Chapter 93: Royal Love

She kept looking at him, how he was giving orders out and how sophisticated he looked. She couldn't believe that she was finally back to this man's hands and all she could say about it was, she was glad she did. Her was the best person she could ever get in her life and when he turned and found her looking him, Mujaheed smirked at her and waved his hands dismissively at the servants he was giving the orders out.
He pulled her closer to him and smiled, "What are you looking at?" He asked, and she immediately rolled her eyes at him, angry at herself for looking too much that he caught her doing that.
"I'm not looking at anything, what else do you think I'll look at on your face? You're not that handsome, you know?" She rolled her eyes at him and he placed her head on his shoulder while they smiled at each other.
"I can't believe that when I've seen it with my eyes. You're so much in love with this husband of yours. Are you ready for the Eid tomorrow? Will you ride the horse, Fareeda? I've asked her them to get two horses ready, I'd love to ride my horse tomorrow with you." He turned them back and they walked into his room together while she had her eyes fixed on his face. She didn't know how she would've lived without Mujaheed in her life. She knew she would be fine, but deep down there would be a certain longing and yearning for him in her heart.
"I can't ride a horse, Mujaheed. I've told you that since when you asked me the first time. And it will be outrageous for a king to ride a horse with the Queen, don't you think?" She chuckled when he flashed her a surprised look, she knew how much he loved expressing his love for her with any chance he had gotten, but then there were things no matter how much he wanted to do it, he wouldn't be able to.
"Why can't I do that? Fareeda you're my wife, I don't mind doing that with you. Look," he turned her to face him before they sat down on the bed. He placed his hands on her shoulders and deeply stared into her eyes, "I don't care about anything or anyone in this palace, Fareeda. I love you, I love you soo much that I want everyone to talk about our love all over Cameroon. I want our love to be an inspiration to the younger generation, how it started, the differences we had, the sacrifices we had to make, even the pain, it's worth making a note about. Don't you think?"
She smiled, getting melting by his words yet again. She smiled widely at him, "I can't remember you being a poet, Mujaheed. Where did you get those words from?" She asked and he tickled her stomach so hard that he made her laugh out loud. "Come on! You promised not to tickle me ever again, Mujaheed! Do you want me to pass out again?" She was talking in between laughter and he shook his head before he hugged her again.
"Let's go and see Daada, I haven't been to his chamber since this afternoon, I know he must've missed me." He said when he released her and they slumped on the bed at the same time. She chuckled and nodded her head.
"Say it the right way, the king who is still a child in his heart wants to go and see his father, that's all." She palmed her face when she saw him wanting to steal a kiss from her, she had his moves memorized in her heart.
"Fareeda, you know you can't be saved today, right?" He chuckled and got up form the bed. "I need to take my bathe before they call the Maghrib Salah, care to join or even help?" From the bed she was leaned onto, she stared at him and shook her head with a smirk curving her lips.
"Why will I? I don't want you. I'll be here while you come out, I might be generous enough to bring your clothes out, that's if the good girl side of me outweighs the bad side, My King." She smiled at him and she could see from the look in his eyes that he was deeply affected by that smile. "Go on! Go and bathe, you have just twenty minutes before it's time for prayer and it will be a shame for the king to miss congregational prayers."
She watched him closed the door behind him and before she made her next move, her phone began to ring and she smiled. She knew it was either Dahlia or Nana, or even Aunty Zainab. Because this wasn't Baba's time for calling her. It was always at night before he go to bed and somedays in the morning before he left for his office. But seeing the caller was Asma'u, her smile grew even wider, she had missed her.
"Hey, baby sis. How have you been?" She asked, putting the pillow behind her head and she rested on it. She had missed those girls, she wanted to have them all come over to Cameroon so she could pamper them and take them to the places she had visited and loved. She could proudly say she had a happy family now, and it was safe to say they all loved her.
"Ya Fareeda! I have a surprise for you! Guess what happened, we just have a phone call with Abba and do you know what he said?!" She said excitedly and Fareeda immediately stood up, she couldn't imagine what was it, but she knew from the way Asma'u sounded so excitedly, it must be something amazing.
"No one called me from that house, Asma'u, tell me it's a good news!" She asked excitedly, moving across the room, she couldn't wait to know what it was.
"I called him and he told me they were in the hospital, Aunty Zainab was sick for a few days now, guess what it was!!!" They began to scream together while Fareeda jumped up and down, she couldn't even hold her breath!
"She's pregnant! My chest, my lord! Asma'u! Ya Allah! I need to call these people! What an amazing news! I don't even know what to say." She laughed excitedly, happy, carefree, she didn't even know what else she felt.
"And our graduation date just came out, Ya Fareeda, it will be on the 10th of next month, will you please come? They're all coming, I wonder if you'd be able to make it." She said with a pleading tone but the happiness was still there, they were all excitedly about having a younger sibling.
"Why wouldn't I come, Asma'u? I'll have to come, we've spoken about this with Dahlia, we're going to surprise Nana with a ticket of her crush's show at the time, just two days away from your graduation day. We can travel around some countries for a while before we all come back to Cameroon, you'll stay for a few days too, right?" She asked with a happy smile and she could imagine the guilt look on Asma'u's face already. That was why everyday they had a call with her, she made sure she showed her that everything that happened was in the past, she didn't hold onto any of those bad memories. Of course they hurt her when they happened, but she had chosen to move on and she did.
Asma'u smiled sadly and shook her head as if Fareeda could see her, "We should all do that, but I can't come to Cameroon, Ya Fareeda, I feel it's not right to do that. No, I don't even have the right to do that."
Fareeda sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled lovingly, "Asma'u, you are and will always be my younger sister, okay? I know we had out fair share of bad times, mistakes and regrets, but that doesn't mean we can outgrow all those bad feelings and try to create new and amazing memories, we're beyond this, Asma'u. You're going to come, you have every right to, okay? What if I give birth and want someone to come and help me, won't you do that?"
"We can do it, thanks for being the kind of person you are, Ya Fareeda. You're a very good soul and you have a heart so big that I envy you. Tell me, are you pregnant? I promise not to say anything." She giggled and Fareeda palmed her forehead, she always had weird characters as her siblings.
"You're shameless, I'm not pregnant. Get your head straight and make sure you study hard and come out with a good result, we aren't going to have a dumb person as the CEO of Faksa." That drained every single emotion Asma'u had in her.
"Ya Fareeda..." She began but she realized she didn't even have the energy to say anything.
Fareeda chuckled and she knew if they were together with Asma'u, she would've given her a very big hug. "What? Baba is going to retire, don't you think it's high time the old mogul rests? I'm not there, you're the only one competent for the position. So, brace yourself up, CEO Asma'u Kamal Sardauna."
She heard as Asma'u broke into tears and even though her eyes too got filled with tears, she smiled lovingly, "I don't know what to say to you and Abba, Ya Fareeda. I feel so terrible for all that I've done, really."
"I know you do, I know you regret doing everything. It's a mistake, Asma'u and we're humans bound to err, don't feel bad. For now, let's talk about how we're going to rock that naming ceremony, we should start choosing names for the children. It might be a boy or a girl, let's choose for both."
"Should we name the girl Fareeda?" Fareeda threw her head back and laughed.
"You're not serious, we can't have the same name twice. Think of something else, something juicy and loving." They had a peaceful conversation filled with laughter and sisters love. And when they finished the call, Fareeda made sure she called her two munchkins and told them about the news of the pregnancy and she had them promise they will report everything to her until the day the child will be born.
Mujaheed walked out of the bathroom and like she said, she had already brought out the outfit for him, he smile and hugged her from behind, "This is enough evidence that you're being a good girl today, isn't it?" He said and placed his head on her shoulders and she placed her hand on the side of his face with a smile on her lips.
"Aunty Zainab is pregnant. Asma'u's graduation will be on the 10th of next month. We're going to have a sisters vacation at the time, we want to surprise Nana and take her to that show in Oman, we're going to visit some countries after that and we'll be back here for them to spend a few days with me."
"What about me?" He asked and he turned her to face him, she stared at his wet chest and immediately pulled her eyes back onto his face.
"You? You're the king, you should stay here and take care of your kingdom, don't you think? In Oman, we're going to stay in Kulthum's house Insha Allah, but don't tell her, I want us to surprise her." Somehow, she placed her hand on his bare chest and he brought her closer to him.
"You're making plans without me, Fareeda." He whined, and she chuckled while lifting her chin to get to his eye level.
"I told you you're a king, you don't expect a king to be lazying around countries while he left his kingdom, do you?" He had a pout on his lips when she said that and she wanted to laugh so hard. He hardly did that, but whenever he did, it looked so good on him.
"Daada is always here to take care of things. I can be absent for a few few weeks, and it'll be okay."
She stubbornly shook her head,"Daada is old and sick, he needs to take care of himself and rest, not take over the work of his spoilt brat of a king. You have to stay here and take care of the palace matters yourself, Daada won't do anything to you."
"Let's go and ask him then, whatever he said will determine whether I'm going or not."
She watched as he began to get ready and she slumped on the bed, her eyes fixed on him. "I said we're going to have sisters vacation, not a honeymoon, Mujaheed. I can't take my husband along with me."
"They have boyfriends, don't they? They can bring them along as well, I'm willing to pay the flight tickets, hotels, everything."
She sighed exasperatedly and palmed her forehead, "You're so stubborn, Mujaheed."
He chuckled, that deep husky chuckle she so much loved. "I learnt from the best, Your Highness."
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He kept laughing at her on their way back because when he asked Daada if it will be okay for him to leave with her, he said yes. That if he could, he would go and visit Kulthum to himself. Fareeda wished Daada had said no, and the intensity at which Mujaheed was annoying her, she was afraid if she wouldn't have him killed before the date and he would be reformed when they got back.
They were in front of his room when she turned to look at him, "Mujaheed, you're really getting on my nerves. Who do you think you're laughing this way at? Do you perhaps have a death wish?"
He chuckled, held her shoulders and walked them into the room. "It will be my pleasure to die in your arms, Your Highness."
She watched as he cornered her on the wall and placed his hands sideways to avoid her from getting away from him and she rolled her eyes at him. "Stop calling me that, I'm no royalty."
"You are, Your Highness." He leaned in and tried to kiss her when she turned her face way from him.
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked with a pouty tone and Mujaheed knew he had gotten himself into a mess he would have to clear up in a bit.
"We have an unfinished business, remember?" He asked and when she turned to answer him, he merged their lips together in a lovely sync and despite her stubborn self wanting to shrug him off, she ended up being melted in his touch. He delicately carried her to the bed and laid her down, with his whole body hovering over hers.
He tried to take off her glass when she shook her head at him, "For once, I want to keep on staring at your face."
His smile weakened her, "Is this love?"
"It's more than love, Your Highness." She said briskly and coalesced their lips in a heated sync that emoted their hunger, their love, their desire and deep affection for each other.
?
She held onto his arms, not minding the guards that were only a few feet away from them, her hands were shaking as she spoke, "I'm afraid, Mujaheed. I want it to be real but then some part of me is scared. What will I do if it turns out to be real?" Tears pooled the brink of her eyes as she spoke, with her hands shaky and her heart filled to the brim with nothing but fear.
He pulled her closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead before he spoke, "I know it's only fair if you're afraid, Fareeda. But don't be, okay? If it turns out to be true, then it's Allah that chooses to bless us again, we should embrace it and avoid making any mistakes like we did in the past, okay?"
She was about to argue with what he had said when the doctor came back into the office with a wide grin on his lips. "Congratulations, Your Highness. Her highness is three months pregnant, and both her and the baby are in good health, Alhamdulillah." Fareeda closed her eyes and her tears fell onto her cheeks as she felt the way Mujaheed squeezed his hold on her.
He looked at the doctor with a stoic expression, even though his heart wavered with both fear and excitement, he masked up a smile on his lips, "Thank you so much, Doctor." He watched as one of the guards collected the paper from the doctor and he helped Fareeda stood up. She was still unable to speak until they sat down at the back of the limo and he kissed her forehead, "It turns to to be a blessing, Your highness." He said soothingly and she looked up at him with her eyes filled with honey, innocence and purity.
"Can we do this without any mistakes, Mujaheed?" She asked, and he smiled before he nodded his head at her.
"We will be the best parents we could this time, Fareeda. Nothing will ever harm our baby, we will treasure it with all our lives, protect and love it as though our lives, won't we?" She smiled and he felt as her hands eased in his touch. She rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her forehead again.
"We will, Your Majesty." She joked with a smile and he lifted her chin.
"Stop calling me that, I'm no royalty." He joked using her voice and she threw her head back and laughed. "Why are you laughing at me, Mujaheed I'm so going to kill you!" Her voice, the expression she always muster whenever she said this, and the pout was on his lips that she wondered how he mastered this so well as though it was her.
She lightly punched him in the chest with his love threatening to burst out of her chest. "I don't know why I have to love you this much, you this lovely man."
He laughed together with her and held both her hands, "That's because I love you much more than you could ever love me, Fareeda Kamal Sardauna."
"Call me 'Your Highness' because I'm royalty now." She flipped back her imaginary hair and for the moment she did that, the excitement and happiness dripping from her eyes, how her face glowed and looked so beautiful, Mujaheed knew he would have to love this soul until the rest of his life. He chuckled and hugged her tightly while she rested her head on his chest, feeling the erratic beat of his heart. Maybe love didn't hurt all the times, sometimes it could be as sweet as peaceful as it was for her now.