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@Haya : The only darkness we should allow into our lives is the night, for even then, we have the moon. - Warsan Shire.

Haya.

There was something sinister about him, even though he looked like an angel, there was always something so intense and exciting that looking at Amir made me feel electric and erotic. Looking at him made me feel like a woman, it made me crave for him to touch me, kiss me, hold me. I guess it was the fact that he was so fiercely modest that he didn't want to do any of that to me, it was what made me crave it all even more.

Even now, as I appeared to look completely normal, quite modest and so very royal, all I had in my head was sinful thoughts.

He shook hands with my father, before kissing both his cheeks as per tradition and squeezing his hand as he asked about his health. Flashes of cameras, hustle of the delegation that he had brought with him, along with our own ministers and advisors, it made up for alot of people.

My father stood in the middle, with my brother by his side as he was the Crown Prince of our country. My mother was on his right side and I remained at the far end, alongside my mother.

Amir moved to greet my brother, still not looking at me but only at my brother. He looked so defined and superior, so calm and not in the least bit bothered that I was right there. I had understood that he always managed to to hide his emotions well, in a way that he would show emotions but never to a point where others could sense it and use it against him.

He reached my mother after that, once again shaking her hand and enquiring about her health, my mother in return acted just as Royal as she was with a sweet smile on her face and her very charming words.

Finally, Amir reached me.

My heart thumped against my chest, not beating hard and fast but still speeding up it's pace, only because it was the man that I genuinely had feelings for.

He pulled out his hand in front of me, I shook it. I felt the faint magical tingles in my hands, just as I always did when it came to him.

I felt his oddly sensual gaze on me as he tried to compose his emotions but his damn dimples poked out of his cheeks like anything as he smiled at me like a lover and not like a Crown Prince.

His broodingly powerful self seemed like the perfect combination with my golden self.

"Princess Haya, it's a pleasure to see you again."

I smiled at Amir, squeezing his hand in return as he shook it with me and held it in my finger's embrace, only to tease him a little bit.

His smile didn't disappear but his eyes clearly showed that he was worried about what his people might think, since my family already knew.

I pulled my hand away slowly as suddenly the thought of my father staring at the both of us occured in my mind. I didn't want my father to witness his flirty daughter live.

"The pleasure is all mine. How are you?" I questioned back, batting my eyelashes at him.

His smiled back once again but his eyes should the desperation and the relentless that he had inside of him, only because you wanted to talk to me alone.

"How do I look?" He enquired in a lower voice.

"Very well." I told him, leaning just a little forward as I remained careful of the years around us.

"Well enough to make me have sinful thoughts," Even though my voice was very very low, my mother had still heard me since she was exactly by my side.

Amir let out a small cough, his dimples might have been there on his face but I could see the redness around his cheeks.

I had made a Prince blush. I grinned as Amir gained composure over himself and nodded at me as if I had said the most important thing to him.

The pretense was both endearing and charming to me. As he took one step back and looked at my father once again, my mother stared at me with a smirk on her face.

"He was blushing, Haya." She whispered to me with a small chuckle, I shook my head at her, not helping myself as I let out a laugh as well.

We straightened our postures as we heard Amir speak to my father, looking every bit of the man in power that he was.

"King Abdullah sends his regards to all of you. He said that he will make sure to be the one to visit Buredaan next time. In the mean time, I'm his proxy and I'm happy to make sure that both our countries get what they want." He stated, my father shook his hand once again agreeing .

"Yes. I'm supposed to be getting a call from King Abdullah later this evening." He affirmed, looking at me for just a second.

In that one second, Amir's gaze also found mine and he gave me a knowing smile. His father's call was not going to be professional but rather personal.

"Ofcourse." Amir mumbled back, pulling me out of his trance as well.

I greeted his delegation, shaking their hands in the meanwhile as I got introduced to them. I already knew the human rights minister and the digital media advisor. She was the only woman among a group of thirteen men delegation. She dressed in traditional Maraaishi clothes.

Her hair covered in a way that showed the front of her hair a little bit and it went around her back like a cap, mostly covering up the hair on the backside. She wore a long blue dress that reached up to her toes, it was flowy and open, quite fashionistic as well.

"My people are at your service, Prince. Rest and I will see you for lunch, inshaAllah." My father said to Amir, clasping his shoulder in enthusiasm as he glanced at my brother.

"Yusuf, make sure that Prince Amir is comfortable in his stay." He ordered his Crown Prince to look after the Crown Prince of Maraaish, as per Royal ethics.

"Ofcourse, father." Yusuf replied, standing by Amir's side as my father walked away.

The Maraaishi delegation got escorted to the left wing of the palace, leaving only a few of us in the main hall.

My mother, who had to leave as well looked at Amir with a gentle smile as she stood by my side.

"I will see you at the lunch, Prince Amir." She said to him, Amir nodded.

"Ofcourse, I look forward to seeing you again."

He replied, my mother thanked him in a low voice and walked towards the right wing of the Palace, to our home.

"Would you like to go straight to your suite or would you like to take a tour of the palace?" I heard Yusuf's voice, cordially asking Amir if he wanted to look around or not.

Amir, whose gaze had been on me as I could very well feel it, looked at my brother and shook his head.

"I would not mind a tour, Prince Yusuf." He stated.

I would not mind showing my home to you.

I would not mind showing my own room to you.

But what can I say? My brother is a cock block.

Yeah, that sounded wrong. My brother is doing his duties and he's pissing me off.

I stood right where I was, knowing that I would totally follow my brother and Amir. I wanted to see his reaction and his thoughts on our home, our Palace.

As my brother glanced at me, still standing with them as I waited for him to show Amir around, he shot me a look and walked a step towards me.

"I can take the man on a tour, Haya. Why don't you go stand with your minister?" He pointed at the few ministers who were still stood in the corner of the room, in respect of the Crown Prince.

I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing that Amir was probably observing us have this conversation. I didn't want my brother to embarrass me.

"Yusuf, don't play games with me." I warned in a low tone, looking at Amir once again who was in a conversation with our Minister of Culture.

"Stop gawking at the man." My brother said with a hush, seeing my thirsty gaze all over Amir.

It wasn't even thirsty but this was my brother. He knew me. He just didn't know about Amir and I. I could not tell him because my father had repeatedly asked me not to tell anyone, that he would be the one to break the news in his own way. I didn't mind.

"Stop being a pushover. Why does it matter if I accompany you?" I questioned Yusuf, almost angry myself.

He gave me a smug look, the one that screamed at me that he was the Crown Prince and my capabilities were nothing because I would never hold the title.

"Crown Prince Amir is a very reserved man, Haya. I think two will be too much of a company for him." He said a little loud, only to embarrass me on purpose.

I couldn't embarrass him back because he was the Crown Prince of our country and I needed to be more cautious in front of people. Still, I was known for a sharp mouth so I decided to atleast give him a good response.

Before I could do so, I heard Amir's gentle voice in my ears. It instantly calmed me down.

"It's alright. I would not mind Princess Haya accompanying us." He said to my brother, who only nodded.

He couldn't exactly say no to a Crown Prince of a country that was definitely larger than ours in both economical and geographical terms.

Even though I knew that his eyes were on me at alot of times we we walked, it was also incredible that he paid complete attention to my brother and to what he was saying.

Since, these things were only done for show off and nothing more, Yusuf only showed him a few architecturally significant areas of the palace, which the Crown Prince of Maraaish seemed to appreciate quite a lot.

My brother showed him a few more rooms, the art room which contained a few very important art pieces that were worth billions of dollars, the Oud collection, signatures and words by world leaders, the golden seeped through the entire room as Amir seemed to take it all in.

The art room was definitely my favourite room and it seemed like Amir liked it the most as well.

I didn't speak much as my brother went on and on, conversating with Amir. I only appreciated the way Amir's jaw moved as he talked, the way he smiled and his dimples poked out without his permission, the way his posture was so very straight, the way his eyes seemed to linger on me every once in a while, the way he took notice of each and every collection displayed in the room.

I knew Amir but right now, I was only looking at the Crown Prince and he was incredible at what he did.

"I think it's safe to say that this room intrigues you, Prince Amir." My brother remarked, Amir nodded.

He stared at my favourite piece of art, it was the only piece that had been my effort in this entire room, the only one that I had personally bought and the only one with words that always touched my heart.

He wouldn't understand it though, it was in our language.

He stared at it for a few moments, reading the lines or trying to read them probably. We all waited for him to move onto the next piece but Amir never did, he stood there and stared at it.

"I found peace in the sadness of your eyes, I found me in the shadows of your life."

My eyes widened, making me stare at the man who I didn't even knew understood the Buredaani language.

Even Yusuf looked impressed and he was almost never impressed with anyone.

For some reason, his gaze found mine for a moment. It was this intensifying electricity between us, like he knew that this was something that was related to me, like he could sense my connection with this very piece.

"You understand the language." I stated, enchanted as I looked at him.

Amir nodded at me with a small shrug, telling me that it wasn't really a big deal. He stared at my brother, as he guided him outside the art room and I followed the both of them, walking towards the Royal suite.

"The Palace is beautiful. It's a wonderful depicture of traditional and modern." Amir added, looking around the ceiling of the Palace as he walked in small, composed steps.

"It is. We're all very fond of it." My brother replied, walking alongside.

"I'm sure the evening's discussion will bring back the topic of Iran and America." He mentioned, I furrowed my brows. My political senses urging me to freaking jump into the conversation.

I swallowed, seeing Amir nod as he heard my brother.

"Yes, definitely. I'm glad that our opinions match in the matter. We need to resolve, not ignite." He replied.

I knew he was right but I hated the US' interference in every single thing. They couldn't just stay out of any matter. They killed a man who was worshipped in Iran and expected the country to smile.

"It wouldn't have happened if America had kept to themselves and not interfered like they always do." I grumbled, not helping myself.

Yusuf shot me a look.

"Haya,"

"It's true." I defended, scowling at my brother. Amir turned his head, shooting me a knowing smile.

He knew me, he knew that I couldn't stop myself from saying how I felt like. I was an opinionated person. It didn't matter to me that the Crown Prince of another country was in my presence.

"Yes. Money is power, Princess. When you have power, you can use it however you want to." Amir said to me, being his usual diplomatic self.

I often wondered if he would ever talk to me about how he actually felt about such situations. As Amir, not as the Crown Prince.

"Iran has every right to seek revenge." I stated in response, he nodded.

"But not the resources. War is not an option, never an option."

He clearly said it like a final remark so I didn't push on the topic further. How could I argue that war was an option when I knew that it wasn't?

Finally, our steps came to a halt as two of the Royal guards stood on each side of the suite, opening the door to the large room that was always kept for the world leaders who came to visit.

"Well, Prince Amir. Here's your suite. Please rest and I will come to personally escort you to Lunch."

Amir shook his hand, nodding in gratitude.

"Your generosity is well appreciated, Yusuf. Thank you."

"Take care."

As the Royal guards closed the door to the suite, I looked at my brother who was already ushering me.

"Haya, come on." I shook my head at him, I already had enough of not being able to talk to the man who I was going to marry.

I had to meet him, I had to talk to him. Why was I even sneaking around in the first place?

I shook my head at my brother, asking him to let it be.

"Yusuf, you go. I have to talk to Prince Amir about the summit." I replied, lying.

He narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"I have a digital summit coming up again and I want to invite him." I added further, he didn't know about any upcoming summits.

My first digital summit had already happened with the Prince of Jordan.

"Which digital summit?"

"Some digital summit! Just go already," I said in exasperation, he groaned coming towards me.

"Haya, if you're thinking of flirting with the man and ruining our reputation, I'll tell father." He said it in a very low voice, knowing that our sounds could very well be heard and he had a reputation.

"Okay go. Tell dad. Tell him I entered his room and closed the door behind. Don't threaten me." I warned him back, not bothering to lower my voice.

Yusuf let out a sigh, staring at me like I was a spoiled and immature person. He thought I was only throwing a tantrum but he didn't even know the reality.

"Haya. It's unprofessional and very ill mannered of you. Don't you dare. Talk to him at lunch." He said it more firmly this time.

"I wanna talk now. I won't get time then." I insisted, he looked at me like I had lost my damn mind.

He would be fine in a few hours once he came to know about the reality.

"Fine. But father will know." He warned me one more time.

I was so done with the threats.

"I don't give a fuck if you tell dad." I cursed, he gaped at me in utter anger.

I knew I had crossed a line. I knew that because he wouldn't have been angry if I had swore at him around family, he was mad because I had sworn at him with two Royal guards around and Prince Amir inside the room.

I would apologise later. Maybe.

"It's high time he gets you married. Some man should have to deal with this attitude."

His voice was still very much low, he was still controlling himself and for the first time, I did think that he had it in himself to rule our country in the future.

"I'll be home soon." I said to him instead, seeing my brother as he walked away after throwing me a dirty look.

As I took three steps towards Amir's suite, I saw the guards looking at me with an alarmed expression on their faces.

They could not possibly stop me but their composures were so tight that I looked at them with another frown on my face.

Why didn't they understand that I had wore stockings underneath my dress only for him? I had even worn full sleeves. It was a custom made dress. Well, so were my most dresses but this one was special.

"What? You're gonna stop me from entering in our own freaking palace?" I snapped, feeling sorry for them the moment my words left my mouth.

It wasn't even their fault. I was just in a sour mood.

"No, Princess. I wouldn't dare. Should I announce that you want to go inside?" One of them asked me instead, voice just as respectful as it could have been which made my guilt ten times worse.

I shook my head.

They moved, opening the door and closing it the moment I entered. My heels clicked across the floor as I took two more steps, looking around the suite only to find no one around.

Was he in the shower?

I inhaled a deep breath, staring at the mirror on the opposite side of the wall to look at myself.

I didn't look pissed off, I looked normal.

I was just about to take another step and check the living room when I heard a voice and I clutched my heart, not letting him know that he had startled me and my thoughts.

"You have a dirty mouth on you."

I turned around slowly, a smile forming on my face as I saw Amir standing at a distance of a few steps, with his arms crossed against his chest.

You have a dirty mouth on you.

Had he heard my verbal argument with my brother?

"A what?" I asked him to say it again, taking a step in his direction.

Although he had the kind of face that could stop a person in their tracks, I had stared at him long enough to not stop anymore. His gaze was gentle as he looked at me, my eyes daring him to say what he had said earlier.

"A dirty mouth." He repeated again.

Would you like to test my dirty mouth?

I could have easily said it and made him uncomfortable. His mouth would have dried and I would have laughed.

"If I respond to your words, you would say 'haram, Haya' and tell me that I'm the one making you sin." I told him very casually, taking another step forward.

Amir stayed where he was, smiling as his dimples poked out. I wanted to walk upto him and kiss his cheek, especially those dimples. I wanted to make my way to his mouth, to his lips and his tongue and everything that he held within.

Amir looked at me, not helping himself as a chuckle slipped out of his mouth.

"Haram, Haya."

He had read my mind.

I swallowed. Finally, he took a step towards me. There was only a distance of one step from each side to close the remaining distance between us.

"You look breath taking."

I knew I did. I looked beautiful enough for people to gaze at me longer than they were allowed to. I looked graceful enough for them to think that they were not worthy of me.

The difference was, unlike every other day where I dressed for myself and the cameras and the people, today..I had only dressed for Amir.

I had always dressed for Amir everytime he had been around. My feminist self wanted to kill me right now.

"Dressed up very modestly for you, Prince. I didn't want you to have haram thoughts." I teased, because a simple thank you was very overrated for me.

"I try very hard not to have them but satan wins everytime." Amir played along, I laughed.

"It's me. I'm satan." I announced, he shook his head at me but laughed anyway.

His fucking dimples.

"I'm very happy to see you, Haya."

I knew he was happy to see me. His gaze showed me how he felt. He looked down for a moment, his eyes lingering on my lips before he looked up again.

"I'm happier to see you, Amir." I breathed out.

And he knew that I was genuinely happy to see him. It wasn't love yet, it couldn't be.

But whatever there was between us, it felt so real and so pure to me. For me, a relationship had always meant physical proximity and sex and kisses, which were something that I believed in, still I was here not even touching this man and still believing that I was his and he was mine.

My gaze rested on his face, staring at him and his face and thinking about who I was, who I had been, the struggles that I had gone through, the mistakes that I had made. I felt like all of it would fade away if I married this man, when I married this man.

"Haya," His call for my name snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You're looking at me in a way that I can not explain."

He told me, he knew my gaze wasn't filled with lust, it was filled with my own thoughts and struggles and him.

"Some things shouldn't be explained, Amir." I replied, gazing at him alluringly one more time and he nodded in agreement, not pressing for any details.

"So..digital summit hmm?" I knew he was trying to divert my thoughts.

I was happy to know that his eyes were enough to understand what was going on with me.

"Yes, some digital summit." I said back, chuckling as I remembered the conversation with my brother.

"Will you be there as Haya Najaf or Haya Amir?" He asked.

I was never going to change my name. I knew that in his culture, women did change their names after marriage but according to the religion, women were not supposed to do that.

"I'll always be Haya Najaf." I replied, Amir didn't look displeased but his dimples did disappear.

"You'll keep your name?" He questioned, I nodded.

"It's the Islamic way." I told him very seriously.

And the dimples were back. It wasn't just the dimples though, it was his hearty laugh.

"Don't laugh, it's true." I argued because I had studied my religion and I knew basic things about it.

I wasn't wrong. Why was he laughing?

Amir nodded, getting a hold of his laughter as he agreed with me.

"It is. I'm just surprised that you'd tackle me using my own words."

Oh.

Oh right.

I shot him a smug look.

"Get used to it, Prince." I told him.

"With pleasure, Princess."

He hummed gesturing me to walk by his side as we sat on the same sofa in the living room, with a space of one entire person in between.

"Where are you planning to take me then?" He enquired, even though he knew it was not possible.

"You're not even staying for a night. Where can I possibly take you?" I asked with a frown.

Initially, he had planned to stay the night but it had changed later on since he had to go to Washington directly from here.

"To someplace where your heart resides." Amir replied, smiling at me.

Where did my heart reside? I already knew the answer to that.

"My heart resides right here." I poked at my own heart, looking up at him.

"And a little bit of it is there as well," I pointed towards his heart.

He shook his head at me.

"A little bit isn't enough."

I couldn't give him all of me. I didn't have the courage to give my all to a man. I loved myself, I needed my love and my happiness, I needed my self satisfaction and relaxation.

"You're not getting all of it." I mumbled, he smirked.

"I will, in due time." He affirmed with such a confidence in himself.

"Really?" I asked, raising my eyes at him.

He nodded, holding my gaze.

"Oh yes. You're going to fall madly in love with me."

I would not fall in love like that again, I wouldn't lose myself because of my love, I wouldn't be so madly in love that I would do anything.

"Love and madness don't go well together." I told him.

"They do, if they're blended right." He replied.

I didn't want to have that conversation right now. I knew that I had to tell him about my past, I had to tell him what I deemed worthy of telling him but I would do that later, not right now.

"I don't have anything planned but I would like to take you to my room and I want to talk to you."

I told him. I wanted to talk about my past in my room because it felt like my safe space. I wanted to show him who I was and my room was the perfect depiction of myself.

"You'll take me to your room?" He enquired, clearly not sure of what I had planned.

"You should see who I am. You deserve that." I told him, Amir didn't press on any information.

He nodded.

"Okay, I'll be honored." He agreed, I stood up knowing that it was time for me to go.

I had to dress up for lunch.

"I'll see you at lunch." I told him, controlling every fibre in my body that asked me to touch him and hold him and just, kiss him.

"InshaAllah." Amir murmured, accompanying me to the door.

"Haya," The door opened and I stepped out, looking at him as he called my name for one more time.

"Yes, Amir?"

"You're a beautiful sight for sore eyes."

My heart clenched and warmed at the same time.

---

Thoughts??