by C. L. Donley
“Belkacem, do you mean to… do you plan to take your father’s throne??” his mother gasped.
“I already have,” Bel answered, producing the king’s signet ring from around his neck. The women began to weep in astonishment and relief. Bel’s brothers sat in awe.
“Our father seemed to think there was a conspiracy against him and it seems he was correct.”
“Semih has not even realized that the king’s ring is missing, let alone who would have it,” one of his brothers deduced.
“I don’t understand. Your son was never ill?” one of his other brothers asked.
“He was. But I couldn’t leave mother here alone with conspirators. Yet I also needed the plotters to reveal themselves. I had to take the throne before I left.”
“So…you’ve been the king for weeks.”
“I believe the king’s words were, ‘let them kill a dead man if they want.’” They chuckled a bit, in awe. They all knew their father.
“They were not expecting you.”
“Nor will they now.”
“So what do we do?”
“Nothing. That’s why I’ve invited you, because you were not invited to Semih’s banquet. I want you all to do nothing. Do not behave any differently. I want the king’s guard to continue to follow Semih as if he’s still heir to the throne.”
“Your majesty—”
“Just for a night. Just long enough for me to make my announcement. None of you will be completely safe until I do.”
“The supposed heir apparent just thinks we are invited to see the child.”
“And that’s what he must continue to think. I invited him as well, but I knew he wouldn’t come, or Adela. I wish that they had, for their sakes,” the king dropped his eyes as if lost in thought. He spoke again.
“Meanwhile, I need to make arrangements to have a wedding. Tomorrow night.”
“My king, the country is still in mourning!” one of the former king’s concubine’s exclaimed.
Bel turned to his mother, Queen Alya.
“If any of you have another idea, I’m all ears,” answered the dowager queen.
That night Bel and Kim made love in the other other palace that was their own and slightly more streamline, more like a mansion. It was in the cleft of a mountain and overlooked the Arabian Sea.
They’d argued a bit about letting Jabari go for a few hours with some of his family, of which he had much. All that talk about assassination plots didn’t do much to calm her fears. But he insisted, and she had no inner bells going off as Jabari made the rounds like a hot potato.
They’d all seemed completely enamored with Jabari and they wept over him. The reality of Bel finally having another child after so many years, and in the wake of the king’s death, was very emotional for them all, it seemed. Jabari lifted everyone’s spirits and the moment endeared Kim to all of them and vice versa. The older women were warm and welcoming, one in particular reminding her of her own mother. Bel translated as they all complimented her on her beauty, saying they couldn’t wait to dress her up in traditional garb. Bel looked happier than Kim ever thought he could look.
In the middle of the night, noon L.A. time, he’d made the announcement on his own media platform that he would be stepping down as CEO of MeTV to become king of Ghassan. Roughly a thirty-minute video, he spent the first part thanking his American friends who’d come to be his family and tearfully acknowledged all the people who’d worked alongside him at MeTv. He informally announced that Grayson Davis would take over as CEO for the time being.
During the last half he revealed some of the anguish over his father’s death, calmly explained his parentage, his true family name, the highlights of his past and that when he’d abdicated the throne fifteen years ago, he’d “meant that shit.” But finding out he had a son and speaking to his father personally before he died, he explained, had given him a change of heart.
Wisely he made no mention of knowledge of certain family members’ intentions to betray his father, and diplomatically, he made no mention of the EU and their potential involvement in staging an overthrow. But if they were nervous when he knew nothing, they were surely wise enough to be frightened now. But in case they were committed to being foolish, he ended with a cryptic invitation to his wedding, addressed in Farsi.
“Anyone who hears these words is invited to my coronation tomorrow morning, followed the next day by my wedding. It will be a joyous occasion, and the entire country of Ghassan is invited to celebrate the crowning of your new king and his new bride. Let the soldiers go home to their families. Let the merchants charge you less in the marketplace for your wares. Anyone who labors on this day offends me. And anyone who does not attend my wedding when it is in their power to do so will be considered an enemy of the kingdom.’”
The next day Kim woke early and was startled when she opened her eyes to the most beautiful sunrise across the desert from her massive bedroom window. It took a few seconds for her to remember where she was. She was far from home, in a dream, one in which she was to be made a queen. That morning she was to be announced as Bel’s bride, and then immediately begin preparations for her wedding. The absence of her friends and family made her painfully aware of the fact that this fairy tale came with sacrifices.
“You’re awake,” she heard Bel murmur huskily.
Kim wasted no time letting him know exactly what was on her mind.
“I don’t understand why we couldn’t at least invite Amara and them. They were right there.”
Bel sighed. All this clear and present danger was robbing Kim of her wedding experience. But Bel didn’t have any more time to waste after coming back from the States. He needed to make his move before Semih could announce a public coronation. He had to use the element of surprise before the mourning period was over, which was unorthodox. He had to get the people on his side to put on a marriage ceremony so soon in the wake of his father’s burial. He needed his mother safe. Jabari needed to properly claim his princely rights and solidify Bel’s legacy, and Kim needed to protect Jabari as queen mother until he comes of age, should anything happen to him. He didn’t worry Kim with all his grim motivations.
“I promise, we can have a proper wedding next year. Every year, if you want.”
“You playin’, but I’ll do that for real.”
“Do it,” Bel encouraged her as if daring her.
Kim smiled, though she was obviously a little melancholy that she was still about to have a hastily put together wedding, with none of her input and only strangers present.
“They’ll get to see you on tv,” Bel tried to console her.
The king had opened the palace gates so that the people could gather and see their new king and his queen to be. No doubt the entire country’s media would also be gathered there.
For the morning after, it was unusually quiet, Bel had to admit.
“I had Thana translate that little message of yours for me that you left last night.”
“Did you?”
“Mm-hm.”
“And?”
“…I’m scared’a you,” she replied.
“You should be.”
“I’m scared of that tongue,” she suddenly cooed. She stared him down with a slight, sleepy grin.
Bel raised one eyebrow, returning her gaze.
“You know as the queen, you’re obligated to sit on the king’s face at a moments notice.”
“I can do that.”
“You got all kindsa duties,” he’d said smoothly.
“Such as?”
“Such as… providing Ghassan with plenty of heirs.”
“Anything besides breeding?”
“I’m still mad I didn’t get to see that round belly of yours.”
“It wasn’t that impressive; I didn’t even know there was a baby in it.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” he said, rubbing her back as she turned to face the morning.
Bel had revealed to Kim that the same bizarre coincidenc
e that had happened with Jabari happened to his own father, except his grandmother’s labor had been stress induced when there was a coup, and they had to abandon the palace. They returned a few years later when the usurper was killed along with all those loyal to him.
Kim let out a long sigh.
“We could’ve at least scooped Mya up on the way. She’s only a few hours from here.”
“You can’t expect everybody to just drop everything on such short notice.”
“I’m singing ‘She’s Your Queen ’ in my head right now, Bel. Not out loud just… in my head. No one’s here to sing it to me while I walk down the aisle, no one here even gets the reference.”
“You won’t be walking down any aisles in a Ghassani ceremony.”
“Don’t be petty. The moment is happening, and it’s completely wasted. It hurts Bel; I’m not gonna lie.”
“Are you trying to make me feel bad?”
Kim turned in their large palace bed to face him. “What the fuck do I know about being a queen?”
Bel lifted her arm at the wrist and lay it across his face. “What I told you wasn’t game. You are a queen so just be yourself. This is your home.”
Jabari stirred in his crib.
Bel was already up and across the room before she even sat up to look in Jabari’s direction.
Jabari, now four months and still gaining his weight back from being in the hospital, began bobbing his head around on his father’s shoulder. He couldn’t find what he was after and instantly began wailing.
“I think he’s unimpressed with me,” Bel said, climbing into bed with Jabari securely in the crook of his arm.
Bel watched Kim as she lay on her side while Jabari nursed, his queen still clearly as much enamored with the task as he was. He watched her face that was full of concentration on her baby and he realized that this had been her haven while he’d been M.I.A. There was a twinge of heartache when he thought of Lelani, still a 23 year old in his mind, more of a baby sister now than the wife she once was. When he thought of Hani there was now only compassion. Now that he had a living son, that his heart had been transformed, the selfishness in him was slowly draining away. He could no longer entertain thoughts of sorrow when he thought of Hani. Had he really blamed a child for all of his pain-induced actions that followed? But most of him had been pushed compulsively to the present, Bel found, to his entire world now in bed with him. Today was the day he would begin doing everything in his power to protect them and by extension his country.
Suddenly their phones began warbling and to his own surprise it jolted him. It was probably about 7am. That sounded about right. The king’s guard would be camped at the palace’s various entrances to protect the queen and the prince while he was gone. Today his enemies would show up all smiles, blending with the crowd. His phone warbled again. No one in Ghassan would be so bold as to disturb the king today so early. It was probably his PR team in the states. He sighed. He just needed one more moment he reasoned. He lay in bed watching his queen and the prince as they both nodded off back to sleep.
Forty Eight
Chapter 48
An hour later Bel was in the king’s palace chambers with Fahid, several of the former king’s advisors, their mothers and the oldest former member of the king’s royal guard who would now be serving under his third king.
“Any word from Semih and Adela?”
“No one has seen them.”
No one who had attended Semih’s banquet had even been seen since Bel had made his announcement the night before.
“I need someone to get a message to Semih that I want to talk to him. Alone.”
“He’ll think it’s a trap.”
“Of course he will. Look who his mother is.”
The king’s ring was now on his finger as he sat at the head of a long table adjacent to the throne room. He was contemplating whether or not he wanted to do away with the throne room outside of traditional ceremonies.
“The palace gates have been opened. People have been waiting since before it was light.”
His mother put her hand over his and smiled. The people overwhelmingly were making their choice of support. Not that he was worried. Still, it was good to have one major hurdle so quickly overcome.
Bel smiled. “Good,” he said. At noon he would be presenting Kim before the people. He was a bit nervous, as he hadn’t told Kim what to expect, and with her tepid reaction to palace life so far, he wasn’t sure how she’d react.
* * *
Kim still wasn’t used to the concept of being bathed.
She had no idea that people were still being bathed by other people. And everybody was okay with that?
It was supposedly in preparation for her wedding tomorrow that she needed to be attended to by her female servants for the entire weekend. Only one of them spoke English, Thana, the youngest who’d been educated at Oxford. She’d been a few credits short of a degree in psychology when she was suddenly called into the king’s service. While Kim struggled with the notion, Thana, not much younger than Kim, had assured her over and over the honor that she’d considered it.
“It’s a dream of every Ghassani girl to live and serve in the palace.”
“You sure you don’t mean ‘live and be served’ in the palace?”
“That too, my queen.”
“But what about your education?”
“My education was to give me and my family a better life. And now that’s what they will have.”
“Didn’t you want to be a counselor?”
“Feel free to talk to me about anything, my queen.”
Thana was smart. Entirely dutiful. And after a couple of days, Kim got the impression that she was indeed sincere. Aside from her girls, being friendly with other women was a bit of a foreign concept. When they worked for her, however, it was always harmonious, as if a balance was restored. Thana was also beautiful, as were most of the Ghassani women she laid eyes on, so she didn’t know what the fuck she was going to do about that. Bel had assured her over and over that their marriage would be a real one in every sense, that he truly wanted her and only her and she’d believed him. But everything about palace life seemed like a living breathing temptation, and from what she learned from Thana, his daddy had been seriously out there.
“Do I have to worry about every Ghassani woman trying to hate on me and take my man?”
“'Take your man,’ my queen?”
Thana was either being naive, or feeling found out.
“Um, yeah. Has a king ever married an African American woman?
“African, yes. American…no, my queen.”
“Okay, so you got an ‘American,’ coming in and pissing off every Ghassani woman who thought they were going to marry the prince.”
“May I speak freely, my queen?”
“You may only speak freely, Thana.”
“If I may speak freely, on behalf of the common Ghassani woman, where Prince Belkacem is concerned- that is, King Belkacem- it doesn’t matter where she is from, as long as she is beautiful. My queen.”
Kim chuckled a bit, knowingly. Nothing more aggravating than a gorgeous, noble prince who’s married a nickel. It’s enough to keep a bitch awake many a night. Knowing if you’d just put your best dress on and just strolled in front of the palace gates one night, you might’ve bagged a prince.
“So I’m in the clear, you think?”
“Very much so, my queen,” Thana smiled.
They dressed her unexpectedly in a modern floor length maxi dress with bold green diagonal satin stripes and *gasp* it had pockets. They’d fashioned her hair into an updo, and she wore a simple white headdress that was customary for the queen. When she looked in the mirror for the first time, she genuinely felt like one. The dress wasn’t tight, it was flowing and cascaded around her on the floor. It was as light as wearing nothing. She was covered from head to toe and yet she felt sexy. Her heart began racing at the thought of Bel seeing her in it, and then merely the thought of the man hi
mself. Her feelings were now completely uncontainable for the king that had apprehended her body and soul.
“The king is asking for you,” Thana relayed to her in English while her makeup was being applied. Thana’s excitement seemed to mirror that of Kim’s fluttering heart. In fact, all of them were abuzz as if living vicariously through their queen.
“His sexy ass can wait,” Kim replied with a smirk. Thana shyly let a smile escape.
“Feel free to translate that shit,” Kim added. Thana did so, with a much more measured level of tact and the room tittered. Kim smiled. She could get used to this.
When Kim finally emerged with her attendants in tow, Bel was outside the upstairs corridor with a fearsome entourage, dressed impeccably in a gray suit and pilot shades, standing next to a very handsome and well-dressed Fahid, his beautiful young wife on his arm, smiling and clearly showing. The kingsguard were armed with very large and frightening firearms, and Kim tried not to be startled. Bel was beaming from ear to ear, completely at ease in this surreal scene.
“Ready?” he said.
“Not really,” Kim replied.
“Just smile and wave like they do in Europe,” he counseled her as he held out his arm. She took it. While everyone rushed around him, Bel’s pace was leisurely as he guided her toward the balcony. Two of his guards opened the doors ahead of them. The guards’ formidable presence went before them like a shield and Kim heard the crowd before she saw it. When she did see it, she was somewhat shocked. It was a sea of bodies, surprisingly diverse shades, all yelling and screaming and in raptures, yes over her but clearly over this man. She looked over at Bel who was genuinely beaming like they were his family and he knew them all by name. In a way, she supposed they were his family. But they definitely knew who he was— young and old alike they knew him.
She’d only been in Ghassan two full days, and up to this point, Kim had completely taken for granted the lack of fanfare that had always accompanied Bel. Amara’s wedding had been closed off from the world with only a few carefully selected media outlets present. They’d been safe from prying eyes on the jet, and his London home was equally as sequestered. When Bel wasn’t in the presence of his billionaire best friends in the States, he moved around like a ghost, content to be mistaken for this one or that one, or simply discriminated against if it meant he could evade the reality that was being the only living true born heir of Ghassan. And the stealthy return further kept Kim in the dark.
