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She felt her cousin’s hand on her arm and she turned to her. “Sarah, by virtue of your birth, youarea leader whether you want to be or not, whether you know it or not. There is nothing you can say which will change that. You have your parents and grandparents’ blood flowing through your veins.”
She sat back and swallowed.
“And King Kadar knew this also, which is why he wanted to marry you to nullify the threat we pose his government.”
Not the only reason, Sarah wanted to say. But she kept quiet. There was little point in confiding this to Amena because Sarah had no idea which was most important to Kadar—his love for her, or his love for his country. And she’d never have any way of knowing.
CHAPTER 18
“Find someone to take me there!” Kadar thundered. “Get someone to take me east of the mountains and then we will find her.”
His vizier snapped his finger as if to confirm Kadar’s instructions and everyone went running in all directions, leaving Kadar and his vizier alone.
But Kadar was hardly aware of Nabil’s presence. He was beside himself with grief and guilt. He’d never forgive himself if anything happened to her. Never forgive himself for treating her as a political pawn rather than the love of his life.
“We will find her, Your Highness.”
Kadar turned to Nabil, who rarely called him by his official title. It seemed even his vizier understood the seriousness of the situation.
“You better had, Nabil, or else our lives will never be the same again.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I will leave this city and go looking for her and not stop until I find her.”
The vizier looked appalled, which went some way to appeasing Kadar. It meant he was on the right track.
“Youcannotdo that.”
Kadar shot him a dark look. “Watch me.” He jumped up as if he were about to leave that very second but, instead, strode over to the window and looked out to the east, where the sun was rising over the mountains. “She’s there, somewhere, Nabil. And we drove her there. She will want nothing to do with me after talking to her family.”
“And, no doubt, she’ll want nothing to do with the marriage to unite our country. Her family has never sought peaceful solutions to our differences. They’ve never been interested in compromise.”
“Because the solutions you and my father presented them with weren’t acceptable. We were never interested in compromise either.”
Nabil shrugged. “Whatever. That avenue is no longer open to us, I’m afraid.”
“You’re afraid that your plans have failed?” Kadar bellowed. He inhaled slowly. “Believe me, it is notyourplansI’m concerned about. Butmyfuture.”
“There is still hope, Your Majesty. We will track her down and have her brought back here.”
“No!Noone will be brought anywhere against their willeveragain. Is that understood?”
Nabil didn’t speak. For the first time, Kadar thought his vizier looked his age. He’d never seen him look older. But he felt no weakening when confronted with the old man’s vulnerability. “I said, is that clear, Nabil?”
Nabil opened his mouth to speak, but swallowed whatever he was going to say and simply nodded. Then he nodded again. “Itis, Your Highness. Itis.”
“Then I want you to draw up a new plan.”
“Along what lines?”
“Along the lines of peace. I want peace at any cost. This cannot continue.”
“Then, please, Your Highness, reconsider your visit to the east for now. Wait.”
“Why?” Kadar shot straight back, anxious to be on his way and find Sarah, to make her understand how much their love meant to both of them. She had to be a part of his future.
“Strategy,” replied Nabil simply.
