Jamal was still trying to determine how to approach Roksna when she arrived when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw that Aabdeen had arrived, and thankfully, Roksna was with him. He didn’t know what method the other man had used but he was grateful he had returned with Roksna. Aabdeen bowed slightly and left, leaving him alone with Roksna. What should he tell her first? About his feelings? Or should he apologize again?N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content.


    ” Did you ask that I be kidnapped over just to keep staring at me?” Roksna asked.


    Jamal decided against telling her about his feelings instantly. She wasn’t ready to hear that. He wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear his apologies either. With her current mood, there was only one thing that could make her happy, and Jamal would give her that. He grabbed hold of one of her hands and took her out despite her reluctance to go with him. Jamalmanded his carriage be brought over when they got out of the house. He helped Roksna into the carriage and got into it also. Jamal tapped the carriage and the journey began.


    “I didn’t know you have a carriage,” Roksna said after a few minutes.


    “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Dawn. But I’m willing to share them with you if you want to know,” Jamal told her in reply.


    Roksna lost her voice for some seconds. He was willing to share details about his life with her? What was going on? Why was he so agreeable all of the sudden?


    “Where are we going to?” Roksna asked the Sultan and he smiled before replying.


    “It’s a surprise.” He told her.


    Roksna wondered what surprise the Sultan was talking about, but she didn’t ask anymore. They were quiet for the rest of the journey and Roksna even slept off during the long journey. She felt someone tap her and she opened her eyes, only to see Jamal so close to her face.


    “We are here, Dawn.” He told her with a smile.


    Roksna looked around confused.


    “Where’s here?” She asked.


    “You’ll see,” Jamal told her.


    He stole a kiss from her before he moved away from her. He helped her down and Roksna saw that they were in front of a house that looked a bit old but still had its elegance about it. She looked back at the Sultan inquiringly. The man merely smiled at her and indicated that she goes in. She wondered if something was really behind the door or it was just another of the Sultan’s tricks. Roksna’s hand shivered as she ced it on the doorknob and pushed the door open. Loud voices greeted her from the house and she walked in less reluctantly this time. Her footsteps made a loud creak on the floorboard to indicate just how old the house was.


    “Who is that?” A voice asked.


    It was a voice Roksna had thought that she would never hear anymore in her lifetime. Even though it had been such a long time since she had the voice, she recognized it straight away. Roksna rushed into the center of the house to be sure that she hadn’t misheard the voice. Seated by the dining table, in the middle of a meal were her Abbu and her younger brother, Abaan. Sure that she was still half asleep, Roksna swept her hand over her face and looked again. The two of them were still seated on the chairs at the table digesting their meals. Abaan looked up, saw her standing there helplessly, and stood up only to rushed to her.


    “Roksna!!!” The younger man screamed as he hugged her tightly as if his life depended on it.


    Roksna hugged him back to be sure she wasn’t dreaming about it all. When she was sure her imagination didn’t have anything to do with it, she began to cry. By this time, her father was beside them. She let go of Abaan and hugged her father tightly. After about five minutes of hugging and crying, her father let go of her. Together, they walked to the chairs and sat down. She hadn’t realized just how much she missed her family until now. She ruffled Abaan’s hair and watched as the young man growled at her before hebed the hair back into ce. Roksna smiled at him and he snickered. She ignored him and held her father’s hands in hers.


    “Howe you are here?” Her father asked her.


    “The Sultan brought me,” Roksna answered. She had forgotten about the Sultan in all her excitement. She looked around but couldn’t find him. Where was he? Roksna stood up to go and look for him but her father stopped her.


    “He probably wants to give us some privacy.” The man said. Roksna turned to her father.


    “I thought you were both dead. What happened?” She asked.


    Sultan Bayezyd began to exin to her about what had happened that day they were captivated. After Roksna had been knocked out, the general whoter turned out to be the Sultan had stopped his men from killing them. Instead, they had been knocked out one after the other. They woke up to find themselves in moving cargo and when they couldn’t find Asleem or her, they had concluded that they had both been killed by the army. After they arrived at the sultanate, they had been brought here to stay. Despite all their attempts to escape, it had always been futile as they were caught and returned to the house. It wasn’t until recently that the Sultan had broken the news to them that Roksna was alive, and despite their pleas, he refused to let them visit.


    Roksna told them her part of the story. How she had woken up alone in a ship and she had thought that the Sultan had killed her family members. Her numerous failed attempts to kill the Sultan which had Abaanughing. She told them about her journey as a ve and the sufferings that came with it. She told them how she met Asleem and his ns to usurp the Sultan through the army he was training secretly. She told them about how she became a royal concubine. But she left out the part where the Sultan had forced himself on her. For a reason she couldn’t exin, she wanted to protect him from her family’s wrath. When she was done, her father sighed.


    She spent the next two hours with her father and brother. They talked about how a lot of things had changed since they separated. They also talked about the differences between this sultanate and theirs. One of the guards came in and told her that the Sultan said that he had an important meeting to attend, so they had to hurry back. Roksna hugged her family and promised toe back for a visit soon before she walked away from them. She was almost at the door when her father’s words stopped her.


    “Whatever the young man outside had done wrong, Roksna, please forgive him.” Her father told her.


    “Why would you say that? Shouldn’t you be angry with him?” Roksna asked her father and turned to look at him. Sultan Bayezyd shrugged his shoulders like he didn’t care.


    “I am. But I want my daughter to be happy.” He told Roksna with a smile. Roksna nodded and went out of the house.