Chapter 60 B

"And Bolori is likely to offer him help in the 'I'm his brother manner and I can help you get released." Na im pointed out, knowing so well how round and cubic the thoughts and tricks of Sadeeq were that it made him sick to his bones.
"We have to act fast. Because if what we re thinking is what s going to happen, then I've seen his car in the palace when he should have been in the barrack." Hafiz urged, but Na im had never felt as dumb and blank as he felt now. He didn't know what he would do or say.
"What should I do now? Maryam isn t safe anywhere, Hafiz. And if I leave this palace now, it will only prove to him that I'm afraid of being caught." He shook his head and sighed, "I think I'll just have to beat him at it, I'll go to Alan Gubro and confess everything that has happened."
Hafiz gasped as if Na im had grown some unusual wings on his back. "You can t do that, Na im! What do you think will happen to Maryam? It isn t about you, it s about her!"
"I'm here to protect her, Hafiz. I've already made my decision, Maryam is my wife and I'd rather die than be separated with her. I m willing to make sacrifices, if that's what bothers you." He said in a low voice that doubles Hafiz s worry. He knew Na im was so determined when he set his heart into something. But he was never going to let him do this recklessly, when probably, Sadeeq had been there before he would.
"You can t do this, Bolori. We have to think and make sure that you wouldn t regret this, okay? Maryam is weak at the moment and she might not be able to withstand all the things that will certainly happen to her when she s exposed to this place. Please, think about this for her sake."
Na im was about to speak when the door got banged and they all stood up. "Who the hell is that?!" He asked in a voice that emanated his anger but deep within, Na im knew they were late with whatever solution they were about to come up with.
Two royal guards from the King s chamber made an appearance first and he felt his heart thumping with fear of what had happened or was about to happen. But his face still held it s stoic expression and when Alan Gubro appeared with an angry expression Na im had ever seen on his face, his heart lost a beat.
Sadeeq was right beside him and there was nothing but guards and another maid, The Kings court lady. "You ve never visited me here, Alan Gubro." He managed to utter as Hafiz greeted him the way every other person did, but even though it appeared to Na im that before him wasn t a father but a King, he still couldn t bring himself up to refer to him that way.
"Search this place too, Yarima Sadeeq, and bring her out if she s here. He might not have been fast enough to change her location." Alan Gubro had said, his voice carrying along the air of power and royalty and he found a seat and sat down, the guards there to keep whatever harm walked his way.
He stood rooted to his spot until Sadeeq was about to turn the doorknob of the room Maryam was sleeping in. He instantly remembered that she didn t have anything on her head, her hair was sprawled all over the pillow and she had changed into a loose gown that he would rather die than Sadeeq to see her that way.
"One more step, Bolori, and you ll regret it." He said through gritted teeth. Not minding that Alan Gubro gave the order and he was seated there, waiting to see his reaction. He took a step, "If you re so eager to see her, I'll bring her out myself but don t you dare take the next step into that room, unless you want to regret it for the rest of your life."
"You can t stop me, Yarima. This is an order from Alan Gubro himself and he s sitting there, I can't not do what he asked me." Excitedly, as he enjoyed the look he was seeing on Na im s face, finally he was able to bring down the brother that had always been a problem to his life.
Na im walked towards him when he touched the doorknob and was about to turn it open. "Captain Sadeeq Bolori, as a superior to you, I order you withdraw from that room with immediate effect. And," he made sure he labored his eyes right into those of Sadeeq before he spoke, "This is a military order." The whole chamber echoed with his voice. The darkness that had coated it and how angry he had seem, which had never happened before.
Na im turned to where Alan Gubro was just staring at them but in his eyes, there was anger, pain and disappointment. "I'll bring her out myself, Your Majesty." He pushed Sadeeq aside and opened the door before he softly closed it behind him.
He found Maryam seated on the bed and she was intently staring at the door with a frightened expression and when she saw it was Na im that walked in, she sighed and plunged herself into his arms that were open and ready for her. She hugged him and looked up at him with a scared expression. "Is Captain Bolori here to take me with him too? Will he take me to where he has kept Intisar?" She innocently asked and Na im shot her a confused look.
"How did you know about the other Captain Bolori? And what s this thing about Intisar you re talking about, Hoor?" He silently prayed that it wasn t what he was thinking. Often, Maryam had told him that her sister had been taken in a van along with other girls, but he had never imagined this.
"Your soldier friend told me about him, or slipped the words and I asked. He s the one that took my sister with him, along with some girls in our village and I've never seen them again." Na im felt as his heart lost a beat. No, he had high hopes on his brother even though he was being a pain in the neck. There was no way he would be connected with that human trafficking the army was trying so hard to find the culprit.
"How sure are you that it s him, Mairam?" He had even forgotten about what had brought him inside in the first place. He just wanted to know, any clue she would give him that would help with the investigation they were secretly carrying out, and Sadeeq was involved in the team, damn it!
"He was called Captain Bolori that I spent months thinking it was you. He had his back to where I was hiding when Intisar walked out to see if they could help us find Baaba. There were tons of girls in the van and he took her by the neck and threw her on the van and he was called again, Captain Bolori." Tears were rushing down to her cheeks at the memory that so painfully had to be remembered by her heart, even though that was the last thing she wanted to happen.
"He was throwing orders to the other soldiers before he left and the van took off. I thought I could see her again in the refugee camp and when I asked if there was somewhere else people from my village had been taken to, they said that camp was the only one. I don't know if she s alive or dead, but can you please ask him for me?"
Na im pulled her to his chest and he hugged her as lovingly as he could. "Don t cry, okay? We have something that urgently came up and I want you to listen to me, Mairam. My father is here in the living room and he s waiting for you. Even though he's usually a nice person, he might be hostile to you because he s angry that I haven t told him we re married. Behave yourself and don t cry." She lifted her face up with a frightened expression, "Don t worry, I'll always be here to protect you and don t ever let anyone take this ring from you, protect it like your life, okay? You ll be hurt by their words, but know that you re my wife and that s all that matters."
She was crying badly now, thinking of the change her life had abruptly took. What was she to do now? "About Intisar, I promise you that I'll find out everything I could, Mairam. And so long as she s still alive, I'll bring her back to you. It might take long to do that, but I'll certainly do it, okay?" She could only nod her head amidst her cries and Na im wished he would be there throughout everything to protect her frail heart from the pain that rushed towards her.
He helped her stood up from the bed and saw the way she winced a little, "In case something happens and I'm not here to take care of you, make sure you do all the things the doctor had said, okay? And have it in mind that I'll always come for you no matter how long it takes or how far you re taken away from me." He was the one that helped her changed into some clothes and pulled the hijab over her head.
"I'm scared," Maryam s lips trembled as she said the words out and Na im smiled to show her that it wasn t something serious, even though he knew it was.
"It s okay, Mairo. You ll always be safe okay?" She nodded her head silently and Na im smiled at her before he entwined their hands and they walked out of the room together.
Sadeeq was now seated on the carpet beside Alan Gubro as he spoke softly to him, Na im felt a stab of pain in his heart but he still acted unbothered by the situation. "Here she is, Your Majesty." He said when they knelt in front of him and he was aware that the first thing Alan Gubro did was stared at their entwined hands and his eyes dilated when he saw the ring on Maryam s finger.
He was about to speak when Na im beat him at it. "Her name is Maryam Bukar Ibrahim and she s my wife, Alan Gubro. I got married to her on Eid day when we went to the operation in Magumeri village. Her father was a farmer and when the bomb took off there, he got split into two but was still alive as he begged me to find his two daughters. One was stolen by some soldiers supposedly for human trafficking..." Slowly, his gaze turned to Sadeeq that was looking at Maryam with a known expression. Maybe she looked like Intisar, or he too, like every other person, was afraid of her eyes.