Part of His Game

Chapter 4 ~ Safiya

*Safiya*

I felt a soft hand pushing my shoulder, over and over. I kept on grunting and whining of not wanting to get up, but the shaking wouldn't stop!

"Ugh, enough Asenath! Leave me alone!" I grumbled, finding a pillow beside me and throwing it at the noise.

"Ow!" a childish voice rang. My eyes shot open in split second.

"I am so sorry," I apologized, turning around. A girl looking about the age of 6 stared at me.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Safiya, a friend of... of the prince," I stuttered. Should I tell her I am his fiancé? She probably won't care anyways, she's only a child.

"You're one of Husani's friends? You are really pretty, I'm surprised he didn't ask you to marry him already!" she giggled. I felt my face turn hot.

"A girl can only dream," I lied and let out a nervous chuckle. She noticed this.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." I lied again. How many secrets am I going to hide from this girl? Wait, who is she, and how does she know so much about Husani.

"What's your name?" I asked kindly.

"Halima, I am Husani's little sister," she replied with a large grin. Well that explains a lot.

"Halima, that's a pretty name. You must be gentle, I suppose?" I stated. She shook her head in agreement.

"Your name is pretty too, Safiya. Im guessing you've been pure all your life?" she asked. I placed a shy grin on my face, but made sure to keep my thoughts unnoticed by my facial expressions. I've always loved my name Safiya, but I don't think I will be able to live up to the meaning of it for long, especially since I'm older. I thought I'd be pure forever when I was a child. Parents name their children expecting them to live up to that name.

"You have eyes, just like mine!" she exclaimed. "Do people make fun of you too because of them?"

"Why would people make fun of our eyes? I think, that our eyes are quite beautiful, if I may say so myself. They're very unique and different, that's what makes every girl beautiful. If every girl were the same, then how would you stand out?" She waited in silence, as if thinking, and then finally spoke up.

"Yeah, I guess you're right Safiya."

"Oh, I know I'm right," I giggled. She laughed along too. She is so adorable when she laughs. Her giggles brighten up the whole room. It almost makes me want to have children of my own.

She sat beside me as different conversations went by, one after the other. It was as if she had no other woman to talk to all her life. She always asked random questions, which I thought was pretty weird, since it was a mother's job to answer those, but she took me in as, almost, a replacement of a mother.

"Wait, so Husani really said that?"

"Yep, he was band from the market place for a year!" she exclaimed. We burst into laughter after she said this. Husani was so stupid back then, but than again, who wasn't? It just seems so weird, he's so much of a gentleman, it makes it hard to believe that he was a klutz too. A knock at the door stopped our laughter.

"Come in!" she said. A few women walked in, carrying different fabrics and jewels in their arms. "Your highness, we have been sent to get you prepared for the banquet," one of them explained.

"Oh, well, I guess I should leave than," Halima said walking towards the door. The plump woman shut the door, as the tall, skinny woman pulled out a beautiful fabric of turquoise silk.