Chapter 38
One Week Later
I stop mid-sentence when the door flies open and Amin appears, followed by my head of security.
I wasn’t expecting to be interrupted, but it takes only seconds to sense something is very wrong.
“What happened?” I ask, already rising from the meeting I was having with my father.
Until I appoint counselors I trust, he’s the one with whom I’ve been discussing the short- and long-term changes I want for the country. Today in particular, I was recounting my meeting with Elina Lykaios in detail.
My assistant is decidedly not in his usual mode. Amin, without fear of exaggeration, is the most formal human being alive, and the moment he walked into my office without asking to be announced, tension spread through my body.
“I need you to come with me, Your Highness.”
“Adeela?” I ask, already striding for the door, my father right behind me.
“No. Your future mother-in-law.”
My fists are clenched at my sides as I watch my father standing in front of Daisy’s armchair.
They’re speaking softly, and I imagine he’s asking after her health, trying to distract her from the fright she had.
The woman who, since arriving in Rheadur, had been gradually recovering, now looks as pale as the dead.
Her chemotherapy is set to begin next week. She preferred to wait until after the wedding, four days from now, because she said she’ll likely feel weak once treatment starts.
We’re also awaiting a German physician’s arrival in the emirate. He’s one of the world’s foremost specialists in breast cancer, and I won’t leave any stone unturned. If there’s a chance she can be cured for good, I will spare no effort.
I pull my gaze from her to my future wife, curled up in a corner.
Seldom have I felt such rage. Whoever did this will pay.
I move to my fiancée and kneel in front of her, not caring who might be watching. Protocol means nothing when my woman’s happiness is at stake.
“I want you to go lie down,” I ask, not touching her, and not for the first time I resent that something as simple as gathering her into my arms could spark gossip.
“I’m not leaving her,” she says.
“Look at me.”
She lifts her face, and her eyes are dry. I remember what my sister told me: if you hurt her, she won’t scream; she’ll lock herself inside and withdraw from everything. Adeela learned to suffer in silence.
“I gave my word you would both be safe. I’ll double the number of guards watching over her, and the servants attending the two of you will be handpicked. But above all, I promise I will find the one who dared defy me.”
“The person who did this wanted her dead, Kaled. I spent twelve years waiting to find my mother, and they almost took her from me.”
She doesn’t name a culprit, but we’re obviously thinking of the same suspect: Arif. Who else would have the nerve? Who would be vile enough to try to murder a sick woman?
One of the personal maids assigned to my mother-in-law found a deathstalker[35] scorpion among her bedcovers, which means it was placed there in the morning, or Daisy would already have been stung.
Its sting is extremely painful, but in a healthy person it might not be fatal. However, as one of our security technicians explained when he was called in to examine the scene, it could be deadly for someone whose health is already compromised.
Had the insect not been discovered in time, we’d be planning a funeral right now, not a wedding.
“I’ve ordered an investigation. Not only by local experts—a detective from outside is arriving today. The culprit will be punished. For now, I want you to rest.”
I’m impressed by her strength. Not once does she blame her father, though I have no doubt it was him—and if so, he openly defied my declaration that any offense against Daisy would be an offense against me.
“All right, I’ll just say goodbye to my mother. It’s incredible how calm she looks. I’m far more distressed.”
“Your mother has been through a lot, Adeela. She’s a strong woman.”
“But not immortal,” she says, standing and walking to Daisy’s chair.
I signal for Amin and the security chief to come closer. “Arif Ghazal, as well as his wives and daughters, are to be kept under twenty-four-hour surveillance until this is cleared up.”
Amin dismisses the bodyguard and meets my eyes. I know what he’s thinking without a word. We have no doubt who is responsible; we just need proof.
“I’m dissolving the Council until I choose new, trustworthy candidates,” I say.
“That would be the most appropriate step. If I may ask, why not simply dismiss your future father-in-law?”
“Because I don’t act on speculation but on certainties.
If I remove only Arif from the Council without proof, as much as I want to, that would be personal.
As much as I crave vengeance for what nearly happened, the problem is bigger.
It wasn’t Kaled the man he defied, if he tried to harm his ex-wife.
It was Kaled, sheikh of Rheadur, his leader and ruler, and for that, there is no pardon. ”
“There’s a great difference.”
“Yes. I will not allow my authority to be questioned, and above all, no one under my protection will ever be harmed.”
“I’d like to have the palace’s interior security cameras turned back on, Your Highness.”
“Turned back on?”
“Yes. When His Highness, former Sheikh Naim, was in power, he ordered them shut off.”
His look tells me we both know why: likely to avoid records of his actions. Naim had much to hide wherever he went.
“Do it. And now, please escort my father to his quarters. I’d like to speak with Daisy in private.”
Adeela is already gone, and it’s time to speak plainly with the most important figure in my fiancée’s life.
Moments later
“I’m sorry you went through this, Daisy.”
“It wasn’t your fault, dear. I’m more worried about Adeela than about myself. Don’t let anything happen to my girl.”
I sit in the armchair opposite her.
Not knowing what to say isn’t common for me. Even before being invested as sheikh, I spoke often around the world as prince and representative of Rheadur, but as I look at this fragile-seeming woman, I feel ashamed. I failed her. Only a maid’s vigilance kept the worst from happening.
“I’m not a man who breaks his word, and I apologize for leaving a gap in your security. Perhaps it was overconfidence that led me to believe no one would ever dare attack you in here.”
She smiles and takes a sip of tea. “I’m American, so I’ll get straight to the point, Kaled. I’m grateful you’ve taken me in here, and I don’t want to seem ungrateful or careless in accusing anyone, but we all know the only person willing to hurt me is my ex-husband.”
I don’t contradict her, but as head of state I can’t agree without evidence. “Whatever happened will be brought to light. You are here as my guest, mother of my future wife, and I won’t allow you to be harmed.”
“And what about my daughter?”
“There are only four days left until we marry. A single finger raised against her will be punished severely.”
Two days later
And finally, what I expected has happened, but the scale of the scandal involving Naim feels like a nightmare.
My entire people are ashamed of the news.
Models and actresses from around the world are going to the media to accuse my half-brother of drugging and sexually assaulting them at parties on his yacht.
A rumor can ruin anyone’s reputation, but when you add faces to it, the damage is irreversible. What they’re reporting lines up with what Lykaios’s wife already told me.
Even knowing Naim had some kind of deviance where women were concerned, my imagination never went this far.
Hearing in detail the depravity those women endured—passed from hand to hand while unconscious—reduces my half-brother to a sick rapist. The only thing separating him from a common criminal was being born with a silver spoon.
I spent last night awake, trying to think how to lessen the damage caused by this scandal. I know no amount of money can help his victims “get over” what happened.
At Amin’s suggestion, we formed an additional public relations team, and after several meetings, we concluded that we should offer psychological support to the women for as long as they need it.
The impact has spread so far it even reached my company’s stock, which has no connection with our emirate, yet still suffered a sharp drop.
There’s been an unprecedented wave of press business-visa requests to visit Rheadur, and all have been duly denied.
The last thing I want is for this to touch Adeela, especially after the scare with her mother a few days ago.
I intended to implement changes gradually in my country—restoring women’s rights to as they were when my father ruled—but after a conversation with Jazmina and my fiancée, I heard straight from the source how disrespected they felt under Naim’s government.
We have always been a liberal emirate, so it was a shock, especially for the younger generation of girls, to lose free access to the internet and be forced to wear the chador when before, covering one’s head was a choice and only required in official ceremonies or during religious observances.
Jazmina proposed creating a women’s committee to discuss issues long treated as unquestionable, such as the right of a woman to file for divorce. In Rheadur, that prerogative belongs exclusively to men.
As I finish dressing, I think of my Adeela’s smile when we talked about reinstating women’s rights, and I make a decision: I will approve the committee, provided they present me with an action plan.