The traditional silver white throbe which Omar wore fitted him perfectly, it was decorated with silver sparkles along the whole length and he had a matching white ghutra placed on his head, on top of that was the tagiyah and holding the two in place firmly was the double black cord, the Iqal. He stood in his room in front of the mirror and glanced at himself through it and thought that he was perhaps well over dressed for the marriage ceremony which he knew wouldn't be taking place.
It was all a sham and knowing that he was just being used as a pawn for the attack made him feel like he was part of the plot. He straightened himself, running a hand down the throbe and feeling the richness of the fine material and his lips twitched in a half side smile, he imagined himself getting married to Megan instead of the princess, she should have been his bride. He sighed, knowing that he could still get her, she hadn't gotten back together with Samir and he would not be getting marrieMariam sat in front of the mirror in silence and stared at her image as the women applied ointments on her face and neck, while also adding colour to her cheeks, eye lids and lips. Her arms which were weighed down by the volume of bangles on them rested heavily on her laps and her body felt numb, she couldn't feel the many hands on her body and she didn't even see her own reflection staring back at her even as she gazed into the large mirror. because her mind wandered. She was getting married to Omar, the man she had come to develop strange feelings for, the man who loved another, and the man who had told her bluntly to her face that her would never love her. She broke.It would have been better if she didn't know how he felt for her, if she didn't know whether he liked her or not or what he thought of her. It would have been much better not to know because that ignorance was truly bliss and she had dwelt in that ignorant bliss. Loving him was not what she had wan
The men's hall was gradually beginning to fill up with every man coming to greet and congratulate the Sheikh and Omar, they accepted their congratulatory handshake with a smile on their faces but Omar's smile was only pretentious, two hours had gone past and with every passing minute he felt even more anxious and more tensed. Sometimes he strained to breathe properly."Omar," his father placed a hand on his shoulder but didn't look at him, with a smile on his face he leaned in closer and whispered. "Fix your face, you look too anxious and worried. I don't want you sending off wrong signals."Omar side eyed his father whilst keeping a steady smile on his face, he found it hard to pretend and just wanted to scream at his father and question him about the attack and why he would involve himself in such, didn't he know that it would create a mess? He leaned in closer to his father after accepting a brief handshake from a man."I know the plan father." Omar whispered witho
Parvina came to stand closer to Mariam, her fingers interlocked and she swayed left and right with each word she said, batting her eye lashes like a doll and smiling."I think you're shy because it is Omar who is waiting in a different hall to be married to you." She teased, nudging Mariam with her elbow. Mariam laughed."Because it is Omar,I think that is all the more reason not to be shy, don't you think so Saadiya?" Mariam defended."I agree. Now stop your teasing Parvina and let's go." Saadiya said, shoving Parvina to the side lightly with her shoulder."But think about it, what do you think Omar would look like?" Parvina pressed on.Mariam and Saadiya shared confused looks. "Errr... Like he always does?""No, no, no. That's different. He looks like he always does on normal, regular days but today is regular, or... maybe normal. You get what I'm trying to say?""Well..." Mariam started thinking about it. The man was drop dead handsome amd just imaginin
Omar held on to Mariam's hand as he broke the dreadful news of her father's assassination to her, he watched her eyes dilate and her lips part ever so slightly, her eyes searched his for confirmation or for lies, shifting her focus from one eye ball to the other then she looked away from his eyes and to his chest then down the cloth he had on, her eyes taking in the red blood stain on his cloth and widening in horror and realization.Parvina and Saadiya held Mariam steady as the women in the room screamed after they heard the dreadful news and they began to wail, squatting down on the floor and holding their heads with both hands. Mariam stumbled backwards and Omar held her hand even more firmly but she was caught by Saadiya and Parvina, her eyes moved up to his and dropped back down from his worried face to his blood stained cloth. She reached out her hand to touch his cloth but Omar grabbed her hand to stop her, shaking his head negatively."Mariam, do you now unde
Concealed behind the headboard of Mariam's bed was a small compartment in the walls where she had hidden swords and small throw knives and with the help of the women, they moved the bed forward so they could gain access to them. As they gathered their choice of weapons, Omar stepped out of the bathroom, what he saw left his mouth hanging in surprise. Mariam had changed from her wedding dress and was now in a black outfit that matched with what the assassins were wearing and so was Parvina and Saadiya. They covered the half of their faces from their noses down to their chin with a piece of black transparent cloth which they tied behind their heads but left their hairs exposed and held up in a single pony tail.Mariam was gone. The Mariam he knew was gone. The petite, shy, frail and somewhat bold girl he knew was replaced by this intimidating young lady figure all dressed in black. They turned to stared at him when they noticed he had come out of the bathroom."Maria
Mariam got up sharply and faced the group. "We need to find my father." She announced and everyone looked at her in confusion."But... Mariam..." Saadiya stammered, not knowing exactly how say what she wanted to say and pointed to the dead man on the floor."This isn't my father. This isn't the King, it's his doppelganger." She cleared their confusion.Omar looked on in bewilderment. "Doppelganger??""You mean to tell us that this man lying dead here on the floor isn't the King?" Parvina asked still in surprise and bent down to get a closer look at the man. "But they look so much alike. It's a striking resemblance!""Hmm.." Mariam nodded. "He had always had one close to him and kept in a safe place, I guess it was for times like this. It's sad he had to die.""But, why would he bring out his doppelganger, did he perhaps know?" Saadiya asked no one in particular."For my father to bring him out it only meant that he knew of the attack before it
Omar watched Aazim lift the sword high up with fury in his eyes and he saw the blade come down and rolled away just in time, but the blade didn't reach down, instead what he heard was Aazim scream out loud in pain, Omar looked up at Aazim who was holding on to his bleeding hand, a small knife had stopped his strike and had sliced through his fingers but didn't severe it. Omar looked back at Mariam who was still on the floor holding Parvina in her arms and looking at Aazim with a triumphant look in her eyes and a wide smile across her face, she was the one who had thrown the knife and with a perfect timing and good aim too. Aazim hollered in pain and the sword fell from his hands, he held on to his bleeding hand, wrapping it with the cloth he wore and looked up to Mariam, giving her a death stare. Omar smirked, the girl surely did know how to anger someone and find trouble."You! You insolent little brat!" Aazim growled. "You will most definitely pay for this!"Mariam picked up
Sheikh Khalid bin Aaban opened his eyes slowly and stared up at the ceiling, at the fan slowly rotating and he let his eyes follow the circular motion before he blinked, once and then twice, he stretched his hand by his side and could feel the soft foam beneath him, he placed a hand on his chest and he wondered where he was or how he had gotten to be here and why was he just waking up. Propping up on his right elbow, he tried to sit up but his head ached terribly and he grabbed onto his forehead, wincing in the excruciating pain hee felt that throbbed in his brain. Thinking it better, he laid back down to calm himself and tried again to recollect how he had gotten here. Taking a deep breath, he looked around the room to familiarize himself with his environment, the bed he was on was set in the far end of the wall where the door was directly opposite and in between the bed and the door were two single sofas facing one another and a fancy glass table seperating them. To his
The drive from the airport was a long one even though it took less than an hour but still, for Omar bin Khalid, it was a long drive. He buckled in the back seat of his car to keep himself from jumping every second because of his racing heart, he couldn't keep himself stable and if he had the powers to, he would super speed to where he needed to be."Hurry up please." He beckoned to the driver who nodded and stepped on the accelerator.They weren't on a free way and couldn't go more than 80 kilometers per hour according to the speed sign but Omar knew that if he was the one behind that wheel, he would break that speed limit and damn the consequences, but this wasn't Saudi Arabia and being the Sheikh's son didn't hold as much importance here as it did in Saudi, this was America, he would face the consequences and face the law. He nervously tapped his feet on the floor of the car and kept looking out the window, bringing his fingers to his mouth. He had last seen Megan a mo
Sheikh Khalid bin Aaban reclined on the sofa in the spacious living room with his feet propped up on a low stool, his head leaned back against the head rest, his hands crossed over his abdomen, his breathing calm and even and his eyes were closed but he was well awake and well aware of what went on aroung him, his ears picking up every sound of movement around him. It had been almost a month since the failed attack on the palace and on the King's life and each time he he remembered it, he became bitter.For seven years they had gathered, for seven years they had met and for seven years they had planned and all their sacrifices for Prince Aazim had now been all in vain, their efforts had crumbled down hard and Khalid couldn't exactly place the blame on any one. Since the death of Aazim which Khalid knew had been his son's doing, the rest of the members had not met as every man feared for his life and Prince Aazim's palace in Riyadh had been abandoned and forgotten. Khalid st
Mariam walked Omar to her favorite place in the garden, both of them talking and constantly laughing, Omar had become a regular in the palace and he occasionally visited, King Jaan had grown to be comfortable with him around his daughter and he still wished that the wedding between them could still take place but then Omar had to return to the army. Omar chuckled when he remembered that, his father had been clever enough and eager to save his skin to have come up with such an excuse, and now he would have to go back to America and this time he even had his father's approval.Sheikh Khalid bin Aaban had admitted defeat in his actions and although Omar knew that his greedy father would most definitely come up with another scheme in other to attain more power, Omar knew that he was safe and away from any of his father's future plans, he had shown him just how much he also could do to get what he wanted, and now he wanted just one thing and that was to be back together with Meg
Saadiya walked towards the room which Omar had told her that Mariam and the King would be in, she paused at the door a while and knocked before pushing the door open and stepped in. Mariam was seated by her father's feet with her head placed on his knee and her eyes closed and enjoying the motion of his hands on her hair and he patted and stroked her to calmness, she must had been crying, Saadiya thought."As salaam alaikum your highness." Saadiya greeted in a bow and both the King and Mariam turned to her."Alaikum assalaam Saadiya, come inside." The King ushered her in.Mariam, on seeing her dear friend, sprang up from her father's feet and rushed into the arms of Saadiya, her tears flowing afresh and she sobbed into her chest."Saadiya..." She cried. "Where did you go? You shouldn't have left me too.""I had to... Mariam, I had... Parvina." Mariam looked up to her eyes as soon as she had mentioned Parvina. "I had to take her body home.""She's really gone?" Mari
Omar left the room, closing the door quietly behind him and walked down the hallway, heading for the room in which he had his father kept in. As he thought about the whole scenario that had played out last night, the small talk he had with his father shortly before the King was killed, ok no, shortly before the doppelganger was killed leading up to the attack and his and Mariam's unfruitful attempt at escape, down to the surprise Mariam and her friends had unwrapped before his very eyes about them being impressive fighters, a soft smile played on his lips, but that smile was quickly replaced by a frown when he remembered Aazim, the man who had caused the untimely death of Parvina.Although Omar didn't know the girl as well as he knew Mariam, he could tell that she was the liveliest of the three friends, she was the smallest and undoubtedly even the youngest of the three. He cleared his mind and tried to wipe it off by thinking other things. Saadiya, where was she anyway? Si
Omar sat on the edge of a table situated by the wall, close to the window which had no burglary and stared out into the morning with his right hand placed on the window still, his left hand which was injured was held up in a sling that went over his right shoulder. His left palm was placed over the injury on his abdomen where he had been shot and around it was a bandage. He absent mindedly ran his thumb over the spot as he looked down at the workers busy downstairs.From his position one storey up, he could see the courtyard down below, the canopy which had been placed over it as a decoration for the wedding that did not happen last night had long been removed and the bodies cleared away, all that was left in the courtyard was just the bloody mess which was being cleaned up by servants. Omar tried to imagine it not being so much different from washing off the blood in an abattoir but he knew it had been human beings that were killed last night and not animals, assassins or not, t
Sheikh Khalid bin Aaban opened his eyes slowly and stared up at the ceiling, at the fan slowly rotating and he let his eyes follow the circular motion before he blinked, once and then twice, he stretched his hand by his side and could feel the soft foam beneath him, he placed a hand on his chest and he wondered where he was or how he had gotten to be here and why was he just waking up. Propping up on his right elbow, he tried to sit up but his head ached terribly and he grabbed onto his forehead, wincing in the excruciating pain hee felt that throbbed in his brain. Thinking it better, he laid back down to calm himself and tried again to recollect how he had gotten here. Taking a deep breath, he looked around the room to familiarize himself with his environment, the bed he was on was set in the far end of the wall where the door was directly opposite and in between the bed and the door were two single sofas facing one another and a fancy glass table seperating them. To his
Omar watched Aazim lift the sword high up with fury in his eyes and he saw the blade come down and rolled away just in time, but the blade didn't reach down, instead what he heard was Aazim scream out loud in pain, Omar looked up at Aazim who was holding on to his bleeding hand, a small knife had stopped his strike and had sliced through his fingers but didn't severe it. Omar looked back at Mariam who was still on the floor holding Parvina in her arms and looking at Aazim with a triumphant look in her eyes and a wide smile across her face, she was the one who had thrown the knife and with a perfect timing and good aim too. Aazim hollered in pain and the sword fell from his hands, he held on to his bleeding hand, wrapping it with the cloth he wore and looked up to Mariam, giving her a death stare. Omar smirked, the girl surely did know how to anger someone and find trouble."You! You insolent little brat!" Aazim growled. "You will most definitely pay for this!"Mariam picked up
Mariam got up sharply and faced the group. "We need to find my father." She announced and everyone looked at her in confusion."But... Mariam..." Saadiya stammered, not knowing exactly how say what she wanted to say and pointed to the dead man on the floor."This isn't my father. This isn't the King, it's his doppelganger." She cleared their confusion.Omar looked on in bewilderment. "Doppelganger??""You mean to tell us that this man lying dead here on the floor isn't the King?" Parvina asked still in surprise and bent down to get a closer look at the man. "But they look so much alike. It's a striking resemblance!""Hmm.." Mariam nodded. "He had always had one close to him and kept in a safe place, I guess it was for times like this. It's sad he had to die.""But, why would he bring out his doppelganger, did he perhaps know?" Saadiya asked no one in particular."For my father to bring him out it only meant that he knew of the attack before it