Hey there ladies and gentlemen. Due to the high demand, I have dedicated this chapter to Faris and Raghad ONLY. Prepare to be awed...and melt.







~*Do not eclipse my world with darkness again for the sun just shined upon me, prince~* TheQueenofDarkness.



Faris pulled away from Raghad but did not let go. He held her beautiful face in his hands kissed her forehead, then both of her doe-like eyes. Faris swallowed against the tears he tasted on her thick lashes. "I always pondered who will be the woman to stand alongside me? Who would be so indomitable and so beautifully foolish to wed a man like me? And then," His thumb caressed her jaw, the side of her face. "You stood before me; you glared at the beast. You defied me. You made me discern who I was or who I could be." Faris whispered, watching the irises of her eyes widen at his words.

"Faris do not speak like this. Do not make this your farewell." Raghad slowly moved her trembling fingers to his face, and with utter hesitancy, the tips of her fingers touched his right cheek, and the knight of knights inhaled. The pitter-patter of the rain outside ceased for a moment, perturbed that its sound would disturb their tranquillity. A stillness fell over the tribe. The scent of rain was dark and overwhelming.

"Ya Allah, how I desire to have a few more days with you. A few more days to live, to breathe knowing I am not your sinner." At this, a deep crackle of thunder came. For a moment, everything halted, even the wind held its breath. A streak of silver split the sky; the downpour hastened.

Raghad shook her head, causing her hair to cascade down her left shoulder. "Do not verbalize such words. You are not my sinner, Faris. Don't..." she trailed off when the man before her wrapped a few strands of her hair around his fingers.

"Your hair," he smiled a forlorn smile. "I have always yearned to conceal my soul in them. Your hair," Faris kissed the crown of her head. "Your hair is my cage that suffocates and makes me breathe at the same time." Raghad blinked shell-shocked from his words; her heart blushed from the secret her spouse just uttered.

Raghad hissed when Faris brought his lips to her temple and stayed there, his cold lips against her warm skin kindled her heart further, leaving the ashes bleed within her. "I have yet another confession to make, bint-ash-sheikh." his voice ripped her senses.

"Please, stop. Inform me all about it when you come back to me." She clutched the front of his thobe, beseeching.

Faris pressed his lips harder on her temple. "It tasted divine. The very first time when you cooked, Raghad, the food tasted divine. So delectable that I nearly requested you to make it again." He gave a humorless chuckle.

Raghad dropped her gaze, not knowing to weep out of delight that the man before her cherished her or to weep that the brute standing before her might not return.

She knew their memories together will haunt her. Raghad knew her fate would question her of his absence, and she would not have the answer. Her eyes fell on Faris's filthy, wet thobe, and she lifted her head. "You will come back to me," the bride took his left hand in hers. Her hand was much smaller than his large, rough hand. His fingers almost enveloped her hand. She stepped back and walked to the cot on the other side of their chamber. "You will come back to us."

Raghad knelt before him when Faris sat on the cot, observing her, taking her in. "You just came back to me," she repeated tears brimming in her big brown eyes anew. "Do not eclipse my world with darkness again for the sun just shined upon me, prince." Her words were a whisper because Raghad knew if she raised her voice, she would break down.

Faris did not reply; he could not reply, for he did not have the answer to her plea. After a moment, Raghad stood up, walked up to where the clay pot and steel basin sat on the chest by the windowpane. She poured water in the steel basin then walked back to where Faris sat, merely observing her with those inky eyes. "Allow me to aid you to prepare for the war," Raghad requested.

Faris did not respond again; he speechlessly gazed at her as if he had not seen her from ages. He could still not understand that she forgave him. Yes, he was not a sinner, but what he did was a sin. However, this woman with a naive heart forgave him with a blink of an eye. Something in those dark eyes permitted her, and Raghad placed the basin down and knelt in front of Faris again. The bride grabbed the end of her clean scarf then soaked the fabric in the water. Raghad wrung out the water then faced her spouse.

Not moving her gaze from Faris, Raghad gently rubbed her damp scarf on his right cheek. Once the dirt was clean, she did the same on the knight's forehead and throat. "You have a wound on your shoulder." She whispered, shocked. Like she just took note of the blood on Faris's shoulder.

"Must have occurred while battling Badr," Faris murmured, matching her low tone. He watched as the light of the oil lantern touched Raghad's face, not at all bothered by the wound on his left shoulder or the blood and gore that coated his kandoora.

"I should have come earlier." Raghad frowned her eyes fixed on his wound.

"You should have." The corner of Faris's mouth lifted upward. Recalling how he once had said the same thing when Abdelaziz had charged at her with his sword.

"Does it hurt?"

"What do you think, bint-ash-sheik?"

"It does!"

"Worry not. It is but a scratch." She nodded at his word, a frown marring her beauteous face. "Raghad," the knight held her chin between his thumb and index finger. "I have seen far worse than this wound, so do not fret. Now, see that;" he jerked his head slightly towards the window. "The wooden trunk by the shelf, you will find my thobe and helmet there." Faris inhaled as she blinked those enchanting eyes.

Raghad stood up and promptly pushed opened the trunk, she grabbed Faris's helmet, and the white thobe her heart compressing with dread. As minutes ticked by, the time of battle came closer to them. Oh, how she had once dreaded Faris's presence, but now she feared for not having his presence in her life.

Too soon.

Everything was appearing too soon for them. Raghad was yet to see her married days with Faris. She was to see how it felt to be his real bride. She was to see how it feels to be treasured by a man like Faris. Blinking her tears away, the bride turned around to face her spouse. However, she stopped from the sight in front of her.

Faris had taken off his torn, dirty kandoora and sat bare-chested on the cot with his head bowed. A sharp inward breath hissed past Raghad's lips. Raghad had seen her brother's bare chests when she tended their wounds after battles, but Faris took her breath away. The sheer size of him conveyed his purpose in life. His chest a hard wall bearing thick, broad shoulders. His stomach was flat and unquestionably defined, indicating hours of toil. His arms were enormous with scars that were proof of countless battles he had fought and triumphed.

The bride took a step her eyes taking in Faris's hair that now; touched his wide collarbone. She had never encountered anyone quite like him. Faris was a rarity on his own, Raghad exhaled at the thought that he had belonged to her, yet she had failed to see it.

The bride halted in front of Faris, and here the man lifted his head to gaze at her. When his inky eyes met hers, the wind picked up its speed dangerously, tearing leaves from the trees. "Your thobe," Raghad mumbled.

She observed as he sat straight, took the garment from her hands. "Do you wish for me to bind your wound?"

Faris frowned. "Stop being so benevolent with me, Raghad. I might not be capable to depart."

"If this is the least, I can do for all the kindness you bestowed upon my family. I must." With that, she brought the end of her scarf to her mouth and tore the end off. Disregarding Faris's slight raise in his brow, she knelt and encircled the torn piece of her scarf around his wound. Raghad attempted to ignore how Faris's chest moved up and down with every breath he took. "This will prevent it from bleeding."

"We always seem to tend our wounds," Faris remarked. He did not raise his voice due to their proximity.

"Wounds that are gifted to us by each other," Raghad looked in his eyes.

"You are not the culprit behind this injury, Raghad," He nodded towards his wrapped shoulder.

"But I am the reason,"

"Must you always locate a way to impute yourself?" The groom leaned in. The light from the lantern illuminated his features making the wind lower its gaze.

"I merely pronounce the truth." She gulped when his breath fanned her face imprinting her naive soul.

"Then I am your sinner shall remain true as well." He stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"I have already put it in the past, Faris." Raghad closed her eyes.

"Then what makes you the ground behind my injury? Put it in the past as well." None of them vocalized a word for a few seconds. Then, Raghad nodded.

Satisfied, the man dressed in his kandoora, stood up, then bent down so that he was face-to-face with his spouse. "This is where I bid my farewell, Raghad."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Raghad's bottom lip commenced wobbling. Gradually she rose to her feet and licked her chapped lips. "Very well. I understand."

"Do not look so despondent, woman. One would believe you have taken a liking to your enemy." Faris jested his lips in a tight line.

"Then let them believe so, for, by Allah, it is not a lie." She responded moving to grab his helmet from the cot. Raghad lifted on her tiptoes, then gently placed the helmet on Faris.

"Your words have allowed me to breathe again, Raghad." Faris touched his forehead with hers.

Raghad smiled. "Come back to us. You must come back to us."

"In sha Allah," His voice was taught as he pulled back. "I must depart now. My knights await me." A single drop of tear broke free from her traitorous eyes, the rest followed in a broken stream. Raghad bent forward from the intensity of her sobs, but then strong arms encased her quivering form. Faris felt her fists clench; he could hear her wordlessly screaming, suffocating with every breath that she took.

"Is this how you wish for me to depart?" Faris rested his chin on her head, looking at the ceiling.

"No." She hissed.

"Then wipe your tears and be the wife of a sheikh." He pulled her back gently. "You have to face this tribe as my spouse, and take my place."

"How can I stop when my sibling and my spouse are leaving me alone to confront death?" Up ahead, the sun endeavoured to push aside the murky, violent clouds so that it could provide warmth to the bride. The wind touched Raghad's cheeks in an attempt to dry her tears from her pale skin.

"Then understand that it is the verdict of our Lord," Faris held her hand. "And remember this Raghad, you are sending off two ferocious warriors."

Raghad wiped her tears harshly and swallowed. "May you be under His protection now and forever. Fi amanAllah."

"Fi aman al Kareem." Faris gave a single nod of his head, grabbed his sword, stepped back, and moved towards the door, leaving a petrified Raghad behind. Just as his sight vanished from the door the bride bit her lip and sat on the cot. She rocked her body back and forth in a desperate attempt to not shatter because if she did, Raghad knew she would never be able to collect her ashes again.

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The next chapter will be immensely intense. I will not make any promises. People will die, blood will be shed. I hope you guys liked this chapter. I hope it was not that rusty. I tried hard to make it romantic and I sort of suck at this stuff. Faris isn't much of a romantic guy so .....