Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
KAMARAN
Kamaran was dreaming.
He was sure of it.
Rana’s gentle fingers were running through his hair, he was surrounded by her lavender and honey scent, and her soft laugh danced over his ears like his favorite music.
The only thing that would make it better would be if he were holding her in his arms, instead of sitting at her bedside, pleading with her to—
His head shot up off the edge of Rana’s mattress as the events of the night before crashed through the haze of sleep.
“Good morning.” Rana smiled warmly at him. Her hair was mussed and her cosmetics were smudged, but she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he decided at that moment that there was nothing else he wanted to wake up to for the rest of his life.
“You’re awake.” His voice was still raspy from sleep, and he could feel that he would be paying for his awkward sleeping position for the rest of the day.
But it doesn’t matter because I’m here and she’s here and she’s alive.
“That is what most people do when the sun comes up.” The teasing tilt he loved was back in her brows, but the dark circles under her faintly bloodshot eyes wouldn’t allow him to enjoy it.
“No. Don’t try to joke this away, Rana. You almost died.”
Someone behind him snorted. “As if I would ever allow that to happen on my watch.”
Kamaran looked over his shoulder to see Aida and an old woman that he assumed must be Rana’s Teta, based on the familial resemblance, and he vaguely remembered that Rana had been speaking to someone when he woke up.
Aida rubbed the fingers of one hand together and studied them nonchalantly as she spoke, “But since I approve of where this is going, please continue.”
“By the way, we have company,” Rana offered brightly.
He faced her again. “Then they can back me up. You shouldn’t have jumped in front of me like that.”
“Then the dart would have hit you.”
“And?”
“And I didn’t want that to happen.” She crossed her arms. “In case you weren’t aware, Jasper and I were trying to keep you from being assassinated at your own party.”
“So you thought the alternative was for you to be assassinated?”
Rana tilted her head and hummed. “Can you really call it an assassination if it’s an unintentional murder? Or are we rewriting dictionary entries again?”
Kamaran exhaled heavily as he scrubbed both hands down his tired face. “Rana…”
“Kamaran.” She quirked an eyebrow.
“The point here is that you recklessly endangered your own life. It’s far too precious for you to throw it away for someone like me, and I don’t understand how you don’t see that.”
She softened and reached for his hand. “And I don’t understand how you don’t see that you’re far too precious for me not to.”
“Well, I think we’ve seen enough,” Teta announced. “I give my sincerest and heartiest blessings. Your children will argue better than lawyers, but there are two of you, so at least you’ll have someone to commiserate with.”
He watched from the corner of his eye as Aida helped her stand, adding, “Let me know if there’s anything you need help with for the wedding, Rana. Oh, and Kamaran?”
He looked over his shoulder again.
“Your father would approve.”
Kamaran nodded and swallowed against the ball of emotion that suddenly filled his throat as Aida escorted Teta quietly out the door.
“Kamaran.”
His whispered name on Rana’s lips reeled him back like a fish on a line.
“I’m—” She stopped, shook her head, then started again. “Sorry, you just look far too uncomfortable there.” She shifted gingerly to the side, then patted the space on the mattress beside her.
Kamaran hesitated. “I don’t—”
“It’s either that or I’m getting up and moving to the couch.”
He sighed and gave in, relocating from the chair to the mattress. He tucked an arm around her shoulders. “You’re kind of stubborn, you know that?”
“Someone needs to remind you that just because you’re Sultan, doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.
” She scooted closer, letting her head fall against his shoulder and reaching for his other hand.
She slipped her fingers between his. “Given the recent applicants for the job have either tried blatantly to seduce you or to murder you, I think I’m your best choice. ”
“The bar for employment in Adhavi has fallen dangerously low.”
“Indeed. As Sultan, you should probably do something about that—though not before I get this job, because I desperately need it.”
“Really? I thought you were already employed.”
She tilted her head back so that he could see her face, and the way that she was looking at him made his breath catch. “Let me amend my statement: I desperately want that job.”
“The job of keeping me in line?” He leaned his head closer to hers.
Her eyes dropped to his lips for a moment. “The care and keeping of a Sultan. Among other things.”
He closed the distance between them, touching his forehead to hers. Her eyes fluttered shut.
The door flew open with a crash. “Rana! Teta said you were awake!”
Kamaran stifled a groan as Jasper blew in with Zade and Spot on his heels.
Zamar followed at a more sedate pace. The hint of a knowing smirk appeared on the vizier’s face as he greeted them.
“Rana, Your Majesty. I’m glad to see you both appear to be recovering well.
As you can see, I’ve brought the menagerie. ”
Zade immediately jumped on the bed and started chittering away as he rubbed his head against Rana’s side.
“Thank you,” Kamaran responded drily.
Jasper plopped himself into the chair beside the bed. “How are you feeling, Rana?”
“A little bit like I’ve been dragged by a camel,” she laughed. “I’ve got a headache and my shoulder is still pretty tender, but it’s manageable.”
Jasper nodded. “The surgeon said you not only got dosed with viper venom, but you likely have a concussion from hitting your head on the floor. He was pretty impressed when you didn’t die.”
Kamaran’s arm tightened around Rana’s shoulders at the reminder. The image of her lying pale and limp in his arms as he felt her life draining away was one that he would never fully recover from.
Rana shrugged. “The dart must not have hit right or something. Or maybe the venom wasn’t very strong.”
“It was concentrated at ten times the amount.” Zamar shook his head. “I don’t know what kind of training Princess Aida underwent in Jinnal, but we had all but given up when she arrived and offered her assistance. However it happened, the fact that you’re alive is a miracle.”
“But why?” Kamaran asked, voicing the thought that had been plaguing him since the night before. “What could Aliyah have possibly hoped to gain?”
Zamar sank onto the couch. “I’ve been trying to piece that together myself.
Nabil—her home region—has long been one of the more prosperous regions in the empire.
As their wealth and influence over their neighbors have grown, Aliyah’s family seems to have only grown more hungry for power.
They have a distant connection to the royal line—-not enough to challenge for the throne, but enough to make a claim should you be taken out of the picture. ”
“But the Queen’s Contest was already happening,” Rana said. “Why resort to murder when they could just have Aliyah marry him?”
“Because that would leave her father still in the position of a subordinate, and nothing less than Sultan would satisfy.”
“Unfortunately for him,” Jasper cut in, “his daughter is a very bad assassin. Either that, or His Majesty is just very bad at dying.”
Kamaran frowned, “What do you mean?”
“She tried to kill you several times,” Rana answered, squeezing the fingers she held more tightly and pressing into his side as if she needed to be closer to him.
“Four, to be exact,” said Jasper. He held up a hand, ticking off his fingers. “There was last night, of course. Then the scorpion that she put on your shirt. The attack in the marketplace.”
“I thought that was an accident,” Kamaran interrupted, looking to Zamar.
The vizier shook his head sadly. “After we knew where to look, we found that he had connections to Aliyah’s family.
The surgeon confirmed that the seizures he suffered while in custody could very well have been caused by viper venom.
It’s likely that when you survived, he was killed to keep the whole thing quiet. ”
A somber moment followed. “What was the fourth attempt?” Rana asked, finally breaking the silence.
“The garden party,” Jasper answered smugly. “I did some asking around. Aliyah brought you a drink, Your Majesty, didn’t she?”
Vague memories popped into his mind as Kamaran nodded.
“She tried to poison you by putting arsenic in your punch, only instead of drinking it, you tossed it onto a rose bush.”
Rana gasped. “That’s the one the gardener was asking Teta about!”
“That’s what made me think of it.” Jasper nodded proudly.
Kamaran exhaled, numb with the kind of disbelief that only comes from learning that one was the target of a handful of assassination attempts. “I never would have guessed.”
“Because while she’s a very bad assassin, she is an excellent actor.”
“How did you figure it out?”
“I was just listening.” Jasper gave him a pointed look. “Like I said before, Your Majesty, I would make an excellent spy.”
His statement earned him a series of chuckles from everyone in the room.
“What about the Queen’s Contest?” Rana’s voice hitched with anxiety, prompting Kamaran to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Please don’t tell me that Yasmin won by default.”
Zamar smiled. “Given the circumstances, the judges have agreed to name Rana as the winner.”
“But I was never a part of it,” Rana argued. “Not that I’m complaining, of course.”
“Not officially. However, your grandmother and I both had a feeling that perhaps your presence here at the palace might be just what His Majesty needed. After the first week, I started keeping my own notes on your performance and how you interacted with His Majesty.”
“Teta was in on it!” Rana pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head. “I should have known.”
“But what was all that about me needing to convince the judges, then?” Kamaran asked, feeling a little put out.
“Ah, that was to provide them with undeniable evidence after I pleaded my case. Ultimately, it’s what swayed the decision in her favor.
They appreciated a woman who could get you to take your responsibilities seriously.
The only member of the judge’s council who was against it was Rashid, the one who acted as spokesperson last evening.
As it turns out, he’s one of Aliyah’s cousins and since he is currently in prison, his vote no longer counts.
” Zamar slapped his legs lightly as he stood.
“We’ll make the official announcement shortly—as soon as the two of you are feeling up to a public appearance.
For now, we’ll let you get some rest. Come, Jasper. ”
A few moments later, Kamaran and Rana were alone once more, save for the sleeping bundle of fur who had burrowed into the blankets at Rana’s side. Rana closed her eyes as she snuggled into him and let out a contented sigh. “You should probably give Jasper a raise.”
Of all the things he had expected her to say, that was not one of them. He let out a surprised laugh. “Because he helped catch an assassin?”
“Because you want to keep him on your good side.” She looked up at him. “The boy knows secrets about everyone. He said I make you forget that you’re a Sultan and that you like my independence.”
He lifted their still-entwined hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her fingertips, enjoying the soft hitch of her breath. “Both true. He told me that you sew when you’re stressed.”
“He’s not wrong, though I am a little disappointed at the lack of depth.”
“Also that you don’t share your Adhavian Delight. And yet.” He kissed her fingers again, then the inside of her wrist. “You’ve shared with me at least a dozen times.” He lifted an eyebrow in challenge.
She blushed and giggled nervously. “You can be honest,” she said. “You’re just marrying me for my Adhavian Delight, aren’t you?”
“No,” he said swiftly, untangling their hands in favor of capturing her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I’m marrying you because you are an Adhavian delight.”
Her eyes shone with happy tears. “I love you, Kamaran,” she whispered.
“I love you,” he returned, then dropped his head to seal the words with a kiss.