“You are welcome, Queen Marie and Princess Rosanna. If we have to, we will protect you with our souls.” There was nothing in his voice other than sternness and honesty.
My smile grew. “I didn’t expect any less from you, Sheikh Omran.”
The old man nodded once, then he pointed to the large tent in the back. “Come inside and have tea, Queen Marie, until the women are finished with the lunch they’ve started preparing in your honor.”
“Thank you,” I said, then started making my way to where he pointed. Mo’taz was standing right in front of me, protecting my every step, and Brad was on my right, while Rosanna’s guards were walking alongside her. The rest of the guards formed a half-circle behind us.
I knew that no harm would happen to me because I was their guest. I came in peace, and I asked for safety. Bedouins kept their word, so I was very sure I’d leave untouched. I even wanted to send the guards away, afraid to appear rude due to the large number of my security detail, but the guards would go insane if I told them to wait for me by the cars ―never mind Mazen, who would hang them by their hair if they left me alone.
Once seated on the carpet in the tent, I was surprised by how cool it was with the light breeze blowing fresh air through the gaps in the tent’s walls. I had thought that in this place the heat would be unbearable, but it seemed I was wrong and the Bedouins had tricks to make their homes comfortable in the desert.
“I have to apologize to you for the way my son acted when he delivered the message to you. He’s still young and sometimes it’s hard to make him behave,” Sheikh Omran said. I was taken aback by his statement – he was really apologizing? That was a shocker.
“There’s no need to apologize for that, Sheikh Omran. I wasn’t offended by what he said, at all,” I said, keeping a smile on my face. “Speaking of the message, this is the reason why I am here. I wish to discuss the matter with you.”
I decided to get straight to the point, taking my chances that he’d be gentle, not rude and stern, as I’d presumed.
“I said what I have to say in my message, Queen Marie. Apparently, the royal family doesn’t believe that my opinion matters.”
It didn’t really matter; the final decision rest with my husband and me – the rulers of this Kingdom. That was what he wanted me to declare, but I wasn’t going to say it. I liked to believe that I was smarter than that.
“Of course, your opinion matters. We would really love to have your support. You’re the leader of the Bedouins, a leader full of wisdom and knowledge. We would never wish to go against what you desire for our Kingdom,” I said, choosing my words carefully. The honesty in my voice was convincing.
The changes were subtle, but Sheikh Omran’s posture changed a little – his shoulders looked even broader, and his neck rose a bit higher as he sat with a straight back. His ego was stroked very well, which was exactly what I hoped to achieve.
“It doesn’t appear that King Mazen thinks the same. He didn’t cancel the new law as I wished.”
“You see, Sheikh Omran, this new law was suggested by me, which is why I’m here to discuss it with you. I believe all girls should gain a new feeling of security and dignity.”
“What the law is suggesting is for us to stop celebrating our girls’ purity and showing off our honor to others who might doubt it.” He was starting to get irritated either with me or with the subject matter. I needed to keep him as calm as possible, to get what I wanted.
“Who would doubt the Bedouin girls’ honor? They are the purest girls in the Kingdom, there’s no doubt of that. And if you agree with me, Sheikh Omran, to whom must you prove it? Common Deflowering happens inside a tent. It’s not put on national TV for the whole Kingdom to see, so who exactly are you showing off your honor to? People who already know how honorable you are?”
Sheikh Omran didn’t reply, and in that moment of silence, I decided I would push even more. “You’re such a wise man, Sheikh Omran, and you know very well that sheets with blood on them could be faked in a million ways."
That seemed to hit a nerve. The Sheikh’s eyes glittered. “Are you saying that our honor has been faked?”
“I’d never say that. I’m just trying to shine a light on the fact that it’s easy to give false proof of virginity if wanted.”
“Our girls would never do that, Queen Marie.”
“And that’s exactly my point. You’re sure of their purity, I’m sure of their purity, and the rest of the Kingdom is as well. So why humiliate them this way? Would it not be enough for the husband to know that on their wedding night?”
There was a long stretch of silence. Sheikh Omran wasn’t looking my way, and he seemed to be deep in thought. I glanced at Rosanna, and she nodded slowly, telling me silently that I was doing well, which was such a rewarding feeling.
“You can’t change our traditions in the blink of an eye; it’s what we’ve done for as long as we’ve existed. All of the Arabs once did. But it’s only us – the Bedouins – who still keep the honorable ways. And we take pride in doing so.” Sheikh Omran said, radiating stubbornness.
I cringed at his description of the practice as ‘honorable’ but I decided not to show it. “My Sheikh, the law wasn’t created in the blink of an eye. I’ve studied everything well, and I know for a fact that this practice came from people who worshiped the devil. We should not follow such a thing. We believe in God Almighty, and he ordered that we only follow his rules.”
Sheikh Omran looked amused by my words, but he was too stubborn to be convinced. He still argued, “I’ve been a Muslim my whole life, and I know God’s laws well.” He was telling me obliquely that he knew his laws as a Muslim better than I, the Catholic Christian, did.
These kind of remarks were what Mazen wanted to protect me from. He didn’t want my feelings hurt, but I wasn’t offended by his words. I just I didn’t know how I could convince the Sheikh if that was his way of thinking.
In a second, the hero sitting next to me spoke, “With all of my respect to Queen Marie and Sheikh Omran, I’d like to interrupt this conversation with my humble opinion.” Rosanna said, her voice nearly as stern as Sheikh Omran himself. “More like, I’d like to mention a few facts, actually, rather than give an opinion. I’ve been a Muslim my whole life and was taught by the highest Sheikhs in the Kingdom, the ones from whom we take advice upon each and every subject.
“I assure you, Sheikh Omran, none of what I studied referred to the fact that Common Deflowering was practiced on the prophet’s daughters or any of the girls of his time. As a matter of fact, the prophet says that whoever violates a woman’s privacy, even by just speaking badly about her, will be punished by hellfire. We are nobody to go against the prophet and God’s orders. Isn’t that right, Sheikh Omran?”
While Rosanna spoke, my heart was pounding. I was happy, hopeful, and anxious all at the same time. There was no way Sheikh Omran could refute that, and he didn’t.
The old man stayed quiet, and I knew he might not speak after that. So, it was time for me to play my last card.
Inside my suit jacket, I reached for a piece of paper tucked safely in a small pocket. I handed it to Sheikh Omran.
“You see, my Sheikh, I found this letter among many others in the palace. It’s a letter from your great-grandfather to King Mazen’s great-grandfather. In the letter, the Bedouin chief promises to respect all of the Kingdom’s laws and all of the King’s orders. He used very nice words in describing his respect for the King, don’t you think?” I asked in a sweet voice as Sheikh Omran read through the letter.
“Why are you showing me this?” Sheikh Omran asked.
He knew exactly why I was showing him that. I was encouraging him to obey our laws, but that wasn’t how I was going to respond, of course.
“Sheikh Omran, I’m only trying to remind you of the honorable words and tight promises the Bedouins made with the royal family. We hold your honesty and respect in high esteem; we should need no papers as proof. All I’m aiming for is to rem
ind you of the bond we have with each other and the most cherished thing between us – respect.
“You should honor your forefather’s wishes, but whatever you choose to do, I’m only here to ask for your blessing. I hope that you would accept and support the law designed to protect all girls and women who call this Kingdom home, because of course, your opinion matters.” My smile was full, but my heart was jumping in my chest like crazy.
Sheikh Omran didn’t hide his displeasure which was somewhat scary. He was pissed off because I was right, and he couldn’t contradict me.
“Thank you, Queen Marie,” Sheikh Omran said a few moments later. “We appreciate that. I understand your point now and why the law was created.”
“I’m glad.” That was all I said, but our eyes had a different conversation. We both knew he was trapped by the promises made by his ancestors generations ago. He respected his words and his people’s. He couldn’t do anything but honor the contents of the letter. That absolutely ate at him, but it pleased me to no end.
The law could not be ignored, and that was all I needed.
Back in our car, Rosanna couldn’t hide her excitement. “That was amazing!”
I grinned, “You think?”
“It was! Did you see the look on his face? He had no chance with you, girl!”
“Thank you for your support in there, I really appreciate it.”
“Are you kidding? It’s my duty! As your best friend, that is.”
I squeezed her hand. “Best of the best.”
“Do you think he’ll order the Bedouin servants back to the palace now?” Rosanna wondered.
“This wasn’t about the servants, Rosanna. This was about him being forced in the nicest way to respect the law,” I said. “Sheikh Omran wanted us to respond to the withdrawal of the servants with disrespect, to give him a chance to rebel and separate the Bedouins from the Kingdom. Of course, that would’ve meant civil war. I might be queen, but I was glad to kiss his backside to protect my people. If we can win him over, he can influence a large segment of the population.”
“Wow! I never saw it that way. That was a brilliant move, Marie.”
“He shouldn’t underestimate women.”
“Amen to that.” Rosanna nodded.
Nothing would’ve convinced Adam to eat the apple, but his wife did. Women’s power should never be trifled with. It could break chains and melt iron.
My mother-in-law was right: Queens rule.
To me, Mazen was the most understanding and considerate person I’ve ever known. He’s always known how I felt, even when I couldn’t define the feeling myself. He’s always understood what I was thinking, even when I couldn’t adequately put my thoughts into words.
This time, Mazen wasn’t responding as I had expected; his reaction to my encounter with the Sheikh was harsh. He wasn’t understanding or considerate. He was upset.
He didn’t like that I’d implied that we could never give up Sheikh Omran’s blessings, or that his words were as powerful as ours. I couldn’t understand why Mazen was taking it so poorly, but it was probably one of the many things about the culture that I had a tough time absorbing.
Maybe Mazen didn’t know that a woman’s strength comes from her weakness. I didn’t know how to explain it to him. I was pleased with the visit, and I believed I did the right thing.
A few days later, Mazen was still upset. We continued to have an almost identical conversation about it: same questions, same points made, same responses, and same explanations. We were getting nowhere. It was past ridiculous.
Even now, while having breakfast together on this special day – we were still going on about it.
“I’ve told you over and over again, Marie – I’m pleased with your accomplishment, but I also believe it could’ve been handled differently,” Mazen said.
“And I’ve asked you over and over again to tell me what else I should have done, but you haven’t produced any other solution,” I said back, already frustrated with the topic.
“Any other way would’ve been better than making Omran think that he has any kind of power over us. I should put him in prison if he objects, not ask for his approval for how I rule my Kingdom!” Mazen’s irritation was finally surfacing.
“Which would mean bloodshed, exactly what I was trying to avoid!”
“There must have been a way to avoid bloodshed without demeaning our dignity.”
“Our dignity is untouched, and I did what I thought best. Sheikh Omran wanted us to be angry with him and all of the Bedouins. He wanted us to punish the servants, and show our disrespect for him so they would have a good excuse for a revolution and get themselves separated from the Kingdom. I left him with no choice but to follow the rules, and spoke nothing of the servants,” I explained, yet again.
“But how will we solve the servant problem? We need more than we have, and we can only trust Bedouins inside our rooms,” Mazen said. The reason the majority of the servants were Bedouins was that we could trust their loyalty. Bedouins had sworn to protect our food, possessions and personal safety inside our wings, and they never take their promises back.
“Rosanna is taking care of it,” I promised. “We’ll hire new ones for the outside areas, and move the most trustworthy remaining servants inside our wings,” I told him.
“This hasn’t happened for ages, Marie. It has always been the Bedouins.” Mazen pulled on his hair in frustration.
“It’s going to be okay, I promise you it will. Please, let’s stop having this conversation. It will ruin our day, and this day is very important to me.”
Mazen let out a long exhale, got up and walked the two steps that separated us, then bent down and kissed my hair. “I’m sorry, princess. I’m just trying to see the whole case from every side – it’s a significant matter. I don’t mean to ruin our special day. Forgive me.” He gave my shoulder a light squeeze.
I smiled at him. “It’s okay, angel. I know you mean well. I just wish you’d let it go. I’ve got this, and you need to trust my judgment a little bit more.”
“I do,” he said quickly. “I know you want the best for our Kingdom.”
I nodded, smiling. “Let’s finish our breakfast. Dr. Maya must be waiting for us.”
About an hour later, I was lying on the bed in the palace clinic. My stomach was exposed, and Mazen was holding my hand while sitting next to my bed, his head so close to mine that I could actually feel his breath on my cheek.
The atmosphere had changed entirely. We were two very excited parents watching their unborn child on the monitor as Dr. Maya moved the ultrasound device all over my baby bump.
Mazen and I were all smiles as we watched our baby’s figure, so tiny and beautiful. I could only think of how I couldn’t wait to hug my baby; just the thought made my eyes tear up. I had wished for this baby for what seemed like forever, and I couldn’t wait for the moment when I could hold him or her in my arms, and shower it with all the love I had in my heart. I was confident Mazen felt the exact same way.
“You might want to look away now, Your Majesty, if you don’t wish to know the baby’s gender, yet.” Dr. Maya said to Mazen, and he nodded, smiling. He then kissed the back of my hand that he was holding and pretended as if he found my rings to be the most amusing thing ever, fidgeting with them as our doctor continued her work.
I chuckled as I watched him, then turned my attention back to the screen, where I could see my baby moving right before my eyes.
“Well, that will be all, Your Majesties,” Dr. Maya said, her smile nearly as wide as mine. “Everything is going perfectly fine; you have a healthy baby growing in there.”
Mazen kissed my hand, then my hair; the joy in his eyes was everything. “Thank you, Dr. Maya,” he said.
“You’re very welcome, Your Majesty. Excuse me, I have to send a message to Princess Rosanna.”
My heart started beating fast. I nodded my head, waiting as the nurse wiped the gel off of my skin, then Mazen helped me up and off the bed.<
br />
“Are you excited, princess?”
“Are you kidding me, Your Majesty?”
I knew that the next hour or so would be exceedingly long.
It was Rosanna’s idea to have a big gender reveal, but from what I saw, big wasn’t the right word; it was huge. She’d issued an open invitation to the entire Kingdom, and I was amazed at the number of people who came to share this special moment with us. It was almost as big as the coronation.
The last gender reveal in the royal family had been Janna’s, over nineteen years ago. Rosanna described it with one word: boring. Apparently, it was just Mazen’s father announcing that they were waiting for a girl. End of story.
Now that Rosanna was old enough to plan the event, she wanted it to be as big as she could make it. I think I loved her even more for it.
So, Mazen and I were standing on the balcony of the palace, watching the people who’d gathered outside, holding up tiny flags that were colored in pink and baby-blue colors, with big grins. All of them cheered and whistled as they waited for the big news.
My heart was pounding, and I could feel Mazen’s doing the same as he held me close to his body with my left shoulder flat to his chest. Our excitement grew as we waited for the right time to signal the royal guards to open the boxes.
When Rosanna gave the thumbs up, we learned that they were ready for our signal of approval. I looked at the boxes lined up on the road in the middle of the palace’s front garden. I saw the royal guards standing beside each box, watching us carefully.
“Are you ready, princess?” Mazen asked.
I turned my head to look at him and squeezed his hand that was over my shoulder. “I was never more ready.”
With a broad smile, Mazen raised his hand, giving the signal to open the boxes.
Despite the fact that I’d been waiting for that moment for what felt like ages, the second I saw the guards opening the boxes to release the balloons inside, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before releasing it.
Golden Chains (The Colorblind Trilogy Book 3) Page 14
