You love flowers, but you cut them. You love animals, but you eat them. You tell me you love me, so now I'm scared!

It was night, the stars were ruling the sky yet again, and I could only stare at the battlefield on which the sun had lost.

I was tired of tending to the guests all day long, and now all I wanted was alone time.

The large square cutout in my room allowed the wind to sweep into my room and send shivers down my spine.

The stars look brighter tonight.

Sighing, I climbed into my bed.

Almost under the daze of heavy sleep, a light thud on the ground right outside of my room pulled me away from my most-needed rest.

The caution and hypersense that I left on the battlefield seemed to come back for a few moments and fill my body with vigilance.

Could it be the thieves?

My mind turned cogs, and I grabbed my small dagger from under my pillow. The hard and rough object digging into my skin already.

Peeling the covers slowly off myself, I crawl on my knees to the window and slowly raise my head to look outside the large cutout with a batter angle.

Just wind, no one else.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, a blur of black flashed in front of my eyes, and they widened.

Definitely someone.

My mind hazed, and my eyes focused on their target. Propelling myself up on my hands, I push my body out of the window, large enough to let me through to the other side.

The rough grass tickled my bare feet when I landed as quietly and softly as possible. Tiny crickets sang as usual, and the rustling leaves joined their choir as well.

Though anything but peace enveloped my strangled mind,

My careful gaze looked around to find the source of the black blur, but it was as if they had disappeared, whoever it was.

Gulping down the saliva that had gathered in my mouth, I took a step forward.

Slowly.

I was walking towards the corner of my house, with a large tree looming right above.

The cool air nudged me, maybe telling me to turn around, but my heart and brain urged me to move and uncover the mysterious black blur.

Was someone spying on us?

Pushing my head into the corner, my eyes assessed the backside of our house, but there was no one. I stepped on the horizontal pathway, my eyes gliding from one side to another.

My breath hitched when someone behind me landed on the ground with a thud.

My body knew it was someone behind me, and so it twisted itself, my hand clutching the metal weapon tightly.

Whoever it was was fast and light on their feet. One second I was charging at them blindly, and the next I was slammed into the brick wall of my house with my weapon tossed aside on the ground.

I bit back a hiss.

Involuntarily, my eyes were clutched tightly and my hands were in fists.

A cool metal rested on the base of my neck, a vein throbbing underneath it.

Raising my eyelids slowly, my pupils enlarged as they took in the sight in front of them.

A man with his face covered with a black cloth—the one you would think your executioner would wear—has his eyes visible with a mysterious glint in his eyes.

Aza.

My eyes were wide as he held me captive. How do I react?

"What are you doing?" My mouth had dried, and my heart beat fast.

"Abu -" I was about to scream for my brother when his large palm closed around my mouth, ceasing my speech.

"Drop the act. It is you, the warrior from the battlefield, right? Don't you dare lie." His voice was threatening, and my eyebrows raised on their own.

Their was a tinge of happiness when he called me a warrior.

I pulled his hand from my mouth and said, "I do not know."

"I don't like Liars Hoorain." A shudder ran down my spine when my name spilled from his tongue.

I was not really surprised that he figured it out. He is a smart man, after all.

I sighed.

"How am I not surprised you figured it out? Congratulations, now get out of my face." My voice sounded poisonous and annoyed.

Aza noticed, and he took a step back from me, lowering the dagger he had placed on my throat not long ago.

"Are you planning to continue fighting?" His question surprised me, and my eyebrows furrowed.

"What's with the questions? Have you done the interrogation?"

"Answer the damn question." Taken aback by his outburst, my eyes blinked a couple of times and I looked away, settling on the tree that might have been his hiding spot as usual.

"So what? Now Amir Hamza will forbid me from fighting." My nose scrunched, and I looked back at him with distaste."You are an amazing liar." Aza muttered, a weird attribute I could not put a name to laced his words.

He sighed, his finger pinching the point between his eyes. His eyes snapped back to me a second later, and his hand dropped to his side.

"Find a loyal man, marry, and die in the comfort of your house."

"No."

"Find a loyal man, marry, and die in the comfort of your house."

"No!"

His eyes searched mine, and an itch started at my feet. I fought the urge to itch from the mosquito bite.

"I am saying this one last time."

"You don't have to."

He started either way: "Find a loyal man, marry, and die in the comfort of your home; there will be no going back after this."

He waited for my answer patiently, and my jaw was clenched.

Why does he not understand?

"Do I have to spell it out for you? N-O, NO!"

A small, hoarse chuckle escaped his lips under the cloth, and my eye twitched.

"I would be surprised if you took a step back at this point. Now you must be prepared for the things that will happen next. Lest us not forget, you are still the Amir, and I am still a lowly warrior. I will be contacting you shortly."

I could not read his demeanor, but I knew exactly what he implemented: he was going to use me as a blasted chess piece in his game.

He was still going to use me, making me pretend to be Amir. Any hostile actions directed at him will be directed at me.

"You sure are a gentleman." His eyes crinkled, small lines appearing around them. He was smiling underneath his scarf.

He took another step back.

"Close your window while you sleep." My eyes widened at his comment, and then I rolled them.

What is it to him?

He took another step back, ready to jump around the wall.

"Wait-" Aza stopped moving and raised one of his eyebrows.

"You have seen my face now; is it not fair if I see yours too?"

To be honest, it was my own mistake that resulted in him seeing my face, and he is not required to show his face, and he knows that as well. If he wants, he can leave without showing me his face.

My eyes slightly widened in shock when Aza raised his hand to grab the cloth around his mouth and remove it.

I only watched.

Air swished past us, dragging my hair away from me, and I realized that my head was uncovered.

Aza put the cloth back on his face, turned on his heel, and jumped over the wall.

I only watched.

This is it for book 1!  Book 2 update next week!

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