Page 7 of Dirty Wild Sultan

“She is my daughter,”our father said. “I will decide her future for the betterment of Azmia. She needs to accept the betrothal for our future.”

“No, she does not.” I glared at him, taking a step closer and trying to talk to him. Zara’s cheeks were wet with tears. My heart thundering in my chest. “Let her go,baba. She is a kid.”

He bellowed out, his face scrunched in anguish. “She is a monster! A witch! Ever since she was born, she has brought nothing but misery to our country. Our neighbors.” His eyes turned red when he glared at her. “She killed my wives.”

Zara shook her head, my heart breaking at the sight. She shouldn’t hear such things from our father. He was angry and sad, trying to blame her for everything that had happened.

“I didn’t k-kill them,” she hiccupped, trying to get away from our father.

“Yes, you did! Maybe I should kill you too,” he said, his lips curling in anger.

Khalid whispered beside me, “Please do something, Zain. He is… he is hurting her.”

My eyes widened. I didn’t want to believe it. All the rumors and concerned talk about my father going insane. But I was seeing it with my own eyes. Even though we bore the mark of his anger, I thought of him as the most powerful sultan, but seeing him trying to hurt my sister, his own daughter, for something we couldn’t prevent from happening made it all clear.

“Baba!Stop!” I shouted, stepping between his hand that was going to strike my sister. I held in my wince when his palm hit my cheek, the pain ringing through my skin to my body as I took a step back, my arms protecting my sister.

“Stupid boy, move away!” He snapped, ready to strike again, and for the first time, I raised my arm to block his hit. I knew I would get punished for it later, but I wouldn’t allow myself to watch him hurt another human being again. I couldn’t allow that anymore. Not with Zara.

I gave him a little push, his hand wrapping around the cane he needed to use because of his old age and weak legs. The same cane that had been… no, I didn’t have enough time to relive the past. I needed to make sure my brother and sister were safe. I broke the hold of his hand on her wrist and bristled at the red hand prints that marked the pale skin of my sister’s arm.

It must have hurt her.

Swallowing my anger and hate, I crouched and wiped her tears. “Go with your brother Khalid. He will take you to your room, okay?”

She nodded, rushing towards Khalid, hugging his legs when he frowned at me and our father. “What are you doing, Zain?” he asked.

“I am making sure our father doesn’t hurt anyone again,” I said, glaring at the man who shared my blood.

Salman Al Latif laughed. There was something cruel and wicked about it. “You will hurt your father? Your own blood, boy? You can’t even wield a sword properly and you dare talk back to me!”

I ignored my fear of backing away when he straightened his stance, his grey hair wild, his eyes even wilder when he looked at Zara, her little frame cowering behind Khalid’s legs. Even he held his ground in front of our father.

“Come to your father, Zara,” he yelled, rage filling his voice.

He didn’t seem human anymore. He was the monster, driving away our mothers and hurting us.

“Khalid, take her away from here,” I said, stopping him in his path.

He glared at me, raising his hand, which I held back with my strength. At least the lessons we had learned to fight wouldn’t go to waste. I heard Khalid calling out my name, but it was too late.

I hissed in pain, dropping to my knees when his cane struck the back of my knee, my legs giving out underneath me. I held his leg when he tried to walk past me. “Don’t be reckless, Father. She is your daughter.”

He huffed, pulling his leg from my grip. “That monster is not my daughter. You should watch how you talk to me, boy; you don’t want to end up like her, do you?”

I warned Khalid once again, not seeing the cane until it was too late. I squeezed my eyes shut when my head throbbed with the pain, my hand lifting to my head as I felt warm liquid rushing out. I blinked at the red coating my fingers, my vision blurring when I tried to stop him. Stop the monster my father had become.

But I couldn’t.

When I managed to stand up, it was too late. Blood turned the Egyptian rug red, the guilty and scared look of Khalid where he stood frozen in front of Zara’s little body. Across him was the slumped body of our father, blood staining his tunic as Khalid pulled out the sword with weak hands. His voice was shaky when he whispered ‘baba.’

No, no, no.

I blinked again, staggering towards them and watching our father fall back on the rug, Khalid’s eyes wide with shock as Zara tried her best to swallow her scream.

She hugged Khalid, my eyes averting to the sword dripping with crimson blood. I took it from his cold hand and whispered, “It’s okay, Khalid. Zara. It’sokay.”

Tears slid down my younger brother’s face as he shook his head. “It’s not. It’s my fault. I… I killed—”

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