Almost 25k what??

The sound of a soft groan coming from beside her had Karima instantly turning her head around, her gaze instantly falling on the unconscious body of the Princess who stirred awake. Karima held her breath as she instantly moved to the Princess's side, her eyes wide and hopeful as her heart hammered behind her ribcage in anticipation. "Ranki ya dade..." She called out, hoping the woman would open her eyes.

Asma stirred awake, turning her head around before her eyes slowly peeled open. She flicked it close again to get accustomed to the lightening in the room, before she peeled it open once again—her eyes falling on Karima who instantly released a sigh of relief, her eyes welling up with tears.

"You are awake." Karima breathed out a breath of relief, "Alhamdullilah." She chanted repeatedly.

Asma closed her eyes once again, moving her hand to her forehead as she massaged her temples, taking a few calming breaths as everything came back to her. Once she had gotten rid of the ache enough to get up, she slowly sat up, her body still weak, but much better.

Karima moved to the bed side cabinet, picking up the water cup there, and then handed it to Asma who took it from her with a quiet thank you, before bringing it to her lips and taking a few sips of it. Once she had taken enough that she no longer had a parched throat, she handed the cup back to Karima who gave her a pointed look.

"You scared me, Ranki ya dade." She mumbled with a slight pout. "I thought you would not wake up."

"As if," Asma mumbled, offering her a small smile that is supposed to be assuring. She reached her hand out, giving her shoulder a small squeeze. "Sorry for worrying you. But, I am fine, really."

Karima gave her a look that showed she did not believe her, making the Princess release a small chuckle.

"How long have I been out?" Asma asked instead, flexing her shoulders slightly to get rid of the soreness there.

"About twenty-four hours." Karima responded, "It is ten in the morning now."

Asma hummed, flexing her other shoulder before she released a sigh. "No wonder I feel so refreshed," She then looked around the room, noting that she is in the master bedroom, before her lips curled into a slight frown, her gaze yawing in Karima's direction again. "What happened while I was unconscious?"

Karima shook her head. "Do not get me started," She said, her voice dropping as she looked over her shoulder, as if someone—a certain intimidating Prince would walk in, before focusing her attention back on Asma. "The two maids responsible have been dismissed by Yerima. In fact, no one has seen them since he summoned them—and that was the same hour you passed out."

Once again, Asma's expression turned grim before she hummed, then asked again. "What else?"

Karima's voice dropped into a whisper when she added. "He visited Giwa's chambers at night, and was in there for a while. Something must have happened because when he returned, he seemed upset. He dismissed me as well, and was the one who stayed with you throughout the night, and brought you to this room as well." Karima paused, swallowing down a lump when she leaned down then whispered. "You have no idea how scared I was when he came last night, I thought he had figured something out."

"He has figured out the obvious," Asma sighed, a small smile dancing on her lips. "Do not worry. He just saw through his mother's plans," She then released a slight scoff. "To think he took the blame for her in front of me." She tsked, clicking her tongue, "Blood is thicker than water apparently."

"That aside," Karima shook her head, her brows drawing in as she gave the Princess a pointed look. "You gave me a bigger scare. Have you any idea how scared I was when I found out you were truly unconscious?" Her voice dropped even more so only the two of them could hear when she then added. "I thought when you had me switch the poison with the one they had, it was harmless. Did you even switch the poison in the first place?"

"Of course," Asma offered her a small smile as she relaxed back in the bed. "With something stronger." She shrugged.

Karima's mouth fell open, stunned by just how far the Princess could go. She knows her more than anyone in the palace, and yet it seems she still does not know enough. She thought it was bad enough the Princess was already aware prior of the incident planned out for her, and yet still went along with it. When she gave Karima a similar looking poison the night before to switch with the ones the maids got from Giwa, she thought she replaced it with something harmless so it would fall apart.

Who would have thought she would actually replace it with something stronger?

Asma, taking Karima's silence as her not finding the right words to say then turned around to face her completely, before she then spoke. "Who would think I harmed myself intentionally?" She asked, her plan though dangerous having some sense of logic. "Besides, I played along with Giwa's plan, just took it a step further. How else would I make Kassim drift from her if I not go this far?"

Her plan was never to evade Giwa's plans, but to use them against her.

She wanted to poison her? She helped her by taking it a step further.

She then continued, explaining the situation to Karima so she could understand it clearly. "If I went along with what she initially planned, I would merely be sick for a few days, but nothing noteworthy, and nothing that would pique Kassim's interest." She is not trying to get on his good side, merely trying to pin him against his own mother.

She wants them to destroy each other.

Kassim is not one she could get through easily. His only trigger in the palace is his mother and her actions. Giwa is not someone she could attack outright. But standing behind Kassim, she could get what she want.

In simple words, they are all merely puppets in her game, pieces of chessboard that she moves according to her liking.

Karima folded her lips in, her eyes narrowed at the Princess, not quite liking how the woman is playing with her own life to get what she wanted. "What if you had done more damage to yourself?" She asked, her voice small but scolding. "What if you never woke up?"

Asma smiled. "Then it is a good thing I woke up, yeah?" She said instead, as if she could not see the gravity of the situation.

Karima exhaled a heavy breath, thick with frustration. "You could have died, Ya Asma," She said, her tone thick with her frustration as her eyes sting with unshed tears. "Da kin mutu fa?" In that moment, she could not care less that she is scolding the Princess. She felt as though she needed to get some sense through her.

But Asma could only offer her another smile, though this time it did not reach her eyes, and it was anything but amusing. "I am not scared of death, Karima," She said in a small voice, her tone earnest and thick with all the pent up emotions she never let out. "I have been at death's door too many times already. I am not scared." For the first time in a long time, Karima saw an emotion she had never seen in the Princess's eyes—vulnerability. The kind one has when standing at the edge of the cliff, just one push away from slipping into oblivion.

The tears Karima were holding slipped down her face, and not just because of what had just happened, but for everything the Princess had to go through—the one she had witnessed, and a lot more that she does not know.

For everything that made Asma Maccido come to life, or be a walking dead. All of it.

Asma's eyes held no tears though, and instead, she was the one that leaned down and wiped Karima's tears. "Alright, come on, stop crying," She wiped the girl's tears away. "I am fine, see? I am alright. Stop crying, kinji?"

Karima unable to help herself threw herself into the Princess's arms, and cried there. Asma could only pat her back as she tried to soothe her. She knew Karima was crying for her sake, but despite being the one living the life, she could not bring herself to shed any tears. She had shed enough that she no longer had any tears left.

All that was going through her mind as she held Karima and soothed her, was what is left in its awake in her heart-- hatred for those in the royal family of Sokoto Emirate.

Hatred for Giwa, and Amir Qasim the most.

She did not care about risking her life. She would put it on the line a thousand times if she has to...just so she would be able to drag them to the hell they put her in. And if they think this is all she has, then they got a lot coming their way.

~*~

Eventually, Asma decided to get out of the bed and go about her day, despite Karima's attempt to get her to stay in bed and rest, it fell on deaf ears. Asma had so much plans for the day that staying back and sleeping in bed just was not part of it in the slightest, so, she made her way back to her room to shower and get dressed up for the day while Karima went ahead to prepare breakfast for her.

After her shower, as Asma was dressing up, she found herself zoning out, her mind playing tricks like as she felt as though she could remember tidbits of what happened the night before. She slipped in and out of consciousness a few times, and in between it, she could swear she had memories of Amir Qasim. There were snippets of him taking her in his arms, snippets of him getting her fever down, and even one of him covering her with the duvet, and saying something she could not quite remember no matter how hard she tried.

She remembered Karima telling her that he was the one who brought her to the master bedroom so maybe, she could believe the first memory but the others? She was quick to shake them out of her mind, knowing they were all mind games and nothing serious. There is no way Amir Qasim would care for her—he is incapable of such feelings and they do not have that type of relationship...she tried to convince herself.

But even then, she still found herself zoning out.

Was it really just a trick of her mind though? Because the feel of his hand on her forehead felt too vivid, the warmness of it as it seeped into her skin. And when he held her in his arms, there was this delicateness to it unlike what she would have ever imagined—unlike the usual gruffness of him. The way he spoke...those words he said that she could not remember but still stirred some sort of emotions within her.

Asma shook her head vigorously, her hand moving to the spot where her heart is, only to find the fragile organ beating at a speed faster than usual.

"I am losing my mind," She muttered to herself, shaking her head as she chased the thought away with a broom. "It must be the poison," She convinced herself. "Its side effect is making me having tachycardia. Nothing else." She patted the spot where her heart is, releasing a few breaths to steady the organ.

Huffing out a breath, she decided to leave it all behind as she made her way out of the room, then descended the stairs just in time Karima was done making her breakfast. Settling down, Asma cleared the food, not before taking her medications before Karima allowed her to leave.

Having eaten her breakfast and feeling rejuvenated, she decided to start her work.

She made a beeline towards the kitchen, then went about spending the next few hours curating the perfect meal, after dismissing all the maids and leaving only Karima to assist her. Karima if she is being honest, would say she gets scared whenever the Princess decides to cook, because that means she is brewing up something in the shadows.

Whenever she decides to cook, and spend hours into it, then she is cooking up something beyond just a meal. Even in that moment, Karima knew the Princess was up to something, a promise of havoc to be wrecked.

A few hours passed before Asma clasped her hands together, her lips forming a satisfied smile. "There," She stared at the food warmers in front of her. "Perfect." She turned her head around, her gaze focusing on Karima, "Let me take another shower and change, before we will go and deliver these."

Karima's brows furrowed. "Deliver them where?"

"To Giwa of course," Asma's smile widened, though it was anything but kind. "It is time for some payback."

She may have changed Giwa's poison intended for her, but she did plan to poison her in the first place. Of course she will pay her back.

It is payback time.

~*~

WHO IS DOUBTING MY GIRL?? Guy you people beware of Asma o, she dey run this game!

Ah, wahala. Even me she dey shock me like this with her plans. Can anyone outsmart her really?

Kai Kassim, she is taking the lead gaskiya, no doubt there.

And some of you still dislike her? Wahala for you o. Some are even thinking she and Kassim will not end up together, dey play. Ai ending up together kaman anyi an gama. 

That love, go happen. If not, what is the point of writing all this then? Toh naje na rubuta littafi kan Muazu da forth wife nashi mana kawai da kajin sa in haka ne.

Ikon Allah, you people dey surprise me here like this.

I am saying this for the last time, Kassim and Asma na done deal, the sooner you accept that the better. If you cannot accept it, go find another book, thank you very much.

I do not like this Asma hate i am seeing in the slightest. No hate on my girl will be accepted! You guys do nit know the shege this poor girl saw, hating her is not accepted here abeg! Hate her anywhere else not in my dm.

Tam. I have said my own.

And Giwaaaaa, we are coming for you. E go shock you. You think you ment? We ment pro max.

But the way Asma dey play everyone like this, ikon Allah. Just how much drama does this girl have up her sleeve like this?

I want Kassim to do something wicked but I cannot stand wicked men. I might just do it for the plot amma i pity him, because Asma will be doing the most. It is okay if we make the men suffer, but they cannot do that. Yawwa. Let us be clear on that.

Toh, guys stay safe.

Love, Jannah Mia.