𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇

Prologue

It was November – and Nasira couldn't be any more disappointed.

Rain spluttered against the living room windows – thunder loud and frightening – it's power causing the little girl to shiver as she watched her favourite show. Her family chatted happily amongst each other, throwing themselves into lively conversations as the sounds of the television and thunder raged war around them.

At this time, Nasira would usually be sound asleep – curled beneath her new blue blanket and soft silk pillows – but she couldn't find it within herself to shut her eyes for even a single moment.

Every noise – every drop of rain that had spluttered against her window – had kept her awake.

The sound of her mothers laughs had almost caused Nasira to jump in shock. She didn't understand what there was to laugh about, so in a high pitched soprano voice, she yelled, "Momma! No laughing!"

There was another laugh, but this time much quieter. "Sorry, Baby! It was your sister's fault" Content with that answer, Nasira went back to snuggling into her sisters red blanket and watching her favourite show.

After a few more moments of tiredly whining about her families loud laughter, Nasira's mother had decided to watch the Christmas special with her youngest daughter. Her mother, Tadhiel, tucked her daughter under her arm and held her close to her side.

"Bubba's going to bring home a bunch of princess movies for you when he comes back" This earned an excited gasp to come from her daughter, the girl now sitting up straighter than ever before.

"Really?!"

Tadhiel looked at her daughter fondly, a small smile gracing her lips, as she pulled her daughter onto her lap, and held her close to her chest. "Mmhm, he's even going to bring a present for you"

"What is it?!" Nasira couldn't even imagine containing her excitement.

Her mother laughed, holding onto her daughter tightly in order to stop the small girl from bouncing up and down in excitement. The last time this had happened, Nasira had lost her balance and smacked her arm against the coffee table with a force that had emitted a loud painful wail from her daughter.

"It's a surprise!" Her mother laughed, "You'll have to wait and see!"

Nasira knew her father wouldn't be home for a few days, but that did not stop the child from waiting on the couch every day in hopes that her father might come home early.

On her third day of waiting, the doorbell had rung, and Nasira was the first to jump up and run towards the two large French doors. Nasira reached up on the tips of her toes, and with both hands, unlocked one of the large doors to let her father in.

Only, it was not her father standing before her.

Instead, there was a woman with thick blonde hair and a bright smile, accompanied by a little black haired boy who seemed to be near Nasira's age. He was hidden behind the woman, both of his hands tightly grasping on one of her own, and shyly peering at Nasira from behind the woman's legs.

"Hello" bending down towards Nasira's height, and offering a kind smile, the woman spoke. "Is your mommy home?"

The little girl had closed the door by a few inches and moved to hide herself behind it. She watched the woman's bright smile slowly falter into an awkward one.

"I'm here!" Tadhiel quickly walked towards the door and pushed her daughter back inside with a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry, she gets a bit shy"

The woman laughed, her smile regaining its brightness. "It's no problem. My boy is the same way"

Tadhiel quickly allowed the woman and her son to step inside, before shutting the door behind them. Nasira watched with a sudden feeling of disappointment. When was her father going to be home?

"Nas" her mother called, causing her daughter's attention to snap towards her quickly. "This is Maria, she's a friend from work"

In return, the woman had gone on to explain that her son was only two years older than Nasira, and that their recent move meant he would soon be transferring to the same school she attended.

"His name is William." The woman smiled again and pushed her son forward with a twinkle deep in her eyes. "Maybe the two of you can be friends"