Chapter 10 –– Sanctuary

“Long time no see, Amal.”

Dawoud just greeted the person standing in front of the tree. It seemed like the two of them knew each other.

Judging from his behaviour, Dawoud looked somehow nervous. Meanwhile, the woman looked somewhat agitated.

“Who’s this?” she asked, referring to me.

“Oh, right. Amal, meet Noam. Noam, this is Amal.”

Dawoud introduced me to the woman. He didn’t really say each of our relationship with him to each other, so I didn’t know what she was to him.

“Nice to meet you, Noam. I’m Dawoud’s ex-girlfriend.”

!?

So that was the reason of all the tension and awkwardness around here. Dawoud looked just as surprised as I was upon hearing what she just said.

“I’m surprised to see you here. Aren’t you supposed to be out of town?” Dawoud asked.

“I’m on leave for the festival,” she answered briefly.

She then looked at me from the top of my head to the tip of my feet, scanning my looks. She noticed that I was not a Caninus tribesman. She examined me like she was judging me or something.

“So this is your new one, huh?” she said with a smug.

I didn’t understand what she meant by that, but it sounded like an insult.

“How very typical of you to bring him here. Can’t say I’m surprised,” she continued.

“Amal, don’t....” Dawoud said, trying to stop her from talking further.

At this point, I was actually curious to what she was going to say. I was starting to wonder what was going on around here.

“Did he mention that he used to bring me here too?” she said with anger in her voice.

“Amal, stop––”

“Did he also bring you to that famous restaurant? To the park?”

I just realised what she was trying to say. He brought me to places that he used to go with her while they were dating.

“To his workplace?”

That last part hit me. It suddenly reminded me of a worker who warned me about him.

“Be careful, Dawoud is known to be a playboy in this village.”

The woman stepped forward to get closer to me. She then whispered these words to me.

“I’m saying this to you as a fellow omega. Don’t get tricked by an alpha like him. He’ll get bored of you eventually. Don’t think that you’re special.”

Dawoud stepped forward and got in between me and her. He looked really pissed off and stared right into her eyes.

“Don’t disrespect him like that. He is my intended,” Dawoud revealed with rage.

The woman looked surprised knowing that I was his intended. She looked spiteful.

“For now. Let’s see how long that will last.”

She then left the place and went upstairs, returning to the catacomb. She looked like she was holding back tears upon leaving.

Judging from the interaction just now, it seemed like she still had some unresolved feelings with Dawoud. Dawoud didn’t seem to feel the same way, though.

“Noam, are you okay?”

I was so lost in my own thought that I didn’t notice Dawoud had been calling my name for a while now. I couldn’t deny that what that woman just said bothered me. She really got into my head.

“Do you wanna go back to the catacomb?” Dawoud asked me.

“Yeah. Let’s go back,” I told him, having lost the mood to explore the place.

It was such a shame that I couldn’t see more of these flying lowstriches. I lost the mood by what happened just now and I thought it would be better if we return to the catacomb before they found out that we skipped the prayer.

“Where have you two been!?” Lord Hamza shouted at us.

The moment we returned to Dawoud’s ancestors’ tombs, everyone was in panic, looking for us. Turned out, we didn’t make it in time and returned after they were done praying.

“Where did you two go!? Don’t tell me....in this sacred place...”

Lord Hamza looked extremely furious. No wonder. He must have felt disrespected on such an important moment of the year, especially by an outsider. I shouldn’t have allowed him to take me to that sanctuary and leave the ritual. I felt ashamed.

“We didn’t do such a thing, father. It was my fault. I brought him with me,” Dawoud replied, trying to take responsibility for his action.

Lord Hamza approached us and got closer to Dawoud. He then swung his hand on Dawoud’s cheek, smacking him. It made a loud sound that echoed throughout the room.

“I am ashamed of you.”

Upon hearing those words, Fatima walked towards me crying, scared of what her father did to her brother. I picker her up and hugged her to calm her down.

Dawoud looked embarrassed. He was humiliated by his father in front of his whole family and me. He must be feeling very vulnerable right now.

After we were done paying visit to their ancestors, we then returned to the mansion for the rest of the day.

In the evening, I tried to come to Dawoud’s room to check on him, but the servants told me that he was grounded and I was not allowed to visit him for the time being. I felt sad because I couldn’t help him alleviate what he was going through. What he needed was someone to listen to him right now, not being isolated as a form of punishment.

Since I didn’t have anyone else to talk to, I just returned to my room to let the time pass by. Not long after I entered the room, someone knocked on my door.

“Lord Noam, it’s me, Dawoud’s mother. May I come in?”

I immediately went to the door to welcome her. Of course she can. This is her house.

“Please, come in.”

We then took a seat on a table at the corner of the room to have a conversation. I didn’t know what she wanted to say to me, but I had a feeling it was about the incident earlier today.

“I hope I’m not bothering you with anything,” she said, politely.

“No, no. Not at all. How can I help you, Lady Rochlin?”

“I’m here to apologize for my husband’s behaviour earlier today. He can be quite...quick-tempered, sometimes.”

See. It is about today’s incident.

“I feel sorry for your son. But, you don’t have to worry about that, Lady Rochlin. I also apologise for having failed to preventing him from leaving.”

“You have nothing to apologise. That child has always been such a troublemaker. Even if you didn’t come with him, he would still leave anyway.”

Ah. So his mother knew him so well. She must be accustomed to his rebellious shenanigans.

“My husband is angry because Dawoud took you with him. We didn’t want anything bad happen to you. Especially not in that dark, eerie place.”

Aah, I see. So that was why they were so hard on him.

“Don’t worry, Lady Rochlin. He didn’t lay his hand on me.”

Well, he did grab my arm, but that was it. Nothing scandalous happened. I didn’t think any of us were thinking about that, either.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

She smiled at me and grabbed my hands. It felt like a mother-in-law was giving her blessing to his future son-in-law. It felt kind of nice, hehe.

“Well, if there isn’t anything else, I should get going.”

Lady Rochlin got up from her seat. Before she left, I asked her one last question.

“Actually, there is something I’d like to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you know....Amal?”

Upon hearing that name, Lady Rochlin was surprised and stupefied.

“Where did you hear that name?” she asked curiously.

“I heard it when we were in the catacomb.”

Well, that wasn’t a total lie. I did hear her name in the catacomb, after Dawoud and I met her at the sanctuary.

Lady Rochlin took a moment to think. She then replied to me.

“I will tell you about her tomorrow. Now, if you’ll excuse me...”

She then left me alone in my room. Not long after she left, my handmaiden, Syifra, entered the room.

“Lord Noam, here is the agenda for tomorrow.”

She then gave me a piece of paper for tomorrow’s agenda. It looked packed as hell. Looked like I was gonna be spending half of the day with Lady Rochlin. I was curious to hear what she had to say to me about Amal tomorrow.

Next thing in the morning, before the first daystone lit up, Syifra–– my personal handmaiden–– woke me up and told me to get ready for breakfast. This was around the same time as yesterday. Since I thought that this was part of the tradition, I did as I was told and got ready for the day.

Unlike yesterday, though. They did not prepare any special outfit for the day. I was told to wear anything as long as it was polite and comfortable. I soon joined the rest of the family for breakfast.

The breakfast for today was a whole new level. It was like some sort of banquet or something. Do they celebrate the festival right in the morning?

Everyone seemed as if they were famished. They ate with much gusto. The servants were even overwhelmed by how many plates had to be replaced, one after another. This was starting to pique my interest.

“What’s going on?” I asked Dawoud who was sitting beside me.

“Eat as much as you can. We are going to fast after the first daystone lights up,” he answered while munching on some meat on the table.

Oh, wow. Fasting? I never did that in my life. Will I be able to do it?

“Don’t worry. If you can’t hold it anymore, you can break your fast anytime of the day. There is an exception for outsiders.”

Right, of course. Well, I didn’t want to bother them by making them prepare some food for me while they were holding off their hunger. I had to try as best as I could, just for today.

Five minutes before the first daystone lit up, everyone was ordered to stop eating and drinking. After this, no more food or drink was gonna be provided by the staff, except for the children. I was told that the fasting ritual lasted for about a day and we were allowed to break our fast after the first nightstone lit up. That means it was around....12 to 13 hours of fasting. Whew. I hope I survive.

After that, I was told to get back to my room to have some rest. I heard that other members of the family went back to sleep to conserve their energy and do their activities later in the afternoon, while some others just relax to let the day pass by. The Bluemoon Festival starts at night right when we break our fast, so there is still plenty of time before that.

After I went back to my room, someone knocked on my door and opened it before I could even say anything. It was Dawoud.

“Can I come in?” he said confidently.

“Come.”

I told him to sit next to me, on the bed. It felt too formal for me to sit on the chair like I did with Lady Rochlin. Besides, we shared a bed already, anyway. W–well, only because I was sick, of course....

“What’s up?” I asked him.

“About yesterday...”

Dawoud held my paws with his his. His paws were warm. They reminded me like his mother’s. Was this part of their tradition? Conversing while holding hands?

Since he did it so abruptly, my heart beat faster than usual. Dammit, heart. Please don’t embarrass me.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. You don’t owe me an explanation, you know,” I told him.

I mean, sure, I am his intended and he is my suitor. But still, it wasn't like we were gonna be mates for sure. He might find someone else more charming than me....and my other suitor might be more compatible with me....who knows?

“But....do you wanna know?” he asked me.

We made an eye contact while holding hands. I noticed his tail wiggling around anxiously. I could feel him feeling anxious about the conversation we were having. Well, I couldn't lie to myself.

“I do, actually. Will you tell me?” I asked him.

Despite his attempt, I could notice him trying to hide his smile and sigh in relief after hearing my answer. It seemed like he did wanna tell me about it, but only if he knew that I cared.

He then started telling me his story with his ex, Amal.