Duplus (Ongoing editing)

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—-Third Person's POV—

The veil fell down, revealing Amaani's face as she sucked in a breath. Her almond-brown eyes averted from him, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her cloak. "You asked for it..." She muttered, trying not to feel self-conscious. She was there as a prisoner, not to meet a suitor for marriage!

Cautiously, she lifted her eyes to him to see his reaction. Jaber had barely moved, his arms still folded but his gaze inspected every feature of her face. Her sharp nose to her full lips that she desperately fought the urge to bite. Before she could tell him to cut it out, his face turned to the side as if he'd made his decision. Amaani frowned at the silence, itching to pull her veil back up.

"Well?" she pressed, leaning a bit closer.

A mocking scoff left his lips. "Still acting defiant even when everything is in front of you? I should hand you an award for that innocent facade, Ms. Lx16."

She blinked at his words before her expression contorted into one of frustration. "I'm not Lx16! And what do you even mean by that?" She wanted to punch that confident blank look off his face. No one had managed to get under her skin like that ever before.

"Lx16 or Amaani, it's the same thing. You can fool that brother of yours but you're not who you claim to be. You're an imposter, disguised as one of us." He paused, running his eyes over her face once again. "And you're pretty good at it too." His tone held a hint of begrudging respect though he quickly pushed it down.

Amaani found herself at a loss, a sense of hopelessness filling her. "I'm not...I'm not who you think I am. I swear by Allah I have no idea what you're talking about. You can ask around about me. Ask the neighbors, my friends. Heck, even the vendors in the market recognize me!" She was almost pleading at this point but it seemed her words fell on deaf ears as he sat there with that infuriating stoic face.

He looked straight into her eyes and she, taken aback by his bold move, quickly looked away. "Why won't you just believe me? I have no reason to lie."

Jaber shifted in his seat, uncrossing his arms as he sighed. "Listen, Ms. Lx16. You're here as a suspect and as much as it's uncomfortable, we can't take your word for it. The woman who approached me was you. I know who I saw so I would request you not to misguide us further and just come clean about your true —" his eyes narrow, hazel orbs focusing on her face.

"Why is your left brow white?" The question caught her off guard but he only pressed further. "And your hair too. You didn't have it before."

She brought her fingers to brush against the rebellious strands of her hair that had fallen out of her hijab during the whole mess. "This?" She wasn't entirely comfortable with him observing her as if she was a specimen but obviously, she didn't have a choice. "During the invasion, the soldiers used a special gas that emitted toxic fumes. I was caught in one of the explosions and it left me with this as a reminder." She explained.

Jaber fell silent, this new information triggering a new train of thoughts and possibilities. Of course, he didn't trust her but the event had occurred undeniably. Who else would know it better than him?

"The explosion near the seniors training base on October 25th." Jaber thought aloud, his gaze contemplative. "It killed a lot of our valuable soldiers. However, it wasn't a place for a woman such as yourself. What were you doing there?" He inquired, looking up at her.

She saw the question coming. Of course, she couldn't reveal how she had gotten curious to observe the training of the soldiers to him. He'd scoff and probably remind her of her recklessness.

"I...well, I came to visit my deceased brother's teacher. It just so happened that they set up a base near our residence." She fidgeted which didn't go unnoticed by him.