by Leslie North
“If you keep coming towards me, I will shoot,” El-Tamar screamed at the Prince.
“Then shoot,” Basil said.
El-Tamar's hand was shaking. He knew that if he shot the gun, there was no coming back from that. He could hear his wife screaming at him to shoot. Before he could even pull the trigger, the Prince was in front of him. Basil grabbed the gun from him and hit him in the face with it.
“Have mercy,” El-Tamar called out.
“You kidnapped my wife, your daughter. Why should I?” Basil barked. He started throwing punches at El-Tamar. Abia was screaming for the Prince to stop but he was not listening to her. He was so angry. All he could see was red. Akeem was hiding behind one of the cars crying. He knew it was a bad idea from the start.
“He came for you,” Mona said to Saja. They were watching all the action unfold from the jeep. Sounds of loud cries and gunshots filled the air. They noticed a man looking at Basil. He reached in his pocket for a gun. Saja jumped out of the jeep and picked up a rock. She squinted her eyes as she focused on him. She threw the stone at his head. He flinched in pain.
“Basil watch out!” Saja called out. Another man was pointing a gun at him. In a swift movement, Basil grabbed a small knife from his pocket and threw it at the man's thigh. He fell on one knee. One of Basil's men hit him in the back of the head a few times and knocked him unconscious.
The King and his men approached moments later further surrounding everyone. El-Tamar spat out blood. He was surprised to see the King. He hadn't expected Basil to come. It was even more shocking to see the King. “Lower your weapons,” he called out to his men. There was no point in fighting any longer. They were outnumbered from the start. Now that the King was here with his soldiers, they were even more outnumbered. Fighting the King was treason. Even their grandchildren would be punished for it.
El-Tamar's men dropped their guns and surrendered. Saja ran to Basil and jumped on him. She wrapped her arms around him. It was finally over. The nightmare had gone on for too long. Saja held Basil's face in her hands as she kissed him. “You came for me,” she said to him.
“Of course I did,” he said to her and kissed her. Basil put Saja down. The King got off his horse and walked towards them. He nodded at his brother. Saja took a step towards him and hugged him. She was so pleased to see him.
“They hurt you,” the King said to Saja. She was covered in bruises and had a few cuts.
“I am okay,” she said and smiled at him.
She did not look okay to him. He looked at El-Tamar. “I am surprised he's still alive,” the King said. He didn't expect his brother to let him live. He kicked him in the head. “Bastard,” he said calmly. He dared to put hands on Saja. He did not deserve to live.
* * * * *
It had been days since they found the two women and Saja was almost back to her old self. The bruising had disappeared and the cuts were almost gone. They had been staying at the King's palace. It was closer to Noor City than Quabeca and the King insisted, as he wanted his doctor to examine both Saja and Mona to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong with either of them.
Saja smiled as she woke to Basil staring at her. “What would I do without you?” he said to her. She reached out and touched his cheek.
“It is I who can't live without you,” she said to him.
“I nearly lost you. Those were the worst days of my life, Saja,” Basil had felt like the world was going to end. Those days felt endless. If he had lost her, he would have never survived it. He could not be without her. There was no life without Saja.
It hurt her to see him so broken up over her. “I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere,” she said to him and pulled him closer to her. She kissed him. “I promise,” she whispered. Tears welled up in her eyes. No one had ever loved her the way he did. They had started out roughly but they were going to have a great ending.
“We have a lot of catching up to do,” she said as she slipped the straps from her nightgown off her shoulders. Basil raised his eyebrow at her. She giggled. She kissed him again. He kissed her back. He pressed feather light kisses on her chest. He ran his hands through her curly hair. He had missed every bit of her. He caressed her and touched her so gently as if she was fragile. Basil lifted her gown up over her head and tossed it aside. Once she was naked, he inspected every inch of her to be sure that she was healing well. By the time he finished, Saja was panting heavily. Chuckling, he entered her slowly. Inch by tortuous inch. Saja did her best to hurry him along, but he would not be rushed. He groaned once he had fully buried himself all the way inside her. Holding her close, he began a languid pace that had Saja squirming and begging him to go faster. Grinning wickedly, he picked up the pace bringing them both quickly to climax. When they both calmed down, he slowly pulled out as he lay beside her.
“I love you,” he said to her as he smoothed her hair.
“I love you more,” she said to him.
Epilogue
The King and Basil had sat Saja and Mona down. They asked them every detail of what had happened. The two brothers discussed how they were going to punish El-Tamar and his family. Kidnapping the princess was unforgiveable. Prison was too kind for them. Basil had given El-Tamar a light punishment in the past and he took advantage of the mercy he was shown. He was not capable of repenting. However, in this situation, Abia was the biggest offender. She was the one who had orchestrated the entire thing. She had even laid her hands on Saja. That was unforgivable. Akeem was the only one who seemed to regret the entire thing. Saja had seen him try to defend her after she saved Anwar's life. Even after they had been arrested, he had apologised to her.
Saja went to the palace holding cells to see El-Tamar and his family. All the guards bowed to her when they saw her arrive. She stood there for a moment staring at Abia. So many emotions ran through her. Part of her wanted to get in the cell and give Abia the same beating she gave Saja. However, Saja was determined to be forgiving and certainly did not want to stoop to Abia's level.
“Karma is a bitch,” Saja said and crossed her arms over her chest. “From the beginning, you forced me to marry the Prince for personal gain but I was the one who gained and you lost. Ironic is it not?” she added.
“Do you have a point?” Abia asked.
“Then you kidnap me to ransom back your wealth but now you're behind bars without getting a single penny.”
“Please, have mercy,” El-Tamar said to her.
“You speak of mercy, yet you showed me none,” Saja looked at Abia. “You all got yourselves in this mess but you blamed me. Learn to take some responsibility and repentance,” she added and left. El-Tamar begged her to forgive them. He shouted out apologies as she left.
Abia was sentenced to life in prison. During the sentence, she was to carry out jobs like litter pick up, street sweeping and cleaning public toilets. Since she had lived her life privileged, carrying out such jobs was a nightmare for her and far worse than sitting in a cell. Basil thought it was too light of a punishment and she deserved worse but Saja believed in forgiveness. Since she was in prison for life, she could not harm anyone. El-Tamar and Aman were sentenced to twenty years in prison. Akeem and Anwar were the only ones who apologised to Saja. They had also thanked her for saving Anwar's life. Basil wanted them to wear ankle monitors for five years and live the rest of their days as servants but Saja felt bad for them. You don't pick your family. Because of her, they were able to go unpunished. Akeem came to Saja before he left. He wept at her feet and thanked her for her kindness.
* * * * *
“I am glad she was with you,” Basil said to Mona. Saja had told him how she had defended her. He really appreciated her doing so. He was grateful to her and Amber for their help. They went above and beyond for Saja. “I hear you have an interest in history and architecture,” he added. He had learned that she knew a lot about Basrat's old buildings, history and geography. He promoted her from being Saja's maid to the curator for Quabeca's royal museum. He also bought
her a new house to go with her new position. She did not have to share a room with Amber in the servants’ quarters any longer. Amber was also given her own home and promoted to a different job. She first turned it down. She didn't feel that she deserved anything. She felt as if she had let Saja down. She cried so much when Saja had returned. Saja hugged her and told her that it was okay. None of it was her fault.
It was because of Badir that they were able to find Saja. Basil gave him the title of sheik. It was long overdue. He was also given a small province of his own. He deserved it and more. He had been like a brother to Basil. Saja thanked him and the King for coming to her rescue. She appreciated them. She was happy to have them as family.
“So where are these women of yours?” Saja asked the King. She had heard much about them from Basil and it sparked her curiosity. The King sighed. Now that he was back at the palace, he had to deal with them. He had them stay away from Saja and Basil while they got back on their feet. He knew how they would be; it wouldn't have helped the situation.
“There will be plenty of time for you to meet them. Don't worry,” the King said.
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“She's adorable,” Fiddah said to Tariq as Sara walked away. He was watching her walk with his usual blank face. He turned to look at Fiddah.
“Amir keeps saying that. I do not see it,” Tariq said and picked up his menu. Fiddah laughed.
“This is you we are talking about.”
He lowered his menu and narrowed his gaze at her. “I am not the problem here,” he defended himself. The waitress reappeared to take their orders. She was watching him and blushing whilst he was speaking to her. Fiddah watched the waitress turn red.
“When do you plan to marry?” Fiddah asked Tariq as soon as the waitress left. Tariq frowned at his grandmother.
“What brought this on?” He was confused with her sudden change of topic even though it was not the first time she had questioned him about marriage.
“The waitress was blushing when she was speaking with you but you did not even notice. Makes me wonder if you notice women.”
Tariq sighed before he replied. He was so used to women blushing in his presence that it did not even faze him anymore. The waitress came back carrying their drinks. Tariq sunk in his chair and watched her. She noticed him looking at her and she immediately started smiling. He raised one eyebrow. He waited for her to leave before he commented.
“Marriage is not for me and even if it was, she would not be my type,” he said and took a sip from his glass. Fiddah shook her head. For years, she had been trying to convince him to marry but failed.
“So what, you will bury yourself in the company until your death bed?”
“I like my job.”
“Too much! You need a life outside your job. You need a family.”
“I have one.”
“Of your own! I want great grandchildren. Do not deny me that!”
Tariq was never going to win this argument. Fiddah was tenacious. This was not their first time discussing his love life and it was certainly not going to be their last.
“How about you pick a wife for me?” Tariq said and grinned at her.
“Does that even make sense? Is it so hard to court a woman?” Tariq laughed gently.
Sara heard Tariq laugh. So it's capable of laughing, she said to herself. She turned her attention back to her food. It surprised her to hear him laugh. She had never heard it and never thought she would. He was so uptight and mean.
“Can you see me courting a woman?” Tariq asked Fiddah.
“There is no hope for you,” she replied. He grinned at her. “Don't you want love?” she asked.
“No.”
“What?”
“It doesn't exist.” Tariq was determined to stick to his beliefs. In his eyes, love did not exist. It was simply heightened infatuation. As he took a sip from his glass, he noticed Sara attempt to eat an olive but it fell back on the plate. No table manners even? She could not walk like a normal person. She talked too much. She had poor dress sense. And now this! What other weird trait was she going to exhibit? He watched her eat. He could tell that she was really enjoying her food. She sat up and licked her lips, then took a sip of her drink. When she was not eating, she was talking. It's as if she never stops. Tariq shook his head and looked away from her.
Sara was finally done with her delicious lunch. Food made her happy. As they were leaving, she made sure not to make eye contact with Tariq. It was not the case for Keira and Kaleena. They both stared at Tariq as they walked past. Tariq chewed slowly and watched them, watching him.
“Please stop staring at him,” Sara said feeling awkward.
“He's so handsome,” Keira said.
* * * * * *
There was a lot of work that needed to be done to get the new field up and running. Sara's workload tripled faster than she anticipated. Amir told her that they had to pull some long nights. Sara walked into his office to brief him on a report she had been working on. To her surprise, Tariq and Amir were both sitting on the sofa discussing the appropriate barrels to use. They both looked up when she walked in. It was the first time she had seen him since that Saturday at the mall. She bowed to them. Only Amir responded.
“Barrels for gasoline or crude oil?” Sara asked. They both looked at her and she realised that she had jumped into their conversation.
“Both,” Amir replied.
She pointed at one of the pictures and said, “Those carry more oil.” Amir turned his attention to the picture and picked it up. Tariq was still wondering why she had included herself in the conversation.
“Is that so?” Amir asked her. Sara smiled and nodded.
“Oh, I actually came in to brief you on this report,” she said as she handed him a file. She made eye contact with Tariq. He wore an expressionless look as always, which annoyed her. She could never guess what he was thinking. She looked away first, as she was getting uncomfortable in his presence.
“An estimation of 400 gallons of crude oil can be produced in the El-Sultari region,” Sara said.
“That is not a lot of oil,” Amir said. Tariq leaned back in his chair. He was wondering where Sara was taking this. Did she have a point or was she rambling again?
“True, but it's worth looking into. You never know.”
“Actually, we do know. We have been doing this for years,” Tariq interrupted.
“I meant that it's worth learning more about this field. It might prove to be a good investment.”
“Or it might be a fruitless endeavour and we would have wasted a lot of time and resources,” shot back Tariq.
Amir lifted his head from the file and looked at the both of them. They were both making good points but there was nothing friendly about their conversation. He knew that his brother and his assi
stant would never get along. He simply hoped it wouldn’t get much worse.
“Sara, if you can find more information about the field, then we'll go from there,” Amir told her.
“Do not give her false hope,” Tariq said. Sara bit the inside of her lip. She wanted to hurl curse words at him but she would not do that. Why did he find it so difficult to be nice to her?
“Sheik Amir, that is fair, thank you.” Sara bowed to him and left the room. Tariq narrowed his gaze. She deliberately thanked Amir so she could make it obvious that she was ignoring him, just as she had done at the mall when Fiddah was there. He watched her walk out of the office. His eyes could not help but rest on her bottom as he contemplated what she looked like without her clothes on. He looked away before Amir caught him. He wouldn't know how to explain it. He started talking about his lunch with Fiddah. Amir laughed. He knew his brother's views on love. The world had failed to convince him otherwise.