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Rehana POV

The loud cheerings of the crowd sent a deep shiver in my body. It was the first time I had seen so many people at once.

It seemed like a sea of men and women. All I could see was the faces. The noise was so loud that I could feel my head spinning.

But, the way Jaan-e-Jahan had my hand in hand, I felt slightly calmer.

Suddenly, Jaan-e-Jahan lifted his hand up to signal them to stop.

"Mallika-e-Sultanate ki taraph se aapke liye kuch taufe mangwaye Gaye hai. Hum chahte hai aap sab unhe qubool kare or dawaat me shirkit kare,"

"Gifts have been brought from Mallika-e-Sultanate's end. We want you all to accept them with love and take part in the feast," he added in a loud voice.

Honestly, the first time I heard his voice, I could not believe that he could speak so loudly that his voice was almost reaching the end.

Or, maybe it was the balcony's effect that the voice was echoing through it.

The whole crowd cheered, and Jaan-e-Jahan smiled, looking at them.

Slowly, he turned his gaze to me and said.

"This is our people, Rehana. This is your responsibility," he said in a low voice. I could not help but feel goosebumps in my body.

Responsibility?

I turned to look at the people again. There were so many, but what could I possibly do for them?

What did I have to give to them?

But, keeping my thoughts to myself, I just nodded. Everyone was looking at us. The people, the family, and the guests.

And, never in my whole life had I felt I would coming here and living this moment. When they said that there would be a feast, I did not understand the heat of the it as Miran Sultanate had very small feasts and functions.

But, this seemed grand.

"Sultan Rehman," I heard Sultan Rafiq addressing him, and he looked at him.

"Take Sultana with you for the donations and the rally. The people want to see you both closely. A big troop of soldiers will take care of both of you. And Haider, Sultan Aahil and I are following you behind. The rally would start from the main door, followed by a round around the Sultanate, walking through the market, and coming back to the Sultanate." His words made me feel sweaty in my palms.

A rally to show both of us together to the people.

I was not ready for it.

"Ji, Abbujaan," he said, and I lowered my gaze, inhaling a deep breath to calm myself down.

And, there were no ladies who were accompanying me?

"Shall we go?" Jaan-e-Jahan asked, turning his gaze at me, and I nodded nervously.

"Ji," I replied. We both turned around to walk through the relatives' crowd, and I noticed a small troop of soldiers walking with us.

Climbing the stairs down, a bigger troop of soldiers awaited us with a dozen horse riders and two empty and decorated horses, and I could not stop myself from asking.

"Is this my horse?" I asked, recognizing the deep black eyes of my horse.

Yes, he was mine.

A wide smile appeared on my face, and I almost ran towards him.

"Billi," I called him out, and the moment he snorted, pulling his front two feet up, I chuckled.

Oh, My Goodness!

"Jaan-e-Jahan, you know about him?" I asked, turning my gaze to him. He was standing away with his hands tied behind him while he nodded.

"Yes," he exclaimed, and I laughed, remembering my friendship with Billi. I found him in the Miran Sultanate. He was wounded at that time, and his previous owner abandoned him. So, when he wanted to die, I tried to love him because that was all I could think of him.

"But he is a horse; why is his name after the cat?" Jaan-e-Jahan asked, stepping closer to us. I smiled, looking at him.

Tears appeared in my eyes while I chuckled.

"He hated cats. Whenever he would see a cat, he would run after them and try to irritate them. So, to teach him a lesson and tell him to love everyone equally, I named him Billi," I explained, and he chuckled, shaking his head slowly.

"And, did he change?" he asked, and I shook my head, caressing Billi's nose. He was a black beauty.

"He still hates cats," I explained and leaned in to kiss his nose.

"But, I had lost him last year. Someone took him from the stable, and he never returned," I said, looking at him, wondering how Jaan-e-Jahan found him.

"You lost him?" he asked, stepping closer as I walked around a little to look at his wounded feet. There must be a sign.

It was behind his right front leg's knee.

"Yes, how did you find him?" I asked, and he lowered his gaze momentarily before shaking his head.

"He was always there in the Miran Sultanate. The Sultana told me, and I found him there," he answered. I did not know why, but it did not make any sense.

And, seeing the soldiers awaiting us, I nodded, wondering if I had forgotten things.

But, as far as I know, every time I asked the attendees about Billi, they told me that he ran away from the stable. It was very unusual for horses to leave their caretakers.

"Are you sure?" I asked, and he nodded, helping me to place my foot on the stirrup.

Holding Billi's hair, I climbed up and sat on the stable.

Jaan-e-Jahan kept stroking him as he started to move his feet. And suddenly, he placed his hand on my knee to catch my attention.

"Rehana, are you sure you lost him?" he asked, and I looked at him, nodding.

"I was told that he had run. I checked once in the stable, and he was not there. Maybe the attendees lied because I kept asking to go out of the Sultanate," I explained, and he nodded.

The lines on his forehead told me he had turned worried for me.

"Do you have a blade?" he asked, and I knit my brows a little and shook my head.

Lowering his gaze, he took out one dagger from the folds of his clothes and forwarded it to me. A wide smile appeared on my face, taking the shiny silver metal, covered in sheath, in my hand.

"Keep it with you," he said with a weak smile.

"If anyone tries coming closer, even mistakenly, just push it into the neck without thinking twice. Anyone means anyone," he said in a low, deep voice and I nodded, gulping, feeling thirsty all of a sudden.

Suddenly, I looked up to notice all the family and relatives looking at us from afar. And the moment Jaan-e-Jahan kissed my knee before taking his steps away, I felt a deep blush on my cheeks.

Why was he so sweet?

No!

He was not sweet at all last night. I could still feel his lips over my zone.

And, the way it was rubbing against the saddle, I could not help but straighten my back.

Suddenly, an attendee caught my attention. She brought a plate to me. It had a scarf to tie over my face.

"There is no need for it," Jaan-e-Jahan said while climbing up on his horse, and the attendee walked away from there.

I held Billi's reins, and suddenly, a troop of soldiers ran to my front and surrounded Jaan-e-Jahan.

He looked at me and nodded.

I nodded to him, trying to calm down my racing heartbeats as another troop of soldiers surrounded me.

"Sultanate-e-Hamidistan," a loud cloud of cheering erupted from around us. The crowd answered as Jaan-e-Jahan lifted his sword when the thick, huge, and loud doors of the Sultanate began to open.

"Jindabad,"

"Sulatan-e-Hamidistan, Sultan Rehman Sulaiman,"

"Jindabad,"

"Mallika-e-Sultanate, Sultana Rehana Sultan,"

"Jindabad,"

My whole body felt the vibrations of the loud cheering as Jaan-e-Jahan pulled the reins of his horse and slowly began the whole rally.

The soldiers lifted their spears up. There were hundreds around him.

Behind him followed a dozen attendees carrying huge plates of coins.

I looked around to notice the same for me.

My heart was beating wild. As Jaan-e-Jahan almost reached the door. Almost hundreds of meters away from me.

The cheering for his name was slowly fading away as the rally was moving forward.

And suddenly, two announcers stood before my convoy and lifted their swords up.

"Mallika-e-Sulatanate," they cheered up, and I noticed the whole crowd cheering back.

"Jindabad,"

And, as the soldiers began moving, I pulled the reins to follow the lead of my Jaan-e-Jahan.

His whole attire was creamy white adorned with shiny pearls, and the stone shone bright in the sunlight. There was a huge umbrella to blind the sunlight, but still, a lot of it was falling over him.

My heart was beating terribly loud. Even in the loudness that could pierce the earth, I could feel it beating clearly.

And, it was all for him.

Because the day my father left us and ran away, I only lost my heartbeats, but the day I was sold to the brothel, I lost my heart. All of it.

There was nothing inside me.

For days, I cried, begging to let me go.

For months, I tried to escape.

But, slowly, it all faded away, and I was left numb. I felt nothing. The days of my training in the brothel were the darkest days of my life. The training women would touch me, dress me inappropriately, ask me to perform the acts and teach me things that disgusted me as a thirteen-year-old girl.

And, slowly, it just went into my blood. I grew physically, learning all those things that I should not at this age.

Many times, I was asked to stand on my fours and practice it for long hours. Sometimes, I was asked to roll my hips over a woman's core to learn it to please a man.

The only thing I was thankful for was that they did not practice all of it over a man.

But, the day Jaan-e-Jahan came into the brothel, I was scared to death.

A part of me was scared for my body, but others were scared for my blood. No matter what kind of genes my mother had, I had half of my father's, too. And there were so many people who were hungry for royal blood—the mixed breed, they used to call me.

I had lost all of me there.

But now I could feel all of myself here.

And I just could not take my eyes off my Jaan-e-Jahan.

We both walked out of the main door. The drums, trumpets, and cheering were getting louder and louder.

Suddenly, Jaan-e-Jahan leaned forward a little, and I noticed him collecting a fistful of coins and throwing them over the people.

And the moment I stepped outside the door, I noticed people looking up at me with wide eyes. They were men, women, and children. Some of them were very poor. Their clothes were dusty, and the children looked hungry.

I looked around, and my brows knitted, realizing that the situation was not the same for everyone. Some people looked rich as well.

 The horse's speed was slow, and I took every step with care. I noticed how soldiers were trying to stop the people who wanted to reach me. A part of me felt scared, as all I could see was a sea of them.

The cheering and screams were so loud that suddenly, I wanted to run to Jaan-e-Jahan.

Looking up, I noticed him throwing more coins at people trying to collect them.

I gulped, feeling nervous to do the same. As soon as we came almost three hundred meters away from the Sultanate, we were still walking around its wall, and I felt my umbrella off my head before a ton of flower petals were thrown at us.

My heartbeats raced wilder, and I turned around a little to notice Sultan Rafiq and Haider Bhaijaan coming after us.

I gulped with nervousness, and suddenly, I noticed the attendees carrying the coins coming closer to me as the soldiers moved slightly away from me. I clutched my hand on the knife.

My gaze lifted to notice the empty, hopeful eyes of the children and the women. They were ready to catch the coins.

And, a part of me did not feel like throwing them.

Jaan-e-Jahan was a Shahenshah. It was very Sultan of him to do that, but I was not a Sultan.

I smiled at the thought, touched the plate of the coins, and exclaimed to the attendees.

"Give a handful of them to all the children,"

They nodded, silently walking through the mazes of soldiers, and started giving the handful of coins to all the children.

A wide smile appeared on my face as I noticed their mothers smiling at me.

"Mallika-e-Sulatante,"

"Jindabad,"

"Mallika-e-Sulatante,"

"Jindabad,"

"Mallika-e-Sulatante,"

"Jindabad,"

The cheering for me grew louder, and the flower petals kept falling over me. They were not falling over Sultan. I knew it was his idea to shower me with the flower petals.

A few of the rose petals fell into my lap, and I held one of them.

It was all very beautiful, and my heart was racing.

I could not even believe that my life would bring me here.

Slowly, we reached the market, and I noticed that everyone had come out of the shops and started bending their heads at us.

This sultanate was beautiful.

I had never seen it before.

I did not know why, but I suddenly felt attached to it. These people accepted me very quickly. They were staring at me as if I was living here for decades. They were adoring. I could see the love in their eyes.

And suddenly, I felt as if they had been waiting for me all these years.

I was not sure about Jaan-e-Jahan, though. He looked as if he would not have felt anything in my absence.

But I could not help but smile as his convoy began to turn right, and he looked at me.

The gaze felt intense even through the meters of distance. I could feel it.

I lowered my gaze.

In a little time, we reached an open ground where the soldiers and people were waiting for us. I noticed Jaan-e-Jahan stepping down his horse. My heartbeats raced as the soldiers kept surrounding him when the people tried to touch him.

He was talking to them, and the moment he came closer to me and forwarded his hand out for me, a nervous smile appeared on my face.

Everyone was looking at us.

Gulping nervously, I placed my hand in his and stepped down from Billi.

Pulling my hand back slowly, I caressed Billi's back and looked at Jaan-e-Jahan.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and I nodded, walking with him.

We walked through the puzzle of soldiers and reached a place where both the Ammijaan and the relatives were waiting for us. I smiled, looking at Ruhani and Ghazal.

They were sitting in the corner under the tents, surrounded by the soldiers and Jaan-e-Jahan and I stood in the middle of the side, near the tables of vessels. There were tons of coins, fruits, blankets, and clothes.

"You stay here. Maintain distance with the people, okay? It's just for security," Jaan-e-Jahan said in a low voice and I noticed the heaviness of the crowd gathering around. I nodded.

And, he smiled standing a few metres away.

The soldiers stood beside us.

As the people would approach, the attendees would give them the donations and all we had to do was to touch them for once.

I knew it. I had seen it in the Miran Sultanate.

The people began approaching one by one, quickly moving ahead as soldiers were passing them quickly.

I kept my smile instact and heard the blessings of them. Many of them praised me for my beauty, many were crying and many held serious and dislike expressions.

And, amid all of this, my heart kept beating stronger and faster.

My gaze was trying to look at every face, but suddenly my sight fell on a person who had his face hidden with a black scarf. I could only see his middle-aged eyes, and the darkness they beheld reminded me of someone.

My gaze thinned as I noticed him approach closer, and the moment he stood before, and let the cloth slip down down his nose, my eyes widened with shock.

But, before I could say anything, he placed his trembling finger on his lips. I got tears in my eyes.

I immediayely looked at Jaan-e-Jahan. He was busy. And, the moment, I looked back at him, he was gone.

Where the hell did he go?

Abbujaan?

"Where did he go?" I asked the nearby soldier and he knit his brows.

"Who?" he asked, and said.

"The man in the black scarf," I said, and he shook his head and imemdiately looked around.

I looked around as well, and tried to see through the sea of people.

But, then I could not see him again.

And, the suddenly my sight fell on a small cloth fallen on the ground, just where he stood.

My brows knit with confusion.

I immediately picked it up, and before the soldier could notice me, I fisted it in my hand.

Abbujaan asked me to stay shut.

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