Qais looked questioningly at Waliyuddin standing at a distance.
"They wanted to meet you. I couldn't stop them." The middle-aged advisor shrugged evasively.
Qais resisted the urge to roll his eyes knowing he had brought them on purpose. He was trying to get him accustomed to the palace again, to get him to stay.
"And you seized the northeast, the entire region of Gur!" The twins narrated in awe around the former Kingsman as they leisured in the infirmary courtyard.
Qais appeared shy of the tales of his victories. The twins treated him like a hero out of an epic folktale. For a brief moment in his life, he figured he really had been that. Until he became the villain of his own tale.
Meanwhile Hanif was busy studying him, mind wondering tirelessly and fearfully, coming with anguishing theories to fill in the gaps of all he's been through the years of his exile. Where have you been? How have you been? Why didn't you reach out even once?
"You've missed so much..." He decided against asking him of the past, afraid of his answers.
Qais exhaled in artificial sadness, "I heard of Shams from the news. It was... tragic."
Waliyuddin glanced at him, brows twitching slightly.
"He spoke about you sometimes. The time you spent together in the army. You must be heartbroken, after all, you were comrades in war." Hanif's eyes dripped with grief.
Qais curled his lips. "In war indeed. He must've been suffering quite a bit to resort to such an end. But at least his death was quick and painless." It wasn't. The poison was designed for agony.
Waliyuddin shared a tense look with him. The more he spent time with this man the more he was beginning to realize how different he was from the boy he once knew. Something had changed in him, but Waliyuddin couldn't figure it out.
"I don't know how everything went so wrong. Shams is gone forever. Jahan is caught in the North. Almas and Agha are being forced at each other's throats for the crown against their wishes. I don't know when it'll end." Mir Hanif lamented.
"Soon by God's will, don't fret, my prince." Waliyuddin interjected. "Whatever curse has haunted over Shalimar, it shall wither off pathetically. All misfortunes come with a limit. Right, Qais?"
"Of course... father." Qais gave a saccharine smile. Misfortunes may have a limit, but Qais does not.
"But I'm glad you're back." For Mir Hanif Qais's return was a ray of hope. "I feel like everything will get better now."
Qais looked at him, unable to lie to him in the face. He wasn't here to make it better. He was here for quite literally the opposite.
"Come to the palace, Qaisi. Stay with us." The twins urged emphatically.
Qais glanced wistfully at the tall towers in the distance. "I don't think I'm welcome there anymore."
Waliyuddin looked at him, troubled, while the twins and Mi Hanif protested aloud.
"But-"
Qais smiled at their reverence and shook his head. "I will leave as soon as my health allows me. Trust me, its better for everyone."
The looked at each other anxiously with Waliyuddin being the most unsettled by the younger's intentions, "You can't leave like this Qais! You haven't even met-"
The sharp azures flashed to his. "I don't want to meet anyone else. I've met all that were dear to me." He gestured at princes.
Advisor looked hurt. "Are you sure there is no one else?"
YOU ARE READING
QAIS
Romance"She was his mirage, a dream he could only chase. He was her living hell, a nightmare she could not escape." Layla Mustafa is the only girl in her family allowed to go to university. Belonging to a strict patriarchal background, Layla, the shy and s...
