Chapter 2
Hours Later
“I think I’m making a mistake, Jazmina. Actually, I already did when I agreed to go along with your absurd idea. I can’t do this. My father hasn’t spoken to me all week because of our performance.”
He hasn’t spoken to me politely, I mean.
As always, he didn’t miss the chance to insult me.
But I’m too ashamed to tell her that. Jazmina is a princess who lives in her own world, a place where fathers and brothers love you.
Even the future sheikh, who doesn’t seem to love anyone, treats her kindly.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Adeela, but your father doesn’t need a reason to ignore you. Honestly, I think he uses silence as a form of punishment.”
I know she’s right. My father knows how lonely I am and that, aside from the hours I spend with Jazmina, I have no one to talk to.
So I don’t doubt that he and his wives use their silence to punish me.
That punishment would be even worse if I weren’t lucky enough to be the childhood best friend of the sheikh’s beloved daughter.
My father knows Jazmina is the apple of our leader’s eye, and angering her by separating us would enrage him.
“You’re not backing out now,” she says. “You promised, Adeela. Father would be disappointed if we didn’t dance in his honor.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or hit her. “You tricked me, and you know it,” I accuse. “We’re not dancing just because it’s your father’s birthday—you want to convince him to let you study in England.”
She smiles, but her eyes grow sad. “This will be my last chance to convince him, my friend. After my brother Naim takes office as our country’s new sheikh, he’ll never agree to give me that kind of freedom.”
I know what she’s saying will probably happen. Her older brother, the man being crowned tonight as the new sheikh of our emirate, isn’t a good person.
Our country is quite modern when it comes to women’s rights, at least compared to others that share our religion, thanks to the respect the current sheikh has for women. But there are rumors that the future ruler intends to change that.
He’s never hidden the fact that, like my father, he believes women are inferior beings whose only purpose on Earth is to obey their husbands and bear their children.
I pity his three wives.
“Think about it, Adeela. I could even convince my father to bring you with me to England. What do you say? The two of us studying at a university in the UK?”
“Only in your dreams, Jazmina. My father would never allow it. He only let me finish secondary school because the sheikh intervened at your request.”
Her beautiful face hardens into a frown. “I kind of hate your father for how he treats you, you know that?”
“I think he hates me because I remind him of her. The only picture I have of my mother, the one Faiza gave me, shows we’re identical, except for the eyes. My mother’s eyes are bluer than the summer sky.”
“You miss her a lot, don’t you?”
“I miss what I remember. Her voice, her lullabies. I’m afraid that one day I’ll only remember her voice and nothing else. If the photo didn’t look almost exactly like me, I might have forgotten her completely by now.”
“I’m sure that’s exactly what your father intended.”
I walk to her bedroom window and stare out into the night. “I love you like a sister, but I don’t want to do this.”
“Why not? You dance so beautifully. Much better than I do.”
“Here, in your chambers, when we’re alone. But there will be men out there, and we’ll be wearing the dancers’ costumes. I still can’t believe my father allowed this.”
“He didn’t allow it. He just couldn’t say no after my father announced we’d perform a dance in his honor,” she says.
“And even my father only agreed because he still sees us as children. Otherwise, he’d never have allowed it either.
Besides, there will only be a few handpicked guests.
Don’t back out now, please. I promise my request to study in England will include you. ”
“Stop it. I’m not doing this for my own gain. I’m your friend, and friends support each other. Besides, I don’t want to study in England. I’d rather stay here. There’s so much to be done. I’d like to work with adult women who can’t read, to help educate them.”
She looks at me with pity, and I know why: the chances of that ever happening, of women gaining access to books and education while the future Sheikh Naim rules, are nonexistent.
“I can’t promise that, Adeela,” she says softly. “But maybe something else you’d want.”
“Like what?”
“Visiting your mother in the United States.”
My mouth opens and closes several times. My throat locks up with emotion. “You’d do that? How?”
“I could tell my father I want to go shopping in New York. We’d have to plan it carefully, of course, but I’m sure I could make it happen.”
My mind is spinning. Even though the thought of wearing revealing clothes for the first time in my life in front of people makes me want to die of embarrassment because I’m shy by nature, the possibility of seeing my mother again feels like a dream.
What she’s offering me is the wish of a lifetime: to be in my mother’s arms again. To kiss her.
I hide my face behind my hands. “You’re evil,” I say, smiling. “And a terrible blackmailer. You offered too much at once. Just mentioning my mother would’ve been enough.”
“I’m sorry if it sounded like blackmail. It wasn’t. I’d give you the freedom you crave if I had the power. If you ask me, you should take my offer and come study in the UK. Once there, I’d find a way for you to see your mother. Being of age, your father couldn’t force you to return to Rheadur.”
“But that would mean leaving forever.”
“I won’t lie to you, Adeela. I’ve overheard conversations between your father and Naim.
You know my father’s an open-minded man despite his age, but he’ll give my brother full authority once he becomes sheikh.
I don’t think the coming years will be good for the women of Rheadur.
I wouldn’t even be surprised if he reinstated the burqa[14]. ”
“Impossible. From everything I’ve read about our emirate’s history, we’ve always been one of the most liberal. The burqa has never been mandatory here.”
“Believe me, nothing’s impossible with Naim in charge. That’s why I’m in such a hurry to leave.”
I look at her, unsure.
“What are you thinking?” she asks.
“I accept your offer to study in England. I don’t want to leave Rheadur forever, I love our country, but if staying means never seeing my mother again, then the choice isn’t really mine. If you can convince your father to let me go, I’ll gladly agree.”
She hugs me and kisses my cheek. “We’ll make it happen. But now we need to hurry. We only have thirty minutes to get ready.”
“Do you know who’ll be in the hall?”
“Father, a few advisors, and my two brothers. Maybe another guest of honor.” She pauses, stepping closer. “It’ll be a ten-minute dance. What’s that compared to our future freedom?”
I shake my head, smiling. I wish I had half her optimism. “I ran away from him today,” I confess.
“I don’t understand.”
“Your younger brother, Prince Kaled. I ran from him a few hours ago. I was crying, hiding in one of the palace rooms, and . . .”
“Why were you crying?”
“I don’t want to talk about it now,” I say, dodging the question. Why upset her by admitting that one of my half-sisters ruined my favorite dress, the one she gave me, out of spite? “The point is, I overheard him talking in English with a friend.”
“Did you understand what they said?”
My face burns, and I nod.
Once again, being the sheikh’s daughter’s best friend has worked in my favor.
When an English teacher was hired to tutor Jazmina, she let me attend the classes secretly, without my father knowing.
Three years of lessons later, I can read and understand everything.
Sometimes Jazmina and I even practice in secret, speaking only in that language.
“What were they talking about?”
“It’s not polite to repeat other people’s conversations.”
“You’re no fun!” She laughs. “But you said you ran from him. Why?”
“Embarrassment, obviously. Your brother is . . .”
“Drop-dead gorgeous?”
The heat in my body intensifies. “I was going to say intimidating.”
“That too, but are you really going to pretend you didn’t fall in love the moment you saw him?”
“In love? You’re insane.” I laugh. “Yes, he’s handsome, but I ran because I was shy. Now, let’s stop talking and get dressed before I change my mind again.”