CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE WARM BREEZE RIFFLED THROUGH Mazeeda's lush dress and short hair, making her close her eyes and savior the sensation. The heat brought her home and she could see Evilla from her closed lids; children running, hunters coming home with their game, and her family riding back home in the distance.

"Mazeeda!"

The sweet and fruitful voice snapped away her imagination, bringing her back into reality. Evilla was no longer her home, she would have to make do with Yaheisea the best she could.

She found Sonya sitting underneath a cherry tree just shy of three years. The shade was cool amongst the sun's heat.

Once she got closer, Mazeeda realized that Khai's cousin brought an enormous book. She swallowed, becoming stressed.

Sonya noted her fallen face. "Oh, don't worry. These are just folk tales my father reads to me. I wanted to start easy."

A small smiled appealed on her face. "Of course."

Sonya moved closer, thrilled to be the storyteller. It was her turn to weave the stories into her own. She pointed to a sentence she thought would be easy to start with.

The words were jargon to her, nearly none of them sticking out in any way. She exhaled before pushing forward, there was no use in any of this if she did not attempt this challenge.

"The prin...prin..."

"Princess," the young girl guided her.

Mazeeda mumbled the word to herself, testing it herself. So strange to be able to say a word but not read it in a book. Finishing the eight word sentence proved to be difficult.

And she distrusted things that were difficult, like Khai. She wanted things simple, like her story.

When she looked up, Sonya was staring at her in a sense of affection and sadness.

"What is it?" the queen asked.

"I wonder..." the child hesitated. "I wonder if this is what it feels like to have a mother read to me."

Mazeeda looked from the book to Sonya. "I had thought...I...where's your mother?" She flinched at her own question, afraid that it would not be answered directly.

The young girl wrapped her arm around her knees. "I've never met her; she died giving birth to me with the war still raging one. At least, that's what father claims."

The storyteller remained silent as the night, always there but never making its presence known. She had never recalled Yaheisea being in a war recently.

"He tells me that I remind him of her. That I will be just as strong as she was. I know he tries to lift the burden by always being there for me since I have no mother and I know he loves me dearly, but if that's so, then why do I still feel like a mistake?" She turned her head away. There was no need for tears, and yet, they came so easily.

"Sonya," Mazeeda said softly, almost like a mother's coo. "I've known your father for the past four months and interacted with him only thrice, and within that time, I know he means well. I have grown up with both my parents so your situation is strange to me, but listen to me when I tell you this: you're father cares and worries for you, therefore making his love strong enough for an absent mother."

Before she could even process what she was doing --what she was wanting at the moment--  Sonya practically jumped into Mazeeda's lap and hugged her in a tight embrace.

Shocked but not startled, the Malika easily wrapped her own arms around the small girl. They were both craving a sense of comfort at a time like this.

Movement took hold behind Sonya's back, just beyond Mazeeda's blind spot. Dislodging herself, she stood up and looked across the vast garden to find Khai swiftly and patiently making his way to them as if he had all the time in the world.

He walked with a type of elegance and stealth Mazeeda could never match. He walked with power.

"Oh goodie," he voiced out once he made his way to the tree. "What are you doing here?" His tone was impassive --not at all threatening or with his typical sneer-- just entirely bored. Perhaps even surprised.

She tugged at the ends of her short top to occupy her clammy hands. "I could say the same to you, Caliph."

He arched a thick eyebrow her way. "I asked you first, if I do recall."

It was her turn to raise her own brow. "Sonya had invited me here today." She kept things vague, not wanting her husband to know the real reason why they were here.

He breathed out a laugh, vanishing quickly with the hot breeze. "Funny you should say that, because I too was summoned to meet here with her. Along with the absent Amon."

The both turned to glance at Sonya, who was as red as a plum. She picked at the ground with her shoes. "Well, I-"

"I hope I'm not too late."

"Father!" Khai's cousin ran passed the two and jumped into the open arms of her father, thankful for his presence.

All Mazeeda and Khai could do was stare at each other dubiously. Their silence together was not strange, no, instead it felt normal and comforting like night enveloping them together.

The storyteller broke out of it first. "What's the real reason why you're here?"

He looked from the complete family of his uncle and cousin and back to his wife. "What I said was true. Though I'm simply here to have a rematch with Amon."

Her eyes flicked across  the length of his entire body. "A rematch?"

DAMN ALL HER SMALLGODS, BUT she just couldn't stop staring at Khai. Her eyes followed his every move --the way his arms flexed to block a blow, the slight subtle shift of his feet, his wrapped palms wiping at his face, the way his lips curled up into a crooked grin, the sweat rolling down his bare chest and abdomen.

She needed to look away, but couldn't. Wouldn't bring herself the torture to turn her gaze away from Khai.

This was what he meant by rematch. From what Amon had informed her, Khai had lost his position as best hand-in-hand fighter in Yaheisea to him a month ago. Pride bruised, her husband wanted a rematch to reclaim the title.

Such a fool he is, she thought to herself, shaking her head.

She stood watched from the raised tent set up specifically for this event, Sonya alongside her.

She quickly took note of Khai's quick and short movements, swift and predictable at times. Amon on the other hand, was calculative and more observant, taking more blows than giving.

"Ah," a deep voice ricocheted through the tent, making Mazeeda swirl around. "So this is what gets you going."

The Malika covered her face as she felt it burn brighter than the brightest star. She wanted to wipe that grin off of Zaabit's face.

"I've just never see him fight before." She watched her husband's abs constrict.

The guard smiled at the queen, catching on quickly. "You'll see him in less if you haven't already."

Mazeeda groaned. "What brings you here?"

He walked down the steps that connected the qasr to the garden and made his way to the tent, eyes trained on the two fighting figures. "Simply here to observe."

She flicked her head towards what he was staring so intently at. "Do you take part in this?"

The right hand man barked out a laugh, his charcoal hands resting on his belt. "Oh no, this foolish thing? I have much better things to do."

Mazeeda hinted on his attitude. "Afraid to lose against them?"

He turned to his queen, charcoal eyes glistening in a lightness. "I do no such thing because I'm far too good at it."

She held in a smile, knowing quite well that what he said was a complete lie. But she couldn't judge too much, for Mazeeda had no experience in such an activity as well.

"I came," he continued on his own, "to check up on you. Though it's been a few days, I do have to ask, how have you been since Khai's sudden bloodlust?"

Such a strange way to word it, bloodlust. She never thought of it like that. "I..." She looked back at Khai. "If I am being honest to myself, I feared for my life that night. He wanted me dead and without you, I don't think I would be standing here today."

"I see," he said thoughtfully.

"How did you know that night? How did you know he was going through a phase like that?" She turned back to her husband's loyal soldier.

Zaabit's answer came from within him, knowing exactly what words to choose and craft for his queen. "I knew it like we know when the sun will rise and fall." He touched her arm, voice low. "He may not show it at times, but Khai cares for your well being. If he killed you now, we would be lost. You give all of us hope, Malika."

Hope. They threw that word around so effortlessly in front of her. She brought anything but that. The only reason she was here was to save Shazerade's life, not bring hope. "Do you know why Khai values his dagger so much? Why he always wears that bracelet?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "I do not know, my lady. But I do know it was a gift from a woman close to him. Her name slips my mind at the moment."

Her own brows shot up at the coincidence, revelation hitting her like a sand storm. Khai's grandmother has said the same thing. "Do you know who the woman is? Perhaps-"

A warm and firm grip fell onto her shoulder.

Mazeeda turned her head and found Khai close to her. "Oh," she said, "are you finished?"

He simply nodded, hair sticking to his soaking wet forehead. His gaze never left hers, strong and demanding.

Her eyes flickered between the two men quickly, unsure of her position. "Did you win?"

"I did." Simple. Cut, clean, and to the point. "Perhaps I could teach you."

He caught his queen beam at his words. "You would do that?"

Another nod, unwrapping the gauze off his hands. "I don't see why not?"

"But..." she began, not knowing how to phrase it.

"Yes?"

She thought back to all the times she would sneak off with her brothers to practice her archery. Or the times she would play roughly with them. Women in Evilla were ensured to do domestic activities, storytelling one of them. "Am I allowed to do that? Are you allowed to?"

"I didn't realise I needed permission from anyone." He grinned up at her. "I think it will benefit you. Teach you how to defend yourself if you ever find yourself in a stressful situation."

Mazeeda almost snorted. He talked like he was not to blame for her near kidnap. "Alright, I'll do it."

He clapped his hands together. "Wonderful, we shall start next week when the sun is high."

"Why not tomorrow?"

Khai huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. "Eager aren't we? My love, we have to prepare."

"Prepare?"

"For father's birthday of course!" Sonya beamed out from behind the Caliph, playing with his bandages.

"Oh."

"It's nothing special," Amon told the four of them, slipping on his shirt. Mazeeda took note of a deep scar running down his chest. "They do it every year, more so for themselves."

"Hey!" Zaabit, Khai, and Sonya protested.

The queen laughed. "Is it grand?" She was becoming excited just talking about this event. Never had she ever been to an event filled with sophistication and elegance.

"No," Khai's uncle shook his head. "Though I'm thankful for the celebration, I find it quite boring."

"Surely there is something you like," she badgered on. Mazeeda knew there must be something that Amon liked about it.

He simply smiled a solemn smile at his queen, knowing what she was trying to do. He did not want her to know why he lost interest in his birthday. "I used to look forward to the dances. Not anymore."

"But I look forward to the stories Sinbad tells!" Sonya beamed out, oblivious. She looked up at Mazeeda, jumping on the tips of her toes.

"Sinbad?" The Malika had never heard that name anywhere within the palace walls. She never realized how many people she had yet to meet.

"He's a magnificent storyteller like you," Khai added in, smiling down at his cousin.

"He is Yaheisea's best sailor," Zaabit informed her. "He travels great lengths to make trade --though I beg to differ-- and comes back with foreign objects and stories to show and tell the entire qasr. Nothing spectacular, really."

Khai leaned in towards Mazeeda to whisper, "They're brothers."

He smelt like sweat and jasmine intertwined together, making a muse to her liking. "Ah. So I should be looking forwards to the storytelling?" she asked all of them.

"Yes!" Sonya beamed.

"The food," Amon suggested lazily.

"The women," Zaabit mumbled out, sounding quite shy.

The Calipha turned to her Caliph. "And you?"

He smiled, not viperous or deceiving, just simply smiled and looked at her as he said, "Everything."

She eyed everyone of them like a true queen. "I will hold all your words to it then. I hope I won't be disappointed."

KHAI BOASTED OUT A LAUGH, clenching his stomach from the wonderful pain.

Mazeeda felt herself burn up in embarrassment. Her hand clench around the brush, trying to hold in her anger.

"So it's true then?" The king asked for reassurance even if he knew the answer now.

"Of course it is. Why lie?" she grit out. There was no use for a comb now that her hair was much shorter; she began to like it in fact.

Khai leaned back against the bedpost, arms crossed, his biceps constrained in his long sleeved shirt. "To protect your pride, of course."

"The only person with more pride than me is you."

His thin lips curled up into a mischievous smile. "Really now? Then allow me to teach you."

She looked at herself through the mirror and found a beautiful woman who was far different than the desert woman four months ago. A fuller face and nourished body.

"Sonya already is," she stated out the obvious, turning in her seat to face her husband.

The smile fell in an instant, making him stoic and serious. "But I want to teach you, my love."

Words were a boulder, hard to move and make against her tongue. "Is my storyteller not enough for you? What more do you want?"

Gods, Mazeeda was making this conversation more intimate than she needed to. She calmed her raging heart.

"I want..." he began, contemplating, his face twisting in pain.

She stood up in her seat in an instant, noting the sudden pain that flickered across his chiseled face. "Khai?" A cautious step forward into the predator's dome. "Khai, what is it? Are you in pain from this morning?"

Another step.

And another.

Until-

The Malik stuck out his hand, halting her steps, wanting distance. He sucked in a shaky breath, closing his eyes. "Please, my love, I am not myself right now."

"I can help you if you tell me what's wrong."

His eyes opened, glazed and inhuman, so unlike his natural dirt brown. "I have to go." Khai pushed off the the bedpost and stormed across the room and out the door, leaving a trail of knocked over objects in his wake.

A painful and heart-wrenching yell behind the closed door made Mazeeda cover her ears and stop the tears from spilling out.

|AUTHOR'S NOTE|

i just realized i have the most randomest updates ever.