of Gods, all in a split second.

"I'll look forward to the wedding", she says with an earth-shattering smile and leaves the garden with a joyful spring in her step.

I sink to the grassy ground in utter despair; my future looking as dark as this devilish night, and my shattered heart writhing and withering away, as I die with every breath I inhale.

"Why did you do this to me, princess?"

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