The Lost Dynasty

Chapter 54

A son?

A heir?

The true heir to the empire.

This was the key for Kyda to restore history, or what's left of it.

A chance to make things right again.

To save those who suffered from Kyda's tampering.

Lastly, to go home and fix the mess she made between herself and her mother.

Amjed Owais Akbar, could save them all. But can such a huge responsibility that could crush such a tiny individual.

"Did Owais know you were carrying?" Kyda looks up to Amita as Amjed grew fond and trusting towards the new house guest. But Amita delivered a meek smile as she sliced the onions and chillies before placing them into the pot with preheated oil "He was going to war; I couldn't distract him". Kyda nodded no to her perspective on the matter, as the sun lowered itself, allowing the fire used for cooking to illuminate the whole hut "Amjed is not a distraction". Kyda placed him onto her lap as the child was coming and out of a sleeping state.

"I know he's not... he's a gift. Owais life was taken to gift me, Amjed" Amita began to place, freshly collected herbs into her pot to create such delectable aromas that lingered in the air in the empty, one room hut. How does a place so bleak and lifeless can feel so homey with just a scent resembling to her Nana (grandmother) cooking and being with a person who she could deem to be her sister, if only she was in her timeline.

"But you were alone... you must have been scared" Kyda watched the boy's head gently fall back in her arms as he transitioned into a deep slumber. "I wasn't alone, Dr Adil was with me at every step of the way. It was because of him that we all escaped with no scratches and brought me here" Amita revealed. "Escape from who exactly? You can't mean Saif... right?". After all the things Kyda has heard, witnesses and experienced what he has become she believe there must be some misunderstanding or a logical reason behind Saif's persona. "Kyda, he's not the same man that you knew... He's not the same man that all of us use to know" Amita sat herself next to her as a part boiled. Yet, Kyda repudiate what he had become "Amita come on... you been in the palace longer than me. How he would be playful, immature I would admit, flirtatious at times but he made me feel sane". She was allowing her emotions to get the best of her, once again. She wrapped her arms around Amjed tight enough to deliver comfort but not too tight to wake him up, she needed some form of outlet to express her sentimentality.

Amita shuffled closer to her and placed her hand gently on her arm "Kyda... he's not the same man you fell for". Kyda's eyes began to sting "He's greedy, manipulative, selfish... he's-"

"Every other man I met" Kyda murmured. Not all males have such disgusting attributes. Her vision was blurred from the tears welling up as Amita uses her thumb to stroke her forearm "...a monster like him is incapable of loving anyone, Kyda a lot of things has changed when you left". Kyda nodded no "he was just lonely he just needed someone-" but Amita cannot allow Kyda to think she can change her brother-in-law back to what he was. "He had Princess Rayha when he lost you in the desert... till he personally claimed her head" Kyda looked up to her in disbelief, but she continued "And rumours have been spread that he has hetaera from the Ottoman Empire".

Amita placed herself onto her feet and roll went to the corner of the room to pull out a huge crate. On the bottom of the wooden box was multiple of layers of soft blankets and cotton to make a mattress. Kyda balanced onto her feet with Amjed in her embrace and followed over to Amita. The single mother lightly and swiftly substituted Kyda with herself as her son was now in her arms. She laid him in his bed that was made from scratch. He rested securely and peaceful under his mother protective gaze. Kyda was in need for silence as knew she was talking about Komal "She just a... a loyal comrade?" Amita just nodded no "Kyda, you need to stop making excuses for him... you need to ask yourself if he would even do the same for you". Kyda could confidently say he would if it was Khagan Saif but for Emperor Saif?...

He dismisses and devalues what she had to say, whether it was her opinions or values, he lashed out to her on multiple of occasions and locked her up in his chambers in just one day. "... I'm his Alula" is all that Kyda could say in his defence.

Amita brought out multiple of square and cylinder pillows for them to sleep in comfort. They both laid next to each other, on their side to face each other. Amita held her hand "Alula is a beautiful star... but there are many other stars in the sky for him to admire". Kyda exhaled from being enervated to defend a man who goes down in history as a monstrosity.

"You should rest, Kyda... you have been through a lot today, I'll finish cooking the food" older Amita pushes some of her hair out of her face before sitting up.

"When will Dr Adil come? Maybe I can fix this with his help"

━━━━━━༻✧༺━━━━━━

Amita let Kyda her sheer black dupatta (traditional scarf) to cover her head as she held Amjed hand as he was clothed in a black kurta. Amita led her through the deserted canyons as she was attired in a simple black salwar kameez with little to no embellishments with a homemade satchel to accessorize. The ground was dry and cracked and the large reddish wall canyon casted large shades for the only living souls from many miles.

After following Amita blindly onto the depths, a perfect place to hide a corpse. Between the two great big red stoned walls they were camouflaged within the enormous stone block silhouette. Amita skips up the steppingstone as the sand dust swirled magically into the air. Kyda picks up Amjed and became light on her feet as she followed Amita to a ledge that wasn't so far from the ground. On the wall were vines and they adorned with honeysuckles and ivy's and it all seem to be a dead end. Yet Kyda did not question Amita's navigation, she was too upset, she didn't even eat the meal she personally made for her last night.

Amita pulled a random vine like she was ringing a church bell and all the other vines sweep to the side like a curtain to reveal a cave from behide. No matter how desolate Kyda felt, she was impressed by the concealed mechanism. A unlit oil lap was pulled out of Amita satchel along with a match box to ignite the wick before holding Kyda free hand from holding her son as she took her in depths into the natural made cave. The deeper they went, the louder their footsteps became and echoed to the possible creatures to hear. The heat from the dune they travelled from were evaporating into a cool breeze. Kyda closed her eyes and exhaled in relief for her burning skin to be aided. Amita guided her towards a glowing aqua blue at the end of the tunnel.

As soon as they exited the under-passage they were greeted by a refreshing mist by the moisture in the air. There was a large grown tree in the centre of their destination as the room was illuminated in an aqua and turquoise, sourced from the river that was running through. There were plots of greenery scattered around as undiscovered plants blossomed.

Kyda was amazed, as if she transported into a more transcendental realm. "Amita, how did you find this place?" She places Amjed down as he spared no moment to unleash his feet and playfully run.

There was only one way in and out, so they allowed Amjed to explore to his heart content.

Amita strolled over to where the tree was. After a moment of awe, Kyda came to the tree. Under the solid old was a stone tablet that was abnormally struck to the ground, standing out from all the nature that surrounds it. Amita took off her satchel from her shoulder before settling herself onto her knees as she rummaged through her bag.

Kyda couldn't go through this again, she couldn't put herself back into that same position. She hasn't gotten over her first heartbreak.

"Come over, I've lit one for you"

Amita smiled with two lit incense sticks in her hands. Kyda hands were desperately clenched onto the sides of her jeans she didn't know if it was fear or sadness that restrained her from coming forwards, but she couldn't bring herself to. "He would really like to see you, Kyda" Amita looked at the stone in front of her "He was devastated when you left, he missed you".

That was enough to convince Kyda to come forward and place herself next to Amita on her knees.

Amita handed her an incense stick as they both faced the engraved stone tablet where Dr Adil laid.

Dr Adil Mohammad Khan