***
{Inside The Projection}
Time bled slow as it always did.
Yet, through all that time, Malik never left the Golden Throne.
The dais was home for a time too long...
In feeling, not in length.
Nearly everyone had left the Holy Palace.
And yes, that included every leader of his Sultanate, the Grand Viziers, Court Leaders, Dīwān Officials, City Governors, Military Commanders, Spiritual Heads, Diplomatic Envoys, Judges, Advisers, and all High Nobles.
It was chaos.
In the midst of all that, Layla, his wife, had left as well.
As did Azeem, leaving only when he found Badroulbadour a beautiful place to rest.
By then, barely anyone remained, a few stragglers at most, servants who had nowhere else to go.
Malik was left alone, abandoned by most.
His people, aside from his Shurtat al-Khamis, able to be counted on one hand alone.
The Holy City hummed with rumors: their Sultan was forsaken!
Never had they heard about such a mass exodus before...
