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chapter 20: a new start


"there's always an unheard voice in every soul which you shouldn't ignore - inaya."




Gabriel had been seated at one of the lawn chairs, skimming through the books Hafsa had got for him from a nearby library .

"So , shall we start now ?" Hafsa questioned softly , her hands on the table .

Gabriel felt like the world around them had started to become dazy until Hafsa was the only thing that he could see . With her soft voice echoing in his ears , he sat transfixed . Maybe it was the way her eyes twinkled when she talked about Islam or perhaps it was his own mind playing games with him .

Hafsa snapped a book shut , bringing him back to the present situation as he found her sorting out through the huge pile .

"Now ," she paused , swinging open a book ,"The first thing we will have to study about is , Allah and his oneness ."

Gabriel felt like a complete Idiot , lost deeply in his fantasy world .

Hafsa gestured vaguely towards the book in her hand , "This book explains in detail about all the Quranic verses and Hadeeth that speak of Allah's oneness ."

He nodded curtly , following her gaze that was stuck at the book once again .

"Gabriel ," she spoke softly , setting the book aside . "I need to know that this is your decision . The fact that you want to learn Islam , I hope it's only your choice . Remember that no one can force you into this religion . Forcing Islam on any human is haraam or prohibited . Unless you don't want to learn about it willingly , you won't be considered as a Muslim or would be Muslim ."

How can I tell you the way you twisted my heart into accepting anything that comes with your voice ? How can I tell you how enchanting you sound when you talk about Islam ? How can I tell you that Islam is now my Deen already ? He exhaled loudly .

"Don't worry Hafsa . I assure that this is my decision . Once I'm a Muslim , I have to go take revenge from Lucy in heaven who died before me and had absolutely no sins ." He cracked a smile . It felt they were old friends meeting after a long time .

Hafsa laughed softly with Gabriel staring in awe at her .

With the mood lightened , Hafsa felt that overwhelming desire to help him out as perfectly as she could . The words spilled out before she could even consider what she was going to say .

"Y'know , you can text me on WhatsApp as often as you like . But of course , it'll be just so I can see how you're coming along in lerning about Islam with your doubts ."

Gabriel didn't answer right away . Instead he surveyed her with an intense stare . Like he could make out any ill-intent just by staring at her .

Only as Hafsa started to regret what she said , he smiled .

"Of course . That sounds as an amazing idea ."

Hafsa couldn't hide her surprise . She had thought for a second that she disappointed him .

But she hadn't .

And she was happy that she could help him out .

Afra had been seated at the breakfast table , dismally picking at her food whilst the girls stared at her sadly .

"Afra , you need to eat something ." Inaya muttered softly , rubbing her shoulder soothingly .

Afra sighed loudly , almost scaring the girls who thought she was going to have an outburst .

All the elders and the boys had their breakfast earlier and left the girls to themselves .

"Listen Afra , I know this is hard . But it's only going to get harder if you keep starving like this . You think this will help change what is happening ?" Inaya asked quite loudly , emphasizing her point .

Afra tossed her hands in the air , surrendering herself . "Alright fine ." She stretched the 'n' and slumped in her seat .

Hafsa smiled triumphantly as she quickly scrambled to her feet . "Let me get that heated up for you ." She grabbed Afra's plate of fried eggs and toast along with Sarah and Samantha .

Afra watched as Hafsa warmed up the eggs on a skillet and laughed along some crazy jokes Samantha and Sarah cracked . Unavoidably , a tear escaped the corner of her eye .

Inaya seemed to have noticed it as she pulled Afra into a hug .

"Who'll warm my breakfast from now on , Inaya ?" She mumbled in Inaya's neck , shivering in her grasp .

"Shhh . Shhhh . Just call me up and I'll be there ." Inaya softly said , patting her back .

Afra let go of Inaya and sat up straighter to face her . "How would you be able to do that ?"

"I have your unicorn remember ?" Inaya winked .

"Unicorns don't fly Inaya ." Afra scoffed . "That's not even a real method of coming over to warm my breakfast ." She grumbled , crossing her arms and locking her gaze straight ahead.

Inaya pressed her palm into her forehead . "Fine . Okay , I'll just fly over with a Pegasus ."

Afra rolled her eyes ,"And where will you find that Pegasus ?"

"Afra ! I promise I'll manage anyhow . Now just sit quiet alright ." Inaya sighed .

"I was wondering if Faaris could be of more help than.....okay , maybe a Pegasus would be better ." Afra changed her statement , cautious of Inaya's warning look .

Hafsa set Afra's plate of steaming eggs and toast down in front of her . She felt quite relaxed now that she had pretty much irritated Inaya and laughed at her monkey face . Sarah and Samantha always stole the show and they had an amazing talent of making any situation feel bearable and worth going through .

Afra's mood had lighted up a lot and she was absent mindedly watching Sarah gather up all of her blonde hair in a messy bundle at the top of her head only to let it fall back down for the ninth time as she counted mentally . Inaya and Hafsa gathered up and tried to help her with her hair problem . She was glad Hafsa warmed up her eggs , because there was no way she could eat them cold .

"Guys ," Afra paused , feeling herself getting emotional ,"can we have a group hug ?"

The moment those words left Afra's mouth , she was bombarded by all the girls who had almost crushed her .

"Girls , don't crush me to pulp !" She yelled over the top of her lungs , feeling herself panting for air the moment everyone sheepishly stepped aside .

Afra linked her fingers and stretched her arms above her head . "Maybe a group hug was my biggest mistake ever ."

Samantha frowned , going hands on hips . "Hey ! Cousins are allowed to turn you to pulp , okay !"

Sarah felt stung too . "Exactly ! Once we turned dad's sister's daughter into strawberry jam ."

Afra , Hafsa and Inaya exchanged widened glances before smiling faintly .

"I don't even want to know about it ." Hafsa chuckled .

Much to their surprise , the doorbell rung . Inaya , Afra and Hafsa frantically secured their veils over their faces . Just in case , someone popped in right in the kitchen .

A lot of greetings and laughter was exchanged and the girls looked at each other confused .

Sarah and Samantha offered to check up on what was going on . When they themselves didn't return after some time , Inaya panicked .

"I feel Iike some intruder tricked himself into the house and is poisoning everyone ." Inaya cried , tapping her foot anxiously .

Hafsa rolled her eyes ."You do realize right that they are talking and laughing ? And People don't tend to do that with strangers , let alone intruders ."

Inaya seemed too enthralled to acknowledge Hafsa's question . But before Hafsa could say anything anymore , Elsa came through the dining room , hand in hand with another woman in black .

"Mum ?" Hafsa looked confused at the woman , her eyes beaming with delight .

"Assalaamualaikum girls ." Mariam's voice echoed , making Afra jump in delight .

"Anna ! Oh Allah , thank you so much for coming ." Mariam gleefully embraced Afra who seemed more emotional than happy .

Samantha and Sarah came into the room after a moment , smiling at everyone .

"We just met Inaya's husband !" Sarah squealed , poking Inaya in the ribs .

Samantha loudly cleared her throat , attracting everyone's attention .

"We heard he was an army official ." Sarah cooed , earning amused laughes from everyone in the room .

"Oh and Hafsa ," Sarah wrapped a hand around Mariam's shoulder , smiling at her widely ."Your mum's a super woman . She's just amazing ."

Mariam shook her head , humbly thanking the girls for the compliments .

All the men had gathered up near the porch , indulging themselves in some serious conversations . Mariam had been surrounded by all the ladies as they settled on the dining table , discussing about the recent events that shook up the household .

Afra and her 'sisters from a different mother' were lamenting over the uncertainty of the coming situation . Afra wanted to let the topic rest for a while and keep herself engrossed in anything different at all but all that they could come up with was the cliff at the end of which she was hanging .

Maybe hours had passed and with each minute dreadfully passing away , Afra's eyes glued to the wall mounted clock . As afternoon descended over the air thick with tension , that Afra could literally cut with a knife , a huge argument sounded through the exterior of the house . Alarming the ladies as they scrambled to their feet .

"Alexander !" Elsa yelled , pulling at her husband's hand . "Stop it ! You're arguing with government officials ." She frantically whispered , her eyes fixed on the same short and stout figure of Mr Haamid and his attendants .

The other men in the group had glares pointing at the official , as they clambered closer to each other protectively pulling the females into a large circle .

"What's with this man though , Aunt Elsa ?" Gabriel questioned , his eyes focused disgustingly at Mr Haamid who had a very straight face contrary to the scene .

"He's here to take Afra ."

All the eyes shifted to her in complete confusion .

Alexander sighed , his face twisted in a sad expression .

"Yeah , that's true ." He softly answered , the events of that morning flashing through his mind .

Gabriel and Derek looked at each other in confusion , before Faaris sighed and slumped heavily .

"Hey , but-......what , no , I mean....how ?" Gabriel stuttered in disbelief .

Afra heard her cousin brother muttering some words under his breath , his eyes shooting constant glares at Mr Haamid and his attendants who had developed a dislike towards him . For all the while , he had never seemed more protective and Afra found herself smiling just a tad bit .

Mr Haamid turned with a smile at Elsa and Alexander , offering his hand . Alexander shook it reluctantly , quickly pulling it back .

"Assalaamualaikum . I'm Mr Haamid and I'm presuming your wife here ," He briefly glanced at Elsa who was by his side ,"Has introduced me to you sir ?"

Alexander sighed , not trying to meet his gaze . For some reason , he disliked him right the moment he stepped in the porch .

Or maybe it was because some random man was taking his only daughter away from him .

"So , I registered that despite having presented you with the royal orders , you would definitely still be unconvinced ." He paused momentarily , the edges of his mouth tugging into a smile . His gaze travelled towards the street .

Alexander and Elsa squinted their eyes at the specifically different Mercedes shining under the faltering afternoon sun , making them gasp in shock .

From the driver's seat , a tall man stepped out , his black shirt glistening under the pale colour of his skin . His dark brown hair swayed like the gentle waves of a ocean .

As he approached the house , with the gaze of all those people unfaltered , he smiled gently .

Taking his sunglasses off , he stepped in front of Haamid .

"Your Highness , pleased to have you here ." Haamid bowed slightly , kissing the back of the Prince's hands .

When Haamid stepped aside , his gaze immediately landed on the couple standing right ahead of him .

"Assalaamualaikum Mr and Mrs Alexander . I am Prince Sulaaymaan ." He extended his hand , stealing glances at all the nasty looks that were being thrown at him .

"Walaikumusslaaam ." Alexander shook his hand and found a small smile spread across his face .

"Thank you for entrusting your daughter under my protection . I assure you that no matter what , we'll take care of whatever is threatening her existence . I hope you'll understand that this is truly a serious business and we can't afford to take any risks ."

Alexander stood stunned at the smooth English he spoke unlike of what he had been aware of . His soft voice was laced in Arabic accent and that made his English stand out more professionally in a way .

"Now , sir , if this sounds appropriate enough , I'd like to leave with Afra as soon as possible . There are a lot of preparations yet to be administered for her safety . Which I wanted to move along with by taking her opinion ."

"I'd just like to ask one thing ." Alexander paused , trying not to sound timid about questioning a Prince ."Just about how long will this take ? If you can give us a probable estimation....." He trailed off , not knowing how exactly to conclude his sentence .

Prince Sulaaymaan sensed the nervousness and quickly tried to reassure him with a light laugh ."Of course sir ! You have the right to know !" He exclaimed a little too loudly , earning crooked grins from everyone around . "For now , we think it'll take three months to b - "

He was cut off with somebody loudly gasping about the fact . He tried searching for the voice just because he was curious , but gave up when the glares he received intensified .

Elsa called out for Afra from over her shoulders , watching Afra walk out with heavy steps , her gaze scrutinizing the Prince sternly .

"Assalaamualaikum Miss Afra ." His eyes stood focused on her as she shiftily stood by her mother's side .

"Walaikumusslaaam ." She answered back , her gaze focused on his shoes and her voice came out as a stressed out reply . But he still knew that she had been blessed with a lovely pitch of voice and clarity .

"Hmm....I know I'm being very rude , but I promise this is for your best . Had it not involved some notorious criminal , I wouldn't have taken such a drastically inflictive step ." He tried sounding collected enough , but he himself couldn't miss out on how jittery his voice sounded .

Afra stood unaffected ; not even bothering to acknowledge his speech that he felt could do the job of at least pulling out a decent first impression .

When nothing changed except for the increasing glares and pretty much audible rude remarks , he sighed almost rubbing his temples mentally .

"Uh , can we get going ?" He sounded too desperate than what was meant to have been shown off and it felt embarrassing .

He bowed and greeted everyone one last time , his heart clenching at the sight of tears in Afra's eyes . Something that he had promised to himself that it would never happen .

Never .

Unfortunately for him , his secret threatener had found out about his new crush , like he had decided to address her . Maybe he was being a little over reactive , his palms sweating and voice shaking . For certain though , he knew she meant something to him because no girl , especially somebody wrapped up in black from head to toe , made his heart skip a beat at the very first , not so good meeting at the park that day . Perhaps , he had already developed a liking more stronger more than what he had anticipated towards her . Since he could feel his nails dig into the flesh of his palms as her soft whimpering danced through the hot loo . He had taken a oath that no matter what , he would never hurt her .

Not after what had happened .

He wondered if he could ever keep up to his own promises . If at all something was to happen , he would have directly approached for her hand in marriage . The way he wanted his love to progress in a halaal way . It boiled his blood with rage to accept the fact that there was a particular somebody who was always a step ahead of him .

Every.single.time.

Not anymore though . Yes he had made her cry once . Not more than that . Somebody for the first time in years had managed to capture his attention and he couldn't let her get hurt just because the threatener had figured out his interest in her .

His thoughts were interrupted when he found Afra's shoe heels clink against the gravel path , walking faster and faster as he tried to sideline with her . His first impression had come out weirdly , but he hoped that it wouldn't matter much . First impressions just talked about the person's attributes and etiquettes when people met for the first time . They never did and never will highlight the true or bad intentions lingering with the strong intellect of minds . Never ever judge a person by their first impression .

He slumped his way to the car , swinging open the door of the passenger seat and sauntering into position . A little hesitantly , he glanced at the figure in the back seat . She kept waving at the large family she had , simultaneously dabbing at her eyes .

Aw Mahn , how much he hated to see her cry !

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