Post by Sabriyah bint Qasim al-Khalid on Oct 30, 2015 22:23:25 GMT -5
Since leaving the garden after their father's stunning announcement of his forthcoming second marriage to Inayla, Sabriyah retreated to the chamber that was hers, wanting nothing more than to be alone with her whirling mind and aching heart. True, the shock was shared among all of the Caliph's children, but each of them received it different, reacted differently, felt separately, she was sure. For Sabriyah, she felt as if everything she knew and was had been ripped from her without warning and for what? Not her own marriage, nor Bashir's.
No, Qasim al-Khalid was determined to wed again, and who? His daughter's dear friend, a woman less than half his age. Was her father thinking to sire another son and supplant Bashir or Nabir as heir? Certainly she could see on one level why Inayla was the Caliph's choice. The young woman was exotically beautiful, a graceful and increasingly skilled dance with exquisite manners and viable political connections within the volatile region. That was the detached and logical portion of her mind, not the part of her that was her father's daughter.
Sabriyah could only imagine what was going through her sisters' minds and hearts. Relenting in her demand to the guard on the door to permit no one to enter, she sent her handmaid to seek out Leilah and Amirah, asking them to join her to talk. Her sisters deserved a chance to vent their feelings and thoughts safely before their father recovered sufficiently to demand answers. Tea and food were summoned as well; this promised to be a long and emotional evening that merited refreshment as needed.
Waiting for her sisters, the Caliph's displaced daughter now sat in the window seat, her white attire traded for stark, unrelieved black.
Leilah bint Qasim al-Khalid, @amirah