Work Text:
She was so nervous. She was all over the place. Was everything that happened yesterday actually true? What if it was just one of her little weird dreams? But she couldn’t go to sleep inside a dream, could she? Plus, she wouldn’t dream about meeting him and then going back to work as if nothing happened. She would’ve just stayed there with him instead. So it couldn’t be a dream, right? It was actually the truth. They had finally met. And now she could even maybe marry him! If Lady Sorghaghtani allowed that, of course. But there was no real reason to think she wouldn’t, right?
She couldn’t stop smiling while getting dressed. She was so excited to see him again. And so nervous. And so excited. She just had to act casual when she saw him. Like she wasn’t so excited and happy that she just tossed in bed from side to side half the night. If they really got married, what would their life look like? Would they help each other to get ready? Would he help her to put the cap on perfectly? Would he let her help him make his hair look pretty around the turban?
It was all so embarrassing! She could feel her cheeks on fire already! And she hadn’t even seen him yet! What would happen when she finally met him? She had to calm down. Everything would go as smoothly as it could. She just had to put on her usual work smile and go for it. But she couldn’t! Her lips were curving into her happy, not-so-work smile. Whatever. The smile didn’t matter. She just had to act. Hopefully, the blessing would be what was waiting for them.
Fatima took a deep breath and fixed her look once again. She knew she already looked flawless, but she just had to make sure before stepping out of the tent. One could never know if there was someone on the other side. Sometimes she would meet the Princes, who would immediately drag her somewhere to show their new skills or to just not let her work properly. It’s not like she had too much work, she was at Lady Sorghaghtani’s service after all, but her main job was to tutor her. And they just sometimes wouldn’t let her even step out before dragging her. They made her question who she was actually serving quite a handful of times.
She was just hoping that this time there would be no one waiting for her. But she was mistaken. At least this time she was happy about the person who was waiting for her. She knew him very well... She looked up at a man in blue clothes. She was just glad to know it was actually real. Muhammad looked even prettier with the sun behind him and his little smile.
Neither of them said anything for a bit. They just stood there and stared at each other. She locked her hands behind her back, trying to try her hardest not to reach out to him. But it was so hard! She just wanted to reach out, hug him, grab him, maybe even kiss him. No! That was wrong to think! Even if they were to get married, she shouldn’t give up before that. She tried to close her eyes and take a deep breath to distract herself, but she only felt her cheeks becoming a little warmer.
«You look beautiful today, Sitara...»
She opened her eyes and just stared at the man in front of her. He didn’t look away, but his cheeks were so pink. His hand was on the back of his neck, scratching it a little. She could feel her own cheeks becoming even warmer. She didn’t expect to see him so early in the morning, let alone hear him say something like this! She could feel her head starting to spin. What should she do? Maybe she could ask if he still wanted to marry her! And tease him a little with it as well. She wouldn’t be the only one suffering, that’s for sure!
«Thank you... I hope you didn’t change your mind about marrying me, Muhammad. Because I have grand plans on you.»
She stepped closer to the man, leaning with her head on his shoulder, but not letting them touch. A sly smile crawled onto her lips as she watched the man’s face go on fire for a second. He was so red. If she was worse at controlling herself, she would’ve grabbed his face and kissed his cute, blushing cheeks. But she was better than that. She could control herself. She could just stand there and watch him closely.
Watch his hand squeeze his neck a little too hard and then let go, his eyes run all around, staring at her and then away, the way his neck moved as he swallowed, the way his lips opened and then pressed hard against each other. She could feel that the hand behind her was moving slightly up as if to grab her, but just staying in place without grabbing her. If he just leaned slightly down, their lips would probably lock. But he was keeping his head high. At least for now.
«Fortunately for you, I am never changing my mind on that. So you will have all the time in the world for all your plans...»
Just when did he get so close?! She could feel his breath on her lips. He carefully brushed his nose against hers, looking her directly in the eyes. He didn’t look as shy as he did just a moment ago! He looked like he had never eaten in his life! When did he get so bold? Back then he would turn away from her in embarrassment at the mere mention that she would stay by his side forever. And now he was looking her directly in the eyes, slowly wrapping his hands around her.
On the other hand, if she thought about it... They already agreed to get married, didn’t they? So surely there was nothing that wrong with them being that close. Yes, it would be better to get married first... But they would do it either way. She couldn’t imagine marrying anyone but him. So what would one kiss do? She slowly took the hands from behind her back and placed them on the man’s shoulders. He was so close. She could cut the distance between them so easily. But she wanted to take her sweet time teasing him lightly with her nose. Just like he did to her. But in the end, she closed her eyes and was about to let their lips finally connect.
«Fatima!»
She immediately stepped away from Muhammad and turned away, covering her red face. Prince Hulegu’s voice came out of nowhere. When did he come?! Maybe it was a sign that she was being too greedy. She should be more humble. And certainly stop crossing the line before marriage. They were to be married, they would have lots of time to kiss each other later. When they wake up, before they go to bed, just sometimes during the day when both of them are not so busy... It was so embarrassing to think about it! She wanted to do all of these things, but she was too embarrassed to think about doing them like that!
«Fatima! What happened? Why are you covering your face? Did Muhammad say something to upset you? Don’t you worry, I will deal with him for you!»
She opened her face just to look down at the Prince, who was patting her on the back as much as he could reach. He looked at her with the biggest smile as she put her hands completely down and smiled to him too. Her cheeks still felt warm, but it was the last of her concerns. Her mind was still occupied by the fact that she almost kissed Muhammad in a broad daylight. Like it was nothing. Like it was just natural.
«Prince Hulegu, I beli–»
«I don’t care what you believe! What did you do to my Fatima! My mum wants to see you and Fatima in her tent, so I went to grab you, and you weren’t there! I knew I would find you here! You are a womaniser!»
She straightened up in a second and just stared at the Prince. Then she looked up at Muhammad, whose face was just stuck for a second. He stared at the Prince in confusion for a bit, and then his face became red in just a second! She wasn’t sure why he was red: because he was embarrassed or because he was angry. And he looked so silly that she couldn’t help but chuckle quietly in her hand.
On the other hand, was he a womaniser? Why would the Prince call him that? What if he was? Then he was probably just playing with her... She wanted to believe that Muhammad would never, but her face and frame still dropped as she looked sadly to the side.
«No, I am not! Please, Sitara, don’t listen to him. You were always the only one in my heart. You have to believe me.»
«Don’t believe him, Fatima! I always see him talking to women, and they always try to flirt with him! You deserve someone better!»
Muhammad stepped closer to her, reaching out for her hand when the Prince slapped his hand away and put himself between them. She just watched them exchange angry glares while trying to keep her laugh to herself. But it was so hard, considering that the Prince introduced them to each other yesterday. She laughed for just a couple of seconds and watched both of them look at her in confusion.
«I’m sorry, Prince Hulegu. Didn’t you introduce me to him because he was supposed to be a good match? I do want to marry him. Besides, look at this man, who blushes at the smallest attention to him. How can he be a womaniser?»
Fatima quickly slipped past the stunned Prince and wrapped her hands around Muhammad’s, while leaning on his shoulder. She placed her chin on the side of his shoulder to look up at him and gave him a sly smile. Was she wrong for teasing him right in front of a child? Surely. She just hoped he wouldn’t be as bold in front of the Prince and try to go further. But it didn’t seem like he was going to. He stood as stunned as the young Prince and couldn’t even say anything. She didn’t need him to.
«Well, now I think it’s a bad match! Mum is waiting, we shouldn’t make her wait any longer!»
The little boy just turned around and started walking. She couldn’t see his face, but she could tell he was somewhat upset and irritated. But she wasn’t about to ask why. She let go of the man’s hand and started following the Prince when someone grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
Before she could say anything, Muhammad just hugged her, hiding his face into her shoulder. He was ridiculous. She kept her hands pressed against his shoulders, but she also wanted to slip them a little lower. But that would be too lustful. They were already crossing too many lines. Especially in front of others. Thankfully, nobody seemed to be around at the moment, so they were safe.
«I am not a womaniser... I really only thought of you...»
His whisper sounded so sad, as if he was going to cry. He buried his face even deeper in the space between her shoulder and neck. He was just being ridiculous, wasn’t he? But it was nice to hear him say that. They spent so many years apart, yet he only thought of her? He must’ve met lots of different, no less intelligent women and still chose her? He was ridiculous. But it also warmed her soul. And her blushing cheeks again.
«Are you coming?!»
The Prince! She couldn’t have a little nice moment with her husband-to-be, could she? Thankfully, he let her go almost immediately, and with a quick kiss on her cheek, started walking quickly towards the Prince.
She just stood there frozen for a moment. She slowly raised her hand and touched her cheek where his lips had landed just a moment ago. She started quickly following the two while covering her mouth with a hand. She felt so embarrassed. She kissed him last night before pushing him out of the tent, but they weren’t seeing each other after that! And he kissed her when they had a long day ahead of them! She just had to ignore it and pull herself together. She had to be professional. She couldn’t let herself slide just because the man of her dreams kissed her cheek!
«Fatima, Muhammad! Finally! Thank you for bringing them to me, Hulegu. You took longer than I expected.»
She walked in and bowed to the Lady, who was sitting on the throne. She carefully went down on her knees and spread her hands, while slightly lowering her head before looking up with her nice work smile. It seemed to be good enough to please her as she smiled back. She watched Muhammad repeat the actions as he walked in after her. He had more of a serious look on his face rather than smiling like she did, but she just brushed it off. She should ask him later what he was doing here... She completely forgot to ask about that yesterday. But for now, she should focus on trying to get their marriage approved.
«We are sorry for making you wait, Your Highness. Prince Hulegu also scolded us for taking so long. Why did you want to see us?»
Fatima knew why. Prince Hulegu probably complained about how they spoke Persian and left him out of their conversation yesterday. Even worse, when he asked her why they were crying, she said that she would tell him later. Well, that later seemed to come.
After Lady Sorghaghtani signalled with her hand for them to stand up, she rose from her knees and just stood there with her smile. She looked a little to the side of her, where Prince Hulegu and Prince Kublai were sitting. Prince Kublai looked somewhat excited, while Prince Hulegu seemed to be somewhat annoyed with the whole situation. She couldn’t really blame the kid, but it was funny how he wanted her to get married and was now upset because she had someone she wanted to marry.
«Hulegu told me about your meeting yesterday as his little matchmaking game. It seemed that you both know each other. Maybe you could tell us how?»
That was expected. She tried to make her face look shocked for a second, but a smile was all she could manage. Fatima turned her head to the man next to her, watching his reaction closely. Maybe he wanted to be the one to talk. And if he did, who was she to stop him? Even if it might’ve been better if she talked. She was pretty good at convincing others with her lies by now, so what problem could there be in doing it again?
But when he looked back at her, he just gave her a short smile and nodded, turning back to the royals in front of them. She waited for him to say something, anything. But he didn’t. So, it was her who was supposed to tell the story. She made it up yesterday, so it only made sense for her to be the one doing the talking. She turned back to the royals and smiled her work smile.
«Gladly. Back in Tus, our families were living next to each other. Since both of our families were full of scholars, we were allowed to spend time together. Often, Muhammad would come over to our place since my uncle was teaching him, and I would sometimes come over to their place to study with his mother. So, as you can see, our families were quite close. So close, as a matter of fact, that they agreed to arrange a marriage for us when we would be of age. We were just about to marry when... When...»
She was smiling through the whole story, trying to keep a sad look on her face. She just needed to paint them a cute, nice picture. She didn’t need to think about how it was in reality. She needed to paint a different reality for the royal family. Make them feel bad. Make them feel sorry for what they did. And what better way to do that than to start crying? She covered her mouth with a hand and lowered her head, sobbing quietly to herself. She wasn’t actually crying, she needed to think of something sad to start crying, but it was good enough. Convincing enough.
And it was an even better performance when Muhammad pulled her into a hug. She wasn’t sure if he knew that she was just performing, he had seen her do it a couple of times before, but it seemed like he was actually concerned. He gently stroked her back while her head was hidden somewhere in his chest. She just had to pretend to sob for a bit, and they would give her what she wanted.
«Oh, goodness... You two would’ve gotten married... Do you still want that marriage?»
And there it was. Just what they needed. Of course, she would’ve much rather preferred if she gave them a wish and gave them the Euclid’s Elements back, but marriage was probably the second-best thing she could offer them. But she wasn’t about to talk. Now, it was Muhammad’s turn. She already did the hardest part of lying, he just had to say what both of them wanted anyway. So she lightly poked him in the side, signalling for him to talk.
«Yes. If that would be possible and fine with you, we would love to get married.»
She felt his hands shaking a bit on her back. Was he so scared to ask for that? Or was he scared that she would refuse? As much as Fatima disliked her, she knew very well that the woman was a kind soul. She already felt bad for them, so there was no way she would refuse this request. Even if it was a little bold of them.
«Sure, but I’ve got a question for you first and depending on your answer, I will decide. Fatima, why did Muhammad call you “Sitara” yesterday instead of Fatima?»
Crap! Did Prince Hulegu remember that? It is a name, it’s not like it would seem weird. But they knew her as Fatima. They never met her as Sitara. They don’t know she was actually a slave to a scholar family, not their daughter! She had to think of something fast. Of something convincing enough.
Her name meant “star”, right? She could throw some truth in, and then some lie on top. It’s not like they would know. It’s not like they would care! It’s not like they would know the truth. She just wasn’t expecting a question like that. So she pushed Muhammad away and turned fully to the Lady.
«Oh! There is an easy, silly explanation. When we were kids, we would always sneak out and watch the stars together, so he gave me the nickname “Star” at first. But because other kids were teasing him about it, he came up with “Sitara” instead and has called me that for years. Sometimes my mother would say that that’s the reason why they wanted to marry us to each other.»
Was that a convincing enough story? Was that a convincing enough lie? She tried to sound bittersweet, from a happy but also sort of sad memory, keeping her eyes down while fidgeting with her fingers. She just needed to convince her. Maybe the Princes wouldn’t believe her, but she just needed Sorghaghtani to believe her. There was only one person to convince here. And she was waiting for her reaction. Watching her closely from under her eyes, hoping that she would react the way she needed her to.
«Very well then... Let’s get married! We should do a little ceremony for you! Wouldn’t that be nice?»
It worked! It actually worked! She looked up with the happiest look she had ever had in the past couple of years. And then she looked to the side, where Muhammad was standing. He also had a happy smile on his face, but instead of looking at Lady Sorghaghtani, he was looking at her. He opened his arms to her, and she just jumped into them, hugging him tightly around the neck.
«Who are you marrying? Are you leaving me, Sorghi?!»
Before they could actually celebrate, they let go of each other again, letting the Fourth Prince go right past them and fall to his knees in front of the Lady. She just watched the man grab the bottom of the woman’s skirt and start crying. Well, that was awkward. She already knew just how much he loved her, but seeing him cry because he misunderstood her words was something.
She looked to her side, expecting to see Muhammad still standing there, but he was not there. He was there just a moment ago! She looked towards the entrance as it closed again. Did he leave? Why would he leave without being dismissed? She looked worriedly back, but only saw Lady Sorghaghtani smile awkwardly as she tried to comfort her husband.
«Fatima... Can you go tell Hulegu that it’s time for him to study with Muhammad? I will be waiting for you back here afterwards.»
She just nodded and threw a quick look around the room. It seemed like Prince Hulegu was also absent from the tent... Could it be that he was the one who took Muhammad? Was he going to do something to him? She hoped not. It was her soon-to-be-husband. She didn’t want anything to happen to him…
She bowed slightly and, in that position, left the tent backwards before turning around to see what was happening outside and where the other two could possibly be. Thankfully, they were standing just outside the tent, and it didn’t seem like a friendly interaction, as both of them were frowning.
«You should treat Fatima the same way my dad treats my mum! If you treat her worse than that, I will make Fatima a widow!»
«I will treat my wife as well as one only can. Can you, please, not threaten me?»
Fatima should’ve stayed quiet, but they just looked so silly. Prince Hulegu kept trying to punch Muhammad, but he just kept walking away from him and his little hands. He was just lucky that the little boy was younger and smaller. She was scared to imagine how he would be once he grew up... That’s a thought for later. For now, she had to stop them. So she walked down the stairs of the tent and coughed to get their attention.
«Fatima! If he treats you badly, just tell me, I will find you a better husband!»
He looked so proud of his statement. He put his hands at his sides and stood with his head held high. How could someone so small have so much pride? She should agree with his words, probably, but there was no better husband for her than Muhammad. Besides, she just stepped out quickly to send them to study, as she was ordered. So she wasn’t going to stay here for long.
«Thank you for your concern, Prince Hulegu, but I am more than satisfied with this one. Lady Sorghaghtani said that it is time to study. I have to go now. I will see you later, Muhammad.»
She threw a quick smile at her future husband and then bowed quickly and ran the stairs back up. She wanted to hug him or kiss him goodbye, but she couldn’t! If she did at the moment, she would surely fall apart. She had a full day ahead of her. A full day of work. So she had to take a deep breath and return inside the tent, where the man was still crying in Lady Sorghaghtani’s lap.