Chapter 51

Hamza appears, the drops of blood having been wiped off his face, sword sheathed at his back. He looks over at me and smiles, his eyes going up and down my gown before he nods in approval. Then they land on the crown on my head and narrow.

“What is it?” I ask.

“I don’t like seeing his crown on you,” he answers.

“Neither do I, but it will serve me well for what needs to be done tonight. Now, this is the council.” I gesture to the other side of the room. “Council, this is Hamza. That is his name. Not The Unspoken One. Hamza.”

Hamza turns again, giving me an appreciative look before facing the advisors.

It is Medinah who looks at him with the most shock. She is only a year older than me and has probably never truly known Hamza as anything other than The Unspoken One, like I did. Hunayn, Bilal, and Zayd look at him with disdain. Unsurprisingly, it is Hunayn who speaks first.

“He should not be here. He has been banished for his crimes,” he says.

“And what crimes were those?” I defend him. “What was he banished for? Do you know?”

He exchanges looks with the other advisors before shaking his head.

“I do not, but banishments are not done lightly.”

“No, my father did not banish him lightly. Hamzas have served the crown for further back than any of us know, keeping the balance in the kingdom. But this Hamza alone has been banished and for what? He was not banished for a crime, but for what he knew. For the evil he would not inflict at the word of my father.”

I tell them of what made my father summon Hamza. Why Hamza could not kill the man who killed Haman. What my father asked of Hamza, and when he would not do what my father wanted, Hamza was banished for it.

“And your father still punishes the family every year on the day of Haman’s death?” Medinah asks hoarsely. “Knowing what Haman did. It’s reprehensible.”

“It was reprehensible before I even knew what Haman did. The wife and children did nothing to deserve such ridicule and humiliation. But that is your king, bringing suffering on others, whether they deserve it or not.” I turn my head at the sound of boots, more than one pair, coming towards the room. “But it ends now.”

I hear my father ask the groups of guards outside the door what they are doing here. When he receives no answer, he tells his own guards to wait there, since guards are not allowed inside council meetings. Then the door opens. The way Hamza and I are positioned by the desk, the door hides us. My father walks into the room in his sleeping clothes, his annoyance clear.

“What is this about?” he demands as he closes the door.

Then he sees us. His eyes widen so much, it seems like the brown of his irises takes over the white. That fear I wanted to see enters his eyes and is apparent in his trembling hand when it reaches for a knife on his hip that isn’t there. His eyes dart back and forth between me and Hamza, until they settle on me, rage the only thing burning in them.

“If you think King Azar will not hear of this...”

“Oh, so you didn’t notice?” I gesture towards the desk.

He looks at Azar’s head, and a gasp of horror leaves him. “You… What…. What have you done?” he sputters. “They will kill us all for this.”

“They will not kill their queen.” I hope. “They will not defy their ruler.”

“Guards,” my father shouts.

They burst into the room, and Hamza steps in front of me. Maryam walks calmly towards them, hands behind her back, stopping their progress into her office.

“You will leave this moment, by order of the council,” she tells them.

They look at the advisors, then my father before reluctantly retreating from the room.

“You idiots. What are you doing?” my father shrieks.

“They know, as well as you do, that the council can overrule an order of the king,” Maryam reminds him. “And the council has decided many a thing in your absence.”

Understanding begins to dawn. It’s in the way his mouth hangs open, speechless for a moment. The way his chest inflates with the shaky inhale he takes and seems to never let out.

“What is this?” he finally speaks.

“The end of your tyranny,” I state before raising my voice. “Council, I, Princess Ameera, heir of Nur, call upon you to seize all power from King Qarun. To remove him from the throne and the kingdom from his grasp. I call upon you to remove Qarun as King of Nur.”

The silence is complete. My father’s eyes move from me to where Maryam has joined the other advisors to stand on one side of the room. She grins at my father before looking towards me.

“The council hears your call, and we have taken it under consideration amongst ourselves. We will vote.”

“The vote must be unanimous to remove me,” my father croaks before looking back at me. “This will never happen. They will never vote for what you ask. Surely, Maryam will. She has always fought against me, at every turn.” He turns back to the council then. “Can’t you see? It is Maryam who corrupts this council. Her and people like her who cannot see that what I do is for the betterment of Nur. You cannot do this. You cannot!” he shouts. “I forbid it.”

“We can vote how we choose, but you Qarun.” Maryam drops the title he would normally be addressed with and the clenching of his jaw says he notices it. “What you cannot do is forbid us the vote.”

“All those in favor of removing Qarun as king, raise your right hand,” she declares.

Maryam’s hand goes up first, then Medinah’s. Slowly, but still raising are Zayd and Bilal’s hands. Then there is Hunayn, who looks between my father and me, deciding, assessing. Apprehension stills my body, wondering if he’s played me for a fool. I wouldn’t put it past Hunayn of all the advisors to have waited until this moment to pull back his support. My anxiety grows when I look at my father and see the hope that begins to bloom on his face, that he may just leave this meeting still being King.

Then Hunayn’s hand moves, really a twitch at his side at first.

“Don’t you dare,” my father growls.

And that may just be what removes the final bit of hesitation from Hunayn because then his hand is rising as my father’s face falls.

“The people will never stand for this,” my father snaps. “This law has never been used to usurp the crown from the ruler. They will not allow this.”

“The people who were ready to rebel against you?” I ask, tilting my head.

My father’s head turns towards me slowly. “They would never.”

“Oh, but they were. If I had but said the word, they would have ripped that crown from your head and placed it on mine. Many in this very palace are a part of it. It was happening right under your nose, and you never even knew. And how could you, as disconnected from the people as you are?”

He whips around to face the council. “Even if there is some group of poor rebels, the nobles will never back Ameera. Not if she becomes queen like this. They are loyal to me.”

“They are loyal to their greed,” Maryam says. “You fed their greed, and so they seemed to support you. But nobles, much like yourself, can be replaced.”

“You are finished, Qarun,” Bilal adds. “It’s done.”

“You have ruined Nur. You will all see what you have done when she runs this kingdom to the ground.” He seethes.

“But she is our Queen now. Queen Ameera.” Maryam beams, pride in her smile.

“My first act as queen is to offer you the only three options you have.” I begin. “You can go into exile…”

“And go where?” he scoffs. “You would have me go to the cold of Sameer.”

“No. I am queen of Sameer as well. You will not reside anywhere in my kingdoms. You will go north of Sameer. Make a living there and be grateful that I let you live at all.”

“No one knows what is north of there. That is a death sentence.”

“Which brings me to your other two options. If you do not choose exile, then you will be placed in the dungeons for the rest of your days. Or I can summon Hamza against you, and we can see if he finds any actions for which you are worthy of justice. You choose.”

“I am your father,” he begins, but I cut him off.

“No. That you have never been. So I will not act as a daughter to you. Choose your future, or I will choose for you.”

He bares his teeth and rushes towards me. He does not get more than a few steps before Hamza has his sword unsheathed. But my hand is already raised, squeezing into a fist. My father gasps, clutching at his throat, clawing at the indentation of fingers that aren’t even touching him to restrict his air. He drops to his knees as his face swells, quivering with the pleas that try to wheeze from him. Finally, his eyes give up their fight, and he collapses like a puppet who’s strings have been cut. I look down at his body with satisfaction, having to convince myself not to continue choking him. Unclenching my hand, I see his chest move with an exhale, and then look away from him.

Finally, Nur is free of him.

“What choice am I supposed to take that as?” I murmur.

It is Hamza who answers. “I believe he would have said the dungeon. That he should rot in the same place he has sent so many others.”

I nod. “I agree.”

“Guards,” Maryam shouts.

This time his guards as well as mine come into the room. The confusion is clear on their faces as they look between my father’s prone body, me, and Hamza.

“Qarun is no longer King,” I state. “The council has taken the position from him. He is not to be obeyed in any manner. I am Queen now, of both Nur and Sameer. You will take him to the dungeons, and he is not to be released.”

My father’s guards do not move, and I arch my brow at them while my guards step forward and begin to drag my father from the room. My father’s guards begin to leave, but stop at my words.

“If I find out any one of you has assisted Qarun in any way, you too will spend the rest of your days in a cell beside him.”

I don’t tell them that that’s where some of them will end up anyway. The cells will be quite full by the time I’m done sorting through the corruption in this kingdom.

“We will return to our kingdom,” the head Sameer guard says.

“You mean my kingdom?” I ask. “I am Queen. The agreement that your king signed himself made it so upon our marriage. I am not here to be a conqueror over your people, nor to rule you harshly and unfairly. I wish to repair Sameer, the same way I do Nur. I will need help to do that. Sameer is vast, and it is a kingdom I do not know.”

“Exactly, you do not know us. Our people will never stand for a queen who has slain our king.”

“They will. They have no choice but to. I am queen and that is all there is. You will not return to Sameer, rather I will call the nobles of Sameer here to tell them of what has transpired. I will expect your support in what will surely be a transition for Sameer.”

“And what is in it for us?”

“Sons who do not get taken away to be killed in senseless wars. Daughters who are not property, but have the same rights as everyone else in Sameer. To be free of a ruler who cared little for his people and showed it by keeping them in poverty and fear. That is your reward. Think long and hard if that is enough for you.”

I look back at the advisors. “Please make sure that the Sameer guards and nobles are kept comfortably in their rooms.” In their rooms being the main words. “And that a message is sent to Sameer, telling the remaining nobles to ride for Nur.”

They nod and begin to leave, taking the guards with them.

“Your Majesty,” they address me while they pass, heads bowed.

Then it’s just Hamza, Maryam, and I.