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As Amber recounted the events, Badir sighed. The events that had taken place were dark. It angered him to know that El-Tamar's sons had treated Saja and her two maids like that. He believed that a man should never lay his hands on a woman like that. They had completely crossed the line. What they had done was reckless. They fearlessly kidnapped Saja in public. It did not even sound like it was planned.
He left Amber and went to meet with the team. They were already waiting for Badir. “Princess Saja has been kidnapped,” he said without preamble.
The unit commander’s eyes flew open. This was a serious situation. “This happened today? Do we have a suspect?” he asked.
“Yes. El-Tamar.”
“Her biological father?” That was not what the commander expected to hear. How and why would her father be responsible for her kidnapping?
“From eyewitness accounts, it was several members of the family including his wife and two sons. No doubt he was in on it too,” Badir replied. He was not convinced that El-Tamar's hands were clean. “I want a bird in the sky and ears to the ground. If anyone in Quabeca moves a muscle; I want to know about it. We have to find her as soon as possible,” Badir commanded.
They then spent the next hour mapping out search quadrants along with orders to tap mobile phones, set up roadblocks and lock down the local airfields. Within a few hours, everyone in the palace was aware of Saja's disappearance. All the maids and the guards were talking about it. Basil's servants were extra careful around him. Everyone knew what he was like when he was angry and those who did not know were warned. They all knew of his love for Saja. Therefore, everyone was doing his or her best not to anger him or remind him of Saja.
Chapter 6
Mona and Saja were sitting in an empty room with plain walls and a high ceiling. The car ride was rough. Aman kept punching both of them when they tried anything. Akeem had thrown their phones out the window. When they arrived at the destination, they were thrown into this room and Aman locked the door behind them.
They had been there for about half a day with no food or water. Both of the women were sore from their injuries. It was uncomfortable. Saja sat there thinking of Basil. They had such a wonderful time on their honeymoon. Basil taught her how to sword fight, well he attempted to. Saja did not pick up the skills required for swordsmanship.
The sun was setting when Saja found Basil practising outside. He handed her a sword and tried to teach her, but she kept dropping the sword. It was too heavy and her strikes were weak. Basil kept laughing at her. It became a game to him as he carefully slashed at her dress with the sword until the fabric fell to the ground in shreds, exposing her legs. He threw his sword down, picked her up and brought them both down to the grass in the courtyard of the villa where he made love to her. Saja smiled to herself after remembering that memory.
When morning came, she had not rested much. She looked over at her Mona. She felt bad for her. “I'm sorry that you are in this mess because of me,” she said to her.
“No, it was I who failed to protect you,” Mona replied.
“This is messed up,” Saja rolled her eyes and sighed. “Seems that every time I am in this country, I am held hostage,” she added and grunted. Mona smiled and shook her head.
Suddenly the door opened and Akeem stood there holding a tray of food. He walked in halfway and left the tray on the floor before backing out.
“What exactly is your reason for kidnapping me? What is it that you want? To kill me? Money?” Saja demanded. He did not even bother to respond to her. He simply shut the door and locked it.
Akeem rejoined his mother and his brother in the kitchen. They were sitting at the table still trying to figure the whole thing out. They had not planned it properly. El-Tamar and Anwar walked into the kitchen.
“What have you done?” El-Tamar shouted as soon as he walked into the kitchen. Akeem had called him and told him where they were. He drove there as soon as he put the phone down.
“This is the only way we can make her pay for everything she has put us through and ransom back some of our wealth,” Abia said to her husband. He looked at her as though she had lost her mind.
“You are crazy and you have put us all in danger. Do you know how angry the Prince will be? May God help us all!”
“I do not know why you fear that man. He is only a prince and he will pay the ransom. It’s nothing to him.”
El-Tamar laughed. Abia had definitely lost her mind. “You clearly do not know the Prince very well,” he said.
“Father, we cannot simply stand by while we lose our home. We had to do something since you were not man enough to do anything about it,” Aman s
aid. El-Tamar slapped him.
“Boy, I am still your father. You will not speak to me like that ever! You were the one embezzling money from the Prince, you foolish boy. You got us here not her. This is your fault!” El-Tamar screamed at him.
“Well, there is no use in turning against each other. We are in this together now, there is no escaping it,” Akeem said.
* * * * * *
Amber got to her feet instantly when the Prince walked into the servants’ quarters. All the maids were surprised to see him. They bowed their heads to him as he passed. Basil had never been there but he wanted to check on her. Saja would want that. There were two single beds in the room. He sat on one of them. He asked Amber to sit down. She was standing there, not sure what to do.
“Are you feeling any better?” Basil asked Amber. He was very uncomfortable. He was not used to looking after people or worrying about their welfare. It was even more awkward because Amber was a maid. He never really spoke to the maids or worried over them.
“I am fine, thank you, your highness,” she replied. Her voice was shaky. The Prince being here in her bedroom had taken her by surprise. Mona was right. She had said that Saja had softened him up. He was a different man.
