Disclaimer: I do not own The Wrath and the Dawn. It belongs to Reneé Ahdieh. The dialogue and action in the Khalid/Shahrzad scenes are from the book.

A/N: Thank you again to my dear readers, and special thanks to reviewers AlyssWonderland and Directioneronfire!

So a few notes about this chapter:

-This is another part of the book where Khalid's POV is shown in the book. (It's where Jalal tries to talk to Khalid about Shahrzad and Khalid totally blows Shahrzad off when she approaches him). These scenes are alluded to in this chapter.

-It's another chapter where Shahrzad is telling a tale. This time I summarize the story and put in the quotes for the end of the story.

So hopefully this chapter manages to make sense!

Chapter 10: The Tale of Bluebeard

(Corresponds with Chapter: Lilacs and a Raging Sandstorm and Mehrdad the Bluebearded of The Wrath and the Dawn, pages 212 - 230)

This was probably one of the worst days to receive the news that his uncle Salim would be paying him a visit.

He had spent the night thinking of the painful words Shahrzad had said to him in the heat of the moment: "Why did they have to die?"

Her question replayed in his mind all throughout the night. She used his affection for her to try to get answers, making him wonder if she even felt the same way he felt about her. Her question also brought on memories of all of his previous brides and their horrific deaths.

It was a torturous night, to say the least. Yesterday, the rain was a sign of potential happiness with Shahrzad, yet the evening proved it was actually foreshadowing the storm between them.

When morning came, one of his servants brought him a letter that had come from the Sultan of Parthia bearing the dreadful news that he wanted to visit Rey on his way back to Amardha in two weeks.

And it was surely because of Shahrzad.

He'd want to figure out why suddenly one of his brides wasn't killed like the numerous others. He'd want to know what was special about her.

And he'd probably bring his daughter Yasmine with him in an attempt to stir up trouble.

He let out a frustrated sigh.

He may have been nearly betrothed to Yasmine, but he felt nothing for her. However, she had always been a bit...infatuated with him. They naturally saw each other fairly frequently when he was young as well as each time he went to Amardha to make threats against his uncle. She always showed that she cared for him, despite his indifference.

He wished he didn't have to deal with this. Especially today.

He'd need to meet with the general immediately.

"Send the calipha away while Salim visits," the general told him as he threw the letter upon the table after reading it. "She must be the reason he wants to come."

"Would that be the best thing to do?" Khalid asked.

"Salim will verbally attack her, and who knows what he'll put Yasmine up to. The queen will be safer that way. Plus, he might nose around, trying to figure out why…" the general trailed off.

"Why the others died and Shahrzad lives," Khalid finished for him.

The shahrban looked at him sadly as he gave a slight nod. "You cannot allow him to know she is your weakness, sayyidi."

Khalid wished he could disagree with his statement, but it was true. Shahrzad was his weakness. He would do anything for her. He'd make irrational decisions for her and sacrifice himself for her. He was already sacrificing his health to even keep her alive. He put her above his own needs.

The pain he felt from her words last night was proof that she was his weakness, in addition to the fact that her words and actions didn't erase a single bit of his affection for her.

Perhaps, it would be for the best if she wasn't around when his uncle visited. He had a feeling she wouldn't be too fond of that idea though.

"I'll consider your counsel, General al-Khoury," Khalid said.

After dinner that day, he plopped down on his bed and sighed.

His head ached, and he also had this...nagging, troublesome feeling that he couldn't shake off.

Jalal's words to him that afternoon kept repeating in his head over and over again.

"If you want her to love you, shelter her from that storm. And make certain that storm isn't you."

What was he to do? She hurt him!

So he stupidly and rashly decided to hurt her in return that afternoon when he ran into her in the corridor by brushing her off when she tried to talk to him.

When he first saw her, he was elated to see her, but the memory of the night before surfaced, and he chose to lash out. He saw the hurt look on her face.

And even though she had treated him unfairly the night before, he still felt pained to see her wounded.

He had made a grave mistake.

Perhaps, she had wanted to apologize...and he should've given her the chance.

Perhaps...he needed to go apologize.

He wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't think of anything else. All he knew was that he hated this feeling and he hated that he and Shahrzad were on the outs. He couldn't take it!

He had to go see her. It unsettled him too much to go on any longer. He needed her to know that he shouldn't have brushed her off that afternoon.

Getting up from the bed, he left his room and strode down the hallways to her chamber. Grabbing the handles, he slowly opened the doors.

When he walked in, all he saw was the back of her as she ate some food at the low table. Her hair was in a disarray, and she had not yet changed into her nightclothes.

"Shahrzad?" he said when she did not turn around to face him.

Khalid walked over to the opposite side of the table and sat down. But she still wouldn't look at him. Instead, she seemed too preoccupied with tearing up her flatbread into tiny pieces.

"Shazi."

"Don't," she said harshly.

Don't...what? He waited for her to continue.

"Don't pretend with me," she added.

"I'm not pretending."

His response seemed to infuriate her even more as she threw the remaining flatbread on the table. She lifted her eyes to him, and he could see her fury.

"Shahrzad - " he tried to speak again, but she interrupted him.

"You once lamented the fact that the characters in my stories place so much value on love."

He continued to stare back at her, wondering what she would say next.

"Why is that?" she asked. "What is your aversion to the sentiment?"

"It's not an aversion. It's merely an observation. That word is used too often for my taste. So I attribute it to things, rather than people."

"Excuse me?"

He exhaled before he explained. "People fall in and out of love with the rising and the setting of the sun. Rather like a boy who loves the color green one day, only to discover on the morrow that he truly prefers blue."

Shahrzad laughed at him. "So you intend to go through life never loving anyone? Just...things?"

"No. I'm looking for something more."

"More than love?"

"Yes."

"Is it not arrogant to think you deserve more, Khalid Ibn al-Rashid?"

"Is it so arrogant to want something that doesn't change with the wind? That doesn't crumble at the first sign of adversity?"

"You want something that doesn't exist. A figment of your imagination."

"No. I want someone who sees beneath the surface - someone who completes the balance. An equal."

"And how will you know when you've found this elusive someone?"

"I suspect she will be like air. Like knowing how to breathe," he said softly as he stared directly at her, thinking back to the day when she almost hanged and the thought left him unable to breathe. He hoped she understood his words...understood that he was talking about her, without telling her directly.

And part of him wished she would feel the same way about him.

"Poetry. Not reality," she replied.

She was wrong. She, herself, was proof of that. But he wasn't ready to reveal that to her. He had to be certain of his own feelings, as well as hers.

"My mother used to say that a man who can't appreciate poetry lacks a soul."

"In that respect, I'm inclined to agree."

"She was referring to my father. A soulless man, if ever there was one. I'm told I resemble him greatly."

Every time he looked in the mirror, he could only see his father in him, and he despised it. He so badly wished he could be a better man than his father, but he already failed. He even acted like his father that day in pushing Shahrzad away.

Shahrzad wouldn't look at him when he spoke, but after a moment she lifted her eyes to meet his again. "I-"

But he needed her to know how terrible he felt.

"I hurt you today," he said gently.

"It doesn't matter," she replied as she blushed.

"It matters to me."

She huffed. "Then you shouldn't have done it."

"Yes."

She stared at him a moment. "Are you done?" she asked in a low tone.

Did he need to say more? He wasn't used to..admitting he was wrong and apologizing for it.

"Yes," he finally said.

"I have a story for you," she announced.

"A new one?"

This felt sudden. What an odd time to bring up a new tale? And she didn't even address the night before.

She nodded. "Would you like to hear it?"

He leaned back into the cushion and waited for her to begin.

After drinking some tea, she leaned back and began to tell her tale of a young girl named Tala who needed to get married as a way to provide for her poor family.

Shahrzad spoke in a grim tone instead of the usual animated one she used when telling her previous tales, causing Khalid to wonder what this story would be about.

Shahrzad continued, saying Tala heard of a merchant named Mehrdad the Bluebearded who was looking for a new wife. But he had been married several times before, causing women to be fearful of marrying him.

Khalid watched Shahrzad carefully as she removed her necklace and placed it by the pot of tea. He was very concerned as to where this story was going…

Shahrzad proceeded with the tale. Tala decided to marry Mehrdad anyway after he agreed to take care of her family. Mehrdad was a very respectful and kind husband, giving her a multitude of fancy gifts.

Shahrzad locked eyes with Khalid when she spoke next. She told him that Mehrdad had to go out of town for work for about a month, and he gave Tala the keys to all the rooms of their house. However, Mehrdad indicated that the smallest key he gave her was to a locked room in the basement. He forbade her from entering this room and made her swear, on the pain of death, that she wouldn't go near it.

As Shahrzad drank the last bit of her beverage and put her cup down, he saw her hand tremble.

Where was she going with this story?

She explained that Tala had enjoyed being able to manage the house while Mehrdad was away, but in time, the thought of the unopened room in the basement began to haunt her and call to her.

Khalid sat up straight in his seat as he realized that Shahrzad...Shahrzad was Tala in this story. He did not like where this was going...

Shahrzad carried on with the tale, saying that one day Tala passed by the room and almost opened it, but she was able to resist the urge when she remembered the promise she made to Mehrdad. The next day, she heard a young girl's voice calling to her from the room and Tala felt compelled to unlock the door.

Khalid noticed Shahrzad swallow nervously, while he internally hoped she would stop.

But she didn't. "The tumblers clicked with a sound that made Tala jump in her skin...and she stepped forward into utter darkness," Shahrzad said. "The first thing she noticed was the smell - iron and old metal, like a rusted sword. The cellar was warm and humid. Then her foot slid in something, and a rush of rot and decay sailed back at her."

She needed to stop this story. Right now.

"Shahrzad," Khalid said in a cautionary tone.

But she didn't listen. "When Tala's eyes adjusted to the darkness and she looked down, she saw her foot was caked in blood. Hanging around her...were bodies. The bodies of young women. They were Mehrdad's-"

"Shahrzad!" he shouted at her.

Enough of this! He couldn't take it! He couldn't take being reminded of all his failures and mistakes! They were always eating away at him in the back of his mind, and to hear the light of his life taunt him like this...he could not take it! Breathing heavily, he abruptly stood up in a fit of anger and headed straight for the door. He needed to get out of there. The torment and affliction was suffocating him.

When he approached the door, he heard her footsteps race toward him. He reached out for the door handle, but he wasn't fast enough. She had grabbed hold of him from behind and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Please!" she called out.

She buried her head in his back, and he felt the wetness of her tears seep through his qamis. "Give me the key," she pleaded through her cries. "Let me see behind the door. You are not Mehrdad. Show me."

But then she'd see what a monster he truly was, and he couldn't do that.

He tried to pull her hands off of him, but she only held onto him more tightly.

"Give me the key, Khalid-jan," she said as tears continued to flow down her face.

He froze when he heard her use that term of affection. No one had called him Khalid-jan in such a genuine tone since...since his mother.

Why did this girl hurt him so much? And why did he always find himself giving into her?

He sighed in defeat and relaxed in her arms. Shahrzad moved her arms up to his chest as she continued to embrace him tightly.

"You hurt me last night, Shahrzad," he said softly.

"I know."

"A great deal."

He felt her nod her head against his back.

"Yet you have said nothing about it," he added.

"I wanted to. I meant to. But then you were so hateful."

"There is a vast difference between meaning to do something and actually doing it."

She nodded. With a sigh, he turned in her arms to face her.

"You're right. I was hateful to you."

Pressing his hands against the sides of her face, he wiped away her tears with his thumbs. And upon seeing her tears, he once again realized how much he hated seeing her upset. And he hated being the reason for it.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she told him.

Khalid placed his right hand on the back of her neck and leaned his head forward so his chin rested upon her head.

"As am I, joonam," he breathed. "So very sorry."

Just as he had told her that evening with the word "joonam," she was indeed his everything.

And that was why he could not send her away when the Sultan of Parthia was visiting, he realized as he made his way back to his chamber that evening.

Because not only was she his weakness, but she was also his strength.

He would also follow Jalal's advice from that afternoon and invite all of the emirs to Rey to show them all that he was a strong king…

With a queen who was his equal - and "full of fire and promise" as Jalal would say - at his side.

A/N: Just an FYI - I think this fic will be around 16-17 chapters long and it is my goal to finish it before The Rose and the Dagger is released. So I better get to writing! Encouragement is always awesome ;)