Читать книгу Modern Romance September 2016 Books 5-8 - Natalie Anderson, Carol Marinelli - Страница 23
ОглавлениеKEDAH WAS VERY used to women falling for him.
He wasn’t used to them proudly walking away.
He looked at the slight chaos their lovemaking had created and righted the crystal decanter that had toppled over. Then his eyes took in the files and the photos of the women his father wanted him to choose from.
Felicia had seen them, he was certain.
Their lovemaking had been fierce and angry, and now possibly he understood a little more why.
Yet she had known all along that he was to marry and had seemed fine with it.
Possibly she wasn’t so assured after all.
Even though he generally didn’t use it, Kedah was tempted to summon the royal jet, so he could be in London, or nearly there, when she landed. He needed to speak with her—he wanted to know what her tears meant exactly.
He needed space, and so he walked along the pristine white beach. Suddenly everything had changed.
Always he had wanted to be King; he had spent his life knowing it could be taken away and protecting himself from that possibility. Now, when the coming days should have his full attention, when he should be devoting every thought to the potential battle ahead, he was staring up at the sky that carried her.
He had chosen wisely.
Kedah had protected all the people he loved and cared for in this. Tomorrow, when the press were crawling and the staff were afraid, he would ensure that the best of the best knew his business inside out.
He knew Felicia could face this crisis.
In these past months she had crept into his heart, and now she belonged there so absolutely that it had taken her leaving to expose the fact.
And her tears made him believe that she loved him too.
What to do?
* * *
Omar stood in his own office, looking out on Zazinia and thinking of the presentation his eldest son had just shown him. He saw Kedah walking along the beach alone. As always, he cut an impressive figure, but for once his son’s stride was not purposeful, and instead of looking out to the land he so loved Omar saw Kedah pause and gaze out to the ocean and the sky.
The King did not turn his head when the door opened and Rina stepped into his office. Instead he focused on his eldest son. There was a pensive air to him, and the set of his shoulders showed he carried a weight that was a heavy one.
Kedah was the rightful Crown Prince. Omar knew that.
Yes, the road ahead might be easier if he followed the elders’ wishes and stood behind his younger son, but it would be the wrong decision.
He turned his head a little as Rina came in and walked over to stand by his side. She stood quietly beside him, watching their son, who cut a proud and lonely figure as he walked.
‘Felicia just left,’ Rina said.
‘Felicia?’ Omar frowned, for he had no idea who his wife was referring to.
‘Kedah says she is his PA, but I am certain there is more to it.’
‘Nothing can come of it. There are many brides that would be far more suitable.’
Omar’s response was instant, but then he felt his wife’s hand on his shoulder.
‘I am sure plenty say the same about me,’ Rina said. ‘There are many who don’t consider me suitable.’
So rarely did they touch on that long-ago painful time.
‘You are a wonderful queen.’
‘Now I am,’ Rina agreed.
Omar turned and looked again to his son, and he recalled himself striding into the office brandishing files on potential brides. He hoped Felicia had been unable to understand what he had said.
‘Kedah showed me a presentation that he has been working on,’ Omar said. ‘It was very beautiful. In fact, it reminded me of my dreams for Zazinia.’ He looked out to the city. ‘He has a gift.’
‘So do you.’
‘Perhaps, but I could not express it properly to my father. Of course back then we did not have the technology to make such a presentation...’
‘Nothing would have swayed your father,’ Rina said. ‘Remember how you tried?’
Omar nodded.
‘And then you stopped trying.’
‘I chose to focus on the things I could change,’ Omar said. ‘I wanted my bride to be happy. And you weren’t.’
‘But I am now,’ she said. ‘And I am much stronger for your love. I shall always have that.’
And then Rina was the bravest she had ever been.
‘Come what may.’
Still, even now, they could not properly discuss her infidelity—and not just because of pride or shame, but also because walls might have ears and whispers might multiply.
‘Speak to your eldest son, Omar. Now. Before it is too late. Offer him your full support.’
Rina stood after Omar had left and tears were streaming down her face. Oh, she knew how her husband and eldest son protected her, but she was a good queen and it was time for the people to come first.
And Rina had not lied.
She was stronger for her King’s love.
Nothing could take that from her. Even if the law dictated that Omar must shame and divorce her, still she would have his love.
* * *
‘Kedah?’ Omar caught up with son. ‘Can I walk with you?’
‘Of course,’ Kedah answered.
‘Your presentation left me speechless. I had never considered using murals on the east-facing walls. It would be an incredible sight.’
‘They could tell the tale of our history,’ Kedah said. ‘Of course scaffolding would be required to shield the beach during construction...’
‘We are not at war now,’ Omar said. ‘Those rules were put in place at a time when the palace risked invasion. I pointed that out to my father many years ago...’ He gave a low laugh. ‘You are like a mirror image of me. When I see your visions it is like looking at my own designs...’
Kedah turned in brief surprise. ‘We are nothing alike.’
‘Not in looks,’ Omar said. ‘But we think the same.’
Kedah did not believe it. His father was staid and old-fashioned in his ways.
But Omar pressed on.
‘You were right to challenge me in the office. When I studied architecture with Hussain we had such grand plans. My father said that once I had married he would listen to my thoughts. I returned from my honeymoon with so many plans and dreams. Your mother was already pregnant with you, and I can remember us walking along this very beach, talking of the schools and the hospitals that would soon be built. Your mother, being your mother, looked forward to the hotels and the shops. They were such exciting times. There was such an air of hope amongst the people. But even by the time you were born those dreams had died.’
‘How?’
‘My father preferred his own rules.’
For a moment they stopped walking.
Even though the old King was dead it was almost a forbidden conversation.
‘He had always said that when I was married—when I was officially Crown Prince—then I could have input. And so I married. I chose a bride from a progressive country.’
‘For that reason only?’ Kedah checked.
‘He was just delaying things, though. By the time you were born I knew he would never listen to what I had to say. It was a very difficult time...’ Omar admitted. ‘I was young and proud and I had promised your mother so many things—she had come from a modern country and I wanted the same. I wanted our people to prosper from our wealth too, but my hands were tied. I became very angry and bitter. I spent all my time trying to convince my father to listen to my ideas—travelling with him, pointing out how progressive other countries were. Your mother was in a foreign country with a new baby, but I had no time for either of you...’
They walked in silence as Omar remembered that difficult trip away, and coming home to a grim palace and a wife who had been utterly distraught.
And then had come her confession.
And as Omar remembered the past Kedah better understood his parents, for he could envisage how undermined his father would have felt. For a little while he pondered how he might feel, bringing Felicia here, to a land full of promises that did not come true.
‘You have a good marriage now,’ Kedah commented.
‘We have worked hard to achieve that.’ Omar nodded. ‘I had been so caught up in my own ego that I forgot what it must be like for your mother...alone in a new country, with no one to speak of her problems with...’
Except Abdal.
‘When did you realise you loved her?’ Kedah asked—not just because he was curious about his parents’ marriage, but because it was a question from his own heart. Suddenly he could not bear to envisage a future without Felicia. Their conversations, their laughter, their occasional rows...he just could not see himself doing those things with anyone else. And yet she was flying further away from him with each moment that passed.
‘When?’ he asked again, for his father was lost in thought.
Omar was thinking back to the day Rina had confessed what had taken place and his reaction.
‘The moment I realised I could lose her,’ Omar answered. ‘It was then I knew I was in love.’
Perhaps they were not so different after all.
‘Your grandfather was not a fan of your mother. He seemed to think I would do better to take another bride.’
Nothing was said outright, but both knew the rumours were finally being addressed.
Kedah could see how things might have happened. Perhaps he understood his mother more. And yet he realised it was not his forgiveness that his mother needed.
It was the forgiveness of the man he looked to now.
‘Not only did I not want to lose her, Kedah, I was scared for her also.’
Kedah looked at him, and it was then he knew that he was his father’s son.
They had the same fears for a vibrant, impetuous woman.
Kedah had never admired his father more, for it took a strong king to be a loving one too—especially when wronged.
‘How did you resolve things?’ he asked, for he needed his father’s wisdom.
‘I accepted that my time would one day come and I went back to concentrating on my family. All that time I’d spent fruitlessly clashing with my father I had neglected your mother—and you...’
Here was a man who was far stronger than Kedah had given him credit for.
‘You have the same visions I once did,’ Omar said. ‘But I am older now. I need support. And I do not want you to have to wait, as I did, to make changes. That is not good for the people. Your presentation has reminded me of my own fire. Together we could change things. But there is Mohammed and the elders to consider...’
‘You are King.’
‘Yes, but there is your mother...’
And Kedah thought of Felicia’s words. His mother would be okay. After all, she had the King’s love.
‘Together,’ Kedah said, ‘we can protect her.’
So much was said without words.
‘But there is a condition,’ Kedah said to his father. ‘I shall choose my own bride.’
‘Perhaps we could wait until after the Accession Council meets?’ Omar suggested, for he was quite sure who Kedah’s choice would be—which would make for an even more difficult meeting.
But Kedah, now that his decision was made, could no longer wait.
He excused himself from his father and walked into the palace. As he did so he saw Mohammed walking into his office with Fatiq.
‘Mohammed.’ Kedah followed him in. ‘We need to speak.’ He didn’t even look over to Fatiq as he addressed him. ‘Please leave.’
‘You can say what you have to in front of Fatiq,’ Mohammed told him.
‘Very well.’
The timbre of Kedah’s voice was so ominous that Mohammed’s hand moved to the hilt of his sword as his elder brother strode towards him.
‘Know this. It is very hard to dissuade loyal people... If I am forced to I will take the decision to them and I know I will win.’
‘Not if we call for—’
‘I don’t give a damn about some test that was invented ten minutes ago compared with the rich history of our land. I was born to be King, I was raised to be King. And if I have to I shall take it to the people. Tomorrow my father shall offer his full support for his eldest son, and I hope he shall also announce that I have chosen my bride—Felicia.’
There was a hiss of breath from Fatiq at his side, but instead of an angry response Mohammed gave a black smile.
‘The elders would never accept her...’
‘They will have no choice.’ Omar came in then. ‘I will offer my full support.’ He glared at the feuding duo. ‘Your mother is on her way.’
Rina arrived then, with Kumu.
‘Kedah, your father tells me you have exciting news...’
‘I hope to have exciting news.’
‘But Felicia does not understand our ways...the people...’ Kumu, who rarely spoke, did so now.
‘Felicia understands people,’ Kedah said. ‘Full stop.’
‘And our people would adore to see their Crown Prince happy.’ Rina smiled. ‘Just so long as you are married here.’
‘I haven’t asked her yet,’ Kedah said. ‘I think it’s a bit early to be speaking of wedding plans.’
‘It’s never too early,’ Rina said.
‘And I happen to like a good English wedding,’ Omar mused.
And then, just as Kedah was about to roll his eyes and excuse himself, his father took his wife’s hand and spoke on.
‘What is it they say in the English service? Speak now or for ever hold your peace?’
Omar was looking directly at Mohammed as he said it, and there was challenge in his tone.
Never had Kedah admired his father more.
His father.
Kedah no longer needed proof, for Omar stood proud and strong and he maintained his sovereignty.
‘Do you have anything you would like to say, Mohammed?’ Omar enquired.
His son blinked.
‘Come on, Mohammed.’ Kumu pulled at his arm. ‘We should go and check on the children.’
Mohammed stood there. They all watched and waited, but it was Kedah who walked off.
He had rather more important things on his mind than waiting for his brother to speak...
Or for ever hold his peace.
