He turned away from her and started walking down the street. Arshi dutifully followed without questioning. She waited for him to turn, but he kept going, and she could no longer keep up with him. He noticed and slowed down so she could catch up to him, but Arshi was still having difficulties. He turned around and reached for her hand before beginning to walk gently ahead of her. It's as if he was frightened that if he didn't grab her, she'd vanish.
She firmly gripped the man's hand in front of her, fully disregarding the piercing stares of others around them.
"A young lady holding a man's hand in public is so unbecoming"
"I agree with you…so shameless"
People gossiped but her grip became tighter.
Hathi's speed slowed as they approached a red-headed man clothed from head to toe in very costly clothes. He was standing before an opulent store that sold exorbitantly priced fragrances. He didn't appear to be any average individual.
"My Liege…Brother, who is this?" The man spoke up.
Hathi turned to face Arshi, then placed his arm around her and drew her close.
"She is my betrothed," He gave a lopsided grin.
Arshi bowed her head, and the grey-eyed man gave her a polite smile. "Wait…I beg your pardon?"
"Have you forgotten about our conversation?" His voice was gentle and warm. "You needed confirmation that I did had feelings for you." He drew her into his arms and kissed her lovingly, ignorant to the other man's presence. "Here, I have returned your affection. Are you satisfied?" Hathi told her calmly.
Arshi struggled to break free from him, still perplexed as to why he would do such a thing in public and in front of someone she had just met for the first time. His strong muscular arms grasped Arshi's waist tenderly, bringing her to a standstill.
"Are you trying to humiliate me, Hathi? Her face began to burn.
Immediately Hathi frowned.
"This is our witness and my aide, Mohammed. He is also my close friend and like a brother to me."
"Oh, I apologize for my behaviour, Gentleman Mohammed, but it doesn't give you the right to act like this in public, Hathi," she said, turning her head to gaze at Hathi, obviously unhappy. "You cannot do that here. Have you forgotten where we are?"
"So, do you suggest we should carry on with this in private?" his husky voice made her heart skip a beat.
"Hathi!" her face completely flushed.
Mohammed stood beside them, watching without saying anything.
"Mohammed, I need you to help me with our marriage preparations as soon as possible."
"Yes, brother, I would love to…what? Did I hear you correctly?"
"Of course, we need to get married as soon as possible."
Mohammed was too shocked to speak.
"The option is yours, Arshi," Hathi said quietly. "It's either you agree to marry me or you wind up being someone else's wife, which I cannot accept as long as I am living."
"Are you hearing what you're saying? Marriage is not a joke, as you are well aware "Arshi numbly reminded him. "I am well aware that I am not in a position to pick my marriage partner, so please do not regard this as a joke, even if you profess to love me."
She wasn't wrong. It is true that young women had no right to choose their marriage partners nor meet with men. The men's mothers had that right to choose their son's future wives. She had not yet informed her parents of her relationship with Hathi. Nobody knew. Not even Amina who was so close to her. If they knew about Hathi's intention towards Arshi before the decree, maybe they would have sat down and settled that matter amongst themselves and once the matter had been settled, they could have made a marriage contract. But how was she going to convince her parents to accept their relationship? Was it going to be possible?
"I do not wish to force this upon you, so I am giving you the freedom to decide… I will say it again, the decision is yours, Arshi." He reminded her in a cool voice.
Hathi seemed very determined compared to Arshi. He wasn't proposing an affair, he was proposing a real marriage. She was among the few chosen ladies who were to be the Sultan's concubines. Hathi was offering her marriage and it was something she had always dreamt of but, why was her heart still uneasy?
If she was to be given a choice between being someone's mistress and being someone's wife, the truth is that she would rather be a wife.
"I want you to know that when we marry, I will respect my wife and our marriage. I want to love you and to be loved by you. I want our future children to grow up in a safe, secure circle of love. So, Arshi, please marry me."
"What about your parents? Will they really agree to this marriage?"
When they met, he never mentioned anything about his family, he would just talk about their relationship and compliment Arshi's beauty. She hardly knew anything about his family members, and she didn't want to also lose him.
"I do not have a father but I am certain that my mother will not refuse," he replied woodenly.
Arshi stared at him, speechless with shock and disbelief.
She hugged him and laid her head on his chest. "Okay, I agree if you are willing to stay committed to our marriage as long as it is not a left-handed one." She did not care about her surroundings anymore.
"Ahem! I'm still here." Mohammed reminded them with his face completely red. "May I have a word with you in private brother?" he said politely as he dragged Hathi away. "Please excuse us for a moment, Lady Arshi."
"So…what did you want to speak to me about?"
"I'm sorry, I do not like that idea at all! It's terrible."
Hathi suppressed a sigh as he listened.
"The idea of you getting married to a random lady is totally wrong. I mean, do you really feel something for this female?"
"That female you are talking about is going to be my wife very soon," his forehead furrowed.
"I beg of you to please reconsider, My Liege" Mohammed pleaded with him. "You are the Sultan of this nation and this kind of game does not befit you."
"How dare you! What makes you think that I am messing around with her feelings?"
"If you are not, My Liege, then, are you perhaps planning on making her your Queen?"
"My Queen…My Queen…That idea never crossed my mind." his mouth curved into a smile. "What to do? After hearing your thought, I am more interested in putting that into action now,"
"Is marriage required if she has been chosen as one of your concubines, My Sultan? That is something I completely fail to fathom."
Hatim gave Mohammed a rare smile―the kind he had never shown to anyone before; It was not easy to read at all.
"I'm getting married for a purpose," Hatim explained. "I picked Lady Arshi to be my wife three and a half years ago when she was still fourteen turning fifteen," he said, "and she is almost reaching full adulthood, and all I want is to have her as my lawfully wedded wife." There is no other lady who can play that role but her. Mohammed, I'm really smitten with her.
"My Liege! I am begging you to please reconsider. I do not know what method she used to capture your heart, but one thing I am afraid of is that she may come to hinder you. Instead of making her your wife, isn't she among the ones chosen to be your concubines? She is better off your concubine than a wife, Sultan Hatim."
"Mohammed, it is not like you to repine in this way."
"Please forgive me. I am just a concerned subject."
"Mmm…" Hatim looked unconvinced. "The reason as to why I wish to marry her, it's because she's special and different from other women. Or are you saying that the Sultan has a bad taste?"
"Huh? no it's nothing like that," he answered. "Does the Lady know of his majesty's status?"
"She is unaware, which adds to her allure," he added. "After all, the main reason I require her as a wife is simply that she should produce the Vali Ahad (Crown Prince)."
Mohammed looked at him in surprise.
Hatim breathed deeply, placed his hand on Mohammed's shoulder, and answered, "I'm sorry if you're disappointed, Mohammed, but I'll have to talk to you about it later. I don't want to make my future Queen wait."
The two men returned to where Arshi was. She was standing outside a flower shop waiting for them patiently.
"Did we keep you waiting, Lady Arshi?" Mohammed asked.
"No. No," she denied immediately.
Arshi heard her name being yelled from a distance as they walked along the marketplace. She turned to see her brother approaching them.
"Kaseem, are you done with your shopping already?"
"Yes, I thought you had left already since I could not find you anywhere."
"Why would I leave you behind? I promised to wait for you, didn't I?"
"Gentleman Hathi, thank you for keeping my sister safe." He turned to look at Arshi, "Shall we take our leave now, big sister?"
"Gentleman Hathi, Gentleman Mohammed, I'm sorry but we have to take our leave now. Thank you for accompanying me today. I had a pleasant time."
Before she could leave with her brother, Hathi's fingers gripped her wrist and pulled her back so he could look at her face. "Please expect my visit soon, Lady Arshi."
She opened her mouth to give him an alluring reply but remembered that her brother was in their presence. Instead, she nodded and smiled then left.