by Emma Easter
The pain and injustice of it all was too much to bear. Her emotions churned and roiled. Her head began to ache and she felt a panic attack coming on. She shut her eyes and began to pray for peace. She also prayed for wisdom.
A minute later, she began to feel some sense of peace settle over her. She took a deep breath, and then opened her eyes. Rekiya had given up trying to have a conversation with her and was talking to one of the other wives in front of them.
Leila was grateful for that. She was tired of listening to Rekiya tell her that Dauda was a good man. For her, a good man loved and married only one woman. She could not, no, would not share any man she married with other women. She couldn’t stay in this marriage. The Lord would not allow it. He would make a way for her to escape.
As they began to approach the small airport, her heart beat faster and faster.
They all got down from the bus when they reached the airport and Leila looked around her. The children walked in front of the wives, Dauda behind them. Three bodyguards surrounded the wives. One stood directly behind Leila.
They all entered the airport building together. Leila was dismayed when they went straight to the terminal, and then began to make their way to a small plane a short distance away.
She kept looking around, trying to see if there was a way of escape. But there wasn’t. Even if she made a run for it now, she would be caught in seconds.
She continued to pray, holding on to a shred of hope that the Lord would rescue her soon. Lord, please, you have to help me. I can’t go to Saudi Arabia as one of the many wives of this man.
It felt like an out-of-body experience as she moved closer to the plane when the wife in front of her started to board. She hesitated for a minute and turned around. Rekiya was behind her. She smiled encouragingly and said, “Go on, Leila.”
Leila could not move. She stood frozen, contemplating her fate. One of the bodyguards walked up to her and stared at her. He turned to Rekiya and asked, “Is there a problem?”
Rekiya quickly shook her head and said, “No, there is no problem.” She looked pointedly at Leila. “Is there a problem, Leila?”
Leila looked at her and realized that Rekiya was blinking rapidly, clearly trying to tell her with her eyes that she should enter the plane or something unpleasant would happen. Leila considered screaming at the top of her lungs and letting anyone around know that she was being taken out of the country unwillingly, but there was really no one around who would listen to her. She knew without a doubt that no one would help her. She would enter this plane on her own accord or be bundled in. In this place, and with this man, she had no will of her own. She was her husband’s prisoner now.
“Enter,” the bodyguard said firmly to her. “You are holding others up from entering the plane.”
She felt sick to her stomach as she turned around and began to board the plane. And then she knew she couldn’t do it. She turned around again and screamed, “They are taking me on the plane by force! I don’t want to go!”
She looked at Rekiya. Her eyes had grown as wide as saucers. The bodyguard was staring at her as though she was nothing but a child throwing a tantrum. She looked around as she screamed again. Perhaps the airport security would come and help her. It was unlikely, she knew, but not impossible.
Her heart soared with hope as a man in uniform headed their way. Dauda also walked up to her and narrowed his eyes. “What is the meaning of this, Leila? You are preventing everyone behind you from entering the plane.”
She scowled at him and then looked at the man in uniform. He reached them and asked Dauda what was wrong. She frowned, totally indignant. He hadn’t even looked at her once. She was the one who had been screaming, but he acted as though she was not even present.
“Is everything okay around here?” The airport security guy asked.
“No, no it is not!” Leila shouted. She was surprised at herself. She had never done something like this, but she was desperate.
The security guy glanced at her and then back at Dauda. He asked again if there was a problem.
“There is no problem,” Dauda said. “It’s just a personal thing. My wife is angry with me and that is why she is screaming. I’ll handle it.”
Leila watched in anger and frustration as Dauda handed the man some money and he nodded. The man smiled at Dauda and then left. She should have known better than to bother. Now, from the way Dauda stared at her, she knew she would pay for what she had done somehow.
Dauda went to the back of the line again and the bodyguard said to Leila once more, “Enter the plane.”
Leila felt completely numb and hopeless as she boarded the plane. Inside, she found an empty seat and sat on it. She bit her lip as Dauda came and sat beside her. He didn’t look at her, but she could guess what he was thinking. He was letting her know that she now belonged to him forever and that there was no way of escape.
She turned from him and prayed loud enough for him to hear, “Lord, Jesus, please help me!” She didn’t care what trouble she got into by praying loudly in the Lord’s name. For all purposes, she was already in the deepest trouble she could ever be.
“You might want to say your prayers silently, especially as we are headed to Saudi. It will not go well for you there if you pray like that.”
She turned away from him and kept praying, silently this time. As long as the plane had not taken off, there was still hope for a miraculous rescue.
The plane soon began to glide on the runway, and Leila’s heart thudded. And then it took off.
For some minutes, she sat in disbelief. She was leaving behind everything and everyone she loved for a future that was bound to not end well. Not when she was a Christian heading for a Muslim country. Not when she was a woman who would fight the marriage that had been forcefully imposed on her. She would either end up dead soon or be a prisoner.
She thought about the women’s camp, the daily prayers she had taken for granted, the women as they went about singing praise songs loudly as they did their chores. She would never get to do that again. Not until she got to heaven, which might be very soon. Zainah’s face appeared in her mind. And then the tears poured down as Malik’s did. She bent down her head and wept silently for the love she had lost forever.
Chapter Nineteen
Zainah took Faizan’s hand and smiled as she looked into his eyes. They were in the prayer tent, at the women’s camp. Their guests were all the inhabitants of the camp. After her marriage had been dissolved, she and Faizan had mourned—she for Leila, and he for his sisters who he’d left behind in Rosefield. Since they couldn’t get married in Rosefield where his beloved sisters were, they had decided to go to the other place where there were people who truly loved them. They had chosen to come to the women’s camp to get married.
Faizan smiled back at her and then turned to look at Miriam, who was officiating their marriage. An overwhelming joy flooded her heart as she watched Faizan and then she grew slightly glum. She would finally be married to the man she loved more than life, but her best friend was not here to witness this happy day with her.
She had been shocked when she heard that Dauda had moved his entire family to Saudi Arabia three weeks ago, taking Leila along with him. Since then, she had prayed constantly for her best friend, asking the Lord to comfort and be with her, and that somehow, He would help Leila find a way out of Saudi Arabia again.
Tears filled Zainah’s eyes as she repeated her marriage vows after Miriam. As she did, she looked into Faizan’s glowing eyes and her heart soared with joy once more, and her despair fled. She continued to speak her vows, her eyes planted solely on Faizan’s, a huge smile on her face. After she finished saying her vows, Faizan began to say his. Halfway through, his voice choked with emotion and he paused.
Zainah squeezed his hand and smiled encouragingly at him.
“I love you,” he whispered to her. He continued to repeat the vows after Miriam. When he finished, the women and children behind them cheered.
&nb
sp; “And now, by the powers vested in me by God, before these witnesses, I now declare you husband and wife.” Miriam turned to Faizan and smiled, “You may kiss your bride.”
Zainah heart pounded with excitement and ecstasy as Faizan lifted her veil and kissed her. He drew back again, and Miriam said, “Everyone, I now present to you the newest couple in town, “Mr. and Mrs. Gardener.”
Zainah held Faizan’s hand as they both turned to face the crowd in the tent. She smiled at the familiar faces of the women she’d lived with for years. She saw, on many of their faces, hope and happiness, and she knew they were not only happy for her, but also hopeful that if she had found love and an opportunity to start a family of her own right in this place where there were no men to marry, they could too one day.
Zainah gasped as Faizan swept her off her feet and began to carry her down the aisle of the prayer tent. All the women began to clap and cheer for them. The children laughed and danced around the tent.
Outside, Zainah posed for photographs with Faizan. After the photograph with just her and her groom, they took another one with her close friends at the camp. She began to feel slightly gloomy again, recalling that Leila wasn’t here, and then she pushed the gloom away.
She and Faizan took another round of photographs with more women in the camp and then Fatima came and stood beside her and Faizan for a photograph with them. Zainah smiled at her. She was the one who had helped Zainah get the photographer and a few other things for the wedding, including the simple white dress she wore as her wedding gown.
Fatima whispered to her, “When you were searching for your Faizan months ago, I told you everything would work out eventually.”
Zainah smiled in appreciation. “Yes, you did.”
After the photographer finished taking the pictures, Fatima said to Zainah and Faizan, “You two are so in love with each other. You will both have a great wedding night.”
“Fatima!” Zainah exclaimed and chuckled with embarrassment.
Faizan laughed. He held Zainah tightly to himself and said, “Oh, we definitely will. There is no doubt about it.”
Zainah felt a warm sensation in her belly and stared into Faizan’s eyes. She felt overwhelmed with love for him and leaned in to kiss him. The camera flashed just then, and she turned.
“I had to capture that,” the photographer said. “The moment was just too beautiful to pass up.”
She and Faizan took more photographs, some with only the children. After the photographs, they went back into the prayer tent for the reception. The women had already moved around some of the rug and pillows. Zainah sat on the richly embroidered pillow that the women had kept for her and Faizan on top of a delicately woven red rug.
The wedding was so different and much simpler than the one she and Faizan’s sisters had planned in Rosefield. But somehow, this seemed a little more special. Maybe because all the women she loved were here. Except for her best friend. The familiar sadness settled on her, and she sighed.
Faizan sat beside her on an identical pillow and took her hand. He kissed it and said, “It will work out somehow, Zainah. The Lord is with Leila no matter where she is.”
Binta, talkative as usual, had been chosen to be the MC of the occasion and as she came out to the front, she began to talk about Zainah and Faizan. How he had fallen from the sky and now was Zainah’s husband. Everyone laughed when she said, “Who says good husbands don’t fall from the sky?”
Zainah smiled at Faizan and shifted closer to him. “I can’t believe I am finally your wife,” she said.
“And I can’t believe that I am now your husband,” he said softly.
The wedding went on with the women and children providing the music. They ate the food that all the women in the camp had cooked, simple but hearty dishes. After they ate, Faizan took Zainah’s hand and went to the middle of the tent. Someone raised a song of praise, and he and Zainah held each other tightly and danced. After that, the children sang while everyone came out and danced round the tent.
The wedding went late into the night with everyone dancing and singing. They all provided the music for the wedding. The songs were sometimes sung off-key, but Zainah thought it was funny.
At about two in the morning, Faizan took Zainah’s hand and led her out of the tent. Zainah smiled as they walked away, hearing the joyful singing and laughter of the women still celebrating her wedding.
They both entered the tent that Zainah had shared with Leila and a few other women, but which would now be where she and Faizan would begin their lives together as husband and wife. The women had kindly decorated it with an abundance of bright colored rugs and mats, and embroidered pillows with gold tassels.
Faizan said, “Our new home, Zainah. It’s nowhere like the one we were supposed to live in Rosefield, but it’s warm and cozy, and we have great neighbors.” Her heart drummed with excitement as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. He finally drew back and said, “I love you so much, Mrs. Gardner.” He kissed her again.
When he drew back this time, she felt slightly sad. Because of her, he would never be able to go back to the United States and see his sisters. “I’m so sorry that your sisters aren’t here for our wedding, Faizan. I know you will miss them, but I will try my best to make up for it.” She kissed him slowly and then pulled back again.
He smiled at her and his eyes swept over her, causing her to tremble. “I like where this is going,” he said. And then he sobered. He cupped her face with his hands and said, “I will miss my sisters and the life I had in Rosefield, but nothing can trade the joy I feel now that I am finally married to you. You bring me so much joy, Zainah. I love my sisters, but you are my family now. You are enough.”
She had silently feared he would soon come to resent her for taking him away from his family and the life he had in the United States. But now, his words melted away her guilt. “And you are enough for me, too,” she said to him.
He hugged her tightly and then twirled her around. She squealed in delight when he dipped her and then held her close. They began to dance to the music floating in from the wedding tent, and Zainah knew that her life with Faizan would always be like this: it would be a wonderful dance.
The story continues in …
Love Will Prevail
Book Five of
The Sisters of Rosefield Series
Also by Emma Easter
The Sisters of Rosefield Series
Book One: Love Is Enough
Book Two: Quest For Love
Book Three: Love Means Everything
Book Four: Falling In Love
Book Five: Love Will Prevail
Book Six: Blessed With Love
About the Author
Emma Easter is a rising star in the genre of Christian contemporary romance. She specializes in writing wholesome, inspirational love stories. Her faith-based works appeal to fans of character-driven novels with interesting plot twists.
Emma grew up in a Christian household and now enjoys sharing her faith through her writing. She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her loving husband and three young children.
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EmmaEaster.com
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