Written In The Scars

Chapter 22

Before entering, Abbas knocked on their bedroom door, announcing his presence before he stepped inside. However, to no avail, his wife was nowhere to be seen. Abbas placed the books she had dropped, down on the bed and stepped out again with a sigh, running a hand through his hair before his feet guided him elsewhere.

He had even run into his sister-in-law who too knew nothing of Haifa's whereabouts. As the Prince headed to the other side of the Palace, he spotted Haifa's handmaiden frantically pacing by one of the exits to the gardens. As he drew closer, she looked up and bowed her head politely.

"Sahib,"

"Where is my wife?"

"She went in the direction of the glasshouse,"

With her answer, he grabbed the handle of the towering door and swung it open swiftly, before exiting and making his way steadily through the roofed walkway that connected the magnificent garden to the Palace. The maid followed a distance behind him, her light steps barely audible over his own.

As the two entered, making sure to restrain his footsteps from creating too much noise, his eyes searched past the shrubbery for any sign of her. Stars began peaking through the blushing sky as the sun made its final descent on the earth, its colours bouncing between the glass roof and walls.

Before he started his search, Abbas stepped to his side and crouched down to the pebbled ground, where a thin stream of water bordered the path. In the middle sat a strip of metal clasping a yellow liquid, floating gently above the calm current of the flow. Striking the firestarter, he hovered the spark over the string bathed in oil until the spark had licked the fuel and blossomed into a flame, creating an illusion as if the fire sat courageously above the water.

The Prince blew out his matchstick and rose as the garden illuminated with yellow light. The ingenious innovation had been his father's. Leaving multiple lanterns around the garden unattended called for a major catastrophe. Because of the dense vegetation, if an ember coincidently flickered onto the leaves it would have easily fuelled a fire. In a matter of seconds, the whole glasshouse would be in flames, and because of the glass infrastructure, the possibility of an explosion was highly possible.

In order to solve this issue, his father had devised the idea of building a stream of water that wound through the entire garden. Floating above and right through its centre, was a metal tray of oil. From any point in the garden, it could be lit, and the flame would travel along the trail, bringing light to every corner of the large expanse. If the tray were to accidentally topple over, which was quite frankly almost impossible because it stretched on for metres, the fire would simply be put out by the water. Asides from the light, the winding stream also served as a cooling system during the hotter months.

With an idea in mind to where Haifa was, he followed the gravel path, making their way deeper into the ostentatious garden. As the grand gazebo came in view, Abbas could just about make out the figure of a person, huddled by the cushioned seats.

"Haifa?" he called out to her as he climbed the step to the arched entrance.

Immediately, she lifted her head, her startled glassy eyes meeting his.

"W-what are you doing here? How did you find me?" she replied, launching up from where she sat. Her eyes travelled to the figure behind him, earning her answer. Haifa gave the traitor a glare, which caused Meena to dash back the path they came.

Haifa scoffed. Of course, Meena had followed her. Tucking the few stray hairs into her hijab, she descended from the gazebo and strode right past the Prince. However, a moment later, she was stopped in her path when a strong hand wrapped around hers.