"your love shall taste tests - sulaymaan."

Afra had been gazing out the window for as long as she'd taken her seat . She had been staring without blinking her eyes , her gaze set on nothing specific .

Every now and then , she would flip out of her thoughts and peek at Sulaaymaan .

She would be marrying him , a little too sooner than she had wanted to . Everything was occurring all together leaving her feeling claustrophobic and out of breath .

She needed time .

When the facts were revealed , Elsa and Alexander had fallen quiet . Once they were convinced that it wasn't a joke — as they had concluded — Queen Basmah slowly explained to them the detailed events that led to the revelation .

Every time the Queen paused , Afra would be surrounded in piercing gazes from her parents . Obviously they weren't buying the story — neither was she — but it was all but the pure truth .

Understandably it was ascertainable that they were absolutely blown away hearing her talk about marriage . She wasn't against the Spiritual bonding between the opposite gender , but it wasn't something she would go for before building a career .

But - fairly  - she had ended up agreeing to their decision of organising the Nikaah after Isha .

She was regretting not paying attention to them while they discussed matters seriously .

Her parents had been informed to keep the news secretive since Sulaaymaan wasn't willing to fight the media that would mostly suffocate him .

She did agree to that .

Especially since she was already taken aback and perplexed over their marriage pact . She was definitely sure that dealing with a million cameras and neverending flashes would not only paralyze her but also affect her eyes .

"My kids are getting married !"

Afra's head almost hit the bonnet when Queen Basmah squealed and jumped in her seat .

She sat frozen , rubbing the crown if her head . Things took a little while to make sense to her and when they did her lips widened into the most goofiest grin .

The Queen was having hallucinations and now and then , she would jump up in joy as the events of the last few hours alerted her .

Sure her life wasn't very considerate and perhaps was venting out it's anger of being uneventful all along . But either way , she felt joyous and positive .

"Sulaaymaan , can we switch the AC off and instead pull down the Windows ?"

The Queen slapped her cheeks , her face so unbelievably shocked that Sulaaymaan almost pulled over with fright. 

"What's wrong mama ?"

She steadily turned to Sulaaymaan , as Afra leaned over to watch what had caused her to look so stunned .

"You both are getting married !"

The Queen whisperer and Sulaaymaan moved away , throwing his hands up in the air .

Afra cracked into loud giggles and it sort of relieved her mind quite a bit .

"Mama , you're terrifying me !"

Afra shook her head humourously .

Sulaaymaan remained silent for a minute before sighing .

"Mama , please , it feels like you're being stung by a Scorpion when you're squeaking like that ."

The Queen watched him guiltily and nodded in agreement .

"Fine . I understand ."

She whispered and slumped heavily .

"But what can I do ? It's too exciting ."

Sulaaymaan looked at her for a few minutes and smiled warmly .

"I can understand mama . I love you ."

He pulled closer and pecked her cheek .

Afra couldn't keep her fan moment in . She had never seen any man as affectionate as him . True to her recent thoughts , he was a gentleman at heart . Thoughtful and considerate .

Unsure of her feelings , she decided it would be wise to listen to her heart and shut down her mind .

Because her head was creating illusions and complicating her real feelings .

Sulaaymaan had always been patient and nurturing . He considered others worthy of being put before his personal needs . If anything at all , he could even die to let others give another chance to live .

Whether this was the affect of his journey or if he was like this naturally , she couldn't comprehend even now .

But she knew that deep within the crevices of the smile that his heart showcased , there was a paradox that often was securely concealed .

"Miss Afra , you can pull down the Windows ."

She saw him smile through the rear view mirror .

"Thank you ."

After whispering to herself , she quickly averted her gaze to the window . A button lay against the door handle and she pressed down on it .

From the mirror , she felt his gaze occasionally fall over her . But it never landed long enough to make her shuffle around .

As the wind forcefully slapped her palms and passed through her fingers , she tasted the immense force of the wind .

The power it portrayed , the sharpness it held , the freedom it encouraged and the natural beauty it established always delighted her soul .

It was an empty road ; a car here and there . When it did feel like a truck passed too quickly by their side , she pulled her hand in and patiently awaited .

When the large truck paved way , the sun falling over her niqaab again , she froze for a second .

The driver of that truck resembled someone she'd seen .

She gulped , feeling constricted .

Something didn't feel quite right .

Sulaaymaan returned to his room , his gaze automatically travelling all the way to the medieval clock hung over a calendar .

Two minutes past ten .

He removed his shoes and set them at a corner by the door . Once he'd shut himself inside , all he wanted to do was lie down and calm his nerves .

The most important part of convincing both the major parties was done . But what lay ahead frightened him to even think about .

Positioning the pillow the dashboard , he set his back against it and fixed his eyes on the ceiling .

Arranging an appointment was done . At sharp noon , just after Zuhr , they'd be commencing the Nikaah .

In shaa Allah .

All he needed was some strength and pallor to prepare himself for another person in his life .

That had all been sorted out .

But now came the time to fulfill one of the worsest nightmares he'd experienced .

Check the CCTV footage .

He got up from his position and slipped her feet down to the floor . Massaging his temples , he muttered to himself that it would be all okay and that he needed to go through it .

Rubbing his palms together , he scurried past the numerous thoughts plunging him into a Lightless pit of anxiety and distress .

He switched his PC on and waited for it to boot up while he positioned himself in the chair before it .

With his fingers interwined , he laid back in his chair and focused hard on trying to not give into his gut feeling that something had already occured .

Much to their ignorance .

As the desktop lit up , he immediately shot straighter into his seat . His eyes skimmed rapidly through the lighted screen and fell across the one icon he had been targeting .

After clicking at it several times in a row with shaky fingers , he began to focus his mind one last time on Allah and his plans .

Once the CCTV footage came up , he licked his lips and realized to his dismay how paralyzed his mouth was .

It registered him that beginning with today would be the best option .

Pushing his bangs behind , he took his time in visualising each part of the video with careful examination .

All he managed to see was the lightly lit up room , showing Afra's closet doors and the adjoining half of the balcony .

Hours passed by and nothing popped out of the dark as per his imagination .

When the footage ended , he released a breath he didn't think he had been holding until then .

Relaxing a little — as he knew he still had two days of recording left to finish with — he developed a little hope and kept praying constantly .

As he tapped his feet nervously , while watching the last day's footage , a part of him anticipated something .

He had come so close to the screen at this point that his head was almost over the keyboard .

For the few hours in the morning nothing happened . He could see the lower half of Afra's abaya as she searched for clothes .

Since that , nothing took place .

Just as he felt confident that for now they would be safe , a movement in the closet doors caught his attention .

By now , it was three in the morning . Almost the entire day had passed and there was someone .

The threatener .

A few seconds of still stiffness in the footage almost made him topple to the ground with agitation .

The closet doors were ever so carefully pushed open . Sulaaymaan had to squint his eyes to follow every single movement as it was pretty dark .

What made his heart almost leap to his throat was that Afra would be probably asleep on the bed .

He drew in a deep breath and his eyes remained stuck to the scene .

A leg popped out , covered in a thick boot that went a little below the knee . Once the other came out and the figure almost got down to the ground , Sulaaymaan clenched his fist with angst and followed it's trail .

It leaped down and stood still for a few seconds . Sulaaymaan tried extremely hard to try to visualise his face .

But all he could end up figuring out was his long leather coat and black gloves .

Sulaaymaan started gnawing on his lower lip at this point . The figure moved about the area . Eventually he reached so close to the bed that his boots could be examined pretty easily .

Not wanting to loose any opportunity to grasp clues , he studied the pattern on it and it resembled that of a snake drawn over them with a delicately positioned black rhinestone in its eye .

Weird taste .

Once that faded away and the biggest fear of the threatener that close to Afra struck him , he took to his feet and leaned over the desktop .

The guy stood ruffling the sheets and Sulaaymaan strained his eyes to understand that Afra wasn't there most certainly .

The sheets dangled right in front of the camera .

"Dang !"

He raked a hand through his hair with frustration and patiently waited to comprehend what the guy was upto .

The clock now read fifteen minutes past twelve and he hurriedly flickered his gaze back to the screen .

For another few minutes the guy did something on the bed before cautiously stepping back .

Sulaaymaan froze .

This meant he had been tampering with the bed .

Instantly , he pushed the chair aside from his path , pulled open his doors forcefully and ran as fast as his legs could take him to her room .

He came to a halt ; barely escaping hitting his head hard against the doors of her room .

Heaving heavily , he knocked urgently while licking his lips and biting them .

A few minutes ticked by and Sulaaymaan had started to get uneasily .

Just as he had raised his hand to knock again , the doors swung open with Afra wearing a long scarf that stopped a little above her ankles and the veil .

She inspected him from head to toe and her eyes crinkled .

"Did you win a marathon ? Are you treating me ?"

Sulaaymaan looked puzzled .

"Huh ?"

Afra rolled her eyes and waved a hand.

"You look like you bathed in sweat . What's wrong ?"

His eyes had travelled to her bed behind her .

Afra noticed him looking somewhere in her room . She shook her head with disbelief and snapped her fingers .

"I'm standing here ."

Sulaaymaan's cheeks reddened .

Afra crossed her arms and waited sternly for him to speak up . Sulaaymaan balanced his injured arm and looked up at her .

"I wanted to tell you that......you can't sleep in this room ."

Afra eyes squinted slowly .

"What do you mean I can't sleep here ?"

His gaze momentarily fell over the bed in the background again before meeting her gaze .

"I....I mean that — there's a little something that you need to know about ."

Afra nodded .

He made sure to sound as serious as possible .

"Aasiq and his men will be coming tomorrow early in the morning . About seven I'd say . We have decided to move about some furniture since there's a lot in this room to be fixed ."

When he ended by nodding his head , she looked at peculiarly and shifted on her feet .

"That's sort of weird...— "

She trailed off , her gaze flickering .

"I'm really very sorry I didn't inform you earlier . I guess I forgot about it ."

Afra held up a hand .

"That's fine . But where do you propose I sleep tonight ?"

Sulaaymaan sighed and smiled .

"How about with the girls ?"

She thought for a moment . He had began to reconsider his option when she looked into his eyes and nodded gleefully .

"I suppose a little girl time wouldn't hurt ."

« Assalaamualaikum Princesses ❤ .

As promised . Tada !

❤❤❤ .

Again , I really really hope it was worth it .

I love you all so so so much .

Much love,

Me ;) »