She collapsed, her legs too weak to support her. Her heart struggled between pain and love. Why hadn’t he told her? Why had he let her believe she was rejected like trash? Yusha knelt beside her again. « I didn’t mean to hurt you. I came to the village in disguise because I was tired of the suitors who loved the throne, not the man. I heard of a blind girl rejected by her father. I watched you from afar for weeks before proposing to your father, disguised as a beggar. I knew he would accept, because he wanted to be rid of you. »
Tears streamed down Zainab’s cheeks. The pain of her father’s rejection mingled with disbelief at a man willing to do so much to find a heart like hers. She didn’t know what to say and simply asked, « And now? What will happen? »
Yusha gently squeezed her hand. « Now you come with me, to my world, to the palace. »
Her heart leaped. « But I’m blind. How could I be a princess? »
He replied tenderly, « You already are, my princess. »
That night, she barely slept. Her thoughts swirled around her father’s cruelty, Yusha’s love, and the terrifying unknown that awaited her. In the morning, a royal carriage pulled up in front of the hut. Guards dressed in black and gold bowed to Yusha and Zainab as they stepped out. Zainab clung to Yusha’s arm as the carriage set off for the palace.
Upon their arrival, a crowd had already gathered. People were astonished by the return of the long-lost prince, and even more so by his presence with a blind young woman. Yusha’s mother, the queen, stepped forward, her eyes narrowed as she studied Zainab. Zainab bowed respectfully. Yusha stood beside her and declared, « This is my wife, the woman I chose, the one who saw my soul when no one else could. »
The queen remained silent for a moment, then stepped forward to embrace Zainab. « So, she is my daughter, » she said. Zainab nearly fainted with relief. Yusha squeezed her hand and whispered, « I told you, you are safe. »
That evening, settled in their apartments, Zainab stood by the window, listening to the sounds of the palace. Her whole life had changed in a single day. She was no longer « that thing » locked in a dark room. She was a wife, a princess, a woman loved not for her body or her beauty, but for her soul. And yet, in this moment of peace, a shadow remained: her father’s hatred. She knew the world would not easily accept her, that the court would whisper and mock her blindness, and that enemies would emerge within the palace walls. But, for the first time, she no longer felt small. She felt powerful.
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