CHAPTER TWENTY: IS HE LIKE EVERY OTHER PRINCES?

"What did you mean?" She asked.

She knew Dasya would never kill anyone, nor had he ever lied to her. The time she spent with him had been the sincerest time of her life. A time when she was honest with herself, and how she felt.

"Don't you know? Or is he ashamed to tell you? Which category did he fall in?" A cruel smirk made it way to Taliyah's lip as she asked.

"I don't get you. Can you just tell me what exactly he should be ashamed of?" Luciana, who was already dying of curiosity, asked with her gaze glued on Taliyah without caring about the mockeries, and laughter that echoed in her ear.

"He threatened a maid to poison his father, and the good thing about it is that the poison came from your kingdom". Her lip parted at every amusing word that came out from it.

Luciana, who couldn't hear more of it, immediately walked out on them.

"Was he lying to me? Did he come to my kingdom just to get poison to kill his father? So, I was not the exact reason he came to Madid? So, he was pretending all this time?" Many questions echoed in her head as tears streamed down from her little eyes.

Dasya is not the reason for her cry, but herself. She is crying because she fooled herself by thinking he loves her, and did not marry her for ulterior motives like the other princes usually do. She thought she was the luckiest lady to meet a man like him, but it was the opposite!

"Where is prince Dasya?" She asked the guards, who stood at the entrance of his room.

"Prince Dasya strictly ordered that no one must enter his chamber. He wants his space". The fierce looking guard informed her.

"So it has come to space–keeping?"

"Inform him about my presence. I want to speak with him. It is time-critical". She instructed, but the guard did not move an inch from the door, instead he readjusted his body to the door entrance.

"Dasya! Come out! Luciana intends to speak with you!" She screamed out, but still did not get any response.

She decided to hit the door but got stopped by the guards. "Dasya, if you don't come out now, I promise you this; it's going to be a goodbye".

Dasya, who heard her uttered those words, immediately echoed from inside his chamber. "Let her in!"

After she got permission to enter his chamber, she cleaned her eyes before she raised her gaze to Dasya, who seemed alright.

"Why are you here?" Dasya, who found her recent behavior strange, asked. Luciana he knew would never act cold anytime she was around him, why now?

"Why did you try to kill your father?" She asked him, even if her mind suspected he would tell her lies.

"Luciana, if the world did not believe me, would you also not believe me?" He asked with his eyes piercing into her innocent soul.

"Why should I believe you? Just give me one reason why I should?!" She tried not to show how hurt she was, but she isn't good at pretending, and lying.

"Because I am your husband, and I have always stayed by your side". His words didn't even give her the impression of believing him, even if she tried so hard to.

"Why did you go to Madid to get poison? Did you go there to get poison?" She asked Dasya who felt confused.

Dasya could only stare at her as he couldn't find the suitable word to express how innocent he was.

"Can't you talk? Or should I leave?" Luciana asked hastily as she swallowed her saliva to avoid getting choked.

"What should I say to make you believe that I came for you. I came for a lady who is mine" . His words made her feel a bit relax.

To her; if he was lying, his old words, and new ones will never be similar in any way. She knew it when people lied, and told the truth, but that of Dasya was entirely different, and she couldn't feel anything.

"I know you won't believe me if I tell you someone else was the one behind this and tried to frame me. I know it won't be easy to stay by my side while getting mocked, but you can go if you—" Luciana didn't wait for him to finish up his words before she embraced him in a cold hug.

"I am not going to leave you. I will stay by your side, no matter what. I don't care what the world will say. All I care about is 'us' ".

***

"Amira, why did you disobey my order! Is that the agreement between me, and the sultan? Uh?!" Dryan asked with his voice raised at Amira, who chuckled at his words.

"What did you think, I, Khalifa Amira, is? A slave to your royal folks?" She asked as she played with her bronze bangles.

"I don't care what you think! Since you are my wife, my words are what you should abide by!" He uttered with his voice raised.

Amira could only chuckle at the young, naive man who stood in her front. She isn't just like any lady. She is raised as a man, and never a woman who would be a dog in her husband's castle!

"I quitted my position as the next sultana of Sadiah, and you think I did that to become a man's dog? Is that our recent agreement?" She took a few steps closer to Dryan who only stared at her for a while.

He could only avoid her daring eyes so as not to get manipulated by them. "Don't you know, acting all up will not only give the princesses a weird impression, but the queen. I hope you know what it means to be on the bad side of the queen, right?"

"Who is the queen? Did you think I, Sultana Amira, can't depose her, and throw light to the dark shade?" Her questions made him tremble in fright. He knew Amira was capable of every word she uttered.

"Are you threatening me?"

"What if it is?!"