More Precious than a Crown Read online

  ‘The closer you get,’ Trinity said, ‘the kinder you look.’

  ‘The closer you get, the less I can see.’

  ‘Can I be your mistress?’

  ‘I would never take a mistress,’ Zahid said. ‘Which is why I would not have been at any christening.’ She worried him so. ‘Why would you want to be a mistress?’

  ‘It was a joke, Zahid.’ Trinity tried to turn it into that. In fact, she didn’t want to be a mistress, just something of his.

  ‘So how will you decide who will be your bride?’

  ‘Alliances.’

  She turned onto her back and chose to stare at the ceiling for she did not like his detached answer and it did not sound like him, or rather it did not sound like the Zahid that only she saw. ‘So you’ll marry for alliances with the hope love will grow?’

  ‘Love is for fools and peasants, not for a future king.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Trinity said, and she turned and watched his haughty face twitch into a slight smile. ‘Then I’m either a fool or a peasant.’

  ‘I was not talking about you.’

  ‘Of course you are. Just because you are going to be king one day, you think feelings are beneath you...’

  ‘I am telling you how it is in my land,’ Zahid said, refusing to be swayed. ‘I am telling you my reasoning.’ But not all of it. He chose not to tell her about his father’s illness and when Layla had been born, for he could not share that with another and remain aloof, could not return to that memory and somehow stay detached, yet he knew to be fair to Trinity he must make things clear. ‘I am telling you that in Ishla things will be very different between us.’ He went to get up. ‘I will have some refreshments brought in to you and then you should get dressed as we need to be out there when the plane starts its descent.’

  ‘I know things will be different but we’re not in Ishla yet,’ Trinity said, as he rose from the bed and went to the door and she waited, breath held as Zahid halted and went against his own moral code, just for that one last time with her.

  She watched as he turned and then undressed and it was Trinity who held the covers open this time. Naked beside him, it felt as if she had been cold for the entire month and had just remembered how it felt to be warm. ‘Thank you,’ Trinity said.

  ‘I haven’t done anything yet.’

  ‘For making me happy. I shouldn’t be happy today but I am.’

  ‘You should be happy every day,’ Zahid said, for even on the worst days they made the other smile.

  His mouth was tender. It was a slow and long kiss for even if they did not have very long he still did not rush her.

  Slow was the hand that explored her, that stroked her breasts and then her hips, and Trinity could feel the building need in him. When she rolled to her back, when he moved deep into her, Zahid took his own weight on his elbows and their kissing stopped and he looked down at Trinity as she looked back at him.

  She felt him build, yet she felt him hold back and it was his passion she wanted.

  ‘You don’t have to be careful around me.’

  She saw the twist of pain on his lips, for the news had devastated him, she knew.

  ‘You don’t have to hold back,’ Trinity said, because she wanted the Zahid who wanted her as she was, with no thought what had been. And right now she wanted his anger, for she was angry too and had every right to be—this was their last time. ‘Please don’t hold back on me, Zahid.’

  He took her the way he wanted to and drove hard into her, but far from scaring her he drove her fear away, for her hands were pressing him in and her body was arching to his as they both refused to allow anything other than themselves in the bedroom.

  It was Zahid who shouted and to feel him unleash just unravelled her more.

  Deep, intense, blissful was the orgasm that met his and Trinity did her best not to cry out, but did and then frantically glanced at the door, but he brought her face back with his hand and his mouth took her moans and there was nothing she was scared of with Zahid.

  ‘You were right,’ Zahid said, looking down at the woman he would crave for ever. ‘My feelings are beneath me.’

  It took a moment for Trinity to understand his words.

  Yes, his feelings lay beneath him right now, every one of them contained in her.

  As a bell warned that they would soon be descending, Zahid knew he must leave feelings here.

  He just wasn’t sure how.

  They quickly washed and dressed but instead of putting on his suit, for the first time she saw him in robes and wearing a kafiya.

  He saw her startle.

  ‘I...’ She didn’t know what to say. ‘It all seems a bit more real now.’

  ‘I don’t know if I am making things worse for you,’ Zahid admitted, for it had simply seemed right to bring her when he had found out what had happened. The reality, though, made little sense.

  ‘I don’t want to meet the women you’ll...’

  ‘I know.’

  For the first time jealousy stirred in Trinity and despite herself she wanted to know more.

  ‘Must she be a virgin?’

  ‘Trinity, we need to get back to our seats,’ Zahid said, for he did not want to discuss his future wife now.

  ‘So you’re not going to answer my question?’

  ‘She must have kept herself only for me.’

  He went to open the door but her words halted him. His kiss, his lovemaking, the way he had been with her had changed her world and Zahid deserved to know the gift he had given to her. ‘I have.’

  She saw the line between his eyes deepen as he tried to fathom her words.

  ‘There’s been no one but you, apart from...’

  ‘Don’t,’ Zahid said. ‘Don’t put the two together, for what that bastard did does not count in any land that I would rule.’ He did not know what to believe. ‘Trinity, the woman I took to bed that day was confident...’

  ‘Not at first,’ she admitted. ‘Zahid, I’ve had issues since that night, I’ve tried so many things. I know I flirt, I know I seem bold but that’s how I am with you...’

  ‘I should have known!’ Zahid said. ‘I would have done things differently.’

  ‘Exactly!’ Trinity said, as the bell carried on pinging and then there was a knock on the door.

  Zahid called out something in Arabic.

  ‘Had I told you the truth, would it have happened?’ When Zahid didn’t answer, Trinity did for him. ‘Of course not.’

  ‘You should have told me.’

  ‘No.’ Trinity shook her head. ‘Because then it would never have happened and I refuse to regret that it did. I know it can’t happen again,’ she said. ‘I get it that it doesn’t change things.’

  But for Zahid it did.

  CHAPTER NINE

  TRINITY HAD NEVER really given his land much thought but as they neared she looked down at and knew it was not what she might have expected.

  Old married new, for there were ancient villages, yet as they flew along the peninsula she saw too the high glitter of modern architecture, but most beautiful by far was the palace for it gleamed the brightest all.

  ‘It’s amazing.’ When she got no response she glanced over at Zahid, whose face might have been carved from one of the stone palace walls.

  ‘Zahid....’

  There was no chance to talk. The plane was a second from landing and as it hit the palace runway, Zahid was actually grateful for the jolt of landing and the sound of wheels on the tarmac for it gave him two seconds away from his thoughts.

  He had been her first.

  He needed to process it, they needed to discuss it, but first somehow he had to clear his head.

  A car drove them the short distance from the plane and though Zahid’s driver did his best to keep his face impassive, Trinity could feel him repeatedly glancing in the rear-view mirror. It was the same when they arrived. The maids gaped in surprise as Prince Zahid arrived with a blonde foreigner dressed only in black and Trinity stood, her fa
ce burning, as Zahid spoke to a man in Arabic, who then walked off.

  ‘That is Abdul, my father’s chief aide, I have told him to let my father know that I wish to speak with him and to have a suite arranged for you.’ He halted and turned as a very beautiful, raven-haired woman walked towards them with a curious expression on her face. ‘This is my sister, Layla.’

  ‘And this is?’ Layla asked, when for once Zahid forgot his manners.

  ‘Trinity,’ Zahid responded, and Trinity watched as Layla raised an eyebrow and waited for her brother to elaborate. ‘Trinity Foster.’

  ‘It is lovely to meet you, Trinity,’ Layla said.

  ‘I am about to let Father know that I have a guest,’ Zahid said. ‘Layla, perhaps you could help Trinity to settle in and sort out some clothes and things for her. She came at short notice and so has nothing much with her.’

  ‘Of course.’ Layla smiled. ‘This way.’

  They were all so terribly polite, Trinity thought. Surely Layla must have a thousand questions but instead a maid was called and they drank mint tea as they waited for her room to be readied.

  * * *

  The king, though, did not hold back.

  ‘Zahid,’ the king said sharply. ‘You said you wanted nothing more to do with that family...’

  ‘I was not referring to Trinity when I said that.’ He looked at his father.

  ‘Perhaps,’ the king said, ‘but here the rules are different.’

  ‘I am aware of that.’

  ‘Here, you are not the man you are overseas.’

  ‘I have brought Trinity here as a friend as, not for anything else.’

  ‘It is not respectful to your future bride to be housing your mistress!’

  ‘She is not my mistress,’ Zahid said, for she no longer was. They had said their intimate goodbyes on the plane.

  ‘Then why is she here?’

  ‘For pause,’ Zahid said. ‘She has just lost her brother and there are family issues.’

  ‘What does that have to do with you?’

  When Zahid did not respond the king breathed out loudly. ‘You are to say to Abdul that she is here to help Layla with her English.’

  ‘Why lie?’

  ‘It is not a lie,’ Fahid said. ‘Layla is, after all, helping to teach the girls of Ishla English and, given you have many functions and dinners to attend in the coming days, I assume it will be Layla who entertains her.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And that will help Layla’s English.’

  ‘Fine,’ Zahid said, and he looked at his father and saw he was visibly worried, for Zahid had never brought any friends from England, let alone a woman, back to the palace. ‘It is just for a few days. You will hardly see her...’

  ‘Why would I not greet your guest? Why, if you have nothing to hide, is she to be tucked away?’ The king would prefer to confront the enemy, the woman who could seemingly so easily sway his son from the marriage that the king had in mind for Zahid. ‘Tonight we will dine, and I would like to meet your guest’

  ‘Trinity is tired from her travels.’

  ‘Then we will dine early. Layla has to teach in the morning anyway.’

  * * *

  ‘It is nothing to be nervous about,’ Layla said after Zahid had told Trinity a little later that she would be dining with the king tonight. ‘You won’t be expected to say much.’

  Trinity smiled at Layla’s rather wry comment.

  ‘I talk too much,’ Layla said, ‘I question things and it itches my father.’

  ‘Irritates,’ Trinity corrected her, and Layla frowned. ‘It irritates your father.’ Trinity explained but she watched as Layla’s cheeks turned pink. ‘Zahid just said I was to help you with your English.’

  ‘My English is perfect,’ Layla said. ‘Don’t correct me again.’

  Whoa!

  They were all terribly polite, Trinity amended, if you remembered your place.

  Yet Layla, in her own, very odd way, was lovely. ‘Try this.’ She held up a lilac tunic for Trinity but as soon as she tried it on, both women realised it was far too tight. It clung instead of hung and gave her more curves than were polite in Ishla.

  ‘Oh, no.’ Layla laughed, making the same cut throat gesture that Zahid once had. ‘Try this one instead.’ But as she handed her a pale mint one that would hopefully fit better, Trinity suddenly stopped smiling as she stared at her refelction.

  Yes, she had lost a lot of weight this past month, just not from her breasts—for once she actually filled her bra.

  Layla misread the sudden silence.

  ‘I am sorry you lost your brother. I would die if something happened to Zahid.’

  ‘We weren’t very close in the last few years,’ Trinity admitted.

  ‘It must hurt.’

  ‘It does,’ Trinity said, ‘but I am very angry with him at the moment.’

  It felt strange to be able to speak with Layla, who she had only just met, more easily than she could with her parents.

  ‘There are other hurts,’ Trinity said, glad when Layla did not ask her to elaborate.

  Only it wasn’t the other hurts that were worrying Trinity now.

  As she slipped the tunic over her head, that brief second of privacy had Trinity’s face screw up in a frantic, silent panic as she willed her brain to remember her last period, but with all that had happened since that day, the last month was a painful blur.

  ‘That’s better.’ Layla smiled and helped Trinity arrange the tunic. ‘There are some lovely gold slippers that go nicely with it, or these jewelled ones, which I think would go really well.’

  ‘The gold are beautiful...’

  ‘But I prefer the jewelled ones,’ Layla said.

  She was in Ishla, Trinity reminded herself as she accepted Layla’s suggestion, but even a detail like slippers served to remind Trinity that she knew nothing about this strange land.

  * * *

  Zahid was rather nervous both for Trinity and himself.

  He watched as she walked in and after a flurry of introductions took a seat on a low cushion. He was grateful to Layla, who quickly moved Trinity’s feet so her soles were facing away from the king.

  ‘My son tells me you live in America?’

  ‘I have for a few years.’

  ‘You studied?’

  ‘Ancient art history.’

  ‘You must take Trinity to the second palace.’ The king looked at his son. ‘I am sure she would be interested. Perhaps Trinity would like to start the cataloguing.’

  ‘Trinity is not here to work.’

  ‘It wouldn’t be work.’ Trinity smiled. ‘I didn’t know there was a second palace. I don’t remember seeing it as we came in to land.’

  ‘It is hidden,’ the king said. ‘I am sure Zahid will be grateful for that in the coming year.’

  ‘Coming year?’

  ‘Once married, Zahid will live there with his bride until it is time for him to be king.’

  Trinity reached for her water. Suddenly the thought of going there, seeing first hand where Zahid would live, held little appeal, but taking a cool drink she forced her smile brighter and Zahid could only admire her composure, for he knew his father was goading her for a reaction.

  ‘And then Zahid will rule from here,’ the king continued.

  ‘Well, you’ll need a lot of baby gates.’ Trinity smiled sweetly, looking around at the many treasures.

  ‘The future princes and princesses shall not live here till they come of age.’ The king’s explanation only added to her confusion. ‘There are many treasures at the second palace too but, you are right, it is less formal. A lot of the artefacts at the second palace have significant, personal meaning.’

  There were treasures everywhere. Even the plate she was picking up sticky rice from could have held her attention for an hour or more. Gold and blue, the more she ate, the more of the pattern it revealed, and Trinity would have loved to simply clear it and turn it around.

  ‘You should take Tr
inity over there tomorrow,’ the king said to Layla.

  ‘I have a class to teach tomorrow,’ Layla said.

  ‘And I would be the worst person to attempt to catalogue a palace.’ Trinity smiled. ‘It would never get done.’ She looked at the plate again and then at the king. ‘Among so many beautiful things, do you have favourites?’

  Zahid caught Layla’s eye, both waiting for the king to silence her, yet the king actually forgot to be cross for a moment and smiled. ‘I do, though I have not looked at them in a long time. My wife collected amulets, they are stored in a mandoos, or rather, a wooden chest.’

  ‘In the second palace?’

  ‘No,’ the king said. ‘I had it moved here, not that I have looked through it in a while.’

  They spoke easily through dinner but then the king turned to Layla.

  ‘Perhaps it is time for you to retire,’ the king said to his daughter, ‘if you want to be alert for your students tomorrow.’

  Zahid caught Trinity’s eye for a brief second and again they were back in the woods, Zahid reminding her how much freedom she had, for he could not imagine Trinity at seventeen, let alone Layla’s twenty-four, being told, however politely, to go to bed.

  After dinner they drank coffee that would surely keep Trinity awake till the small hours but soon the king retired, leaving Zahid to walk Trinity back to her quarters.

  ‘You did well,’ Zahid said.

  ‘I wasn’t aware it was a test,’ Trinity snapped.

  ‘I was just commenting...’ Zahid halted. ‘You are tired, it has been a long day. Perhaps...’

  ‘Please, don’t try to tell me when I need to go to bed again.’

  ‘I wasn’t,’ Zahid said. ‘I was going to suggest we take a walk on the beach. I thought that might relax you.’

  ‘Isn’t it forbidden?’

  Zahid said nothing and they walked through the moonlit night, past the palace, but as Trinity turned in the direction of what she assumed was the path to the beach, Zahid’s hand gripped her arm and halted her.

  ‘It is this way.’

  ‘Oh,’ Trinity said, ‘so where does that lead?’ She saw his face shutter, acknowledged his lack of response to her question and, realising it was the entrance to the second palace, she let out a mirthless laugh.