Sidratul Muntaha

Chapter 96

Bismillahi Rrahmaani Rraheem•

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu•

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She was sitting before a gilded mirror, getting ready for the day. It was still early but she was a royal bride and she didn't want to give anyone chances to criticize her. Her foreignness had given them ample ammunition for criticism.

Her long hair cascaded behind her as she tried to plait it with a thin strand of tiny flowers. Her headdress made up of a single chain of pearls sat atop her head. Her clothes were fit for royalty. She adorned some simple jewelry and sighed. She was already feeling too caged. Blinking her eyes rapidly she tried to shoo away the tears that threatened to overflow and watched herself.

It was three months since her wedding, but a mere week of her stay in Salasal. In Ghazdaan she was the daughter of nobility but fate had chosen her to become the crown princess of Salasal. Asad had seen her on one of his excursions and his decision had been set in stone. She had never dreamt of marrying into royalty but now that she was one of them, she felt upset at the life. She was in constant scrutiny. She felt herself being judged even when she stood at a place silently. Each time she moved, she was watched constantly. She could feel their whispers dancing upon her skin and cutting her heart open. A mere week in this place was suffocating her. She missed her home. She missed Ghazdaan and it's beautiful ways. She missed the familiarity of it. She missed her family and she missed her best friend Kulthoom. She missed the fire in her friend's eyes and her nonchalant attitude. She missed her friend's resilience and courage to face anything. She herself was a soft hearted, simple girl, who had dreamt of a simple life and a loving husband. Her dream had been to excel in love. She got a loving husband but not a simple life. Her husband had been a package deal with a wild lifestyle.

"Ahem!" She heard a deliberate cough and turned to see her husband standing behind her with arms crossed across his chest. A glance at the door revealed that it was closed. She turned back once more towards her husband who looked amused and if his eyes were any indication, a little worried. "I thought only Asad ibn Muhajir had the right to adore you this way. But you are taking away my right from me." His eyes twinkled. "Why are you looking at yourself with such abandon?" She smiled slightly. "Are you becoming narcissistic?"

"No that trait suits only upon you and your group of odd friends. I was just getting ready for the day." She replied softly. Her eyes had become too gentle when they landed upon him. Her heart had trembled. She had heard that being in love was a waste of time. It hurt the heart and left it in shambles. But since the moment she had been given in his nikah, she had fallen for him, deeply and surely. She had made him the centre of her universe. There was not a moment where her heart hadn't whispered his name. Each time he came before her, she had given herself away to him more deeply. There couldn't be a woman who could love her husband to the extent that Hareem loved Asad. For her, he was the sun that lighted her soul up, he was the moon that enlightened her heart, he was the rhythm to which her heart beat. For him, she could endure any suffocation. She could change herself inside out if he so indicated, but he never wanted her to change. For him, she was it, the one and only. There weren't any woman in Salasal that hadn't given their heart away to the courageous and charming crown prince, but in Asad's eyes, the world was devoid of any marriageable women, except her. And they were both witnesses to a love so strong that they felt they could overcome any time and tide with it's support. They witnessed it every moment in each other's eyes. Their worlds had been transfixed in each other. When one called the other answered. They were just three months married but they felt within their souls the pull of the other. It felt to them that they had lived together for ages. And perhaps it was ages. Perhaps millennials they had been soul mates in the world of souls. Perhaps thats why they felt like they would die if the other just breathe wrongly.