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“There’s no need. She’s coming here.”
“Good.”
“I haven’t congratulated you yet,” said his vizier admiringly. “Verywell played.”
Kadar raised an eyebrow. “It’s not a game of chess,” he said reprovingly, hating that his vizier and he agreed on something for once.
“And there, Kadar, you are wrong.”
“You seem to forget to whom you speak, Nabil.”
Nabil smiled, almost benignly. It was only Kadar who ever received a benign smile from his vizier. No one else. No doubt the reason he was the most feared man in the country. “I know exactly to whom I speak. You are the king I raised you to be. And so, yes, itisa game, and you’ve played it well.”
“I didn’t think you’d approve of my sleeping with the enemy.”
“I most definitelydoapprove. You’ve identified the one person who has the power to unite our enemy against us and make them a force to be feared. And you’ve taken the first step to neutralize that threat. I’d call that very well played.”
Kadar grunted, hating to hear his cold-blooded strategy stated so bluntly. “I’m not proud of what I’ve done.”
“You should be. It doesn’t matter whether or not she knew your identity. The girl turned up, you bedded her, and because she is who she is, you’ve turned a seduction into a brilliant strategic political move.”
Kadar sighed. All this talk of strategy made him feel uncomfortable. None of what had happened between him and Sarah had been political—it hadallbeen personal. He felt a twinge of guilt, as if he were betraying what they’d shared together. “But?—”
“No!” said Nabil forcefully. “Iknowwhat you’re doing. Donotbring emotion into this. It has no place in this matter.”
Kadar raised his eyebrows in surprise. How did this man read him so well?
“You know your job had nothing to do with emotions,” said Nabil, visibly reining in his temper. “It is to do withduty, to do withresponsibility. Look how your feelings about your motherclouded your judgement. You mustnotmake the same mistake again.”
And didn’t Kadar know it.
“But you won’t, I’m sure,” said Nabil in a gentler tone. “So, are you ready for what is to happen next?”
Kadar narrowed his eyes and just stared at his vizier, knowing what he was about to say, and yet not ready to hear it.
Nabil leaned toward him. “You must continue to woo her, of course,” he said, before sitting back and smoothing out his robes.
“I’m not so sure it will be as easy as before. She knows my identity now, and she won’t like that I withheld that from her. For all I know, she’s aware my father ordered the deaths of her parents. I think she’ll want to leave as soon as possible.”
“I doubt it. The girl appears naïve and will be as ignorant of Sirun’s affairs as any other foreigner. I suggest you continue as before. Seduce her and get her to love you. It shouldn’t be that hard, surely?”
Kadar thought it wouldn’t, but refused to agree with his vizier. “She’ll want to leave,” he repeated. Kadar fingered the envelope in his pocket and knew he had to make a decision.
“But she can’t, can she?” said the vizier. “Not if you did as I suggested.” He paused. “Do you have her passport?”
Kadar nodded and slid Sarah’s passport over the desk to the vizier. He didn’t like it, but when had his vizier ever been wrong?
“Excellent. It should take some time for her to get another one, enough time to make her believe she can’t live without you.”
Kadar scoffed. “You think that will be easy now that she knows what’s going on?”
“You are man, she is a woman.” The vizier shrugged. “You must simply use everything at your disposal to seduce her a second time. Tell me, did you use protection?”
“Nabil! What kind of question is that? It’s private!”
“No, it’spolitical,” Nabil said with barely concealed impatience. “Didyou use protection?”
Kadar had a sudden memory of how urgently they’d wanted each other and how nothing had come between them that first time. He gave a tiny shake of the head. “Not the first time.”
