A Guide to Charming Royals

Chapter Thirty-Nine: LEILA

Blood.

There's blood everywhere I look. On my hands, my clothes, the ground we trail past, and even Salar. He heaves a sigh, collapsing against the wall.

"I-I need a moment," he grumbles.

"You're crazy," I say, swallowing the lump in my throat, "and I'm an attempted murderer." The walls are silent, the passageway around us responding to sensors, and only lighting up the area we stand. Everything else is erased by darkness.

What am I supposed to do now, Allah?

When Salar doesn't move, I lower myself next to him, probing at his leg wound. He hisses. "We need to do something about your leg before you die," I tell him. "I hate you but I can't let you die."

"Don't hate me," he whispers, clutching at my wrist. I shake off his touch and his hand falls to his side. He closes his eyes, and mumbles, "Show me the magic."

"I'll show you my fist."

He doesn't respond, and I'm glad for that, because if he did, then I would really have to punch him.

I need him to live, because if he's really the missing prince, then I need him to prove my innocence if Deen somehow doesn't listen to me. But Deen did listen, that's why he let me go.

Wait, if Salar is Kalen, then is he not Auntie Omaiza and Uncle Haaris's son? Then who is Sohail's son? Does he even have a son or is he delusional?

I need to find Deen, or Ariah and figure this out. But how do I get back into the world of the living?

I turn my attention back to Salar, ripping a piece of the scarf attached to my shoulder, and running down my dress shirt. I tie it around his knee, relishing in the sound he makes when it is too tight. Good, he deserves the pain.

Then I grab him, his arm weighing on my shoulder, his body heavy against my own. "Stay alive."

"The petals are falling again," he responds as I grunt to hold onto his weight. His voice follows us down the passageway, repeating the same phrase like a promise, an assurance, as I seek out an exit.

#

People used to tell me I can't run my entire life. I'd always laugh and respond, I'll run until I can. It was easy back then, to pretend that there are a bunch of places waiting for me, that I can go from one to the other. But I see it for what it is now, for where I am. I have nowhere to go. And I'm standing in the middle of unknown paths, in a country I don't know, among people I have no relation to, and hoping that I can be saved.

I drop Salar to the ground, panting as I try to recollect my energy. Hauling him around has drained me both physically and mentally. It feels like I've touched every inch of the walls, and have not observed an exit.

I scream as loud as I can, now even willing to be heard by someone, if it means I will get out of here. My voice crashes back at me, almost sending me reeling back at the thought of how hollow, and cold this place truly is.

"I didn't know about tunnels," Salar says.

"You don't know anything," I spit back. "Starting with your identity."

"Don't go there again. Baba wouldn't lie to me."

I shake my head, seeing no point in arguing with him. I have to find an exit, and fast before he dies, or I kill him. No, I'm fine with the title of an attempted murderer, I don't want to kill someone for real.

Allah please help me, I chant, continuing to push every spot on the wall. Goodness, why didn't I ask Ariah how to leave a passageway? And why couldn't she bother supplying me this information?

Just as I think, I'm bound to die here, a wall budges forward, light filtering through, and welcoming me into the maze Ariah calls her home.

My heart cries out, eyes observing every bit of the light. A choked breath loosened from my lips, and I'm not sure whether I'm sobbing or laughing or both.

Only one thought runs through me: who even wants to run? I can still walk.