Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
I t was still dark when Soraiya rose and dressed, quietly packing the few things she needed to take with her. Zak had finally gotten to sleep in the early hours and as soon as he had, Soraiya knew it was time. She knew what she had to do, and she didn’t need Zak’s confirmation to make her do it.
Even though it was dawn by the time she reached the palace offices, there were a few people around, eager to work while the day was still cool. But she didn’t go to the offices immediately. Instead, she went to a secluded garden where she’d be left alone.
First, she checked her phone messages. She knew it was there. She’d heard the distinctive ring tone in the night. She closed her eyes as she listened to her father’s tirade.
She now had only one course of action. With a deep breath, she rang the airline. It didn’t take long. There was a flight leaving in a few hours and she arranged a taxi to collect her in half an hour.
After she’d finished her calls, she sat in the beautiful garden, wondering for a few moments whether she was doing the right thing. She didn’t think of herself. Her only thought was of Zak. And Sirun. And she couldn’t doubt that her absence would only benefit them. Zak might be temporarily sad, but ultimately he’d be relieved because she’d taken one enormous problem off his shoulders. Her .
But if she went to her father and persuaded him to still grant her the land, then she could return. Without it, Zak would have no option but to divorce her. Theirs had always been a business arrangement, and she’d broken her side of the bargain. The deal was now off.
She remained in the garden, not wanting Zak to find her. She couldn’t bear hearing him agree with her, and she equally couldn’t have born him arguing that she should stay. It wouldn’t change her decision, and would only make the scene more traumatic than it already was. Besides, she wouldn’t be alone. She caressed her stomach and imagined her baby growing inside of her. She’d provide for him. She’d make sure he was never short of anything—especially love.
“How far gone are you?”
Soraiya turned around, startled at the question. She’d thought she was alone, far from prying eyes. But it turned out she was wrong. On the other side of the courtyard, about to light a cigarette in her holder, Zak’s mother stood, swathed in exquisite clothes, hair done to perfection and makeup heavy. One of the cleaners must have told her. The woman had spies everywhere.
“What?” Soraiya could hardly think what she’d been asked, so shocked was she.
“I asked,” said Sheikha Alishaba, sucking on the cigarette before leaning against the doorjamb, one arm across her middle, supporting the hand which held the cigarette, “how far gone are you?” She patted her stomach. “I wondered when I saw you last night. You looked so wan. Not as you’d been described.”
“I… I…” stuttered Soraiya, trying to figure out how she could avoid answering such a direct question.
“How far?” repeated Zak’s mother.
“Nearly three months.” It was a relief to tell someone, just to make her baby real.
Zak’s mother blew out a stream of smoke and offered a sickly sweet smile completely devoid of genuineness. “How lovely. I assume my son is either thrilled or aghast. He always was a boy of extremes. Which one is he?”
Soraiya shook her head, wishing his mother would go away. “I can’t stay, I can’t?—”
“You can’t, what?” Sheikha Alishaba came toward her and sat opposite, tugging her abaya into place.
“I can’t stay. I have…” she trailed off. She really didn’t want to tell her what her plans were.
“You have a flight to catch,” she said, taking a drag of the cigarette. “I know. Off to see your not-so-doting Papa?”
Soraiya swallowed. “That’s none of your business.”
“ Au contraire , it is exactly my business.” Her eyes flashed with anger. She gestured to the surrounding palace. “This is my home, Soraiya. Mine. I’ve been forced out of it by my sons.”
“You’ve been forced out of it because you stole from Sirun.”
Soraiya’s angry words seemed to hang in the air. Surprisingly, they stopped his mother for a few moments, as she gazed at Soraiya over a stream of smoke, with narrowed eyes.
“I’m sorry to have met you in such circumstances,” Sheikha Alishaba said at last. “I think you and I might have got along. You have a fire in you, an intelligence. And you love my son, I can see that. And yet you’d leave him. I like that. You’ve put him first. Of course, I’ve never felt that kind of love, nor that sense of duty, but I respect it.” She rose. “I envy you.”
And in those three words, Soraiya suddenly saw the woman’s grief at a loveless marriage and how the avarice must have at first seemed like revenge on her husband. And how the bitterness had taken over her life. She suddenly felt sorry for her.
“Now, I’ll leave you to it. Your taxi must be arriving soon.”
Soraiya watched her walk away. She wanted to say something to show that she understood in some small way the pain that this woman had suffered.
“Oh,” said the mother over her shoulder, “and in case you’re interested, Aabid has just received a message from the French delegation that the agreement is off. They’ve learned things which make such an agreement ‘untenable’.” She gave an unhumorous laugh. “Never underestimate a mother scorned.” She glanced at Soraiya’s stomach. “You’d do well to remember that.”
The nascent shreds of sympathy Soraiya had felt for this woman immediately disappeared. She glanced at her watch. Time to leave.
Zak wasn’t surprised when he awoke to find himself alone in bed. He knew Soraiya had had a restless night, and small wonder. But he could hear her music coming from the adjoining room. He decided to give her a little space before he met up with her to talk things through.
As he showered he imagined how she must be feeling. It surprised him that that was his first thought. He knew that all their work on the French agreement, all their hopes for an increase in trade and wealth to flow into Sirun would disappear. Her father would jump at an excuse to make sure she didn’t inherit the land. But there would be other ways of bringing wealth to Sirun. Other opportunities. But there wouldn’t be another Soraiya. His vizier had been right. He did have feelings for Soraiya. But he’d never called them love, either to himself or to her. The thought was disconcerting at best.
It was only after he’d emerged from his dressing room and she still hadn’t appeared that he frowned and began to wonder what was keeping her. He knocked on the connecting door to her suite, but there was no answer.
“Soraiya,” he called, as he opened the door. The music grew louder and he realized the room was empty. She wasn’t there. It was also eerily tidy. He had a sudden impulse to check the side table where she kept her documentation. It had gone. He poked his finger around the few objects there, but he could see her passport was no longer there. He pulled open her jewelry drawer, noting a few key pieces were missing. He quickly walked over to her dressing room. She had so many clothes that to anyone else it would have been impossible to see if anything was missing. But he’d noticed her preference for certain items and they’d all gone. He glanced across to see a suitcase was also missing.
A surge of adrenalin saw him running out the door, even as he pulled out his phone. He stopped, looked around, and called his office. He soon got his answer. He glanced up as a plane soared high overhead. And he felt a depth of loss which took his breath away.
“Where is she going?” stormed Zak, as he entered the office. He glared from one official to the other, as if they were guilty of kidnapping his wife. He no longer cared who knew what about his personal life. It seemed the worst had happened and news of Soraiya’s birth had been splattered across the tabloid papers and everywhere on the internet. There was little point in trying to appear as if everything was normal. Because it wasn’t.
Aabid coughed. “Your Royal Highness, your mother is waiting for you in your office.”
Zak didn’t hang around any longer to interrogate his staff, but stormed through to his office, knowing that he’d get the bare, unvarnished truth from her, who no doubt knew a whole lot more about everything than he did.
She must have been sitting there for some time because the room was full of smoke. He opened the windows wide and stood, hands on hips, with the morning sun full on his back.
“What the hell have you done, mother?”
“Me?” She smiled. “Not so much. It was a stroke of luck that I discovered the truth about Soraiya’s birth. I had a Private Investigator working for me”—she waved her hand as if it were insignificant—“another subject entirely. But, in the course of checking some DNA facts on a family website, he discovered some interesting facts. Facts which I decided to use to my own advantage.”
“Do you take pleasure in destroying things?”
“Not all things, no. Only things belonging to you. After what you and your brother did to me, you can hardly be surprised.”
“After what we did to you?” He shook his head in disbelief. “You robbed Sirun. For God knows how many years you made agreements with companies, countries, individuals, for our treasures, land, in exchange for money which went directly into your bank accounts overseas.”
She shrugged. “I was planning my escape from your father. A girl has to look after herself.”
“You’re not a girl. You’re a grown woman and you don’t have to look after yourself by taking what isn’t yours to take. There’s such a thing as loyalty to one’s country, a responsibility to the citizens of that country, a duty to perform. But, of course, you aren’t familiar with any of these concepts, are you?”
Her face darkened. “I had no choice. Your father was a pig. Anyway, if you must know, I regret it a little now I’ve met Soraiya. It’s a shame she was collateral damage. She would have been good for you under any other circumstances. But, as you say, it’s all about duty and loyalty to your country which means she’s done what she needed to do. And what you, possibly, wouldn’t have had the courage to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Made her leave. She’s done your dirty work for you, and left of her own accord. The girl has guts, I’ll give her that.”
“Just leave, mother, just go. You’ve done what you set out to do.”
She stubbed out her cigarette on a valuable plate on his desk and rose. “You’re right. I have. So I’ll leave you to it. You’ve got a lot of figuring out to do.”
He turned away from her, unable to hide his anger and frustration any longer. He simply wanted her gone from his life so he could begin to pick up the pieces. He heard the door open, and then she paused.
“Just one thing,” she said.
“What?”
She didn’t answer so he turned around.
“I’m just curious,” she said.
“About what? Things in general, or about something in particular?” he asked caustically.
“I can’t help wondering what status your son will have now.”
He frowned, and she laughed.
“You didn’t know Soraiya was pregnant. I thought as much. It seems she was keeping something from you, too.”
He gritted his teeth as she swept out of the room. He slammed the door behind her, and stood looking at it, his mind and emotions numb. As he slowly repeated his mother’s words to himself.
Soraiya was pregnant.
What the hell? He stared at the ground, raked his fingers through his hair in confusion and despair, and turned back to look out the window. She’d still be in the air. Her destination unknown. She’d be going to Dubai and then changing to wherever. Europe, her father? He had no idea. His impulse was to track her down, follow her and bring her home again.
He turned and was about to do just that when something stopped him. His hand, still on the door handle, unmoving, frozen, as he wondered why Soraiya had kept her pregnancy from him.
Was there more to her leaving than he imagined. Did she have secrets of her own in addition to her pregnancy? Perhaps she didn’t see her future with him. She’d certainly never said that she loved him.
But he dismissed the idea immediately. Trouble was, spending time with his mother made him imagine conspiracies everywhere. But this was Soraiya. And, if she hadn’t told him she was pregnant, there would be a reason. A very good reason.
He’d pull whatever strings he had to, to locate her, and then he’d find her and bring her back home. Because he trusted her like he’d never trusted anyone else in his life before. Especially not his mother.