Chapter 53: Confessions

Maryam was afraid for her, she had once told her that Na im had the power to have her killed if he wanted and the way she was speaking to him today had sent a shiver down to her spine. She had an angry look on her face as she stared pointedly at Maryam, waiting for to do what she had asked her to. "Am I not speaking to you? Get down from his laps and go to your room, Maryam! Or do you want all that I've told you to happen to you?!"
Maryam was crying, not because she was afraid of the things Bilkisu had told her, but because she had sounded exactly like Intisar would have, or a bit less. Because if it were Intisar, she knew she would have been punching and throwing things at him by now. She gulped down a lump in her throat and looked at Bilkisu, for the first time, she was going to tell someone apart from herself and him the she was indeed his wife.
"He s my husband, Bilkisu. He s telling you the truth and no, he didn t force me to lie, Baaba got us married before he died." The sincerity in her words, the innocence and calmness in her eyes made Bilkisu believe her and in a minute, she remembered what she had done to him and she immediately got to her knees. "He isn t doing anything wrong, Intisar had told me that a husband could do all these things and even more to his wife, you told me that too, that my husband could do everything. So, trust him, he s my husband." She finished her words while she stared directly into his eyes and Na im didn't know how to stop her words from getting directly into his heart.
Na im was just smiling at them, not at all bothered by how Bilkisu had spoken to him because he knew that was a sign that she was taking care of Maryam like he wanted her to and she wouldn t lay low if Maryam was being treated unfairly by someone. "Forgive me, Your Highness! I've done an unforgivable sin, you can have me beheaded." She was crying so hard as she blurted the words out and Maryam fixed her eyes into his.
"You aren t going to punish her, right? She only did that because she loves me, please." She didn t know what he was thinking, yet she knew he didn t usually take it lightly whenever someone disrespected him. She could vividly remember the day he cocked his gun to her head and a slight shiver ran down to her spine.
He leaned closer to her ears with a soft smile, "I might punish her for interrupting our sensual kiss, but apart from that, I hold no grudges." Maryam smiled shyly at him before she looked away, while he fixed his eyes on Bilkisu that had her head on her hands as she knelt.
"It s okay, you did the right thing and this only proved to me that I made the right choice when I chose you for her." She looked up at him slightly, as if she couldn t believe he would forgive her as easily as he did. "I'm not going to get into details with you but she s my wife and no one knows about her, that s why you should make sure you keep this a secret from everyone, okay?" She vehemently nodded her head at him, she knew the intensity of what he had done, getting married in the palace without anyone knowing.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I'll pay for your mercy with my life, Thank you." She was crying, tears of appreciation as she slightly looked at Maryam that was looking at her with a soft smile, "I don't know what to refer to you as now that I know you re the pr-" she caught herself mid sentence, remembering how he had warned her not to say a word to her about his royalty. "That you're his wife, I should start calling you Your Highness and I'm so sorry for being so rude earlier."
Maryam quickly shook her head at her, "Come on, Bilki, I thought we were sisters like you said? You told me that if your sister had lived, I would ve been the same age with her. And you re the same age with my Intisar, I take you as the replacement of what I've lost. Please continue calling me Mero, please." They smiled lovingly at each other and Bilkisu nodded her head before she turned slightly to Na im.
"Your Highness..." She began, wanting to seek official permission from him to continue calling Maryam with Mero.
"You can continue calling her that since she s the one that has chosen it." She thanked him profusely and excused herself and they watched as her trembling body disappeared into her room.
Na im turned to Maryam that was still looking at Bilkisu s door with a lovely smile and he slightly turned her face to face him. "I guess I should leave, right? Our little secret is busted."
She chuckled before she nodded her head at him and they stood up at once, "She has always spoken to me about how I should stop being so close to you that it s haram and the only person I can be that close to is my husband. I always bite myself from telling her the truth, and it s a relief that she finally knows it now." She smiled genuinely and Na im widened his hands at her. She chuckled before she went into his arms and he embraced her into a hug. "I'm not sad for you to comfort me, Na im."
"Woah!" He gasped, shocked that she had called his name as casually as she did. For the second time in their lives, calling his name and this time, without any difficulty. The name flowed out of her so naturally as though it was the one thing she had always called him with since they met and married. He was staring at her face that was slightly flushed as she caught herself calling his name. "Say that again, Hoor. Subhanallah, my name has never sounded this better. I hardly get called by it, to be frank."
She giggled at how excited he seemed just because she had called his name and shook her head, "That was a tongue slip. I love the name so much that I can call it a hundred times in my head but I can t say it to your face. That s your reward for pardoning Bilkisu, maybe someday when you do something special, I'll say it again."
He scrunched up his face and flashed her the best puppy eyes he could muster, which made her laugh. "Please, Hoor, just once."
Maryam stubbornly shook her head as she took his hand and walked him to the door, "I really can t say it again, Noory. I'm sleepy and I have to wake up early to finish my assignment."
He smiled and nodded his head, "I ll tuck you in bed then." She was about to argue that he should just leave when Na im scooped her into his arms and she giggled happily before she wrapped her hands around his neck and he walked to her room with her eyes fixed on his ever so handsome face.
He gently laid her on the bed and pulled the blanket to her neck while they smiled at each other. Na im sat beside her on the bed, her head snuggled on the pillow as she flashed him a sleepy grin, "Will I see you tomorrow?" She asked and he nodded his head, "Next tomorrow?" He nodded again, "What about everyday for a whole week?"
He smiled and pinched her nose lovingly, "You ll be seeing me everyday from now on, I promise." She believed him, because she had always believed what he said to her. She nodded her head and mouthed a 'thank you while he blew the sleeping supplications on her and leaned in to kiss her forehead. The gracious smile on her lips was enough to tell him that she loved the forehead kiss and he bade her goodnight before he walked out of the room.
Na im was on his bed after he had come back to his chamber as he tossed and turned and thought about the promise he had made to her. He didn t hate himself for making the promise, because it wasn t until he had avowed to her did he realize that he wanted to be seeing her everyday for the rest of his life. The thought of getting married again crossed his mind but he pushed the thought aside, and the fact that if he really wanted Maryam as his wife, the world had to know about her was frightening but he was willing to do something about it now. To try.
Even though he wasn t certain about his decision yet, Na im wanted to think about it further before he asked Hafiz about what he thought. He had realized that if being away from her for two weeks would make him as sad and joy deprived as he felt, then what would being divorced from her make of him? He was rethinking his idea and Na im knew he had to find a way out to spend the rest of his life with her. Second wife or not, she was beginning to be the only one that mattered to him.
?
He was about to knock on their door when it got yanked open and Maryam came running out of it that he had to act on reflex and held her wrist. She quickly turned, frightened to look at him and when she saw that he was the one, she sighed out of relief and Na im wondered what was going on with her. "What s wrong, Mairam? Where are you running to, you don t even have your hair covered." He pointed out and that was when she had noticed about that and he gently walked her back into the living room.
He placed her down on the sofa and brought water for her which she gulped down in a bit before she began to point at Bilkisu s room. "Bilkisu just came back after she told me she was going to see her friend, she had been crying since." She was beginning to calm down, "I asked her what it was and she isn t speaking and her tears are intensifying and I got so terrified at how bitterly she was crying that I decided to run and call you."
"Let s go and check up on her then." He took her hand in his and they walked to Bilkisu s room and found her the way Maryam had left her. She was crying as though her life had come to an end and Na im sat on the sofa in the room while she tried to stop her tears but failed. "What happened to you, Bilkisu? Mairam said you went out to see a friend and came back like this."
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, I shouldn t have done what would bring you here."