"if you love somebody, you irritate them, annoy them and most certainly tease them relentlessly. love is all about comfort - derek."

Sulaaymaan had been too caught up in trying to believe that it was really the girl he had seen at the park that he forgot to get his sisters the ice cream he had promised .

He recalled how her eyes showcased a lovely set of understanding and emphathy when he spoke of the beautiful fountain that his father had designed . Certain things were meant to be forgotten but he found himself not able to let go of the past and break down the fountain . Because it definitely did not mean anything to him now .

Or did it ?

After holding back a few tears that had unknowingly pooled in his eyes , he had turned to her with a quivering smile . He didn't expect to meet eyes that watched his pain and studied his soul in a precise manner . As always , he had prepared himself for a careless sorry .

But she was different .

The moment his eyes met her warm orbs , he was almost lost in the oceanic and serene warmth they got his body infused with . Her eyes felt like the soft spells of magic that left his soul enchanted but left his soul only begging for more .

As she turned her head away he had snapped out of his daze and quickly lead her into his house . Knowing well enough that he would make her feel more uncomfortable than she already was . As she swung around on her feet , squealing with excitement craning her neck to gawk at every corner , he studied her . Her hands were bony , a small dome like bone protruding out of a corner of her wrist . When she laughed , it was loud and natural and he found himself enjoying it like music .

God , he already was mesmerised .

He watched her silently standing at a corner , hoping that she would turn to look at him and let him loose himself in her eyes . Sadly she did not seem to acknowledge his presence and kept on walking around the place . He did not complain though .

He only wished .

At a certain point , she seemed tired and looked like she could use some rest and maybe a glass of water . However , she had lept towards the large portraits hanging down the walls in just a moment later and he had to suppress his laugh at her hyped up nature . Her hands brushed along the pictures and unknowing to her , he followed her trail and graced his fingers along the parts she had touched . For some reason , he could feel the cold paintings seem more brighter .

She was magic .

Soon after , they had settled down much to Sulaaymaan's astonishment . She stretched her legs out and lay her back against the sofa's leather material . He had been dreading the moment she would figure out that he was the one at the park , and very grudgingly he found her question him about it . At first , he was extremely nervous to answer her back . But he sort of got the hang of it as she tried pressing the matter onto him .

He was very rude that day and he himself was flabbergasted . Everyone around him thought that he was very composed and rarely lost his temper . What they could not see or chose to ignore were his constant pleas for love and support . Sometimes the lonely part of his mind took over his emotions and he felt himself changing into a monster he did not like showing . He tried his best but never was able to stop it .

Besides that day was not progressing well anyway , adding to his frustration . He found it difficult to stay inside because he felt like someone was pushing him deeper into a narrowed out hole . Wanting to suffocate him to death . As a matter of fact , he considered bumping into that lady as one of the worsest incident to happen that day .

Until .

Just until , his eyes grasped Afra's and everything around him stopped . In that one minute , his whole world had revolved around the lady glaring at him . Until he found the manners to lower his gaze after recognizing the glares of another man who was standing right by her friend's side .

That day was the turning point of his life .

So when his sisters came through a hallway while staying engaged in a serious conversation , he had slumped with relief . It was a known fact that as soon as his sisters popped up anywhere , that place would be worser than a jungle .

She had been smiling and laughing all the while when the girls talked about how she was a better 'ice cream' option . However he didn't want to get caught staring at her . Again . As politely as possible , he made sure not to stare too much at her . And instead he tried to engross himself in what was going on .

Much to his bad luck , Queen Basmah walked in along with Jazz and he knew that she would take Afra away . After all , she was very excited when she knew someone was going to stay with them . Besides , Afra was a guest and they were meant to treat her comfortably .

As he watched Afra walk away with Queen Basmah who sternly ordered the triplet sisters to stay back with Sulaaymaan , a part of his heart squeezed tight .

He only hoped she tried to understand him .

Afra had walked to the lady who was smiling down warmly in her direction . She stood up abruptly and was immediately engulfed in a warm hug . A hug that reminded her that there was love still very much alive in this world . After she was pulled apart , Afra took her time in sorting out the fact that the triplets resembles their mother more with their hazel eyes and pale skin while Sulaaymaan had blue eyes and lightly tanned skin . It was precipitable that he resembled his father more .

Speaking of which she hadn't seen his father .

While she was pretty much intrigued with the family , what stood apart from all that as a huge question mark in her mind was her father's absence . Certainly he could have been away for work or for groceries maybe , but that thought inwardly twisted her mind into resulting in silly or rather serious conclusions .

She was very paranoid .

Not wanting to indulge herself in someone else's personal live , she followed the lady who introduced herself as Queen Basmah , Sulaaymaan's mother . Jazz had settled shyly on her brother's lap while the other two had made sure to make childish remarks like they were scared of the monster on the sofa . Regardless , Queen Basmah had made sure to shush them up and walk out with her towards what she deduced was the royal kitchen .

She stood fazed right at the doorstep , surveying the unbelievably large area with a mouth that hanged open and eyes that hardly noticed the small amused smile on Queen Basmah's lips .

The walls were painted a bright yellow with a hint of brown . Large black cupboards hung across the left side of the room . A fairly pretty island with red and black designed tiles stood remarkably opposite to the cabinets . Afra had to resist the urge to feel those tiles because she thought it would look weird .

"Make yourself at home ." Queen Basmah spoke , indicating towards a kettle . "Want some tea ?"

Afra loved the idea of having some refreshment now that she had realized she had not even taken a sip of water and her throat felt parched .

"Yes please ." She chirped happily and stood beside Queen Basmah , monitoring her actions as she pulled poured some water and let it come to a boil .

She watched as Queen Basmah tried reaching over for a container in the cabinet that she couldn't reach .

"Here , let me help you with that ." Afra quickly offered , standing a little on her tiptoes to pull the jar out .

She handed the jar and smiled brightly .

"Thank you . Now I have you to help me out in place of Sulaaymaan ." She cheered , putting a tablespoon of the tea leaves in the boiling water .

"Don't worry , your highness . I will be at your service ." Afra chuckled watching as the whole of the kitchen was encompassed in a rich and comforting scent .

"Go take a seat habibti . I'll set the table ." Queen Basmah insisted , motioning towards the twenty four seater antique dining set . The chairs had beautiful cushions on them

"Let me get the table set !" Afra shrieked , jumping up and down . "Or else I'll never help you get that jar from the cabinet and I'll kidnap Sulaaymaan so he won't be able to get that jar for you too . Then you'll never have tea to drink ever again ." Afra threatened her , with a hand on her hips and waving a finger around .

When Queen Basmah took her time in observing her threat , she squared her shoulders . "Ha ! Gotcha !"

Queen Basmah shook her head amusingly , accepting her defeat ." Fine . The cups and saucers are in the cabinet over there ." She pointed at a cabinet at the corner to which she instantly lurched forward to .

Once Afra had arranged the China bone tea set , Queen Basmah placed the teapot down . A comfortable silence engulfed them and Afra didn't quite mind that . Infact , she was rather happy to be away from Sulaaymaan . She didn't like having to be near him . Afra's senses awakened a few moments later and a soft smile played across her lips .

"This smells too refreshing ." Afra chirped to which Queen Basmah's face lit up .

"Thank you ." She settled down opposite to Afra , serving her a cup of it . "My mother used to have a café where she diligently worked until her death . She naturally grew tea leaves and taught us the secret towards making refreshing tea with it . My brother is the owner now and I buy these from him ." She summarised , taking a sip from it .

Watching Afra hesitate a little in untying her niqaab , Queen Basmah smiled . "Dear , be relaxed and make yourself comfortable . Sulaaymaan or no other man will come here until I order them to ."

Afra nodded , untying her niqaab and letting the cloth slip down from her face . Queen Basmah's smile widened with the glow on the girl's face . Her eyes were a beautiful sceneric blue that simply matched well with her dark red lips .  The light blue of her eyes complemented the tanned colour of her skin .

"You're a beautiful girl , Ma Shaa ALLAH !" The Queen praised her . Afra's head snapped up to meet her warm gaze and her body tensed .

"Um , thank you ." She tried pushing away the heat that had started to make its way to her cheeks . Having no other choice , she ducked her head and took a careful sip from the hot drink .

"Oh Allah ! This tea is amazing !" Afra shrieked stunning the Queen who replaced her widened eyes with a quick smile .

"Sorry , I scared you there !" Afra sheepishly replied , finding the Queen nod her head vigorously . "But really ! This tea is so differently unique ."

The Queen smiled wider ."Well , thank you so much ."

They sat quietly for a few minutes , both engaged in enjoying the warm drinks . The oolong tea she had tasted at one of the dinner parties she had attended with her parents seemed quite tasteless in comparison to the one she was drinking now . But this tea had the characteristics of a typical oolong tea . The taste and the aroma refreshed her mentally and made her feel relaxed .

The Queen cleared her throat loudly and Afra looked baffled .

"Oh I'm sorry . Did you ask me something ?" Afra babbled , figuring maybe she had zoned out .

"No no dear . I just felt like talking to you ." The Queen smiled , taking a sip from her cup .

Afra smiled looking into the tea cup . "I wish my family and friends could see this mansion . They'd love it ." She muttered , tracing a finger around the rim of her cup .

"Habibti , you can invite them once you're settled in . I'd love to meet them . And you all can enjoy too ." Basmah chirped excitedly .

"Thank you so much . That'll be lovely ." Afra smiled at her , her gaze quickly dropping to her hands .

"I just figured I never introduced myself properly ." She chuckled , obviously stupified by her behaviour . "I'm Basmah Ali . Also , you don't have to be formal by referring to me as a Queen . I'd suggest you just call me Basmah ."

Afra smiled gleamigly . "I'm Afra Aazeen ." She paused a moment , not sure on how to refer to her as a normal person . "Um , it might take me a while to think of you more as a person than a queen ."

Basmah laughed heartily , clutching her chest . "That's alright sweetie . You can take your time ."

"It's an honour meeting you !" She exclaimed , trying to control her quivering voice .

She agreed that the Queen was gentle and kind but she was trying to relax her hyped up heart and the nervousness that was causing her hands to shake furiously . She couldn't risk breaking an antique China bone tea set cup .

"It's actually an honour to meet you , dear !" Basmah emphasized , keenly watching Afra with a calculating gaze .

"Are you alright ?" She questioned and Afra's eyes locked with hers in the process . She could trace worry in her eyes .

"Yeah , I am alright ." She politely answered and looked up with a little smile .

"So , tell me about your family Afra ." Basmah casually mentioned , taking a sip of her tea and placing her arms on the table , leaning forward in her seat .

Afra glowered down in her mug of tea . She didn't exactly know them much to go about talking about them .

"Hmm....my family isn't exactly interesting . My dad is Alexander Varghese and my mom is Elsa Varghese . My dad - "

"Alexander Varghese !" She exclaimed , a big smile on her lips ."Isn't he that really famous engineer ?!"

Afra didn't expect such a thrilled reaction from the Queen over the mention of her father's name . Not that the whole nation didn't brag about him , but because it gave it her the expression that the Queen knew a lot about the field according to her theory . Perhaps she was right in the deduction .

"Yes , that's him !" Afra's supplied in a dry voice that couldn't have been missed because the Queen because  her presently toothy grin reduced to a faint and sheepish grin .

"It must feel nice to be the daughter of a famous father ." Basmah said , taking another swallow of her tea .

"Not really ." Afra said before she could stop herself .

"I'm sorry ." She pursed her lips together .

After a moment of tensed silence , the Queen spoke up again . "When I was younger , I had the dream of becoming a petrochemical engineer . Unlike my mother who practised gender equality , my father thought it was a waste to let girls study to that extent ."

A sad smile lined her expressions and Afra noticed her head bend down . Despite the effort , Afra could make out a glistening tear slip from her eye . When she did look up , there was a forced and shaky smile on her face . "There has nothing more that I wanted . Ever ."

Afra's didn't know why she felt like the Queen resembled to a part of her . A part that she kept hidden from the entire world . Secluded within the walls of the dark . And among the secrets she had buried .

"I am so sorry . I can relate a little too ." She replied , her eyes not meeting Basmah's . She feared her emotions would take the best of her if she dared to look into her eyes .

After a moment , Afra took a quick sip of her tea and let the Queen take a second to recompose herself . What the Queen had gone through was enough of evidence to prove that certain parts of Saudi Arabia remained unknown to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the holy Qur'an .

"Okay !" The Queen almost yelled , stunning Afra a little . "Okay , so um , how do you like the Prince ?" It didn't look like she wanted to put forward that question but at the same time desperatly longed to change the subject . 

Afra tensed .

She wasn't comfortable answering that question . More specifically when he kidnapped her .

"Um , I haven't had the chance to know him yet . But I think he's , eh , a little weird ?" Afra finished her tea and started gnawing on her lips .

"There is a reason behind everything that anyone is like . I still hope you give him a chance . Specially because you definitely mean something special to him and because I like you too . He never brought a girl before and he never even told me he was going to bring you here . So you definitely mean something more to him." Basmah seemed flustered at a loss for words .

Afra nodded . "I will try In Shaa Allah ."

She honestly didn't mean that . At the most , she could just take him as a human . But to say she would even give a thought to know him , would be a sick joke .

"He's gone through things unimaginable by a normal human . Yet he fights the monsters within him that have been ruling his soul for years . Every single day , he fights . All alone . Without anyone's support . I wish he would atleast let someone help him out ." Basmah pursed her lips in a tight smile , glancing quickly at Afra .

"I don't know how it feels like to be alone ." Nonetheless I wouldn't wish that on anybody ." Afra trailed off , biting on her lips .

The Queen smiled . "I know you wouldn't ." She paused , a knowing glint in her eyes . "And that's precisely why I accept you as my son's bride ."