“Impossible,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Why? Why can’t I go back?”
“Because you have run away.”
“Run away?” She fumbled with her necklace. “Kaman, what have you done?” She thought of Khalid and his determination to keep her safe. He had sworn to protect her. Allowing the same fate to befall her as had Tashana was something he couldn’t contemplate. “Khalid will be desperate with worry,” she pleaded, hoping that some vestige of the affection between the two remained.
“Khalid will be angry with you, but not worried.”
“Why angry with me? And why wouldn’t he be worried?”
Kaman’s smile was soft. “You have left a note. It will assuage his concerns.”
“A note?” She shook her head in confusion. Was it the drug he’d used? Nothing seemed to make sense. “I didn’t leave a note.”
“You did. It explained that you have realised you can’t marry someone like Khalid. I am not a monster, Sally. I do not want my cousin thinking he has lost yet another bride to death.”
It confirmed her worst fears. He did not intend for her to go back. But beyond that, blinding clarity made her eyes ache. “You killed Tasha.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Yes. Why would you even try to deny it? You’ve kidnapped me. You’ve drugged me. Of course you killed Tasha. We knew it was someone inside the palace. I just never thought it could have been you!”
She felt a burst of rage. Fierce and uncontained. “How dare you? Khal loves you! He thinks the world of you! He speaks of you as though you are a gift from God! And you have done this to him!”
Her heart was sagging. “And as for Tashana …” Her voice cracked. The thought of this man – this man she had thought she liked – having killed her cousin in a fiery explosion was anathema. “Why did you do it?”
He put a hand out, gently taking hold of her arm.
But she shook free fiercely. Her head burst with pain as whatever drug he’d used to sedate her reacted to the swift movement.
“No!” She was screaming now, half-crazy from the heat and fear and pharmaceuticals.
“Saaliyah, calm down,” he was urging desperately. “Let me explain.”
“Explain!” She shrieked, pummelling his chest, her hair flying wildly around her face. “Explain? Explain what? You killed her! You killed her!”
“He did not kill me, Sal. No one did.”
The voice from the entrance to the dwelling came to her as if from a dream. She stilled instantly, her eyes seeking its source.
“You must be a ghost,” she whispered, blinking, then running her hand over her eyes. For there, framed perfectly by the doorway, stood Tashana. Beautiful, tall, and very much alive.
This was a mistake. I thought I could do it, but I can’t. I never intended to cause you inconvenience, and I am sorry for it. But it is surely better to put an end to this ‘marriage’ now, before it is too late. With well wishes for your future, Saaliyah.
He stared at the note, as he had been for the past hour. The neat writing gave nothing away. Had she been calm when she’d written it? Or so upset by his rejection of her love that she had penned it out of hurt and malice?
His gut clenched with a thousand different feelings, and he couldn’t have identified any of them.
So he clung to anger, because he presumed it to be what he should have primarily been feeling.
“What would you say if I told you that I think I’m falling in love with you?” It was as though she was standing in front of him again. His memory of that moment was so real that he almost reached out to pad his thumb across her full lower lip, as he’d wanted to the previous night.
“I would say you’re mistaking lust for love. I do not want the complication of having a wife who loves me. Put it out of your head.”
His words came back to haunt him now.
He didn’t want the complication of a wife who loved him. And she did love him. How could she not?
Oh, he wasn’t quite so arrogant as to believe he deserved her love. Only to see clearly that she was designed with a heart that was too huge. She was affectionate and kind. Their obvious chemistry had laid the foundation, but that didn’t make her love any less real.
Yes, she’d fallen in love with him, and he’d made it apparent that he couldn’t tolerate that.
Instead of lying about her feelings, she’d given him what she believed he wanted. She’d left him, and freed him from the ‘complication’ of having a wife who loved him.
The anger was directed solely at himself.
He alone had ruined this marriage.
But what could he have done differently? Pretended to return her feelings? Pretended that this was not simply a political union with unexpected benefits?
He scowled. It wasn’t as simple as that. Nothing was as black and white as he wished it to be. With Tashana, he had known he was marrying a name alone. Someone he found passably interesting and attractive. Certainly nothing about her had offended him.
Their marriage would have been simple, and it would have been delineated by clear boundaries.
But Sally? Nothing was simple. Nothing was easy to box away.
While he didn’t want the complication of a wife who loved him, nor did he want any wife other than Saaliyah.
He wrenched his door open, catching the attention of one of his attendants. “Get me Kaman. Now.”
The guard lowered his gaze deferentially. “I’m sorry, sir, he’s been called away on an urgent matter.”
“An urgent matter?” More urgent than this? Khalid compressed his lips. “Fine. Fadi then. Get me Fadi.”
She arrived almost instantly, her face pale, her eyes not quite meeting his.
“Tell me what you know.”
His words were dragged from the depths of his soul. They both understood. He was pleading. He was desperate.
Fadi shook her head. She had no idea what to say.
“The Emira has gone. Somewhere. Where would she go?”
But what could Fadi say? Without revealing her part in the whole sordid tale, and risking penalties that didn’t bear contemplation?
She stared at her cousin, and felt the gulping chasm of all the wrongs she’d committed.
When Fadi didn’t speak, he continued. “You were the last person to see her. How did she seem to you? Was she unhappy?”
Fadi squeezed her eyes shut on a wave of emotion. “No.”
“No?” He prompted, hope flaring in his chest.
“She was … distracted this morning. A little quiet, I suppose. I put it down to nervousness. Marrying someone like you is hardly an everyday occurrence.”
“But in general?” He asked with a resolute insistence.
“She was very happy. I believed her to be truly excited about the marriage.”
“She is a guest in my Kingdom. Her safety is my duty. Where could she possibly have gone?” Then, he dragged a hand through his hair and stared at the wide, open space beyond. “But there are many who claim ties to the old Ibarra name.” He thought of the old woman at the Haranathi-al. Had he misunderstood? Had the woman been offering Saaliyah an escape? And had Sally agreed to it before he’d interrupted?
Why would she need to run away?
Surely she knew that Khalid would have freed her from her obligations if she’d expressed a desire to leave?
There was a loud noise from outside his door, followed by it banging inwards. A guard was attempting to restrain a furious Abigail.
“What have you done to her?” She shouted, spittle forming at the corner of her mouth. “Where is she?”
“Abigail,” he employed the same voice he might have used to tame a wild horse. “I am attempting to find her. I assure you, I have done nothing to her.”
I do not want the complication of having a wife who loves me.
What had he done to her?
Had his rejection comes even an hour after he’d taken her innocence?
&nb
sp; He banked down on the wave of regret. What good was such self-indulgence in that moment? It was done, and he needed to fix it. Not to obsess over details he could never alter.
“She would not run away. I know Sally better than anyone. She would never break a promise like this. She would never leave a note and disappear. Trust me, please.” Abigail’s eyes were enormous, her face lined with worry and fear. “Something’s happened to her, Khalid. Something’s wrong.”
His gaze flew to Abigail’s. The idea of someone else’s involvement had never occurred to him. Now, fear shifted over him, like the sands of the desert dancing across its face. “Why do you say that? How can you be certain?”
Abigail saw that he was listening to her, and it calmed her slightly. She shook free of the guard and took in a deep breath. “She was committed to this marriage. If you know anything about Sally, you will know that she had determination made of iron. She did not come to Tari’ell to consider her options. She came to marry you, to play her role in bringing peace to the country. I have not seen anything in her behaviour that would make me think that has changed.”
“Did you think she was happy?” He asked, hating that he was looking for reassurance at such a crucial moment.
Abigail’s eyes narrowed. “I think she was determined to marry you. For the sake of Tari’ell.”
Even in the midst of grave worry, he felt a hint of amusement for Abigail’s truculent observation. She was certainly not prepared to give him any quarter. And he regrettably had to agree with her; he deserved no such kindness.
“Fadi, I need to speak to Nemen,” he said urgently, naming his chief of security.
Fadi didn’t move. She was immobilised by fear, held still by self-interest.
But self-interest was giving way to decency, slowly and surely.
“Khal, I think I might know something.” She turned away from him. The look of silent probing was far worse than anything he could have said.
“What do you know?” Abigail demanded urgently. She wrapped her hands around Fadi’s arms; her desperation was tangible for she loved Saaliyah as much as any mother could love a child.
Fadi could not meet the older woman’s eyes and so she stared at the top button of her dress. “I suspect Kaman has taken her.”
“Kaman?” Khalid had the strangest sense that something inside of him was shifting a gear. “Why in the world would you say such a thing?”
Fadi closed her eyes. “Because I know he did it. Just like I know he was responsible for what happened to Tashana.”
Chapter Eleven
Sally could hardly speak. Not just from physical pain, but from shock. She was rendered completely mute for a full minute.
Then, on legs that were hardly steady, she moved slowly towards her cousin.
“Are you real?” She whispered, putting a hand out to feel Tashana for herself.
Tears pricked at Tashana’s eyes. “Oh, Sal. I’m so sorry.” She wrapped her arms around her cousin, breathing in her nearness.
“I don’t understand,” Sally was crying. She was tired. And she still felt distinctly queasy from the drug Kaman had given her.
“No, of course you don’t.” Tasha linked arms with Sally and led her into the house. Inside, it was sparsely decorated, and yet it was somehow homely.
“Please, sit,” she said, indicating a worn armchair.
Sally did. Not because she wanted to seem obliging, but because she was afraid she might fall if she didn’t rest.
Tashana poured water from a jug into a silver cup. She handed it to Sally.
“Is it drugged?” Sally enquired with silky rapprochement.
Kaman had followed them inside. He crouched before Sally now. “It was the only way to be sure I could get you out of the palace.”
“But why?” Her eyes flew to Tasha’s face. “I don’t understand.”
Tasha came to kneel beside Kaman. “I couldn’t have you marrying Khalid because of me. I had no idea you would take my place, Sal. I had no idea you would pick up the terms of this contract.”
“But Tasha, you wanted this. You wanted to marry Khalid. You wanted to try to bring peace to our land.”
She nodded. “I know. But that was before.”
“Before what?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.” She sounded like a record on repeat. “You died. I saw photographs of the crash. The driver was paid off. Someone arranged your death.”
“No.” Tasha swallowed, her cheeks flushed with an emotion Sally hoped to be guilt.
“Please tell me what the hell I’m missing.”
“I fell in love.”
“With Khalid?” Her own guilt was searing her soul.
“No.” Kaman flashed a lopsided smile. “With me.”
Sally stared from one to the other in complete surprise. “You what?”
“Yes. We fell in love.”
“I hardly saw Khalid, Sal. I barely knew him.”
“That doesn’t matter. You made him a promise!”
“Yes, and I fell in love with Kaman.”
“Then you should have talked to Khalid. You should have told him.” She turned her face to Kaman. “I know he would do anything for you. He would have freed Tashana from her obligation if you had spoken to him.”
“We were going to,” Kaman agreed quietly.
“So what happened? Why go to these lengths?” She stared at Tasha. “Have you been living here since then?”
She nodded. “You get used to it.”
Sally looked around the living space with renewed interest. It was a far cry from the world Tashana had existed in previously, but that wasn’t to say it couldn’t make her happy.
“I’m pregnant.”
Sally’s eyes flew to Tasha’s face. “The baby is …?”
“Kaman’s, of course. I told you, I barely knew Khalid.”
Sally swore in an uncharacteristic indication of her frustration. She stood up from the chair. “You’re pregnant. You and Kaman got involved behind Khalid’s back, while you were engaged to marry him. Then you faked your own death, rather than be honest with him about your situation.” She whipped around, shocked by the full force of her rage. Rage on behalf of her own self, and also Khalid. “You put him, me, anyone who knows and loves you, through the grief of your apparent death, all because you could not own up to the consequences of your actions?”
“The consequences may well have been dire.”
“Oh, that’s crap,” Sally groaned. “He loves you, Kaman. He adores you. He might have been angry at the deception, but he would never have punished you.”
Kaman winced. “I suspect you are right, but at the time, we were terrified. We acted on instinct alone.”
“And your instinct was to fake an accident, and kill a man, all so you could escape?”
“We killed no one.”
“The driver?”
“We paid him to send the car over the cliff and then disappear. That is all.”
“Oh my God.” She rubbed her temples. “This is literally unbelievable.”
“Aren’t you happy for me?” Tasha queried, standing and moving to her cousin. The cousin who had always worshipped the ground she had walked on.
“Happy for you?” Sally looked at Tasha as though she was speaking a foreign language. “I might have been happy for you if you’d handled it better.” But right now, all Sally could think of was Khalid, and the guilt he’d been carrying. Not to mention her own grief.
“I know,” Tasha gripped Sally’s arm. “I’m sorry. I knew that you would worry about me. I thought I would be able to contact you eventually, to tell you that I was okay. I had no idea the Sheikh would come to you. Nor that you would agree to this marriage.”
“It was Kaman who went to my father.”
“Yes,” Tasha nodded. “But Kaman was sure your father would say no. I had told him of your parents’ enmity towards Khalid and his family. I never suspected you would be called upon to take my place.”
“And if y
ou had? You wouldn’t have done it?”
“I … I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
“This is a complete mess,” Sally enunciated clearly. She wrapped her arms around her chest. “Why did you and Kaman kidnap me today?”
“I couldn’t let you marry him. I couldn’t let you give up your life because of a promise I had made.”
“Damn it, Tasha, it’s what I wanted!”
“No. You wanted to do something honourable, and you thought this was it. But you would have become a slave of the Kingdom, linked to a man you don’t love, who doesn’t love you. I know your temperament. I know you couldn’t have lived like that.”
“I do love him,” Sally contradicted fiercely.
Both Kaman and Tasha stared at her for a very long time. Overhead, a large gust of wind blew, and the trees that carpeted the looming mountains rustled noisily.
It was Kaman who eventually broke the silence. “Then it is a good thing we removed you from the palace, Saaliyah.”
“But why?” She cried plaintively.
“Because he doesn’t love you. He won’t love you. Ever.” Tasha put her hands on Sally’s hips. “And that would kill you.”
Her chest was burning. “That’s not your decision.”
“He’s got a lover. Hannah.” The way Tasha spat the woman’s name was confirmation that she had felt something for Khalid. Even if it wasn’t love, it was possession, at the very least.
“Not anymore,” Sally murmured. The other woman’s perfect face came to mind and she wished it hadn’t.
“Yes,” Kaman assured her. “They have been seeing one another for years. It is not likely to stop.”
“She’s married,” Sally muttered.
“And so would he have been, today.”
Sheikhs: Rich, powerful desert kings and the women who bring them to their knees... Page 58
