Ibraheem stood alone, having rid himself of Esah's intruding presence. He leaned onto a chair in front of him, his arms crossed over one another as he dropped his head below them. His blood rushed downward, filling his head and blurring his eyes.
"What have I done?" Ibraheem muttered to himself. He then shook his head violently, looked to the side and grit his teeth as he spoke to himself once again. "Don't worry. Iman will deal with him and then everything will return to how it was. You have nothing to worry about."
He paused, and took off his crown, placing it onto the table. Dragging down his eyes with the fingers fro, his left hand, he ran the fingers of his right through his bushy, grey hair. "And don't forget. If it's more serious than we think…we have Ali who will make the problem go away — as he always does. You see, father, we have nothing to fear at all."
Despite enjoying his time without another in his presence, the large double-doors opened with a light thud. Too distressed, Ibraheem did not bother to turn to see who had come to greet him.
"Announce yourself," he demanded.
"Announce yourself?" the beautiful lady who was present during yesterday's meeting said teasingly. She wore the same clothes as the day before, except this time her cleavage seemed to be pushed up even more, her purple dress slightly looser, too. "I know you can smell the glamorous perfume I've put on. How about you tell me how nice it smells, considering that you're not even bothering to look at me?"
Ibraheem didn't move from his position, but he tried his best not to give away the stress he was currently feeling. "Why have you come to bother me, Sadira? If it's not important, then I suggest you leave at once."
Sadira laughed, a confidence building inside her. "You've seemed tense recently. Well, since last night when Esah interrupted our meeting. Perhaps you need something to help you calm down." She began slowly walking toward Ibraheem, her thick shoes echoing around the room. Upon reaching Ibraheem, she put her hand on his shoulder and whispered into his ear, "I know just the perfect thing that could make you feel a lot better."
She bit her lip as she eyed Ibraheem. He refused to look at her, ignoring her leading suggestions before suddenly pushing her away. She appeared rattled, and his voice became more threatening.
"Enough with your tricks. Why is it that you never stop? Not once have they worked, and clearly they never will." Ibraheem paused for a moment, looking at his crown with a solemn face. "You of all people should know by now that there is no one I am more loyal to than my wife."
Trying her best not to anger the King, Sadira sniggered, but couldn't help antagonising him a little considering he had rejected her once more. "Oh? Is that so?"
"I said get out!" Ibraheem swung around, pointing to the double-doors.
With nothing left to say, Sadira left the room, leaving Ibraheem to go back to his lonely contemplation.
*****
The triplets raced back to the Inner Capital through the secret tunnel, running as fast as they could. None of them could quite comprehend what they had just heard, and so, for the first time, a silence fell over the three for a prolonged period of time without an awkwardness growing. Instead, they were all unsure what to say and so simply ran, lost in thought.
It wasn't long, however, before Karim broke the silence as they reached the crossroads.
"Wait. What are we going to do when we get back? Just pretend like nothing happened?"
Amin never stopped biting his lip. Hamid had to think, trying to fill the shoes of Amin, who usually would think of something quickly. "There's nothing else we can do. It's not like we can just ask father, right?"
"I don't know. Arghhhh. This is all too much, I can't think straight," Karim said as he ruffled his hair. As Hamid and Karim thought in silence, an echoing voice interrupted them, spurring them to move again.
"What are you doing? I didn't say put it there you fool!"
"Shit! We better get going," Karim ordered.
Running didn't stop their discussion from continuing. Hamid changed the topic, opting to discuss what the grey man had told them rather than planning what to do once they returned to the Grand Palace.
"So…do you believe what he said?"
"I don't know. Part of me thinks that some of what he said was a lie, but I guess I can't be sure until someone else confirms it all," Karim said, catching his breath. "But if there is one thing I do know now for certain, it's that people hate father…and with good reason."
Amin interjected, but clearly he hadn't been paying full attention. "Those bastards!"
Though worried about Amin, Hamid responded to Karim, still somewhat in denial. "But, Karim, they must have been lying. What they said isn't true. They must have been lying. They had to be. Because if what they said was true, then father really isn't who he says he is."
Nearing the end of the tunnel, Karim realised this conversation wasn't going to end any time soon. He reasoned with Hamid, realising that without Amin being able to take the lead, he had to take charge and control his emotions as effectively as possible.
"Let's just focus on getting back to the Palace without getting spotted. I'm sure we'll be able to think much more clearly once we get back and have nothing else to worry about. Let's do that, and we can talk about this for as long as we want."
Hamid nodded, and Karim took the lead as he said. It wasn't long until they found their way back to the Palace, returning as though nothing had happened.