Chapter 52

“Where’s Widad?” I ask.

“I checked on her before calling the council to my office. She was weak from the spell she cast, but otherwise okay.”

“I need her here.”

“She cannot do your bidding until your coronation. I know what you are thinking, Ameera.”

I nod. “And when will that be?”

“It will take the rest of the nobles at least three days to get here, if you plan to wait for them.”

“I do. I will have them witness me take the throne and combine Nur and Sameer. I think it is important that they do.”

“As do I. I will make all arrangements for three days from now.” Then her eyes move to Hamza, and his come to hers. “The One who could not be spoken of and here you are. In Nur, standing beside our queen, having captured her heart. Has she captured yours as well?”

“Mar-“

She holds her hand up to cut me off.

“I’m the queen now, you know,” I grumble.

“Utterly.” Hamza answers. “Completely.”

“I have read you cannot lie, is this true?”

“It is.”

“Would you ever betray Ameera?”

“I would die before I did that.”

“Will you love her for the rest of your days?”

“Even beyond that.”

“And do you know that should you ever harm her, no amount of swords and magic could save you from what I would do to you?”

“I believe that very much,” he says, then his eyes come to mine. “But I would never, could never hurt her.”

Maryam nods. “I will give you two a moment alone. Queen Ameera.” She gives an exaggerated bow before standing back up. Her smile is radiant as she looks at me. “I have longed for this day so many times, but now that it’s here, my heart is full of more pride than I thought possible. I know you will honor Nur with your reign.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so.”

“I still need to see Widad. There is much I need to discuss with her. I know she is tired, but please ask her to come.”

She slightly bows her head and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

“You know I already knew the answers to all those questions, right?” I ask.

“I know. Doesn’t hurt to hear the answers though. To be assured I will always be yours. You will forever be what my heart and soul desires, what occupies my mind the most. I would never betray your trust or the love you place in me.”

“I know. I feel every word of what you’ve said every time you look at me. Every time you hold me.”

He grabs me to him then, wrapping his arms around me. I soak in his love, the thought of what he’s done for me today, even if he feels it was just his duty, rushing through me. Maryam comes back into her office, a tired looking Widad following her. I rush to get her a chair to sit in. I begin to reach for her, intending to give some of my own healing and energy to her, but she stops me, shaking her head.

“I will be okay,” she says low. “By morning, I will be fine.”

“I am sorry. I would have let you rest, but there are so many questions I feel only you will have the answers to.”

“Go on.”

“Azar, he had magic.” I don’t miss the way Hamza flinches just like Widad does. Maryam’s small gasp sounds right along with their reactions. “He used it, was trained in it, like he’d possessed it all his life. I don’t understand.”

Widad shakes her head. “It should be impossible. There’s only one way but…not even a witch who’d gone mad would do something like that.”

“Like what?”

Widad releases a shaky breath. “There is a spell mothers sometimes use when their children are young, for protection, where they can give a portion of their own magic to their children. It also helps in training them. But it drains the mother, day by day, to give of herself that way. And of course, this spell can only be done with daughters since men cannot possess magic.”

“And you think Arwa found a way to twist this spell to give Azar magic?”

“For her to be able to do that, she not only would have to have been sacrificing other witches to sustain her own magic enough to be able to remain so powerful while giving some of her own magic to Azar. But for her to be able to use that spell for a man, means she would have to be feeding him her blood as well, to make the connection that a mother and child have, to be able to give a man magic. It is a form of magic none still practice because of how dark it turns both the witch who cast the spell, and the one whom it was cast on. It rots their minds, their hearts, their souls.”

“And if stories of how Azar won battles in other kingdoms are to be believed, then he had her powers inside of him for years,” Maryam adds.

Widad nods. “They would both have to be insane to use such magic for so long a time. And for Arwa to twist the magic to work for a male who isn’t even her own descendant, I fear she killed many witches to achieve the power to do that.”

“I could tell,” I state with a shudder at the memory of being in the room with Azar. “The moment Arwa was dead because his magic fled.”

“Their connection would have died the moment she did. There is no residual with magic like that. It all depended on her life force. He was not even at his full power because neither was she.”

I cringe. “Well even with what power he retained, he was a worthy opponent. I don’t know how much longer I would have lasted.”

Hamza’s hand on my hip tightens, and I know those words scare him as much as they do me.

“Do you think she could have taught this magic to anyone else?” I ask.

“I do not think any witch who Arwa came across would have lived long enough to practice magic ever again. For her to cast and uphold that spell, she had to have steadily taken other witch’s powers for herself. I would be surprised if any witches even remain in Sameer.”

I can see the sadness in her eyes when she says that statement.

“I cannot thank you enough for all that you did for me tonight. If you had not unhinged my powers during the feast and then weakened Arwa, I do not think I would be alive to have this conversation. Nur, and I, owe you a great debt. If there is any way for me to ever repay you, do not hesitate to tell me. You said everything with my father came at a cost. It will not be the same with me. Anything you wish for, you need only ask. It is the least I can do for you for all you have done for me. I will not hold you hostage here. If you wish to leave the palace, I will make sure you are comfortable wherever you want to go.”

She looks down, thinking, before her eyes come back to mine. “I never had a problem serving the crown. All witches know this could be their fate, to one day have to protect Nur. It was serving your father that troubled me. I wish to stay here.” She smiles. “In a nicer room. But also, I… I have a niece. She is my sole relative who survived the attack from the witch.”

Now her unfinished statement makes sense. When she said what the witch had done to most of her family.

“Where is she?” I inquire.

“She lives in the village. I never wanted your father to know of her existence. Too afraid of what he would do with her, or ask of me to do to her. I see her whenever I can, whenever I thought it was safe. I would like to bring her here.”

“Of course. I will make arrangements for you to get her tonight. And have attaching rooms made ready for you both.”

Tears fill her eyes as she nods. “Thank you. I will go for her in the morning though. I wouldn’t want to scare her by coming so late.”

“Of course. Thank you, for trusting me with this.”

She reaches forward and takes my hand in hers. Her hold is weak and only goes to remind me of all she has done for me tonight, all she has given. “This is the time to start anew. Do not doubt yourself wondering if you can achieve all you wish to see in Nur. Do not wonder if people think you are the same as your father. Simply show them that you are not and that you are worthy of the crown you wear. That is all. You have generations of witches behind you and a kingdom who loves you. Let that be your strength.”

I swallow around the emotions building in my throat and nod. “I will not fail.”

She begins to rise, using my hand to help herself up. “I know you won’t. Everyone in this room does.”

Maryam gives a single nod, but it’s unnecessary. I’ve always known she believed in me. Long before I ever believed in myself. Maryam links her arm with Widad’s, and they both bid me goodnight before leaving the office and closing the door behind them.

Hamza is quick to wrap his arms around me again, and no words are needed between us. I lay my face against his chest, and for the first time since this day began, I feel like everything might actually be okay. The fear of Azar, of my father, of the council backing down from the promises they made to me bleeds away. The trepidation that my plan would fall apart at the seams and leave me to bear the burden of everything I’d done and said to get to this point disappears.

In the queen’s room with Azar’s head at my feet and Hamza’s arms around me, I felt safe. And now, here in this office, I feel like finally, finally everything will be okay.

“It all came together.” I whisper. “You promised me it would though, didn’t you?”

“I did. Because there was no way I would accept anything else. Not when that meant losing you. Maybe now I can know everything that went into this plan.”