The party was not Faraji's idea. In fact, his mother and the whole house went completely against everything he'd ever said by throwing it. It was extravagant, lavish, everything one would expect from the marriage of one of Essryn's highest ranking families - especially the heir to the entire fortune.
People wondered, often, why Faraji wasn't married yet and why, after 5 years, he still pushed off his wedding. Saanvi was a lovely girl from a rising family without a single stain on her character. They were bethrothed when she was just 16 which had been Faraji's excuse for a long time but now?
He didn't have an excuse. It didn't matter he was almost a decade older. It didn't matter he felt nothing for her. She was nice. She was polite. He wished her the best.
He just didn't wish her for him.
"Faraji..." blast it all, his mother, Havalia, had found him hiding in his office buried in ledgers. Avoiding the festivities. His highly decorated garments didn't fit with the plain aesthetic of his work space, and his head coverings were certainly not a normal day-to-day look. He was a future groom.
"Mother." He responded curtly.
"This is a party for you. You disrespect Saanvi by being in here. You disrespect this family."
"There is a lot of work that needs to be finished. I'll return when it's done." He tried to brush her off.
She wasn't having it and plucked the quill from his hand and pointed towards the door, "You have a duty to that girl." she hissed.
Faraji stood quickly and towered over her, "A duty you forced." He shot back before slamming the drawer closed and storming from the room. He had never forgiven her for this engagement...for the letter he'd received from the woman he actually intended to marry congratulating him and then disappearing from his life.
It was over. He knew it was. Saanvi was his future, but he couldn't bring himself to treat her any differently than one of his sisters and...if they wed...
He would be forced to truly betray her.
"Faraji..." a voice whispered from around the corner. His manservant.
"Faraji, she's here. Just outside the gates."
His breath caught and his heart practically stopped. She was here...? Outside? After all of these years they were in the same place at the same time and he was cursed to be at this God forsaken party!
It didn't matter.
He turned down another hallway, down a flight of stairs away from the festivities, and slipped out into the twilight and walked as quickly as he could. Side gate. He couldn't be seen. He had to be discrete.
He had to see her.
And then...
"Ibra..." he practically choked, staring at her back as she turned to walk away from the estate.