Like the promised new green grass and blossoming flowers of spring, Mazen’s voice promised my heart no more pain, no more hurt.
He’d come to my rescue.
My heart fluttered as I got up, using my cuffed hands to brace my weight. I took a few steps towards the door, hating the faint sound of my breathing; it was making listening to Mazen’s voice a lot more difficult.
One step after another, his voice grew the tiniest bit louder. It was very faint, so far away. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it was him. I’d recognize my husband’s voice even if he were a mile away.
Holding my breath, I pressed my ear flat to the closed door, but his words remained unrecognizable, and my anxiety became unbearable.
What was taking him so long? Why wasn’t he crashing this door and getting me already?
It might’ve been only fifteen seconds since I first realized that Mazen’s voice was real and not in my head, but it had felt like hours. I was anxious and suddenly impatient. So, I tried the doorknob, attempting to open the door.
I wasn’t surprised when the door clicked open; I’d never heard them lock it. But I also didn’t know if there was someone nearby.
I decided that no situation would be any worse than what I was already facing, so I eased the door open and peeked out to see if there was anyone outside.
It wasn’t difficult for me to figure out that kidnapping me had been planned for a long time. I was a queen after all, and things like this didn’t just happen. It might be believable to hear about a queen being captured by someone, but that ‘someone’ needed to be an enemy they were at war with, and it had to be a few centuries ago.
They must’ve planned diligently to execute my kidnapping, so of course, they’d made it impossible for me to escape. Leaving the door unlocked meant that something else stood between me and freedom.
Still, I took my chances, gaining power and strength from the vibrations in my heart that my love’s voice caused, and the need to be in the safety of his arms now more than ever.
As I’d expected, there was a long hallway in front of me. It was even darker than the room I was in, but as far as I could tell, it was empty.
I took one step after another with my hands extended in front of me, groping my way through the hallway, fearing that I would bump into something that I couldn’t see. My steps were careful but quick. My mouth was dry, and my heart was thumping hard, but Mazen’s voice got a bit louder with every new step I took.
As I expected, there was another door, but this one was constructed with horizontal and vertical metal bars. It got a bit brighter in the hallway as I approached, and I could see that the walls on both sides looked like the kind you’d see in houses under construction or unfinished basements. I was sure that this place was underground.
Disappointment filled me as I realized that Mazen’s voice wasn’t live – it was on TV. He wasn’t here.
When I finally reached the door, I looked straight at the source of light. Past the door, there was another small room similar to the one my captors held me in, and nearly as dim.
Mazen’s beautiful face appeared on the small screen of a TV that was a few years old. My heart leaped, then faltered when I saw him for the first time in what seemed like ages and ages.
It was the first time I’d seen Mazen looking utterly heartbroken.
I touched the metal bars, trying to brace myself on them as my legs almost gave out. The love of my life was dying from the inside because of my absence.
He was well dressed, composed, and stern. His expression though, he looked angry, more than anything else. However, I could see straight through him, and I knew very well how he truly felt.
He wasn’t blinking. He was too focused on keeping his expression stern and not showing weakness.
The white of his eyes was red and it wasn’t because of anger; it was because he was holding back tears. Crying would be the last thing that he would do. Mazen only cried in my arms.
The bandage – which he was determined to hide – over his right hand, which started right by the end of his fingers, wasn’t because of anger. Mazen was beyond that. He was livid and that was the only thing that he allowed to show.
My heart bled as I realized he had been punching walls, knowing that his hand might be seriously hurt just because I wasn’t there to stop him. Only I knew how to tame Mazen’s anger. Only I knew how to calm him down.
Hot tears started trailing down my cheeks silently as I paid attention to every little detail of my Mazen that the screen showed, listening carefully to every word he said.
“… for over thirty-five hours, Queen Marie Archer of Alfaidya had been missing, and it’s a massive disgrace,” Mazen said in a frightening tone of voice that vibrated everything around.
I gulped; the fact that it had been almost two days since I was brought to this hell hole made me dizzy. My tears flowed as I realized that it meant I was far away from Mazen if it had been that long and they still couldn’t find me.
“It is a disgrace, not only to the King or the royal family. It’s a disgrace to every person in this kingdom. Every man, every woman, and even every child,” Mazen shouted, a sneer planted on his face. It took everything in me not to call out his name aloud, but the need was too compelling. Instead, I settled by only murmuring it.
“Mazen,” I choked out, my voice was barely above a whisper.
“Our enemy wants us to believe that Queen Marie is dead, but I’m assuring you that she is alive, still strong as ever, and will be returned home safely within the next few hours.
“As for her captors, very soon they will not only wish they had never been born, but they will also regret every single second they had my wife, Queen Marie, and my son, Crown Prince Adam, in their disgusting hands. You have my word.” Mazen’s voice was beyond frightening; I only hoped my captors felt the same about the sincerity in his words.
My chest hurt as he announced our son’s name, and as insignificant as it sounded – given my situation – I hated that our enemies had prevented us from announcing his name in the ceremony planned for his first public appearance.
I knew that Mazen had to name him to personalize him, to make him real, and make people even more compassionate about our unborn son. By naming him, my unborn son became more than just a fetus. He was the Crown Prince, and his name was Adam.
“Our army has sworn to protect the King and Queen. I, myself, swore to protect the Queen’s life with my own. As the ruler of Alfaidya, I, King Mazen, son of Qasem Alfaidy, command every citizen to offer any help they can to bring Queen Marie home as soon as possible. Most importantly, I ask for your prayers.”
“Mazen, please.” I didn’t even know what exactly I was begging for.
My legs gave out as someone flipped the TV channel, taking the image of my love away. The screen now had four channels displayed on it.
The image on each channel showed a night view. The one that got my attention was of a girl with messy hair and troubled features. She looked nothing but miserable. It took me a moment to realize that the girl was me.
My throat constricted as I watched myself from the feed of a security camera, holding the metal bars of the door while kneeling and crying, looking exactly like a prisoner who was awaiting punishment for some crime.
Well, I was a prisoner. But I had no idea what I was being punished for.
The next second, I was startled as a figure blocked my view. I was so consumed by what was on the TV screen that I’d forgotten flipping the TV channels indicated someone was in the outer room. When I looked up to see the face of the woman standing right in front of me, I was utterly horrified.
It wasn’t only because of the hate pouring out of this woman. No, it was because her face matched that of my dear, kind mother-in-law.
I gasped and backed away from the metal door, falling back on my bottom, and scooted away from her.
How could it be? How could she be here? Why is she doing this? My traumatized mind was too shocked to put any of it together.
“Get back,” she said, and my mouth fell open.
The voice. That voice …
“I said get back!”
The accent. That accent …
When I didn’t move or reply, she sneered. Shock paralyzed me.
“Saeed!” she called, and I flinched, startled by her loud voice.
A man standing beside her took a step forward, then he raised his hands and pointed a gun at me. My gasp followed the sound of the hammer being cocked, and a bullet sliding into the barrel.
In one second, I got up on my hands and crab-crawled a few yards until I could scramble to my feet. Tears trailed down my cheeks as I heard their creepy, evil laughter all the while until I made it back to my cell.
How sad was it that I felt safer in this dingy, dark, cold, room?
My nights and days were identically dark. A small lamp above gave off the tiniest bit of light, and I wondered why they’d put it there at all.
I had no bed, no blanket, or pillow. I didn’t even have a sink, only a toilet. Why did they bother with a lamp? Clearly, they didn’t need it for the camera; they were watching me with night vision. What was the lamp for?
As I lay on my side, using the crook of my arm for a pillow while the other covered my face, I knew very well that I was going through the third stage of grief. I was angry.
Seeing her, realizing who she was, made me angry. I was mad at myself for not figuring it out earlier. How could I have missed this?
In my defense, she did cross my mind when I thought about who might want to hurt my family and me. Information reached us that she wasn’t in the Kingdom; that she had left it a long time ago. We believed, and we were wrong.
I was so angry at what I had learned from the TV – it had been almost two days since I was brought here? All this time and they still couldn’t find me? What exactly did this evil woman plan? How did she manage to hide me so well? How was she able to convince a first royal guard to betray us?
Many questions. Many, many questions roamed in my head. But at least, I had the answer to the most crucial question. I now knew who my captor was. I had a good idea of why she’d done it. The answer was as clear as day.
My hands clenched into fists as I remembered the look in my love’s eyes as he made the statement on TV. It was as if he knew I was watching and wanted to remind me of how strong he thought I was. It was his secret message to me, to stay put because every single soul in the Kingdom was searching for me.
I didn’t know the details, but Mazen said our enemies made it look as though I were dead. Was that why it was taking the authorities so long to get here? Did they start the search late after realizing that I wasn’t dead? What other reason could there be?
My nails almost dug into the skin of my palms as I thought of how horrible it must have been for my husband. How awful! It might have been even more difficult for him than it had been for me. To think for a second that my other half might be dead?
I squeezed my eyes tight, not even able to imagine the thought of losing the love of my life for one second, and my heart bled for what my angel must be going through.
The more I thought of Mazen’s words, the angrier I got. But most importantly, those words made me more determined not to show any weakness. Hearing Mazen renewed my desire to show them all how strong their Queen was.
That was right. I was their Queen, like it or not.
The woman, Etab, brought me a new tray of food. I wasn’t about to eat it. The look she had given me was poisonous. I wasn’t about to take a chance.
Thankfully, this time she was satisfied with the dirty look alone and didn’t say anything to get a reaction from me. She left immediately.
I was already starving, even though I had eaten earlier when the woman –whom I was yet to figure out who she was – fed me. I wondered if that was earlier today? Or yesterday? I had no clue; I had no sense of time whatsoever.
I had eaten only one meal since I was taken, and it was scary to think what that could mean for my baby. I also couldn’t stop thinking about missing the shots I was supposed to get.
My anger started rising again, and for the first time, I realized why Mazen broke things when he was furious. There was nothing I wanted more than to break something. Preferably, her nose.
The sound of nearing footsteps followed Etab’s short visit, and I wondered if she had changed her mind about not irritating me with a snarky comment and decided to come back, but I didn’t have to wonder for long because the next minute – I was proven wrong.
It was her. Princess Qamar Alfaidy.
Glaring at her happened automatically, and for the first time in my whole life, I thought about physically hurting another human being.
After taking her time looking me up and down with disgust in her eyes, she spoke, “Lord, you look nauseating.”
I didn’t know if that disgust addressed my person in general, or because I had dried blood all over my back, my hair was messier than a bird’s nest, and I was particularly stinky.
Thanks to what you did to me, I thought, but I settled for glaring.
“I like it,” she grinned. “It’s the best thing about seeing you. I actually love it. Weak, broken, miserable, and dirty. Soon, you will be begging, but let’s not talk about future events for now.” Her voice dripped with venom – so much venom – that I was surprised she was still alive after tasting that much poison.
She then walked cockily toward me; her behavior, her looks, her whole being was screaming ego. She was very arrogant, and it couldn’t be healthy.
Everything in me wanted to scream at her, to tell her to shut up, that I wasn’t weak, that she would be paying for this, and very soon. But I imagined precisely that would be what she wanted me to do. I knew it might only encourage her to hit me – or worse. Responding to her taunts wouldn’t be smart.
So, I remained silent, making sure to show her I was strong by keeping calm.
“Hmm … so I hear you haven’t said a word in here, yet,” the woman who was a mirror-image of Queen Mother Shams said. “We’ll see if you can keep that attitude.”
A glare was what she got in a reply; I wasn’t going to give her anything, not even a spoken word.
“You see, I have a very impressive talent for convincing people to do things I want to be done,” my mother-in-law’s twin sister said. “And I have a deal for you.”