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But no matter what they’d done to prolong the week, inevitably it had ended. And too soon, they were on their way back to the city palace. The journey passed too quickly, and the silence deepened as the car swept smoothly into the city. She felt like she was a different person from the one who’d leftonly a week earlier. She was in love and that both enriched her and saddened her because they had no future. Their idyll had ended and reality had returned. They would have to be parted immediately as Kadar had business meetings to attend. And parted permanently after she received her passport. Then she’d go in search of any family left living before she returned to England. That had to be her future.
He squeezed her hand, which he’d kept enclosed tightly in his all the way back from the desert, as if afraid she’d disappear. “I’m sorry. I must meet with the vizier and my officials. But we will see each other later this evening. If you want anything, contact my office. They will provide you with anything you need.”
She smiled and stretched. “I need sleep. That is what I’ll be doing while you work.”
“Good. Then you will have plenty of stamina for tonight.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly before brushing it against his cheek. “I can’t wait.”
“Neither can I,” she breathed, wishing she could lean over and kiss him like she wanted to kiss him. But they were no longer unobserved. They were at the palace, in the city where everything the king did was noticed and, no doubt, reported on. “Til later. When we can be alone once more.”
He nodded and got out of the car and became the supreme ruler of Sirun once more. Someone quite different from her lover. Someone very different from the man she now knew she loved. But that regal side of him existed and she couldn’t ignore it. It was the thing which stopped them from having any future together.
The driver drove into the garage and she looked at the back door through which she was expected to exit. Discreet, she thought. And, while she knew she had to be careful for Kadar’s sake, she hated it. Already she was pining for their time away,when they’d been just like any other man and woman in love. But there was no other way. She turned to check she had her things when she noticed Kadar’s phone on the seat. She picked it up and thought that, at least now, she had an excuse to see him sooner than tonight.
She found her way back to the public rooms where Kadar had been heading, but he’d already disappeared, so she decided to return it to his office instead.
She ran up the stairs and looked around, but the assistant who usually guarded his office wasn’t there. No doubt he’d be back soon, and she knew it was safest left with one of his staff rather than trailing around the palace trying to locate Kadar. She entered the office and walked over to the desk and began writing a quick note to stick to the phone when she heard voices. In the next office, through the interconnected doors which were open, she heard the vizier’s voice. She would have left the room immediately if it weren’t for two words used together.
Kadar. Marriage.
She froze. She should have moved away, should have run rather than walked straight out of there. She tried to, but curiosity got the better of her. And she stayed. In a nearby office, she could hear admin staff tapping at keyboards, oblivious to the fact that she was listening to the vizier’s conversation. And, on the other side of the room, she could hear the vizier clearly trying to reassure someone about some threat to the nation.
“Of course, His Majesty understands,” said the vizier, barely concealing his annoyance. “And he certainly is doing something about it, I can assure you of that. He expects to announce his betrothal to a key member of the tribe within weeks, if not days.”
Sarah felt sick to her stomach and tried to move, but her feet had turned to lead. Then she heard Kadar interject and she no longer wanted to run away.
“Look,” said the vizier, “perhaps you’d like to hear Kadar himself tell you this news.” He paused. “Yes? Right. Your Highness?” Then she heard footsteps walk through the office, followed by murmured undertones.
“Sheikh Abdullah!” said Kadar. It was the name of the security minister. Kadar listened for a few moments, then Sarah heard him pace around the room.
“Abdullah, you can take it from me, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. The threat from the Al-Barraq tribe will be neutralized.”
Her skin prickled at the way he spoke—so autocratic, so cold, so… fierce. It made her feel nauseous and fearful. It was exactly as her grandfather had described the old king—Kadar’s father.
“How? By the usual means. Marriage. I will announce my betrothal to a sheikha of that tribe within a few weeks, possibly sooner. The marriage will happen as soon after that as possible.” Another pause, and Kadar laughed. “Of course. It’s a relief to all of us. Goodbye.”
Sarah’s legs felt like water and she sank into a chair as she fought yet another wave of nausea. Her heart was thumping fast. She’d be found here, and they’d know she’d overheard. But what did it matter? Kadar had obviously been leading her on, seducing her, wooing her with words of love, while all the while he’d been about to marry someone else. A political marriage had been arranged and awaiting his return. And she was merely a pre-marriage distraction. She sank her head into her hands and swallowed a sob. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have got it all so wrong? She knew she shouldn’t have trusted him, and yet she had. She’d given him her heart, and she’d believed him when he’d told her he’d take care of it.
She heard Kadar and his vizier leave the office through the opposite sets of doors. It seemed she wouldn’t be noticed after all.
She might have given him her heart, but she could take it right back again. She wasn’t going to hang around waiting for him to dump her days before his marriage. She had to focus on getting her passport. She’d left it long enough.
CHAPTER 14
She now knew the way to the Consulate office and so, wearing a burka to preserve her anonymity, she left the palace and walked quickly through the city—its sights and smells now beginning to feel familiar to her. Almost like a home.
Anger fueled her every step. How could he have said the words he’d said to her, done what he’d done to her, while all along knowing he’d be marrying someone else within a few weeks? She could hardly believe it was the same man. But she’d heard his words with her own ears. She could feel a grief welling up inside of her, but she refused to acknowledge it. She knew that would come later. But now she had a job to do. Because if Kadar imagined he could keep her somewhere close by—a mistress to visit when he’d had enough of his wife—he had another think coming.
It didn’t take long to gain admission to the consul’s office. It seemed mentioning the king’s name could gain her entrance to the highest authorities.
“It’s been a week,” she said, after refusing refreshments. “I realize that isn’t a long time to process a passport. But mycircumstances have changed and I need that passport as soon as possible.”
To her surprise, the consul didn’t appear fazed, but sat back in his leather chair framed by views over the city and nodded.
“Of course. A week is more than long enough to issue another passport, providing we have all the information.”
“You have all the information.”
The consul frowned slightly and checked his computer. “Yes, we could have processed it immediately, but we were stuck without the appropriate paperwork.”
