HAYATI

Sick

Him

"Aahh..." Khalid forcefully opens his and he finds himself in his room, in his bed.

There's no one else. Only him and all the curtains are drawn and the room is cool and dark. Only a small carved earthen lamp was lit to permit enough light in the room.

He rubs his face with his hands. He feels tired and weak. And he's exhausted from body pain.

Khalid tries to recall what happened yesterday but it's all mixed up in his mind. His exhaustion does not allow him to link back to whatever happened yesterday. He decides on calling someone first.

"Hamdan....Hamdann.." His voice is much softer and meek now.

Hamdan quickly rushes inside. He was probably already standing outside waiting for Khalid to call him.

"Your awake."

"Yes. What time is it ?"

"Late morning. It'll be Zuhr (2nd out of the 5 prayers of the day offered by Muslims) in like two hours." Hamdan shrugs.

"What happened ?"

"You came back early morning looking all sick and then you fainted."

"Probably due to empty stomach."

"And due to the rain."

Khalid nods.

"I'll send some breakfast for you. You better finish it all if you want to be normal again." Hamdan says, helping him to sit up.

Khalid rests his back on the bed's headboard.

" I have some work for you."

"Ok but let me ask the kitchen staff to make you some breakfast." And he leaves instantly.

Khalid patiently waits for him to return. He returns after a few minutes.

"They were already preparing it for you. It's done." He places a small table on the bed.

Someone knocks on the door.

"Come in." Khalid allows whoever is on the other side.

An middle aged women comes in with a tray of food and she places it on the table and after a giving a quick nod to Khalid she leaves.

"Go on." Hamdan urges him to eat.

Lazily Khalid takes a large sip of milk and gulps it down.

"Now listen carefully. There's a man named Jamal Hasan who lives at the end of the bazaar. I want you to go there today and meet him. Give him this." Khalid hands him a small sack of gold coins.

"For what ?"

" He's very troubled. He's in debt under one of Hijazi's men who's threatening to kidnap his daughter. I've hired him to work as a spy and tell me everything that goes on there. Apparently some of Hijazi's men are using the palaces name to do whatever they wish."

"I told you this Hijazi is a.."

"Don't ruin your mood because of him. You ask anyone there and they'll lead you to Jamal's house. Give him the money and ask him to stay absolutely normal and observe quietly and then whenever I need him we'll send a gaurd to inform him."

"Alright and what about the man threatening to kidnap his daughter ? What's his name ?"

"He's in the palace. Go and put him under arrest. I'll deal with him once I'm a little better. His name is Burhan. I don't know his surname."

"Don't worry. I know him, he's just a useless creature. Does nothing, all he would do was peep inside the harem until you became king and sent the girls back to their homes."