Living Royalty

13. Was it just an illusion?

Samiha's P.O.V

1 month later

Time seemed to be flying. When I was told, a whole month ago, that we'll be getting married in a month, it felt too soon, and I was right. The whole month just passed over a blink of my eyes, or so I felt. I couldn't believe it, that today, my very much dreaded day has finally come. A lot more dreaded than my engagement. Today was the day my sister and I were getting married, and I did not look forward to it.

My whole family had gathered at our place again. That nasty incident during the day of my engagement seemed to have been forgotten by everyone and I was glad for that. I wouldn't want dad to even get a whiff of what happened that day. If he finds out, he'll blame himself for our current situation, whereas for Samaah and I, this whole marriage is the least we can do to repay all that dad did for us.

I looked at Samaah's sleeping form and felt relieved that atleast we won't be separated. We were ten girls, consisting of Aysha, Rahma, Zahra, Husna, Layla, Warda, Samaah, myself, and Zahra's two daughters, Maryam and Fatimah, all sleeping on mattresses in mine and Samaah's room. There were nine boys, consisting of Zahra and Layla's husbands, Assad and Saeed, my brother Saamih, and my six cousins Irfan, Jamal, Saad, Faizaan, Wasim and Waheed. They all slept in the living room on mattresses. Irfan and Jamal's wives stayed at the Hamid residence since they were related to the Hamid family. My parents' room had mum, Aunt Yusra, Aunt Najma, and Aunt Ruwayda, and Saamih's room was occupied by dad, Uncle Qassim, Uncle Fahd, and Uncle Hateem. Our tiny little house was extremely congested and crowded, and due to the presence of non-mahrams, we had to be extremely careful and covered up all the time.

I decided I couldn't sleep anymore due to the anxiety so I got up and stepped over Rahma, Husna and Zahra's sleeping bodies to reach the door. I checked the time on the digital clock we had hung on the door and groaned. It was only 6:22 in the morning. Mum had told us that as brides, Samaah and I needed enough rest. Well, Samaah was asleep, lucky her. But I on the other hand just kept on tossing and turning after Fajr. I opened the door and decided to get some breakfast before any men wake up and make me uncomfortable.

As I was eating my cereal, Saamih came and sat across me.

"I can't believe my Granny Grumps is going away today! Ha! Atleast I won't have to deal with your anger issues anymore," he said. I shot him a death glare. Trust Saamih to come and tell you such things instead of comforting you. "What? Can't I be happy for once? I'll have peace at last! And yeah, I can finally have your and Samaah's room!"

"Saamih, just go back to sleep," I told him and carried on eating my cereal.

"Dude, I thought I heard an earthquake happening so I woke up, but it was just you coming downstairs. Thanks for waking me up, now deal with me," he said, shooting me a dirty look.

"Oh come on, it's not my fault you have such an overactive imagination," I retorted.

"Yup, and that's because I'm way too awesome," he said, smugly.

"You should tell that to Wa- oops, nothing!" I said, clamping my hand over my mouth, and hoping he didn't catch anything. Saamih wasn't aware that we teased Warda with him, and if he found out, he wouldn't be too happy. He barely even acknowledges her existence so I feel relieved that she doesn't have any feelings for him.

He narrowed his eyes at me and said, "I should tell that to who?"

"Um...you should tell that to Wasim. I'm sure he doesn't agree with you," I said, and laughed nervously. He looked at me as if I had three pairs of eyes.