by Holly Rayner
She looked up at him with wonder in her eyes, taking him in for the first time. They strolled casually, the cool breeze a welcoming presence among the harsh heat of the surrounding world.
“Just a few,” she said, allowing herself to come to the realization that she had succeeded in her quest.
She had found Ali! He was standing right in front of her. She struggled to balance her affection for that lost little boy with the loathing she had felt for the arrogant Sheikh from the beginning. Who was the man who stood before her? What had happened to him to make him into what he was now?
“Perhaps you should tell me your story first, and then I can fill in the gaps,” Ali said, releasing her hand.
A sharp pang of disappointment coursed through Sarah at that release, and she fought hard to ignore it. She focused instead on telling him the story of how she had found the bottle, how she had found him through the records office, and how she had gone to his village to find him.
“I had just about given up hope and decided to go home when you, um, found me,” she said, not wanting to dislike Ali for his actions but still strongly displeased with Ahmad.
Could she really think of them as two different people? She would have to fuse them into one if she was going to ever get through any of this with her sanity intact. Ali had the good sense to look ashamed, and was he blushing?
“Yes, well, you will understand my urgency in a moment. The information you obtained at my village is all true. I wrote that letter shortly before my mother succumbed to a quick and terrible illness and I was orphaned overnight. A family was kind enough to take me in, but even at the age of ten I had my pride, and they had their own mouths to feed. My village was plagued by poverty, and I knew how much of a sacrifice it was for them to take me in. I couldn’t live with myself, being a burden to others.”
Ali stared off into the distance, lost in his memories. Sarah listened with avid curiosity, all of the questions she’d had getting answered when she hadn’t dared to hope they would.
“I ran away a few nights later and made my way into the city. I started my young life off as a beggar, and I made enough to feed myself, which was all I really needed at the time.”
“Food was all you needed?” Sarah asked, incredulous.
The boy had been lonely—he had lost everyone in his life he had loved—and all he had cared about was food. Sarah fought a strong urge to wrap her arms around him, to give him all the affection he had clearly missed out on from a young age. Instead, she laced her hands together. It would be too strange for her to act in such a way, and besides, this was Ahmad the Sheikh. While he was the young boy she had hoped to find, he was also a strong-handed man who would clearly do whatever it took to keep his identity a secret. The underlying question still hung in her mind: Why?
Ali continued his story.
“Yes. I mean, I probably could have used a mother, and a father while we’re at it, but those were no longer available. I begged for a couple of weeks before a wild twist of fate had me swept off the streets by a fancy car—much like what happened to you earlier—and I was introduced to the Sheikh and Sheikha of Al Jayah. They informed me that their son, a boy about my age, had recently passed away, and that they were in need of a decoy.”
“A decoy?” Sarah said.
Ali nodded.
“Apparently the Sheikh’s brother was a cruel, power-hungry man, and with Ahmad gone there would be little in the way of him taking the throne and stealing everything from the people of Al Jayah. They asked me to take Ahmad’s place as a duty to my country.”
“And you accepted,” Sarah said, reeling from his tale.
“Obviously.” Ali laughed, and once again Sarah saw the haughty Sheikh she had known before his big reveal.
“I had no family, no money, and no home. Frankly, I was happy to take up residence in the palace. I was given a robust education in policy, governance, and all the languages I could absorb. When I came of age, my father allowed me into his state rooms, where we worked to better the lives of our people while making many difficult decisions.”
Sarah glanced around, realizing that they were quite alone. In fact, they had been since the moment she’d arrived.
“Where are your…parents…now?” she asked, hesitating on the word.
He had called the Sheikh his father. Was that out of habit, out of duty, or out of love?
Ali’s face fell, becoming an unreadable mask. She imagined that after so much hardship experienced so young, Ali was a master at hiding his true emotions.
“They died several years ago. They left me the sheikhdom when I was only twenty-two years old, and no one thought I could handle it. My parents were very secretive about me, for obvious reasons, so very few people ever saw me outside of royal gatherings with dignitaries and the like.”
“That’s why you travel with your windows so tinted—so no one can really see you?”
“There are images of the young prince out there from before my time stepping in. I do look a lot like him, but to the discerning eye, I could very well be discovered.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“What? If my people found out an imposter has been sitting on the throne these past several years, ruling without any right to do so? I’m sure they’d be thrilled.”
They reached a small bench near a trickling fountain, and, feeling tired from the weight of the information, Sarah took a seat. She was shortly joined by Ali, who kept a slight distance between them.
“This was far more of a story than I bargained for,” Sarah said, rubbing her hands over her eyes as she processed everything.
Ali chuckled.
“I imagine so. Still, you see now why I can never let you leave.”
Sarah’s head darted up, and she stared at him in shock.
“What?”
He grinned, putting his hands up.
“Kidding, kidding. Still, you now know the biggest state secret of my country. That is not something I take lightly, Sarah. My ability to rule depends upon this information staying a secret. You understand that, right?”
Sarah pondered that. She had told him that she would do anything to protect Ali, and he was asking her now if she planned on keeping her word.
“I do,” she said. “I still don’t think I need to be kept hostage. I’m not going to give away this information to anyone. I told you I would keep you safe.”
Ali smiled then, though there was still something hidden behind his eyes.
“Yes, you did, and I believe you. However, I would like to ask you to stay with me anyway. No one else knows this secret, and while I do trust you, I would be more comfortable with you here, where I can get to know you better. After all, you are the person my letter found. You are the friend it was searching for.”
“It?” Sarah asked.
“Okay, the friend I was searching for. Happy? Come on, Sarah, what have you got waiting for you back in America? You were willing to fly all the way out here to follow a twenty-year-old letter. You must have no reason to stay there. Meanwhile, I am willing to shower you with luxury for the rest of your life, if you so choose. All you have to do is stay.”
Sarah stared at Ali, trying to figure out her own thoughts. He was right that she had nothing to go back to. Thinking about leaving this all behind to go be unemployed in Florida sounded like a terrible idea, one she absolutely didn’t want to follow through on.
There was also the handsome man sitting next to her, gazing at her with a plea in his eyes that she found impossible to resist. This was Ali! She had found him. How she had daydreamed about what he would be like, who he would be. Now she had the chance to stay as long as she wanted, enjoying a royal lifestyle all the while, and see why that bottle had washed up on her shore.
“I will stay,” she said.
As his face lit up, she held up a hand.
“But only for as long as I see fit. You will not hold me prisoner here because you decided to share your nation’s biggest secret with me. Unde
rstood?”
“You would stand up to a sheikh in such a way?” he asked, and while he was joking, there was actual surprise in his voice.
Ali wasn’t used to people standing up to him. Sarah smirked.
“I will always speak my mind no matter who I’m talking to. That most especially includes you. I knew you as a child, you know,” she said, and Ali laughed.
“And yet I was denied the pleasure of knowing you back. Perhaps we can change that now that we have met officially?”
Staring into his brown eyes, Sarah couldn’t resist the opportunity to get to know the enigma that was Ali. She nodded.
“Perhaps we can,” she said, and she was rewarded with the first genuine smile she had seen from the man.
To say it was stunning was an understatement. Ali’s smile was brighter than the sun, and she allowed her stomach to flutter a little at being the one to bring it to life.
“Well then. What does a typical day as a royal look like?” Sarah asked. “I mean, a royal who isn’t a royal. And do people here know who you are? What do I call you?”
“It would be best if you call me Ahmad. My parents had the entire palace staff changed out after I was brought in, so no one who works here really knows the truth.”
“That’s quite the ruse they pulled. And no one questioned why an entire household staff would be suddenly let go?”
“My parents made up some kind of story about how I was struck by a very serious illness and they had to be sure no one had caught it or something. I can’t quite remember, really, and they never really confided in me until I was older. I just did what I was told so that I could survive.”
“That sounds unpleasant,” Sarah said, thinking of her own childhood and the fun-filled memories she had.
What a sad life Ali had endured even as he’d lived in the lap of luxury. She wondered if it was too soon to ask why he called the Sheikh and Sheikha his parents, even in private, when she knew that wasn’t true.
Their conversation was interrupted by one of the guards, who had clearly been hunting for them for quite some time. The man looked grumpy and sweaty as he approached with a slight bow.
“Your Highness. The ambassadors have arrived and are waiting for you in the east wing conference room.”
Ali nodded.
“Thank you, Akhil. I will be there shortly.”
Akhil glanced suspiciously at Sarah before giving another nod and turning away, heading back toward the cool interior of the palace. Ali stood, and Sarah followed suit.
“A typical day in the life of a royal, you said. This would be a part of that. I have some affairs of state to address, but I would like to walk you to your room, if that’s all right? You can settle in and then we can meet at dinner?”
Sarah laughed.
“I have a room already?”
“Of course. We are always prepared for guests. Besides, in planning ahead I had your bag removed from the plane before it took off, so it is waiting for you as we speak. Perhaps you can unpack a little and plan to stay a while.”
“Indeed,” Sarah said with a grin. She fell into step with Ali as he led the way back inside and down another series of hallways until stopping at a door.
“This is you,” he said, leaning past her to open it.
As he brushed past her, she breathed in the scent of him again, and her mind clouded a bit once more. The man was intoxicating, and the last thing she wanted to do was act on that physical reaction. She stepped past him and glanced around the room before turning back. Ali was about to walk away when she stopped him.
“Wait. Just, before you go—” She reached into her purse and unzipped the hidden pocket.
She pulled out the tiny bottle and held it out to him. His expression was laced with surprise as he stared at the bottle he hadn’t seen since he was a child.
“You can have it back if you’d like.”
Ali stared at the bottle for a moment longer before locking eyes with her. Gently, he wrapped her fingers back around the bottle, holding her hand in both of his.
“Keep it. It was meant for you anyway.”
With that, he turned on his heel and was halfway down the hallway before Sarah could catch her breath again. Looking back down at the bottle in her hand, she turned toward her room and closed the door behind her.
TWELVE
Sarah stared at her elaborately decorated room. She, too, had her own four-poster bed, though the posts appeared to be made entirely of silver and were fashioned like the branches of a willow tree. Hung around the silver branches was a sheer netting, above which was a modern-looking chandelier. Sarah stared at it for a moment, her heartbeat slowing as she forced herself to remain calm.
She was staying in a palace for an indeterminate amount of time. How had her life brought her to this moment? The hand holding Ali’s bottle felt warm and tingly still from his touch. She set the bottle on a cream-colored side table before walking over to the private veranda. Her view was stunning. All around the palace was a series of mountains and forests, with what appeared to be desert along the edges of the horizon. In her wildest dreams she had never imagined such a place.
When she turned back toward her bed, she noticed her suitcase placed beside it and let out an excited whoop as she darted over and opened it, making sure everything was still in the right place. As she sorted through her things, she thought about fully unpacking. There were plenty of armoires and a very large closet with lots of hangers, but she decided against it. Who knew what the next day would bring? She could stay or be gone with the wave of Ali’s sheikh hand.
Glancing back at the bottle, she stood, stretching her back as she walked over and took the little artifact in her hand, opening it once more and sliding the wrinkled paper out. She read the note over and over, trying to tie her perception of the little boy by the river to the man who had parted with her moments before. She had imagined many things for Ali, but his story was beyond belief.
Sarah stared out her window, thinking about the Sheikh. She had hated him at first. After all, he had basically manhandled her out of line at an airport in front of a huge crowd, and he’d refused to tell her why. He could have handled the whole situation far better than he had. Once he had revealed the truth, though, she’d found herself softening toward him. There was so much more she wanted to know. What had it been like to grow up as a decoy prince? Did he miss his mother? Did he love his royal parents just as much, or was it more of a business deal?
How could she remove the pain sitting just behind his eyes?
Sighing, she replaced the letter and was just about to check out her bathroom when there was a knock at the door. Pausing mid-step, she turned back to the door and opened it, finding the same serving girl she had seen when she’d first arrived.
The girl bowed respectfully.
“Miss. The Sheikh has asked if you would join him for a formal dinner this evening with his guests from Switzerland. Would you be willing to join them in an hour?”
Sarah glanced at a cream-colored clock against the wall, not having realized just how much time had passed. Her stomach fluttered at the thought of seeing Ali again, and she fought against the sensation. Of course she’d had some romantic notions about what finding Ali would be like—any woman would—but now that she knew him, and he was so complex, she didn’t want to give in to that daydream. There was a version of Ali that was the truth, and there was a version of him in her dreams, and she had to remember that as she spent more time with him.
She smiled warmly at the serving girl.
“Yes. I would love that.”
The girl’s lips twitched slightly, as though she wanted to return Sarah’s warmth but wasn’t sure if she was allowed to. She gestured just outside the door, and a small group of women proceeded into the room.
“You will need to be dressed appropriately for the occasion then. State dinners require formal wear, and the Sheikh has inferred that you might not have prepared for such an occasion. Do you have any formal wea
r with you, miss?”
Sarah shook her head, watching as two of the women set up a small hair and makeup stand and the other one hung a long bag on the closet door.
“Very good,” the girl said. “Please, if you’ll let us, we will get you ready in time to enter with His Majesty.”
Before she could get another word in edgewise, Sarah was swept into the makeup chair, where her face was cleaned of any dirt and painted by one woman while another brushed and styled her hair. It took a surprisingly short amount of time to get ready when there was a team of people doing it. Once her hair and makeup were complete, Sarah was asked to stand while they pulled a shimmering, cream-colored dress from the bag.
