A sweet melodious voice was humming an ayah (verse) , at which the nightingale could feel insecure. The small pair of feet skipped it's way on the small oval over bridge while slender fingers were brushing past the mid length wall, to cross the narrow lake.
At the end of the bridge, a solid mud road was starting, pebbles were decorating the sides as bed of pretty flowers and fresh green grasses were scattered over the rest of the ground which was a beautiful garden of the house standing in the middle.
The house wasn't exaggerated like other rich merchants rather it was beautiful and cosy. The garden in front was making it more mesmerizing, just one glance could indicate that the house was built with love and filled with happiness.
Her personal attendant rushed to catch up with her huffing for air desperately.
"Yah Rabbi.. Slow down, miss", the exhausted woman exclaimed which had the beautiful lady giggling.
"You are too slow, Eira",
Smiling at the trusted polite men working in their silk factory which was built behind the house within the boundaries of the estate, the young lady continued to walk before halting in front of the wooden door, the small tender fist knocked on it, which was flicked open by a beautiful woman in her forties.
"Assalamu Alaikum, mama", the melodious voice spoke, followed by a sweet smile. The pretty maiden placed a sweet kiss on her mother's cheeks before undoing her cloak, hanging it on the wooden stand.
"Walaikum Assalam, welcome home, my azizi (precious one)", the woman smiled bashfully as she closed the door, laughing at how her dear daughter skipped her way inside, bouncing on her feet like a little bird.
"Papa", chirped the young lady as soon as the blue eyes fell on her father who smiled bashfully.
"Oh! my angle is back", Hamad opened his arm to welcome his daughter, who hugged him dearly.
"Yes", the smaller one snuggled closer to the older's warmth.
"Did my angel enjoy?", asked the older male.
"Yes papa. I came across some pretty flowers and aunt offered me to have one but I refused to accept as I didn't have coins with me", the lady's lips formed a cute pout as she couldn't buy the pretty flowers.
"Aww my Inaya is so considerate", cooed the woman of the house, Sarah, whilst instructing the helps to set the breakfast on the wooden table, which include tomato soup, eggs, bread and butter along with fresh fruits.
"Indeed", the older male placed a loving kiss on his daughter's forehead who giggled sweetly at the affection.
"Come have lets have breakfast", Sarah ushered her little family to settle on the table who complied.
"Papa, I wish to sow those pretty flower seeds in our garden", Inaya asked politely.
"Sure thing, my angel..", the older male took out few coins from his brown pouch and handed it to his daughter.
"Here buy whatever you wish for, alright?", he smiled receiving a wide grateful grin in return.
"Thank you, papa", but the lady frowned when she saw more than enough coins on her delicate palm.
"Papa, I wouldn't need four extra coins", the Inaya exclaimed making his parents smile adoringly.
"My angel can do whatever she feels with this money, alright", the older male patted the lady's head affectionately which had her to smile gratefully.
"Thank you for the food, mama.. I shall be in my room", Inaya smiled like the well mannered child she always had been, before leaving the dining area after receiving smiles from his parents.
The only room at the topmost floor was beautifully decorated with sophisticated furnitures and pretty colours. Being the only child, Inaya was pampered with all the love and luxuries but the kind lady never misused his parents care.
Inaya walked inside the room before disregarding her Hijab and allowed her thick, long wavy brunette hair that reached her hips, to sway freely, feeling a little relieved because keeping a heavy bun under the head scarf was slightly difficult.
It was a huge struggle to cover herself even in scorching heat, however she wouldn't trade anything in exchange. Hijab was her pride, her identify which her creater commanded her to fulfill in order to protect herself from the prying evil eyes, just like how gold and jewels are secured, in return for rewards which a mere human could only visualize.
Grabbing one of her numerous book which surely was a romantic poetry, from her wall length book shelf and settled on her soft bed which was beside the window giving her a beautiful view of vast fields.
Inaya always loved peaceful silence and privacy, hence her father renovated the once empty space into a beautiful bedroom for his dear daughter when she attended the age of adolescence.
Inaya was never sent to a formal education institutions that every ward of noblemen and wealthy merchants from the town was sent to gain knowledge, rather she was taught everything by her parents. From learning alphabets to digits to painting, knitting, needle works and gardening, everything her parents taught her with immense love and care.
Hamad even taught her sword fighting and archery for her self defense, swimming, climbing trees and other fun activities. Nevertheless, there was a matter, she had no friends to enjoy those activities with. Her parents were her best friends, and apart from them, her attendee Eira, was the only person of her age who was allowed to befriend her.
She wasn't allowed to go outside alone without her attendee, that too solely at the early hour of the morning for the town tends to be less crowded during that time, with distance limitations till the town square, not beyond that or the beach that was at fifteen minutes walking distance from her home.
Not to mention, her father was sceptical to allow that much alone time too, but Inaya's glossy blue doe eyes and wobbly lips were enough to melt his heart. If Inaya needed to go out some other time of the day, she was always with her parents or some trusted men of her father would accompany her along with Eira.
When Inaya was in her adolescence, her enchanting beauty always attracted unwanted attention without even batting an eye lash, many tried to claim her nonetheless her father acted like an unbreakable shield for her, hence the older male thought it was better if Inaya stays within his embrace and safety of his home.
Being a part of the patriarchal society where dominant male ruled, precautions were needed to be taken by every parents of a girl child.
It was the brunette's unmatched beauty and gorgeous features that compelled her parents to keep her inside the protective bubble they created, too afraid of those cruel people who might snatch away their angel.
Inaya was brought up in a very protective shade of her parents but she never complained because that shade was filled with immense love, affection and undivided attention which never let her feel suffocated. Hamad provided every single thing she asked for, from numerous books to fine jewels and beautiful dresses, all she needed to do was utter the word and it would be brought to her the very next day, no matter how rare it was.
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"Prince", Sahir shook the aforementioned male's shoulder gently, in order to grab his attention for the royal blood looked too dazed. Sahir made sure his voice was down, not wanting to reveal the other's identity.
"Huh! Did you speak something?", Shahzaib asked in bewilderment.
"We have been calling for you but you seemed lost.. What happened, my prince?", asked the older male.
The prince heaved out a breathe before speaking,
"It is nothing.. Why were you calling for me?", he rather enquired.
"Have a look at these fine fabrics, the quality is really appreciable", the general ushered the royal to walk towards the stall. Harun grabbed a purle colored piece of the mentioned fabric and offered it to the Royal.
"Indeed, the quality is fine", appreciated the prince.
"Thank you, sir. Do you wish to purchase?", the salesman asked politely.
"Yes.. But I believe these fabrics aren't from the town?", Harun asked as he never saw such good quality in palace ground. They were wondering why wouldn't the trader come to the palace to sell their goods in exchange for more fair deal.
"No sir, our master import these silks from our neighbouring island", the sells man informed.
"I see.. We would like to meet your master, can you lead us to his address?", the prince asked.
"Certainly, sir..", the male nodded obediently.
"Tomorrow at early hour of the morning, we shall converge near the fountain, inform your master about our arrival", said the prince before leaving the shop.
"Why did not they trade with the palace for better deal?", Sarim voiced out his confusion. Most of the merchant goes to the palace for obvious reasons. Commoners won't be able to afford expensive goods thus they trade with the royals or nobels for better capital.
"We shall get our answers tomorrow", Sahir shrugged as they walked inside a small restaurant to have their supper.
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"Assalamu Alaikum, Sir Hamad Al-Amir", said Sahir with a respectful smile, merchants were not the same rank as nobles, regardless their social class was much higher in the stratification, thus they were addressed with respect by everyone.
"Walaikum Assalam, Welcome to our town, gentlemen", the merchant greeted back as he shook hands with the group of men. No matter from which social class Hamad belong from, he was always humble and polite.
Hamad did not know the group of men were high generals, royal guards and one of them was a royal himself, regardless he payed his respect to his patron.
"Please have a seat, gentlemen", Hamad said gesturing to the beautiful wooden chairs arranged neatly inside the office room with a table in the middle.
"How may I help you?", he asked with a professional smile.
"We were really impressed with the quality of fabric you import, hence we wish to purchase 100 meters of each design, initially", said the prince in disguise, his face was covered with the keffiyeh but the older male did not mind it at all.
"100 meters would cost 120 gold coins", Hamad informed.
"That can be arranged", the prince agreed without any argument knowing the fabric was indeed unique to have such high cost.
"Very well then, I would like to present my gratitude by offering small refreshments.. Please help yourself", Hamad smiled politely as he gestured the males to grab their desired food served on the table of his offical cabin in the factory.
Hamad keep his family away from his professional work even after the factory being just behind the house. He disliked when strangers invaded his personal space which other merchant did not care about. They did their official deals in their home office itself to show off their luxurious life, unlike Hamad.
The generals were busy conversing with Hamad where as the royal prince was eager to explore the surrounding for it was really beautiful and peaceful. What he loved the most was there wasn't much people around, it was as if the house was built giving priority to isolation.
"Would you mind if I explore the surrounding? It is really beautiful and I could not hold my urge", the prince said suddenly ceasing the conversation.
"Sure thing, Sir Elias", smiled Hamad.
The prince introduced himself as Elias Khan, just a common trader, who lives in the northern town near the palace. Hamad never once was suspicious of the young man.
The prince walked down the stairs and left the factory returning the greetings from the workers. Initially he wanted to visit the beach because he could hear the faint roars of the ocean but thought against it when a melodious humming voice caught his attention.
He crossed the back side of the beautiful house and turn to his left just to witness, at quite a few meters away, a beautiful woman was cutting some leaves of the pretty flower plants while humming what seemed to be a verse, though the words were incoherent to Shahzaib from the distance. The voice was intoxicating to the point that it had the prince lost in some kind daze, attracting him like a magnet.
The lady was clad in beautiful brown dress, her head was covered by a familiar green veil embroidered with small daisy flowers which suddenly reminded the prince of the mysterious beauty, he came across in the town square, the other day.
His sharp hazel eyes squinted to see the face clearly, as the maiden turned, taking his breath away for the second time.
It was indeed the mysterious beauty.
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