The Sheik's Secret Bride

by Mallery, Susan

  She opened her mouth, but no words came. What on earth was she supposed to say to that? “Well, la de da,” she managed at last, although saying it didn’t make her feel any better. Fortunately, the limo had arrived back at the palace.

  She waited until Sandy slowed the vehicle, then opened the door before he brought it to a complete stop and jumped onto the paved walkway.

  “I want to see the king,” she demanded as she made her way past the armed guards at attention.

  Malik was already behind her. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Getting this mess straightened out. There’s been a mistake. Obviously you and I aren’t really married. I don’t know what you think you’re doing but it’s not going to work.”

  “Married?”

  “Mommy?”

  Two voices spoke at the same time. Liana groaned, then jerked her arm free and saw that Fatima and her daughter had come out to greet them. Bethany’s eyes were huge and her mouth quivered as if she wasn’t sure if she should smile or not.

  “Mommy, did you really marry Prince Malik?”

  “No, I did not,” Liana said, glaring at him, daring him to contradict her. “There was a little mix-up at the desert camp, but I’m going to see the king and we’ll get it all straightened out.”

  “Malik?” Fatima asked inquiringly.

  “There was a change of plans,” her grandson said dryly. “It wasn’t a welcoming ceremony after all. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

  Liana planted her hands on her hips. “Don’t try and pass your actions off on others. You’re the one responsible.” She looked at the queen. “Excuse me, Fatima, but where is the king? I must speak with him right away.”

  “I’ll take you to him,” Malik said stiffly.

  “I’ll see him alone, thank you very much.” Liana started toward the palace. “You’ve already done quite enough.”

  But it wasn’t to be. Even as she started down one of the many hallways, Malik caught up with her and took her hand. No matter how she pulled, he wouldn’t release her. And to make the situation even more humiliating, she’d turned the wrong way, so they had to backtrack to get to the king’s offices.

  “You’re leaving as soon as we get there,” she told Malik under her breath. “I will not have this conversation while you’re in the room.”

  “Then you won’t be having it, because I’m not leaving.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Liana announced, even as she thought to herself that it was unlikely she was going to get her way in this matter. After all, she hadn’t gotten her way in very many other matters where Malik was concerned—except for the issue of living on her own in the housing by the American School. And a lot of good that had done her, she thought grimly. Malik had let her go, only to trick her into marriage.

  They rounded the corner and found themselves facing a large set of double doors. The royal seal filled the center of each door and two armed guards stood at attention. For a second Liana wondered if they would be allowed to enter, but then a male secretary came running up and opened the right-hand door for them, bowing and announcing Malik at the same time.

  King Givon sat behind an impressively large desk. There were bookcases and a large sitting area by a window that looked over a stunning garden complete with a life-sized statue of an Arabian horse.

  The king rose as they entered. “What an unexpected surprise,” he said, smiling at them both. “Miss Archer. I have missed having you here at the palace. I’m pleased you took the time to come and speak with me today.”

  His polite greeting left Liana feeling momentarily off balance. She jerked her hand free of Malik’s and nodded at the king. “Your Majesty, I have a small problem and I need your help.”

  Givon raised his eyebrows then glanced at his son. “Are you that problem, Malik?”

  “Sir,” Liana interrupted, “I would most appreciate it if we could have this conversation without the prince being present.”

  “I see.” The king motioned for her to take a seat on one of the low sofas by the window. “And, Malik, do you wish to stay?”

  “Yes, Father.”

  Liana forced herself to settle on one of the soft cushions when all she really wanted to do was bounce to her feet and pace the length of the impressive room. The rugs underfoot looked as ancient as El Bahar itself, yet, despite their age, they were rich with color. Each design appeared to be more perfect than the one before, yet she knew that every rug had a tiny flaw worked deliberately into the weave.

  King Givon sat next to Liana and took one of her hands in his. “I’m sorry, my child. I would dearly love to grant your request of an audience without the presence of my son, but as he wishes to be here, I cannot deny him. I hope you’ll understand.”

  She didn’t at all, but she doubted it would help to say that. Instead she nodded and stared at her hands. Her hands. Her breath caught as she took in the patterns of henna staining her skin. Her eyes closed as she remembered reading something about henna being applied to the hands and feet of a bride. Why hadn’t she remembered this yesterday?

  “I can’t believe it,” she murmured, then looked at the king. “Something horrible has happened. I understand that Malik is your son and the Crown Prince, but I hope you will put your personal feelings aside and hear me out.”

  “Of course.” The king nodded gravely.

  Malik moved to the window where he stood with his back to them. She had no idea what he was thinking, and she didn’t care. “Yesterday I accompanied Prince Malik out into the desert.” She briefly recounted her expectation that she was to participate in a welcoming ceremony, and how she’d found out this morning that she and Malik had somehow been married.

  “It can’t be true,” she said urgently. “I never agreed to any of it. Someone has made a mistake. I won’t be married to him. I can’t be. No one asked me if I wanted to marry him.”

  The king patted the hand he held. “The ancient ways are different here than in the West,” he began. “A traditional desert wedding doesn’t require the permission of the bride, only that of her family.”

  “But I don’t have any family here.”

  Wise dark eyes so much like Malik’s stared into her face. “Without family to care for you—” he began, but Liana cut him off.

  She pulled her hand free and rose to her feet. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me or my daughter. I do a fine job all on my own.” She pressed her fingertips together.

  “That is true,” the king agreed. “However, the old ways don’t make allowances for a woman who can support herself. Instead, a woman without family will be married off to the first man willing to provide for her. Under those circumstances, her husband is held to a higher standard because the woman is without protection.” Givon smiled. “In our own way, we try to see that all are taken care of.”

  Liana swallowed her frustration. Screaming at the king was only going to make him angry and what she really needed was the monarch on her side. Even so it was difficult to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “So you’re saying that because I have no family, any man in El Bahar can marry me against my will?”

  “Something like that. But, as I mentioned, these are the old ways. Things are different now.”

  Relief flooded her. She sank back onto the sofa and for the first time that morning, smiled. “So we’re not married?”

  King Givon glanced at his son, who still stood with his back to them. “Modern practices have taken the place of desert marriages for most people, however the desert arrangements can still be valid under certain circumstances.”

  Liana swallowed. A knot formed in her stomach and she had a bad feeling about what the king was going to say. “What circumstances?”

  “If you went through the desert ceremony last night and that was all, then the marriage can be annulled immediately. However, if the marriage was consummated, then I’m afraid it’s completely binding
. At that point the couple is truly married for a month. After that time, they may consider a divorce, but not before.”

  Liana couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t move. She could only stare at the king sitting next to her and press her lips together to keep from crying out in frustration.

  “That can’t be it,” she whispered. “Anything but that.”

  Givon’s bushy dark eyebrows raised slightly. “I see.”

  Just two words, but there was a wealth of meaning behind them. Color and heat flooded her face. Liana sprang to her feet and mumbled an apology, then ran from the room. She pushed past the startled guards and ran until the king’s private office was far behind her, and she was again in a familiar part of the palace.

  She stopped by a small fountain in an alcove. The splash of water sounded like tiny bells, but she barely heard the soft melody because of the harsh sobs clawing at her throat.

  It couldn’t be true, she thought frantically. Someone was lying. In this day and age a man couldn’t really marry a woman without her permission, could he? Not even a Crown Prince. And even if it were so, why would Malik do it? And with her? Was he tricking her? Did he want to punish her for leaving the palace? But that didn’t make sense, she thought as she dashed away her tears. Of course, nothing made sense anymore.

  She leaned against the cool wall and continued to sniff and smooth away her tears, all the while trying not to notice the henna staining her hands. What was she supposed to do now?

  Liana slowly focused on her surroundings. She’d stopped in a little-used corner of one of the side corridors by the harem. She straightened and drew in a deep breath. She had more than herself to consider—there was also Bethany. This affected her as well. If it was true.

  Liana knew only one other person she could ask about the marriage, so she walked around the corner and headed for the gold doors that marked the entrance to the harem.

  Inside, she found both of Malik’s sisters-in-law as well as Fatima waiting for her. Bethany bounced to her feet and raced over to her mother.

  “Fatima says that you’re really married to Prince Malik, which means you’re a princess,” her daughter said, beaming up at her. “Can I be a princess, too? Please, Mommy?”

  Liana looked at the elegant queen. “So it’s true?”

  Fatima rose to her feet and crossed the marble floor. When she was in front of Liana, she rested her hands on Liana’s shoulders, then leaned forward and kissed her on both cheeks. “Well, my daughter,” Fatima said. “I’m afraid you have married the Crown Prince.” A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Of course, now that you have him, I can’t help thinking he will be the one to change, not you. You’re an excellent partner for my grandson.”

  The queen was actually smiling at her, Liana thought in amazement. Both Dora and Heidi were nodding with approval. As for being partners, that wasn’t going to happen. Not if she could do anything about it.

  “We’re not really married,” she said flatly, stepping back from Fatima.

  “But the king called and said you are,” Bethany announced. “Just now. And Fatima was happy, and now Princess Dora and Princess Heidi are my aunts and Fatima is my grandma and I have a big family.” She clapped her hands together. “I’ve always wanted a big family, but till now it was mostly Mommy and me.” She looked at her mother. “What are you going to tell Grandma and Grandpa?”

  “Oh, Lord,” Liana murmured. What was she going to tell her parents? Nothing for now, she thought. Nothing until everything was straightened out. If she and Malik were really married, then her parents would have plenty of time to deal with the fact that their daughter had married a prince. If she could get the situation fixed, they might never have to know.

  Liana pressed her fingers to her temple. “I don’t feel too good.”

  “Perhaps you should sit down,” Fatima said, leading her over to the sofa.

  Dora gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’ll order tea.”

  Liana looked at her. “I don’t think tea is going to help this situation.” She shook her head. “This isn’t really happening, is it?

  Bethany plopped down next to her. “It’s okay, Mommy. You’ll see. You’ll like being married to Prince Malik. He’s really nice. When we go out riding, he always listens to me and talks to me. Not like some grown-ups. And now we can live here in the palace where there are horses and the babies. I’ll still go to school, of course, and I’ll study really hard and not be a moment’s trouble. Really. So you’ll like being here and will want to stay married to Prince Malik forever.”

  Her own daughter had already bought the idea, Liana realized. She’d thought Bethany might be upset, but of course she wasn’t. For the nine-year-old, having Malik as a father was something out of a fairy tale. After all, he was a handsome prince who had taught her to ride a horse and now appeared willing to make all her dreams come true.

  “I think I’m going to faint,” Liana said as all the blood rushed from her head and the room swayed.

  “Deep breaths,” Fatima instructed. “You’re in shock, but you’ll get used to the idea.” She smiled. “You’re now married to a prince. That can’t be a bad thing.”

  Liana wanted to disagree in the strongest terms possible. Of course it was a bad thing. She’d been tricked into marriage by a man she hardly knew. Nothing about her life had prepared her for this, and she didn’t want to be here. If she’d known what was going to happen when she came to El Bahar, she never would have left California.

  She looked at the other women in the room. They stared back with varying degrees of concern, but no one was shocked. They weren’t appalled and bemoaning her fate. Was she the only one still based in reality?

  Heidi leaned forward and smiled at her. “I know this must seem strange, but it’s not as bad as you think. After all, you get to be married to a prince. Imagine how wonderful it would be if you fell in love with him.”

  Liana opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. There was no polite way to respond to that comment and she didn’t want to alienate herself from everyone at the palace. In love with Malik? Not her, not ever. If she were left alone with the man for more than three minutes, she would skin him alive…or worse. In love. That was ridiculous. Just because he was sort of attractive and fairly decent to her daughter. And the sex had been spectacular, she added grudgingly. More than spectacular. It had been intense enough to change the earth’s rotation. But that was lust, not love, and, as for the rest of it, she would never allow herself to care for someone who thought he could get whatever he wanted just by pushing other people around.

  Besides, she had a life of her own. Which reminded her. “I have to get back to my condo,” she told Fatima.

  “Of course. You’ll want your things.”

  Liana didn’t want to think about the reality of having to move back into the palace. So she didn’t. “Actually, I was more concerned about my lesson plan. I need to go over it for Monday.”

  Fatima patted her hand. “That’s not necessary, my dear. You’re the wife of the Crown Prince. You won’t be teaching anymore. In fact, you never have to worry about working again for the rest of your life.”

  Chapter 10

  Not having to work again might be someone else’s fantasy, Liana thought grimly, but it wasn’t hers. She enjoyed taking care of herself. Being with Chuck had taught her not to depend on anyone else, and she didn’t intend ever to forget that lesson.

  So she sat quietly through her tea with Fatima and the two princesses, and, when she could, she escaped back to the guest suite where she and Bethany had first stayed. There she made the first of her two phone calls. She was not about to accept her current situation without a fight.

  However, thirty minutes later she was forced to concede defeat. The administrator of her school had congratulated her on her unexpected nuptials and had gone on to inform her that not only had her classes already been reassigned to other teachers, but that her account had been credited for her full two
years of salary. Liana grimaced. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind as to where that money had come from, and if Malik thought he could buy her off, he was going to be surprised.

  Her second call had been to the American consulate. While the man at the office had been sympathetic and understanding, he hadn’t been the least bit helpful. El Baharian desert marriages were legally binding. If she and the prince had consummated the union, then she was married for the next thirty days. After that time, she could pursue a divorce. Oh, and he had also suggested it would be very nice if she didn’t make an international incident about the issue. Relations with this very rich Middle Eastern country were most cordial and the United States government intended to keep them that way.

  Liana got the message. This was her problem and no one was going to help her out of it.

  No matter how many times she replayed the situation in her mind, it didn’t make sense. Why her? Men like Malik didn’t fall for women like her. She knew he wasn’t in love with her. And while the sex had been amazing, that had occurred after the so-called marriage ceremony. He was a prince. She was a schoolteacher. They did not belong together, so why had he done it? She glared at the phone, picked up the receiver, then slammed it down again. This couldn’t be happening, she thought frantically. She wouldn’t let it. When had she lost control of her life? Was El Bahar really so very different? Had she truly been trapped into marriage without her consent?

  “Mommy, why are you mad?”

  Liana hadn’t heard her daughter enter the room, but now she glanced up and saw her standing by the entrance to the suite. Familiar blue eyes stared at her in confusion.

  Liana held open her arms and her daughter ran over to her. They hugged each other, then Liana settled the child on the sofa next to her and brushed her bangs out of her face.

  “I’m not angry so much as frustrated,” Liana admitted.

  “But Fatima says that now we get to live in the palace and I can ride horses every day.”