Till Fate Tie Us Together...

Chapter 5

Ada sat inside her room with Fariya and her maids. They looked at the gifts she had received in awe. At her feet were yards and yards of silk, in gold, red, blue, green. Jewellery sets enough to drown her. Pearls the size of her fist. And more was on the way. Ada knew Empire weddings would be extraordinary but she did not expect it to be this extravagant. And it was just an engagement not the wedding.

The day blurred by her. She had to decide if she wanted to cancel the engagement or not. She hadn't met Jellal but according to the ladies of the harem she was very lucky since Jellal was good looking and a gentleman unlike his brother. She wanted to correct her that instant saying Salim was a gentleman too. But kept quiet. His reputation preceded him. From what she had heard, both brothers were complete opposites. But everyone sang praises of Jellal and condemned Salim.

According to them, he drank much, spent most of his time in whore houses. The truth that struck her the most was that he was a bastard, like her. His mother had died when he was young. He had almost brought himself up. He wasn't the emperor's favourite too. He could be an emperor but he refused it. He didn't want to be bound to the throne. He happily gave up the throne to his brother. And even if he didn't, he had no support groups.

She sighed as her head hurt. She was an illegitimate born too but could she live as a wife of one? She would be ridiculed too. No one would respect her too. Can his love make up for the things that she would sacrifice by rejecting an imperial relation? Her thoughts halted when she saw her sister on the door.

Her sister was dressed in the richest of silks and glittering jewels, an arrogant smile was set on her lips as she looked at Ada. "Sister, how marvellous, you get to be an empress too." Her tone was bitter and full of jealousy. Her presence shook Ada to the core. Could she live her whole life being dominated by her arrogant sister? She cringed at the idea of meeting her in functions and celebrations a decade from now, only to be mocked and taunted by her sister who would be an empress by then. 

   Would his love fill that gap in statuses? Or would she regret every single day she chose him? Was regret even worth all of his love? She took a deep breath, she knew the answer. She always knew the answer. She knew it since the day her mother was beaten up. She knew it everytime her sisters snickered at her and her brothers failed to acknowledge her. She knew it because they called her haramzaadi behind her backs.

  Love was not enough.

   Love was not enough.

    Love was not enough.

***

Never in his seventeen years of existence had he hated Jellal this much. On the contrary, Jellal and him were close as blood brothers. Everyone put Salim down, not Jellal. Jellal was the apple of everyone's eyes, including his. There was something about his brother that no one could hate him even if they wanted to.

Salim waited for someone to barge in and say the engagement had been cancelled. Jellal stood in front of the full length mirror, he looked like a child in a man's clothes. He asked for his opinion and Salim complimented him. "If I ask you for a favour, will you do it Jellal?" He asked miserably.

"Ofcourse."

Salim felt queasy asking him such a thing and if father knew he had, he would certainly be dead. "Can you break this engagement off?"

Jellal frowned at his strange request and asked him the reason why. Salim explained him that he fancied her leaving out the part that he was an assassin. Even Jellal didn't know about it. "Oh.." Jellal said deep in thought. "I will do it but a month later. You know, so father doesn't suspect anything."