Chapter 28 The Palace Between Fire and Frost
4 months passed to their marriage. Hatim and Sana shared many peaceful and lovely moments. They came close, became one. But something that didn't change was how everyone looked at her, not with love but suspicious and disgust. She didn't told Hatim but he knew something was brewing behind his back.
One night, the moonlight filtered through the royal courtyard, silver and cold.
Sana sat beneath the sacred neem tree, wrapped in a shawl too thin for the weather, but she didn’t move. She wasn’t cold—not anymore. Not when the fire inside her hummed louder than ever before.
Behind her, the sound of boots.
She didn’t need to turn to know who it was.
Hatim.
He always walked with the quiet confidence of someone who could command storms with a whisper. And lately, he had become something more. Fiercer. Colder. Possessive in a way that made her heart stutter.
> “Why are you out here?” his voice was low. Soft. Dangerous.
Sana didn’t answer at first.
Hatim stepped in front of her, crouched down, and gently tilted her chin up. His brows furrowed when he saw her face.
> “You’ve been crying.”
She tried to look away, but his grip was firm.
> “Tell me who hurt you,” he said, deadly quiet.
She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
> “Nothing makes my wife cry,” he said, standing up, fists clenched. “Nothing gets to touch you unless I allow it.”
His words made her chest ache—but not with fear.
With confusion. And something else she didn’t dare name.
> “Hatim,” she whispered. “You’re changing.”
> “I am,” he said, turning to face the dark courtyard. “You made me believe in softness. And then the world reminded me why softness gets killed first.”
There was a silence.
> “Did someone speak ill of you again?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Some of the nobles. The maids. They think I bewitched you. That I used you to become queen.”
Hatim’s jaw tightened.
> “Let them speak,” he said, stepping closer. “But from now on, they will bow when they see you. If anyone dares insult you again—I’ll burn their name from the royal books.”
Sana’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t—”
> “I would,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Because you are mine. Not because I own you, but because I chose you. I will always choose you. In front of the court. In front of the gods. In front of every damned whisper in this palace.”
---
The next morning, the palace was different.
Guards stood taller. Servants moved quieter. And Sana?
She walked beside Hatim down the grand staircase dressed in deep blue silks, her veil trailing behind her like water.
He did not walk in front of her.
He walked with her.
And when the nobles bowed, he made sure they bowed to her too.
> “Your Highness,” one of the ministers stammered, unsure whether to greet Sana as princess or queen.
Hatim didn’t hesitate.
> “This is Sana of Chandlok. My wife. My flame. My queen.”
Gasps filled the hallway.
Roshni heard it from her chambers.
She broke a glass.
---
Later, in the throne room, Roshni summoned Hatim.
The guards closed the doors behind him, and for a moment, it was just mother and son.
> “So this is what love does?” Roshni sneered. “It makes you weak enough to let a nobody sit beside you on the throne?”
> “Weak?” Hatim stepped forward, eyes blazing. “No, Amma. You made me weak. Your lies, your fear, your obsession with bloodlines and purity. That’s weakness.”
Roshni’s face turned pale.
> “And Sana?”
> “Sana is my strength,” he said simply.
She slapped him.
But Hatim didn’t flinch.
He stepped closer.
> “Try to touch her again, and I won’t stop at words, Amma.”
---
That evening, Sana sat by her vanity, touching the mangalsutra around her neck. Her fingers glowed faintly.
She hadn’t noticed it before, but the black beads were beginning to warm against her skin whenever she was near Hatim.
Magic?
Or love?
Or both?
Meher entered the room, holding a letter.
> “Sana,” she said breathlessly. “Another message. From the shadow.”
Sana opened it slowly.
> “The mirror cracks when fire meets ice,” it read.
“And the stars will bleed before they bless.”
She looked up at Meher.
> “Something’s coming.”
Meher nodded. “And you need to be ready.”
---
That night, Sana walked out to the old temple ruins.
The air was still. Too still.
And then—he appeared.
The faceless shadow.
> “You’ve begun to believe in your power,” he said. “Good. But belief is only the first step.”
> “What’s the second?”
> “War.”
Sana’s eyes widened.
> “But I don’t even know what I can do—”
> “You will,” the shadow interrupted. “When it matters most.”
He stepped back into the darkness.
> “But be warned—Hatim is powerful. Too powerful. And power like his… was not made to be bound by love.”
> “What do you mean?”
> “You’ll see,” the voice whispered, fading like smoke. “When the fire in him turns against the stars.”
---
Back in their chamber, Hatim lay awake.
Sana returned, silent.
He turned to her, brushing her hair back.
> “Where did you go?”
> “To find answers.”
> “Did you find them?”
She looked at him, his features bathed in moonlight.
> “I found more questions.”
He pulled her close.
> “Then we’ll find the answers together. No matter what.”
Her heart tightened.
> Even if the answer is pain? she wondered.
But she didn’t ask.
She just held him.
And the stars above held their breath.
---
?? Author’s Note:
HELLO??? Chapter 28 said power couples only ???? Hatim is officially entering his “you hurt my queen, I burn your legacy” era and I’m here for every second of it ??
We’re seeing the palace shift. People are watching. Roshni is FUMING. And Sana? She's glowing, baby.
Also that ending? ?? Yeah... not everything is as sweet as it seems. A fire is coming. You feel it too, right?