45 years ago..................

There lived a young farmer In a very far village of sokoto state,

He has been married for 3 years now but without a child and that is his only problem in life,

Due to that his wife got hypertension because of overthinking and how his family hates her made her become an outcast,

"Sorry Zakiyya everything will be okay Allah knows why we're in this situation and he will find a solution for us very soon stop crying please" he consoled his wife

"Ahmad its not my fault but why is everyone making it look like it is?" She asked wiping her tears

"As long as I don't think its your fault then you have no reason to be worried kinji"

She then nodded and wiped away her tears,

That was their daily routine everyday because of their condition,

"Yauwa now can i eat I really have to go back to the farm you know the market day is almost here" he explained and she got up and came back with with rice for him with mai da yaji

Immediately he finished he went back to the farm and was working till around 6pm, when he saw that it was almost time for magrib he decided to call it a day,

He was about to leave the farm when something caught his eyes so he gently dropped his hoe and went to check,

It was a little girl just waking up from sleep, just at one glance you will know that she doesn't belong to this village, she looked lost, hungry and tired,

"Baiwar Allah" he called looking at the girl but she looked so lost and hungry

"What are you doing here this late?" No reply

"Are you with someone?" No reply

"Are you okay?" Still no reply so he checked around but no one was there so he gently picked her up and took her home

"Ahmad Lafiya?" Zakiyya asked immediately she saw him with a strange child coming in

"Here" he said handing the girl to her "dan Allah give her some water to drink" he ordered and as the good wife she is she rushed and got a bowl full of water for the girl and in an instant she gulped everything down,

"Zakiyya" he called and she answered "Na'am" still starring at the girl she was holding

"I found this poor girl in the farm lost and she cant even talk" he explained

"Did you maybe look around maybe she was with someone?" She asked and he nodded

"I will inform the head of town tomorrow and see maybe someone came looking for her, but she doesn't even like she's from here" he explained

"Gaskiya kuwa Allah ya kaimu goben" she said

"Let me go to the mosque it's almost prayer time" he said getting up

"Clean her up and please give her something to eat"

"In shaa Allah" she said getting up to do what he asked her to,

She tried and tried to talk to the girl but not a single word came out of her mouth so she gave up,

But she instantly feel in live with the little girl, she just wished she was hers,

After she fed the girl tuwo which she ate a little, she put her to bed,

The next day early in the morning before Ahmad went to the farm he took the girl to the palace,

"Lafiya?" Zakiyya asked immediately he came back,

"No one came to look for any missing child" he explained

"What did the head of town say?" She asked

"That within 1 week if no one comes to look for her i can raise her as my own if i want or he will take her to the orphanage"

"What did you say to him?" She asked

"I said I'll discuss with you and get back to him"

"So what do you think?" He asked

"Ahmad maybe this is our only chance of calling someone our own even though shes not our blood, i want to keep her please " she pleaded and he smiled and said "me too"

And that was how they named her "Aaeedah" meaning "reward",

They taught her how to talk all over again, and with the little Ahmad earned they sent her to school and gave her the best education till she finished secondary school and got a suitor who wants to marry her,

"You love him don't you?" Zakiyya asked as she was plaiting her hair

"Ummah he works in jigawa fa I don't want to be far away from you" Aaeedah said pouting

"Don't worry about distance AE, look at me" she stated "I'm from katsina but look at me here in sokoto what brought me?" She asked and Aeedah replied "marriage"

"Yauwa yar albarka if you want him we're okay with letting you follow him there as long as cars are still in style we'll come visit" she assured her and that was how they gave her away to him,

She finished her university there in her husbands house and gave birth to her beautiful Jadwa after several miscarriages and that was why she named her Jadwa meaning "gift",

Jadwa

Nobody knows where she came from or how she got there till this day, she was their blessings sent from above from Allah as they say,

"Inalillahi wainnailaihirajiun" the queen whispered wiping her tears off looking at me,

The place was so silent that even a drop of pin could be heard,

The king finally spoke up to break the tension,

"It's okay Zulaiha please you know your condition stop cr..." but before he finished talking she was already on the floor,

Everyone got confused as we all got up to help her up, Mami sprinkled her some water and took her to her room immediately,

"Aaban you guys should go and rest now its been a hectic morning and you look terrible please get something to eat"

"About jadw...." i have no saying here anymore,

He got up and followed his wife immediately and i stood up and started walking back to sultan's chamber,

Immediately i got in and closed the door i heard it open and close again meaning he was also here,

"Surprises on surprises right?" He asked stopping me in my tracks

"Yeah" I replied smiling weakly

Everything was too much for me to take in all at once I didn't even know if i was happy or sad

"Its all gonna be alright baby" he said coming to hug me and as if that was what i was waiting for i broke down into tears for reasons I don't even know,

"People are cruel" i said placing my head on his chest,

He wrapped his arms more tightly around me with his chin on my head gently rocking us back and forth

"Thats life Jadwa and i know you've also been through enough and you're still strong, keep standing strong for me please will you?" He asked and i nodded still on his chest enjoying the feelings

Then he pecked my forehead whispering an "i love you" so I smiled and said "i love you too" for the first time without getting scared or anxious,

He smiled and we both kept quiet again I don't know what was running through his mind,

Me however was just thinking about the first time i met him i mean who could have ever thought that he would turn out to be this nice, not that he's nice to everyone no, you don't want to see him outside his comfort zone, he never smiles he's still the mean Sultan but he's my mean Sultan,

"What are you thinking about?" He asked stepping back to look at me

"Nothing" I replied smiling, then i heard his stomach growl

"Oh God you haven't eaten breakfast" i said turning to go make something because i was also hungry

"I'm gonna help" he said and followed me, i smiled and allowed him,

We made noodles and ate there on the kitchen island talking about some little things smiling,

After eating he checked his watch and sighed

"Baby i have to get dressed and go check up on ummah" he said washing his hand,

"Should i set the bathing water for you?" I asked after rinsing the plates

Then he smiled and hugged me again "God" he whispered "baby will you ever forgive me?" He asked placing his cheek on my shoulder

"I told you I've forgiven you" I replied because he always ask for forgiveness for all the things he did to me those times,the insults, the grumpy behaviors and all,

"Thank you"

"You're welcome" I replied hugging him back

"I was serious about the water though" I whispered then I mentally asked myself "where is this confidence coming from?"

"Okay" he finally agreed so i set the water for him, Selected a kaftan for him to wear and went back to my room and took my bath too,

Even before i went out of my room i smelt his intoxicating scent which made me smile so I picked my hijab and went out since it wouldn't be nice if I don't go to check up on the queen too,

I received another hug again immediately he saw me, i forgot that I didn't tie the scarf on my head since i was wearing hijab and i came out with the hijab on my hand,

"Have i ever told you that I love your hair?" He asked and i smiled and said "no" that was when it occurred to me that my hair was open

Then he turned me in a way that i was backing him, he gently removed the ruffle from my hair and packed it again for me very well then he turned me to face him,

"Well i love the hair so much" he confessed "but i love the owner more"

I couldn't help the blush so i just broke the awkwardness and wore my hijab and we left,......

Who could have ever taught that sultan could be this romantic huh??? Whats up guys uhm you know this book is gradually coming to an end so i want the last chapters to be the best out of all so y'all have to pardon your girl for a while 🙏🙏🙏🙏 i want to make it so nice that it will put smiles on your beautiful and handsome faces while reading so updates will take longer because i have exams coming up😘😘😘😘😘 need your prayers Bye for now 👋 👋