Maybe we never were worthy of each other.”
He turned away from her, and his retreat was final, his withdrawal leaching away every ounce of warmth from the room. “You will leave the palace tomorrow. There will be a new obstetrician for Princess Zohra.
“No one will dare to talk about seeing you here, no one will dare point a finger in your family’s direction. Not after the service you have done for us. Or they will face the crown’s wrath.
“You will have your clinic. You will be back with your sisters. Thank you for everything you have done for me, Nikhat. I release you from your promise.”
* * *
Only a few days had passed when Azeez learned that his parents were back in Dahaara, in the palace. And yet it felt as if it had been an eternity since he had taken the decision that would dictate the rest of his life.
That was already dictating it now.
Running both hands through his hair, he drew a shuddering breath as the guard announced his arrival in their private suite.
He pushed the doors open and breathed in relief as he saw Ayaan and Zohra also waiting. He had made the right decision. But he still needed Ayaan’s support in this moment.
Grief, and pain and so much more that he couldn’t sift through, it all rose inside him like the wave of a tsunami as he reached his mother.
And the pain he saw in her eyes, the aching hunger as she studied him, that she quickly covered up with a quiet dignity, the piercing hesitation in her smile, it lanced through him. God, how selfish he had been to rob her of this joy in the wake of everything she had borne, how foolish to rob himself of the warmth and understanding that stole through him.
Reaching for her hands, he tugged her up, tears now running down his cheeks freely. “Will you ever forgive me?”
A cry burst free from her mouth as she hugged him hard, her tears soaking through his tunic. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her through the wracking sobs that shook her fragile frame, whispered apologies and promises, and finally felt his world finding some kind of peace.
“I knew it. And after all these years, too… Do you see this, Zohra?” Ayaan quipped.
Her mouth wreathed in smiles, Zohra turned to him. “What?”
“He’s still her favorite. I don’t remember her hugging me that hard when I came back,” he finally explained, and laughter rippled through the room.
Meeting his brother’s gaze, Azeez offered a nod of thanks. He owed his brother everything and he was determined to spend his life taking every burden away from him.
This was how it had been, his family. It had been his strength, his joy. Amira was gone, but she would always have a place in their hearts. His gaze fell on Princess Zohra and the happiness he saw there.
And he felt heartened by it.
Even with his heart cold in his chest, he still had so much in the world to live for. He placed a kiss to the top of his mother’s head, the scent of her calming him.
Wiping her hands over her cheeks, his mother smiled at him. “I have my sons back.” She turned toward his father, the regal dignity that had always been her strength inching back into her shoulders. “More than I ever hoped for.”
Turning toward his father, Azeez clasped his hands, saw the toll the past few years had taken on him. It was time for him to shoulder that burden, time for his father to rest. No matter that he was burying his own heart in the process.