Unedited!

April 20, 2016

Karaye, Kano.

Prince Aamir, together with Suhad and Sultan Omar stood outside the king's chambers with Yerima Yaqub, Prince Khalifa and Najeeb Waleed, their three childhood friends as they reminiscence the good old days.

"Baaba, remember that time when we went to ask for Zahrau's hand in marriage for Prince Khalifa?" Sultan Omar asked as he started laughing.

"Oh my!" Prince Aamir said as he joined his brother laughing too.

"Mazaaa, we laid flat on the floor faaa. Gashi that day I wore my white kaftan wai mu zamu je neman aure wajen yarabawa. Dude what made you marry a Yoruba woman please?" Suhad stated shaking his head in amusement.

Prince Khalifa of Kaduna State huffed, "Arakunrin mi, ife ni ki n se (my brother, love made me do it)" he said smiling goofily.

"You have started speaking that you juju language koh?" Yerima Yaqub asked glaring at Prince Khalifa.

"Juju?! O asiwere, ki olorun ki o seto re( juju? , you are insane, may God arrange you)"Prince Khalifa said smiling.

"Kai malam stop speaking that language" Najeeb said for the first time.

Suhad was about to reply when a sleek black Maserati Ghibli pulled in the driveway pass the royal guards who erupted in praises and hails when they noticed who the person is. The makida and masu kidan gargajiya approached him as they beat their traditional drums and blows the clarinet and flutes

"Sai kai dan mai jama'a, masu mutane a nan da can. Duk inda kaje sai an yabe ka, dan Muhammadu Murad, jikan Sarkin Kano. Ko bacci kake ansan sadaka kakeyi, ninfashin ka ma cewa yake 'basu! Basu!' mai taimaka wa talakawa, na talakawa. Farin cikin ka kaga an temakawa wa talakawa......" one of the singers chanted.

"Who is that?" Yerima Yaqub asked staring at the car curiously.

The car opened and a figure walked out in a navy blue kaftan and a matching Zanna Bukar cap. His lips stretched into a wide smile revealing his pearl white teeth while his eyes glitters as he smiled. His jet black hair shone as if hair gel had been applied on it multiple times. In any outfit Muhsin always looked model worthy unfailingly. Honestly, he's a sight to envy.

He gave the people some money before making his way into the palace while the makida kept singing at the top of their lungs, praising him more that they already had.

"That's Mubarak Muhsin Murad", Suhad said answering Yerima Yaqub's earlier question.

Inside the palace chatters resonated. People kept trooping in and out as today is one of the most important and busiest days. Several crowds of people dispersed around the palace, mostly women, who kept on gossiping endlessly.

Daihaah, together with Mahira walked around and greet the elderly as they pass by.

"Ah Dijeh kece wannan kuwa?" one of the elderly women asked Daihaah who nodded.

"Su dijeh angirma sai aure" the woman added while the women around her nodded in agreement.

While they were passing by, they bumped into Umma, who stood with a friend of hers next to her.

"Keh Kubra can't you greet?" the woman asked glaring at Daihhah.

"Ina wuni", Daihaah asked curtly.

"Lahiya", the woman answered looking at Daihaah in resentment. "Larai, don't tell me this girl is getting married to someone from a rich family too?" the woman added not minding at Daihaah is still standing there.

"Oh toh wai she's getting married to Alhaji Murad's son. That boy is too good for her, I mean look at this girl! She's an embarrassment to this family" Umma replied huffing at the end.

Daihaah had to bit the inside of her cheek to stop her from saying out what is in her mind. Why can't she just enjoy one day drama-free? She thought.

"Lah lah lahhhh, Mubarak Muhsin koh?" the woman asked suddenly sounding interested.

"Shi ne"

"Chabbb, Allah sitira ya aure someone like her. Do you know the kind of level at which that family is extravagantly? This girl can never meet up to their status", the woman said placing one of her hands on her hips, pursing her lips forward.

Daihaah cleared her throat gaining both their attention, "With all due respect woman, Umma can say such to me and wallahi I won't saying anything back. But you however don't have thee right to say that to me. Whether I'll fit in the role of being Ya Mubarak's wife or not shouldn't be anything that concerns you in any way", she said, her voice harsher than she intend for it to be.

The woman's mouth hung open, same as that of Umma's.

"Keh how dare you disrespect my friend?!" Umma asked, livid.

"Umma, she did not disrespect this friend of yours, she just told the truth" Mahira said defending her cousin who stood firm not wavering at the intensity of the duo's gaze on her.

"Mahira shut up! Keh kuma kubra apologize to my friend right now!" Umma bellowed, her face turning red with anger.

"I'm sorry I can't" Daihaah deadpanned looking directly at the woman.

Umma angrily raised her hand to slap Daihaah only to be stopped when a hand firmly caught hers, as the figure blocked Daihaah from Umma's view. Everyone's eyes shot up to look at the person.

"Muhsin?!--"

"Ya Muhsin!"

Muhsin looked at Umma, his eyes giving out the expression that he's livid, but his face is void of any of it.

"Umma up until this very day I respected you and see you as a mother figure to Daihaah but today you just lost that" he said coldly and let go of her hand as he glared at the other woman.

"Who gave you the right to determine whether Daihaah is going to be a good wife or not?" he asked the woman. His voice low, though it dripped with anger.

The woman stood quietly, looked anywhere but his face. Fear is clearly visible in her eyes. Something about an angry Muhsin is scary. When no one spoke he continued.

"Daihaah is better than any of those girls out there. To me, she's so much more. Only I get to decide whether she'll be a good wife or not, and believe me, she's more than I could ever hope for. And I promise, I'll defend her till my very last breath because that's how much she means to me!" he roared making the woman and Umma flinch at the harshness of his tone.

By now, crowd of people both male and women gathered around them as they watch the show unfold. But, at the moment, Daihaah didn't care about any of them; rather, her sole focus is on Mubarak Muhsin. She wondered if she could ever fall in love with him more than she already does. Her eyes almost well up seeing him stand up for her.

"Keep in mind, that whosoever dares to lay a finger on Daihaah will answer to me" with that, he held Daihaah's wrist and dragged her away from the prying eyes and gossipmongers. Umma swiftly turned around and glare at their retreating backs, she balls her fist angrily and almost yelled out of frustration.

How is Daihaah always being saved one way or the other?!? She wondered. Earlier, Inna Nana being the hypocrite she is told Umma about how Prince Aamir saved Daihaah indirectly from her. Inna Nana went to the extent of adding salt in the soup saying that Prince Aamir almost slapped her for insulting Daihaah. And it didn't end there; she also added that Prince Aamir said Daihaah is better than Aneesah because Anee is just a China doll who puts herself on show for every person out there.

As ridiculous as that sounded, Her Majesty the great Umma being the stupid person she is believed every word that she was told as if she didn't how Inna Nana despise Anee just as much as she despise Daihaah.

Muhsin stopped when they reached the hallway entry, he took the veil that was over her shoulders and tenderly wrapped it around her head knowing that they're a lot of males out there. She didn't dare to oppose to him unlike Prince knowing better than to provoke an angry Muhsin.

He held her hands again, this time; he intertwined their fingers as he led her to where his car was ignoring the piercing gazes of several people on them including the El Khabirs. She didn't notice any of them, her gaze was locked on Muhsin alone and wallahi she keeps on falling head over heels in love with him.

Once she's in the car, Muhsin walked over to the driver's seat, got in, pulled the car out of the driveway in haste and onto the road.

Adda Aneesah who quietly followed them to make sure nothing happens to her sister saw the car pulled out of the driveway. She sighed and smiled a bit knowing that Muhsin will protect Daihaah no matter what. She didn't like what her mother did, it was totally uncalled for. But then again, it's her mother we're talking about here; she can't possibly go against her.

Her gazes moved to the people who stare in bewilder, probably wondering what happened. Her gaze met that of Sultan Omar's who is staring at her in curiosity. She looked over to Prince Aamir who stood there emotionless; it was hard to understand him. She knew deep down that Prince Aamir is interested in her sister. It wasn't that hard to figure out. She just put two on two. But the question was;

Will he ever have a chance with Khadijah Daihaah when Muhsin is in the picture?

She stared at the gates once more before heading back into the palace leaving the unanswered question in the air.

Xxx

"I'm sorry" Muhsin said when he finally calmed his anger.

Daihaah turned to look at him; she noticed how his grip on the steering wheel loosened indicating that he has calmed down. She somehow felt bad that he had to lose his calm whist defending her. It was extremely rare of him to get angry, but whenever he does, it's a different story.

"It's not your fault, I'm sorry you heard that" she said fiddling with her fingers.

"Ya ilahi don't say that, it's not your fault. I don't believe they said that" he lets out a frustrated sigh and runs his fingers through his hair exasperatedly.

"It's nothing new, she's always been like that" Daihaah shrugged not really feeling that hurt. It's like she's immune to Umma's insults.

"I know that but this time she went too far!"

Daihaah sighed looking out through the window of Muhsin's car. "I never wanted you to hear what she says" she said almost to herself but he heard her loud and clear.

"I promised you that I will always be here for you and I mean it. I swear if that woman lays a finger on you i''ll make her regret it" he sighed before smiling at her a bit, "And here I am trying to be a good boyfriend by traveling all the way from Abuja to surprise you"

She laughed lightly knowing that only Muhsin could be this bipolar. "Thank you for everything" she smiled sincerely.

He grinned widely, "Pay me by going on a date with me next week Saturday" he wiggled his brows cutely.

"Sure then. I will gladly go on a date with you Mr Mubarak Muhsin Murad" she said placing her hand under her chin as her arm rest on her lap.

"Ok so I know our families had been talking about this for a while now, but I want to ask you this officially..."he started looking at her closely to see her reaction.

She started at him quizzically, her brow rose up slightly, "What exactly are you talking about?" she asked.

"Marry me Khadijah......"

**********

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