'Ah, Prince Nadir, what a pleasant surprise!' Jawahir said, her voice dripping with fake glee, as she appeared and closed the secret passage to her lair.
She was also oblivious to squashing Tala between the doors as the poor parrot struggled both to breathe and force her way out.
'Jawahir..' she wheezed desperately, 'I.. can't breathe... let me out..please,' but it fell on deaf ears.
Nadir rolled his eyes at the woman as he hated it when she pretended to be concerned about him but kept his composure.
Meanwhile, instead of being in bed, Adil lurked outside, eagerly listening to what was going on.
'I'm so glad we were able to find you and Adil safe and sound after your little escapade!
You two were such naughty boys making your dear mother worry about you! Who would have thought that you would go out of the palace and into the streets? It's so unlike you!'
Jawahir smiled sweetly at the prince, although it came off more as unsettling and strained.
Nadir was not at all fooled by her false concern and sincerity, nor was he in the mood for pleasantries, but he sighed and forced himself to look at the woman.
'Now, what was it you wanted to say to me?' Jawahir then said to Nadir, who stared at her stonily.
'There is actually, and I'm not at all happy about it,' said Nadir, calm as ever although anger was starting to build up inside him,
'This morning, you ordered the guards to capture a young woman and her sister whom we had befriended in the market under the false belief that they had bad intentions towards us and that they were….'
'Common street thieves, Your Highness,' Jawahir rudely interrupted him while continuing to ignore Tala's wheezes,
'And this wasn't the first time they had done this.
Oh, no, far from it. Those girls have been the bane of the guards and many market vendors for years.
They have no place in our magnificent city, and it is your mother's role and her duty to keep the peace in Alzawaya by punishing those who threaten it, like that wretched girl who seems to have stolen one of your father's bracelets,'
She then noticed Nadir's bare wrist as she grabbed it.
'She did not steal it; I gave it to her as a gift for our friendship and gratitude for saving me from having one of my hands chopped off for a petty crime I had never intended to commit,' Nadir said, flicking her hand off his wrist.
But she has done nothing wrong. She has been nothing but kind to me.
She showed me what the city is really like behind those gilded walls. I experienced freedom for the first time in my life and saw the appalling reality of my future kingdom.
Nearly all the people live in poverty and barely have anything! Children are hungry and have to dig around to get a scrap of food! Families struggle to get by while we live in obscene luxury!
And some street urchins have to steal to eat and face the constant threat of being caught, losing a hand or even execution!
The girl and I bonded, we had a real connection, and we spent a fantastic night looking at the stars and opening up to each other.
And Adil made a friend for the first time with her younger sister, who helped him out in the streets,' said Nadir.
Adil, head peeking from the doorway, nodded in agreement while Jawahir shook her head and chuckled at hearing the prince's story. It seemed far too ridiculous to believe.
'Oh, Your Highness, she brainwashed you!' she said,
'She is a dirty street thief, and that's all she'll ever be! Oh, how your mother would have a fit of the vapours if she were to hear what you two were doing with those street mice!'
'But what crime did she commit?' Nadir said.
'Well, amongst other things, thievery being the most obvious, but that's not the worst of it.
Oh no, the gravest and serious of all was kidnapping the princes, which has a very severe and swift punishment.' Jawahir said as both Nadir and Adil gasped in disbelief.
Surely that couldn't mean… No, it couldn't be...
'You're lying, Jawahir; I know you are!' Nadir said, his anger starting to show,
'It's simply not true! The girls did not kidnap us; I ran away, you know I did, and Adil followed me out!
Why should I even believe you in the first place since all you do is lie!'
'Yeah, you big fat lying witch!' shouted Adil from the doorway, which startled both Jawahir and Nadir.
'Adil, you were supposed to be in bed an hour ago!' snapped Jawahir,
'It's bad manners to eavesdrop on important grown-up conversations! Go to bed right now, or you won't be able to sit down for a week!'
Adil stuck his tongue out at her and defiantly stayed where he was while Jawahir snarled in anger and resisted the urge to grab the boy and give him a well-overdue and well-deserved whipping.
But she kept her composure and took a deep breath as she gave another fake smile which hid ill-concealed joy and delight as she was about to shatter the crown prince's heart.
Having heard Nadir's side of the story and his apparent fondness of that wretched street mouse, Jawahir smiled again and said,
'Oh, my dear boy, what a terrible misunderstanding I have just heard!' she said as she walked over to Nadir and put her arm around him, which made the older boy flinch.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust at her creepy and unsettling gesture and the overwhelming scent of her strong sandalwood perfume, which he hated,
'If only I had known sooner, I would've been able to halt the whole thing, but alas, I'm afraid you've spoken far too late to save the girl whom you have grown so fond of..'
'What do you mean by that?' Nadir said, fearing the worst.
'You see, I had ordered the girl's sentence for her crimes, and as we speak, she has been...' Jawahir said while trying to conceal a smirk.
'What?' said Nadir, shocked at what he had just heard, 'You're not saying that she's..she's..been..'
'Executed,' said Jawahir, without a trace of compassion,
'Death by hanging and her sister was given somewhat of a lesser sentence. Exiled to the desert for ten years, but she will most likely perish sooner than that. It was an appropriate punishment for them both.
I'm so sorry, Your Highness, that I had to break this terrible news to you..' she said between stifled giggles at her lie.
Adil immediately started crying at hearing about the loss of his first and only friend, while Nadir was too numb to say anything as he tried to absorb what Jawahir had just said.
He felt his heart shatter into pieces as the shock, grief, sadness, guilt that he didn't do enough to spare her and fury bubbled inside him that was ready to explode.
He couldn't believe it; it had to be a lie.
'YOU'RE LYING! YOU'RE LYING!' Nadir practically exploded as tears were streaming fast down his face, which was unusual for the serious and reserved prince, but he didn't care.
'You don't have the authority to order prisoners' executions, only Mother does! How could you do such a cruel and heartless thing?!
I could've told the guards my side of the story and let her go, but you deliberately ignored that! You didn't even care that she and I bonded and fell in love..'
'You love her?!' Jawahir screeched, ' that's not possible, she's not a princess and the law states….'
'I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE STUPID LAW!' Nadir roared.
She fell in love with me even before she knew that I was the crown prince. I was so happy being with her, and you TOOK THAT AWAY FROM ME!
What you told me was nothing more than a wicked lie to destroy my newfound happiness and also take the one friend Adil had made!
And he'll be as devasted as me if he found out!'
'Inaam..is…dead?' Adil said, his voice shaky with tears.
'Please tell me that this is nothing more than a cruel, wicked lie, Jawahir. Otherwise, I'll tell Mother that you carried out a prisoner execution behind her back! Please tell me it isn't true!' Nadir said, sobbing heavily.
'I only wish it was, dear boy, I wish I could tell you that to spare you your heartbreak, but I'm afraid it is true.' Jawahir said, remaining cool and calm.
'No..no..it can't be..it's all my fault…I should've done more to save them, but I couldn't, but I didn't mean for that to happen, and now she's dead all because of me!' said Nadir.
'I'm sorry that it had to come to that, but it was for the good of our city and ensured the safety of the people, and I'm sure that your mother would've agreed with me.' Jawahir said.
'Now, you must be exhausted from all your grief, so you should go and get some sleep and forget all about that girl; she was nothing but trouble,' she then said.
Nadir was too numb by his sadness and heartbreak to say anything more and decided that the best thing to do was leave and did so, with each step he took getting heavier as he walked and was blinking back tears.
But, for a moment, he turned around, his face tear-stained and said, quietly and firmly,
'And I'm now vowing never to marry out of my respect for the girl whose name I never found out.
I don't care what Mother says, and if I have to forfeit the throne, my heart is no longer in it,' and then left the room.
If Nadir was restrained by not physically lashing out at Jawahir, Adil was anything but as he ran up to his despised governess and let out his grief by kicking her hard in the shin.
Jawahir then shouted and screamed in pain as she held her leg and yelled out obscenities and threatened to whip the younger boy for his wicked deed but then decided against it.
But Adil didn't care one bit as he fled the room in tears.
As she rubbed the painful spot where Adil had just kicked her, Jawahir, despite her pain, gave a huge smile and let out a huge laugh, mixed with wincing from the kick.
Having somehow managed to push her way out of the wall, Tala was walking towards her, wheezing heavily from her ordeal and straightening out her wings before looking curiously at Jawahir's shin.
'What happened to you?' she said, once she had regained her breath and composure.
'Oh, it's nothing, just a little bruised, that's all.' Jawahir said, rather nonchalantly.
'And I've just been squashed by your stupid passage door for some time, nearly being crushed to death while you ignore my pleas for help and having to use my perfectly manicured wings to push myself out while you merely shrug it off?' Tala said.
'So sorry, Tala, I didn't hear you; I was far too busy chatting to Nadir,' said Jawahir.
'Speaking of which, how did it go?' Tala said.
'Surprisingly well,' said Jawahir, ' they fell for it, hook, line and sinker, although the little brat was eavesdropping and then kicked me in the shin.'
'And, of course, you let him get away with it!' Tala said.
'I was going to whip him, actually,' said Jawahir, defensively, 'but I didn't have the heart to do so, not after what I've put him through.
But now that I have the street diamond, we can finally carry out our plan, and all it takes is a little disguise and a visit to the dungeon. Then, the lamp will be ours once and for all!
How about we have a bit of a celebration?' Jawahir said as she pulled out two golden goblets and poured rosewater into them while adding a little extra ingredient for herself.
'To getting the lamp and the kingdom!' they both said as they clinked their goblets and drank the sweet pink liquid.
Jawahir deviously smiled as she waited for the ingredient to take its form.
Adil was lying in bed back in his room, but he was not the least bit sleepy.
He couldn't sleep at all in his slippery sheets and too-fat pillows as he sobbed loudly and held the cover close to him, needing a friend to cuddle.
He soon felt the very familiar and very welcome fur of Salma, who had seen her dear friend in such distress and immediately hopped onto the bed and snuggled up to him.
'Hey, Salma,' he said as the little cub purred and nuzzled against him,
'I'm so glad to see you as I'm feeling miserable,' as fresh tears started to fall again.
Salma mewed in sympathy while licking tears off Adil's face as the boy held her close to him, and his body shook from his sobs.
'Inaam..' Adil managed to hiccup as Salma tilted her head towards him,
'She..she was my friend..we had so much fun together, exploring the city, getting food, doing fencing, playing games.. and now she's gone!
Why did Jawahir make her go away? Why? Why, Salma, why?'
Salma just purred and nuzzled. It was all she could do, as she hated to see Adil so unhappy.
'I hate Jawahir, Salma, I hate that evil, ugly witch, and I wish she would die!
I HATE HER!' Adil practically screamed so loud that the whole palace could hear him.
Eventually, all the screaming and crying took its toll on Adil as he finally fell asleep, holding onto Salma firmly as she snuggled down with him, never wanting to leave his side.
Elsewhere, Nadir was not doing much better as he was taking his nightly bath, despite the pleasant smell of lavender in his nostrils from the bath oils, in his large, luxurious royal blue bathroom, which was attached to his bedroom.
The bath itself was made of deep bluestone tiles and was almost big enough to swim in, and he would typically be feeling relaxed and mellow, but the warm water and lavender were doing none of that.
He would also be enjoying his snack of red grapes and rosewater jelly before going to bed, but they reminded him too much of Leila and didn't want so much as a nibble.
He sighed heavily and looked out the huge window near the bath which gave him a magnificent view of the east side of the city but seeing the stars twinkling like diamonds only added to his heartache.
Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore and got out of the bath, put on his robe and walked out onto the balcony of his room and leaned against the marble railings and just stared into space.
Until he then felt a furry head that belonged to Jumara, and she was certainly not going to let him wallow in his misery and could see that he needed some cheering up.
'Am I glad to see you, Jumara,' Nadir said, as he then went to sit down on one of the velvet chairs on the balcony and held her tight as the tiger nuzzled against him and purred as if to say,
'Please tell me what's wrong; I can tell that you are unhappy. What happened?'
'Oh, Jumara, a terrible thing happened today,' said Nadir, as he started to sob again as Jumara purred sympathetically.
'And it's all my fault! I just wanted to save the girl from the guards as she didn't do anything wrong!
They were such idiots to listen to that wretched woman instead of me, and now look what has happened!
She had her cruelly executed by hanging, and I didn't do enough to stop it! And I never found out her name!
Oh, how I miss her, Jumara, I miss her dearly,' he said, his body shaking with each sob,
'She was the only one who understood me, and we had such a close bond, and now it's been broken. I never got to tell her how I felt about her, and I'll never will.
But I'll always keep her in my heart, no matter what,' Nadir said as Jumara purred sadly at seeing Nadir's evident sorrow.
She hated to see him like this and could only hope that he would be happy again as Nadir looked up to the sky again with the moon shining bright as ever.
And the stars were just as dazzling, and he said a silent prayer for Leila and Inaam and hoped they were happy together in the sky.
'If you're up there, I just want you to know that you'll always be in my heart forever,' Nadir said, blowing a kiss before going inside to bed with Jumara faithfully following him.