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‘She fell from Batal at a gallop…’ And he’d never forget that moment. Even when he’d thought it was Hassan who was on the floor, his heart had been in his mouth. To discover that it had been Bella—
‘It is indeed a miracle that she survived,’ Kalif agreed. ‘Had Batal not stopped when he did and had he not protected her with his body… It was an astonishing spectacle. People are talking of nothing else. Not only that an animal of his reputation stopped for the girl, but that he then lowered himself so that she could mount. Quite remarkable.’
‘I can’t believe she rode the stallion.’ Zafiq ran his hand over the back of his neck, so tense that he felt as though he were going to explode. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t spot that it was her.’
‘She fooled all of us, Your Highness, but perhaps it was for the best. Had you known it was her, you would have stopped her. And then Batal would not have won the race,’ Kalif said logically. ‘After Kamal was injured, there was no one else to ride him. She is a very brave young woman.’
Staring at her still form, Zafiq felt suddenly cold as he considered what might have happened. ‘She is reckless,’ he said hoarsely. ‘She has always been reckless.’
A noise behind him made him turn and he saw a crowd of anxious faces in the doorway. His brother Rachid was in front and behind him his sister Sahra, Yousif, his Master of Horse, and at least fifteen of the palace staff.
‘Is there any news?’ Rachid spoke for all of them and Zafiq made an exasperated sound as he scanned the number of heads in the corridor.
‘She is resting!’
‘We are all worried. Even Batal is very unsettled,’ Yousif fretted. ‘He wants to see her.’
‘I’d like to see him,’ came a small voice from the bed, and they all turned and saw a white-faced Bella, struggling to sit up.
‘Don’t move,’ Zafiq commanded, but she ignored him, pushing her blonde hair away from her face with a hand that was scraped raw from her fall.
‘I need to sit up.’ She gave him a wary look, as if she sensed trouble, and then glanced over to the doorway where everyone else was gathered.
Watching her face brighten, Zafiq felt something tug deep inside him.
She’d made friends.
‘You were magnificent,’ Rachid said hoarsely, crossing the room in two strides and pulling her into a hug without waiting for Zafiq’s permission. ‘What a woman!’
Stunned by how badly he wanted to drag his brother away, Zafiq watched in tense silence as everyone poured into the room, all of them ignoring him, apparently too over whelmed by the need to check on Bella to care about protocol.
Smothered in fuss and praise, Bella looked faintly uncomfortable and the only thing she said was ad dressed to Yousif. ‘Is Batal all right?’
‘He is very proud of himself,’ Yousif assured her immediately. ‘I think he knows he has achieved something quite extraordinary. No doubt he will be quite unbearable now.’
Bella grinned weakly and flopped back against the pillows. There was a bruise across one cheek bone where she’d fallen and Zafiq knew she must be aching from head to foot. But she didn’t utter a word of complaint; she just listened while everyone bombarded her with stories of the reaction of the crowd.
‘They all thought you were dead—’
‘—reared up, thought he was going to kill you—’
‘—formed a cage—’
‘—and when the horse knelt down—’
‘—the fastest race anyone has ever seen—’
‘—such a relationship between horse and rider—’
