22. Chapter 22 Hammam & Revelations #2
"I grew up knowing we were distantly related to the royalty in Monaco, but not with an expectation of them being in my life in any real way. But especially not through an arranged marriage."
"Really?" I ask. "How did they talk you into it?"
"I'd had a painful love affair and when my father asked me if I would be willing to advance the interests of our royal brethren.
" She stops and makes a very unqueenlike face.
"That's exactly how he put it too. I was interested.
More than. I never wanted to hurt as much as I did after that breakup again. "
"And then you went and fell in love with baba."
"He fell first and was a bear to be around until my dear daughter-in-law stopped burying her head in the sand like the ostriches we have never had in Zahriya," Lady Aliyah says acerbically.
"A man appreciates what he has to work for," the queen replies loftily.
"Then Gabriel must appreciate Juliana a lot because he has pulled out all the stops for her," Delphine says adamantly.
Chloe nods emphatically.
But Brielle sighs dreamily. "It's so romantic."
They are not wrong.
I sit where the attendant indicates I should, as do the other women and our chatting is naturally curtailed.
But I think about what the queen said while my attendant fills a brass bowl from the wall basin closest to me. Queen Camille knew about the arrangement with my dad. Of course, she did. As did the king and Gabriel's brothers.
But none of them withheld that knowledge in an attempt to hurt me. Arranged marriages are the norm in their family, not the exception. And even for a woman like Queen Camille, born into a modern family who didn't participate in such things, it wasn't seen as a bad thing.
They don't see me as a burden to the family. How can they? When I'm no different than she was. A bride chosen by circumstance to cement an alliance.
Warm water slowly pours over my shoulder, sliding down my back, soaking the thin cotton of the sleeveless shift I'd been given to wear for this ritual. After the third scoop of warm water, it turns translucent where it clings to my skin.
I resist the instinct to cross my arms over my chest or middle.
No one else is. Not even the queen shows the slightest discomfort in being virtually naked now.
And unlike my mother, who is as tone and fit as she was at eighteen, according to both her and my father, the queen has a small belly and her breasts are not exactly perky anymore.
She's not embarrassed by that. Why should I be by the size of my curves?
The attendant fills another bowl from the faucet in the wall, this one with slightly warmer water. Then another. And another, the water going from warm to pleasantly hot and sweat joins the moisture on my body from the ritual rinsing.
I slide into an almost meditative state. Even Delphine and Chloe have gone silent as the atmosphere grows increasingly peaceful.
At some point, we are all led into the main bathing chamber. Standing and walking wakes my senses enough to notice the scent of minerals in the air. The taps in here have to be fed from a natural hot spring. The faint whiff of sulfur is unmistakable.
The room is long and rectangular, the ceiling domed. Small, star-shaped openings pierce the stone, letting light filter in to scatter over the blue and gray veined marble. Somehow, I find myself beside Queen Camille again as the attendants begin the ritual bathing.
They pour steaming mineral water over us with more brass bowls, these ones engraved with symbols and Kufic script.
Gabriel explained it was an older and more decorative script than the modern Naskh script for the Arabic alphabet when I noted it on some of the spines on the books in the library at Dar al-Hayat.
This time, the attendant only pours a few bowls of water over me before returning with a dark, silky paste that smells faintly of olives and something earthy. She smooths it over my arms, my shoulders, and my back.
"Beldi soap," the attendant explains. "It softens the skin."
I nod, though I’m not sure I’m expected to respond.
The heat deepens. Steam thickens the air in the room. Time blurs at the edges. At some point, my eyes close and I float in a deeper state of relaxation than I've ever experienced. Even on horseback.
The attendant guides me to lean forward slightly and a rough glove begins to work over my skin.
The motion is steady, the pressure neither too light, nor too much. It is grounding, almost like brushing down a horse. Only this time, I am the one being cared for.
Delphine’s voice drifts over, only slightly less animated than her norm. "I’m telling you, Chloe, if you think Chapter Seventeen was good, you should read—"
"Shh…" Chloe hisses.
"What?" Delphine asks innocently. "We're just talking about historical fiction."
So, that's the story, is it?
I huff out a soft laugh, surprised I even have the energy for that. I feel like a sloth. A very content one.
But I read my fair share of historical fiction as a teenager. I loved romance then and I love it now. Though my favorite genre right now is mafia romance.
Until I met Gabriel, all my fantasies had centered on domineering mafia dons who could give multiple orgasms and softened only for the women they came to love.
Gabriel isn't in the mafia, but he sure is sexy and gives me lots and lots of orgasms. I don't mind he isn't as domineering as the men in my romance books. Although, come to think of it, with the kidnapping and all…I'm not sure he isn't.
Water pours over me again, rinsing the Bedi soap away, leaving only warmth and contentment behind.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Queen Camille asks, "You truly feel reborn. As you have been. You are now and will always be a member of the House of Al Qadir."
What would have sounded like a threat right after I found out about the deal my dad made with Gabriel, now feels like reassurance.
Whatever our reasons for marrying (and now I know they are love), I am part of this remarkable family.
"I'm very happy about that," I tell the queen truthfully. Your son loves me and I love him with my whole heart."
"A mother could not ask for anything more." The sincerity in the queen's voice finds a welcome spot in my heart.