Without Melanin

sliver eyes

Kastina state
The palace
6:15pm

5 days later
Kastina emirate

Salima stared at the gathering below her from her hiding place on the balcony above, away from the scolding eyes of her mother and Jakadiya, and the disgusted stares of her grandmother, she laughed to herself in excitement as she stared at the funny dance of some of the old women below, they had been celebrating for the past 3 days, since the arrival of King Aliyu of Gombe and his entourage, they had come to ask for Dije’s hand in marriage.

She stared down at her mother, who had been busy for the pasted few days
, entertaining their new guests and hadn’t had any time to visit her, she was sitting below, clapping her hands and laughing at the performers, sitting beside her were her elder sisters, Ya Zainab, whom held her 3 years old daughter in her arms and  Dije the apparent new bride whom couldn’t keep the excitement from her face, her giddiness made Salima smile too, her grandmother sat opposite to them, her face blank of any emotions.

Her father and brothers were nowhere in sight, including the men from the supposed groom’s party, they were probably busy having the serious discussions, she thought.

Salima stared longingly at the celebration going on below her, tucking herself behind one of the large cottons, she knew deep down, that as long as her grandmother was alive she will never experience such excitement and happiness, because of her supposedly tainted skin, the smile on her face slowly faded into nothing, her eyes teary up as she looked down at the woman, who had made it her life’s mission to make her miserable.

"hey where did that beautiful smile go", a masculine voice asked from behind her, making her jump in fright, she turned around to find a tall, dark handsome man standing behind her, he had dark brown eyes and chocolate brown skin to match and what looked like a soft black curly afro on his head, he was also spotting a matching beard too, his lips were curved into a charming smile, he was so handsome and Salima couldn’t help but pause to admire.

Najib’s pov

I stared down at the little lady in front of me, she was a small thing, she stared up at me with her startled eyes, I didn’t mean to startle her, but I just couldn’t help myself when her smile was replaced by a sad frown.

she was albino, her beautiful pale flawless skin with pretty brown freckles scattered here and there, her head was covered by a plain white veil, she wore a simple green attire, with no jewelry but just by looking at her dress you would know the fabric was expensive, she might be related to the royal family or a friend, Najib decided.

The most beautiful and enchanting thing about her that really caught his attention Were her eyes, they were a cross between the colors grey and sliver, he couldn’t decide which one, he move closer to her, making her shuffle backwards, causing him to stop and a smile a little.

"Your eyes, they are gorgeous", he said, lifting his hand slowly not to startle her again, while she stared at him wearily, he slowly used his fingers to brush below her eyes, making her to shuffle backwards again away from his curious touch.

"What are you doing?", she said, speaking up for the first time.

"Wow even her voice sounds beautiful", Najib said grinning at her in wonder.

"What are you doing here? It’s off limits to guest", she continued.

“sorry I was exploring and I got lost, look at how Hadiza looks so happy as if she is already happy", he asked assuming the position she had been previously.

"Oh you must be one of her future in laws", she said from behind him.

"Yes something like that?" he answered dryly.