❝My love will drown you to the depths of the sea.❞
Furat bin Kiyan, the fleet admiral of Al Andalus, is a spy and a rebel on a mission to kill the caliph of Cordoba and claim the throne for himself. But finds himself in trouble at the hands of Rahaf...
I will love you as misfortune loves orphans, as fire loves innocence, and justice loves to sit and watch everything go wrong.
— Lemony Snicket
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THE DAWN has broken.
His horse races through the thick trees as sunlight illuminates for him what it could at such an early hour. It's only the sound of wind swishing and the beating of the hooves against the ground. Furat navigates his way through the forest.
"Ha!"
He nudges the horse as they come out into a clearing. Vast green fields lay before his eyes as far as he can see. The sun has barely risen above the horizon but the sky is bright in its glory. Someone joins him as a new beat of hooves clatters behind him. He glances over his shoulder and grins before kicking his horse to go faster.
"Don't run away!" the man behind him calls out to him. "Furat! I will kill you!"
"Catch me first!" he calls back.
"You coward!"
"You loser!" Furat laughs. "Beat me if you can!"
Within seconds, the man is beside him, as if accepting his challenge. And in a few more, he out races him. He steers his horse to block his path. Furat pulls the reins and brings his horse to a halt as well. His opponent pulls down the cloth from his face, revealing it, and smirks in victory and pride.
"You may rule the sea, akhi, but on the land I'll always beat you."
Furat huffs in reply, both amused and annoyed. "Shut up, Rouzbeh."
Both the men dismount their horse and engulf each other in a hug. He pats Rouzbeh on the back, staying like that him a moment longer before pulling away. It has been an eternity since he held his friend, his brother, like this.
"Welcome to Qurtuba." Rouzbeh smiles at him, still holding onto his shoulders. "I was overjoyed when I heard."
"I thought you might actually kill me."
"I entertained the idea but you're useful to me."
They hold the reins of their horses and begin to walk through the fields.
"I wish I could say the same about you," Furat teases.
Rouzbeh gives him a side eye before lifting his face to the sky. "Why are you here?"
There are a thousand reasons he can answer that question with had anyone else asked him. There can be no one who would suspect him of a lie. But not him— not Rouzbeh. The man whom he has grown up with until life forced them their ways, this man knows him like one would know his own soul. And so Furat, too, has known him. He trusts him. And no one else in this world he has left to consider a family but him.
