❝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...
And the midnight hears my cry: I love thee, I love but thee, With a love that shall not die Till the sun grows cold, And the stars are old.
— Bayard Taylor
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THE SKY is starless.
The moon from behind the curtain of the clouds shines every now and then. But it's less than half full, and though the clouds slip past it to show its beauty, the sky remains dark.
Marrar leans against one of the columns outside the palace and watches the sky in silence. The torches are lit around to illuminate what midnight is trying to conceal. Sleep is far from his thoughts, for his thoughts are in a chaos to allow him any peace.
It has been a year since he has to seek comfort in his own company. It was bitter and painful at first, to let go of the habit of being in the company of his dear friend— a friend who was never less than a brother to him. But it was never a choice after Tahman died. He had to adapt to his absence for there was no filling it with someone after him.
And how does one survive after losing someone close to one's heart? Why was it that those he lost, he lost so abruptly that he was never given a chance to consider a life without them? He knows if it wasn't for his sister's children he's bound to raise, whom he loves so much as if his own, he would've run away from this life somewhere far away.
Gentle footsteps behind him brings his attention to the present. He glances to the person coming to stand against the adjacent column with him.
For a few fleeting seconds, she shares his silence with him. But her presence makes him restless and he decides to tear through the silence.
"Why are you here, Amira?"
Rahaf replies monotonously, "I couldn't sleep."
Me neither, he wants to say. He wants to carry this conversation with her. He wants to ask her why, what bothers her. But he reminds himself of the boundaries between them.
"You shouldn't be here," he says instead.
"I didn't know I needed permission to come here."
"The hour is inappropriate," he points out. "Being alone here is inappropriate."
"Don't worry, we're not alone. Masruq and Dimah are with me."
He doesn't care looking back to where she had asked her servants to stay.
"The sky is beautiful," she states.
"It's starless."
"Beautiful nonetheless. It's peaceful."
Somewhere, he catches a tinge of remorse and longing in her voice. And before he could stop himself, he asks her.
