Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,48

and only God, but just like Judaism doesn’t believe in Christianity or Islam while Islam believes in both, Christianity doesn’t believe in Islam but believes in Judaism.

“There is also a rule in Islam that forbids anyone to force another into becoming Muslim, so no Muslim male would ever force his non-Muslim wife into becoming a Muslim, too. But there is no such a rule in Christianity or Judaism, so you can’t guarantee that a non-Muslim husband wouldn’t force his wife into converting to his religion, you know? Also, there are lots of things that we practice every day, like praying and so on, and a non-Muslim husband could prevent his Muslim wife from doing this or that, which would affect her relationship with God,” she explained.

Wow! How did she even understand what she was saying? It was really complicated. But I had to admit, it made sense and was somewhat convincing.

I nodded my head slowly as I tried to take in everything she’d said. Glad to know that they had such a rule, because religion wasn’t something you could shove down someone’s throat. It’s a belief. Comes from the heart and to the heart. It was good to hear that no one was going to think of forcing me into changing my religion while I stayed here, because God knows I wouldn’t do it even if it cost me my life.

“Why did he have to change his name?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“He didn’t have to,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s optional as long as your name isn’t offensive to Islam. His old name wasn’t, but he wanted to change it, anyway.”

“How was it even possible to do all of that in such a short time? I mean, you’re still in your first trimester, right?” I wondered.

“It’s not a huge deal when you’re royal, Marie. All of the legal papers and so on were taken care of in one day, no big deal,” she said. “As for his converting, it only takes the person saying, ‘There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his servant and prophet,’ to become a Muslim – after that comes the practicing and stuff. God is the only one who could judge what’s in your heart, though. Not people.” A tear escaped her eyes, and I knew why it was there; she had begun to doubt everything about my brother after what I’d told her earlier. I didn’t blame her, and I could only imagine what she was going through right now.

Yes, I was betrayed, as well. Big time. But for her, the guilt of her mistake that had caused all of this was topping all of it. She must’ve really been suffering.

It didn’t escape me that she’d put all of her pain aside and took the time to explain things to me, because I was completely clueless about the whole thing. About Islam all together, to be quite honest. I didn’t know if it was because of what she felt for me. Because ‘it was killing her’–as the prince had put it–what her actions did to me: causing me to witness things I would’ve never thought I would face in my life. Or if it was the pure kindness in her and she was genuinely that nice and that was a part of her nature–to put her feelings aside for others.

Whichever way, the weight of the world of sadness and sorrow was filling her chocolate-brown eyes, and I felt the undeniable urge to try to ease it somehow. Her pain, I wanted to ease.

“You do realize that he did all he did for you, Janna, don’t you?” I asked in a low voice.

A new round of tears attacked her cheeks as she cried her pain.

“I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry, I swear, I’m so, so sorry.”

“No, no. I didn’t mean it that way. Please, don’t misunderstand me.” Way to go, Marie. You upset her even more! “I meant that he went through all of this just for you, because he loves you, Janna. He really does,” I reassured her.

She looked at me with her tears-clouded eyes. “Does he, really? Why don’t you believe he only did it out of pity? He knew they would’ve killed me if we couldn’t get married. I wish he would’ve let them do it; I wouldn’t have let you and my brother suffer because of my own mistake.”

“Hey, don’t say that,” I said. “No one deserves to die...to get killed... because of a moment of