❝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 so, what will this soul become? Fading away, will it become sky?
— Nakahara Chuuya
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THE STARS WILL fall down someday. Something in the sky often blinks. What is it, she wonders. If the stars do fall down, will the sky turn dark someday? Maybe it will. Or maybe those are devils falling. But how much the earth can bear? Or are they souls rising? Do you call the sky heaven, or is heaven far beyond the sky? Rahaf keeps floating in her thoughts sitting on her window seat.
Down below through the glass she can see the palace guards changing their posts after one half of the night. Half of the night has already fled, but like the many nights before sleep will not sink into her eyes. She's wide awake, thinking.
A while later, she sees another shadow coming into her view with a torch. Marrar. He's on round to check the guards. How long before he approaches her about the matter over going to the bazaar with Tabrez and Furat? She leans back in the window seat and picks up the book lying open on her lap, resuming reading a biography she had left midway.
Somewhere along the lines, sleep finally finds her and she drifts off on the window seat.
She doesn't know how much time has passed when she's awaken by the sound of thunder. She looks out of the window again to the sky that has darkened only more with the clouds veiling the stars. Then lightning runs through it and the thunder roars once more. The window glass begins to mist as rain starts falling.
Rahaf turns towards the fireplace that has now burnt out. Her kitten lies asleep beside it. Picking up the book that has fallen off her hand on the window seat, she marks the page where she had stopping reading and leaves it there before making her way to the door.
Her guard stands on duty. He becomes attentive upon seeing her coming out of her chamber.
"Do you need something, my Amira?"
"Go and see if general Marrar is with the children, Masruq. The thunder frightens Hamama. If the general hasn't returned, bring the children to me," she orders.
"As you say, sayyidati."
He leaves. But before Rahaf could enter back her chamber, something in her peripheral vision catches her attention. Her eyes snap to her right in time to see someone pass by the corridor. She would've missed noticing who he was if it wasn't for the torches burning bright everywhere. In the dead of night, she doesn't know what reason he could have roaming the palace when its walls are asleep.
At first, she thinks of letting him be with whatever business he has at this hour. Then unable to ignore her soul urging her to follow him, Rahaf goes after him in the direction.
Her steps are quiet, not an echo to be heard. But when she takes the turn after him, the corridor ahead of her is suddenly empty. Rahaf frowns, knowing well she didn't imagine him but actually saw him going in the direction. Thinking where he could have gone to, she keeps walking forward in his search. Until she comes at a hallway intersection to her left and she stops. Looking down the corridor, she finds it empty too. She walks a few steps to the other intersection.
