Sheikh's Stand In

by Sophia Lynn

  However, she had to admit that there was something different about this place, about Khutal's palace. It was a gorgeous place, but it went far beyond that. This was a place that had history, and thanks to Charlotte, it was a place that had welcomed her. She still wasn't sure about the idea of staying, but it was growing more and more attractive by the moment.

  Viviana padded over to the closet, pulling things out to spread on the bed. It would be a fairly casual dinner, so she chose a light cream cotton dress that skimmed along her slender frame and lent a lovely softness to her complexion while making her russet hair shine. She slipped on a pair of light sandals, and after running a brush through her long hair and braiding it, she was ready for dinner.

  She remembered vaguely that Charlotte had told her she was in the family wing. It was a smaller section of the palace, a place where the bulk of the living actually happened. She realized that she wasn't quite sure where the dining room was, but with almost twenty minutes to spare, she was relatively certain that she would find it.

  About ten minutes later, she had ceased to be so sure. Though the palace had many modern accoutrements, there was an old-fashioned twisting to the corridors. One path that had looked promising took her straight to a small indoor courtyard filled with lush flowers, and another lead her down to what she supposed must be a gaming room.

  She opened a third door, ready to use her phone to call for help if necessary. She found to her irritation that it was a library, but then she realized that there was someone occupying it.

  The man stood up from his armchair as she came in, revealing himself to be of a rather imposing height. He was well-built with sharp arresting features and the gold-rimmed spectacles he wore gave him an air of scholarly distinction.

  Viviana, whose career involved her assessing men of power, immediately assessed him as a quieter CEO type. From the sure way he stood and the calm way he regarded her, she would never mistake him for an office worker or an adjunct, no matter that he wore black slacks and a plain white shirt rolled up at the wrists.

  "Good evening," he said. "Do you need some help?"

  There was something about his voice that sent chills up her spine. Before she thought about it, she smiled at him warmly.

  "I suppose I could," she said. "I don't suppose you could direct me to the dining room, could you?"

  "I suppose I could," he said, with a grin that made her feel a little warm inside. "What will you give me for it?"

  She grinned, because she knew this game well, and though she didn't care to play it right then, there was something about him she liked.

  "If you take me, I won't tell the son of the Sheikh that you were so disrespectful to his sister-in-law."

  "Oh, well, I can't have that, can I? I have a position to maintain. Come along, I'll get you where you're going."

  Despite his words, she noticed that there was absolutely no nervousness in him at all. He led the way with an assurance that reminded her of some of the most powerful men she knew, and then she put it together.

  When she did, she froze in her tracks, allowing the man to get a few steps ahead of her before turning back to look at her quizzically.

  "Are you all right?" he asked, but she was watching him with wide eyes.

  "You're … you're Mikal, aren't you?"

  His smile was slight, but it revealed the bare edge of his white teeth. For all that it was a friendly look, there was a predatory glint to it that made her alternately want to step forward and run.

  "I was wondering if you had figured it out," he admitted. "Then I started to think that you knew from the beginning, and well …"

  He shrugged, and then perhaps she could see the shy young man in him, the one who had watched her walk by with his green eyes wide and who had been too terrified to speak to her at all.

  "You must think me awfully rude if I would just walk up without saying hello even if I knew you," she started, and he quirked an eyebrow at her.

  "I would never accuse Viviana Johns of being rude, but yes, actually, I think I could see you doing just that."

  She winced a little, nodding.

  "All right. You've not known me since I was sixteen, so I probably deserved that. Was I really so horrible to you?"

  "Horrible," he echoed, "No, that's not something that I would say, no. You were … regal, let's say."

  Viviana laughed at that. "Well, that was the most polite way to say that I was a little stuck-up, I guess. Am I forgiven for that?"

  "I think you are," he said. "You weren't an evil queen … maybe a little evil, but it was all in good fun."

  "Ah, you did know me," she said with a grin. "I am glad that you seem to have fond memories of me."

  Something flickered across his face, but it was gone before she could really read what it was, before she could really ascertain that it was there at all.

  "I do. But anyway, I believe I have teased you enough," he said. "Shall I take you to dinner?"

  "By all means."

  She expected him to lead the way again, but this time, he offered her his arm. There was something elegant and courtly about it. She knew instinctively that if he had tried to do it as a teenager, it would have come off as affected and ridiculous. As a full-grown man, however, one that seemed to exude power and a kind of old-world charm, it enchanted her.

  She took it with a graceful inclination of her head. Viviana had spent the better part of her life judging men's reactions to her, and she could see his eyes tracing the line of her neck and the elegant curve of her shoulder. She had no cleavage to speak of in this dress, but she liked to think that she hardly needed it.

  When they got to the dining room, Charlotte and Aladdin were already seated, chatting as Aladdin held his daughter close over his shoulder. They both looked up as Viviana and Mikal entered.

  "We were about to send out a search party," Aladdin teased. "Viviana, I expect my brother to have his head stuck in a book, but I thought that you at least would be prompt."

  "Blame the vagaries of ancient Khutal architecture," Viviana said as Mikal pulled out her chair for her. "I was completely lost, and I might still be wandering your gardens if Mikal hadn't managed to lead me to safety."

  "Did you two renew your acquaintance?" asked Charlotte innocently. "I was wondering if you would remember each other at all."

  As Viviana shot her sister an exaggeratedly dire look, Mikal smiled.

  "It's is quite difficult to forget the reigning queen of the local all-girls school," he said, and something about the way he said it made Aladdin look up.

  "You mean she's—" Aladdin cleared his throat, suddenly focusing on his daughter again. "Well, it's nice that you two went to school together …"

  "It is," said Viviana. "Do you think it's something that you might do with Annika?"

  The two fond parents looked so shocked that Viviana burst out laughing.

  "All right, all right, I can tell it is way too early for that…"

  "I don't think I could bear it, having her so far away," mused Aladdin. "The thought makes me more than a little ill."

  Charlotte reached over to touch her daughter's dark hair.

  "No, I don't think I want to. Maybe the family can spend a year or so in the United States or somewhere in Europe, just to give her a fresh perspective on the world, but I want her with us."

  Viviana was oddly touched by that. She and her sister had always been looked after, but Annika was going to grow up being loved every day of her life. When she glanced over at Mikal, she was shocked to see that he had a wistful look on his face as well. He had been at boarding school also, and she wondered if he had ever been as fiercely homesick as she had been.

  "Switzerland is lovely," she suggested. "That would be a fine place to spend some time."

  "There's time to think about that yet," said Aladdin. "After all, before anything else happens, we need to get ourselves married in two days."

  The food started being served, rich and fragrant bowls of meat and vegetabl
es that were served with small plates of rice and platters of flat bread. Suddenly, Viviana realized that she was starving after all of her travel, and she tucked in with a will, listening to Charlotte and Aladdin discuss the wedding details. Fortunately for her, it sounded as if it was already all hammered into place, and anything that wasn't was going to be ironed out in the rehearsals over the next few days.

  "You two are going to be fairly integral to the ceremony," Aladdin said. "It looks like we're doing it old-school."

  Mikal looked amused. "Does that mean that I need to brandish a sword and be ready to fight off people who might object to your joining?"

  "Not that old-school," Aladdin said drily. "You'll also note that we didn't ask you to marry Viviana and to bed her before the ceremony."

  Charlotte laughed at that, and Viviana did too, but not before she had a vision of Mikal with a sword in his hand, storming into her bedroom and …

  The image faded because Charlotte was talking, but she knew that it was one that she would be returning to at some point soon.

  "That's a very old tradition," she explained to Viviana. "Once upon a time, when the first son got married, it was expected for his younger brother and the bride's younger sister to marry in a small ceremony privately. Then, um, they would consummate their union on the marriage bed the night before, taking away any bad luck with them."

  "Well, I'm glad that we're not doing that version," said Viviana, a little startled to realize that there was a faint blush on her cheeks.

  "I'm not," Mikal said, but he said it so smoothly and so blandly that she had to think about what he meant. Charlotte and Aladdin, who seemed not to have heard, were already continuing.

  "As a matter of fact, though you'll be standing up with us throughout the ceremony, your role is largely ceremonial. You'll both be doing a reading, and fortunately, it will be in English, so no worries there. Beyond that …" Aladdin shrugged. "Thank you both for doing this."

  Charlotte reached over to take Viviana's hand, squeezing it tightly.

  "It means so much for me to have you here," she said softly. "I knew that you would come, but until you were actually in the country, I guess I was a little afraid that I would be doing this without you."

  Viviana felt tears prickling at her eyes. "Wow, I really have been here today and gone tomorrow, haven't I?" she asked wryly. "That's not what I want, at all. I'm proud to be standing up with you."

  She meant to continue, but then a thought occurred to her. "Where's Annika going to be during all this?"

  "Oh, we were thinking that you might be all right with holding her," said Charlotte. "It would be nice to have the whole family up there, I think, and that's the best way to do it."

  Over the rest of the dinner, the four of them discussed logistics and how the wedding would occur. For Viviana, who was not getting married herself and who was inexperienced with the culture, it was mostly listening and nodding, asking questions when she didn't know what was coming next. Despite having several friends who had gotten married over the years, this was her first time as a maid of honor, and she was eager to get it right.

  Throughout the discussion though, she found herself sneaking glances at Mikal. She was seated to his side, and when he was focused on speaking to Aladdin, she could watch him to her heart's content. If she had just met him today, she would never have guessed that he had been such a shy young man. Since she knew he had been though, she could still see traces of that sweetness in the way he considered things before he spoke, as well as the way he sometimes glanced at his niece with naked adoration. Knowing that the sweet young man was still in there somewhere warmed something in her.

  Viviana reminded herself sternly to behave. While a wedding might be a fantastic place for a no-strings attached fling, this one was something different. In another circumstance, if she hadn't been as involved as she was and if the man involved wasn't her future brother-in-law’s brother, she might have done otherwise, but this was her sister's wedding to one of the most powerful men in the country.

  Of course, that resolve was all well and good, but then Mikal offered to walk her back to her wing of the palace. She didn't miss Charlotte's raised eyebrow, but she only shrugged a little as she hugged her sister and kissed her niece good night.

  "This is going to be interesting for me," she commented on the walk back. "I've never had such an important role in a wedding before."

  "Me neither, honestly," said Mikal. "I think it will be fine though. I don't think either of us have it in our power to mess things up for them in any real way."

  "Mmm." Viviana could have continued the rest of the way in silence, pleading fatigue, but there was a devil on her shoulder that made her speak again. "So historically, we would have been getting married too? Was that a real thing?"

  Mikal shot her a look that was hard to read, but at least there was a smile on his face.

  "Very real," he responded. "In Khutal's past, I would have been my brother's right-hand man, the leader of the cavalry, and the man to whom the burden of vengeance would have fallen upon if he had died. Marrying you would have been one of my most important duties as his younger brother."

  "I could have been a duty. That's … definitely a thing, I suppose."

  "I don't think it would have been a hard duty, if that's any consolation," he said, and now she was certain that there was something else in his voice, something that made her look at him twice.

  "Not hard at all?"

  "No, as a matter of fact, I think I would have called it a perk, to say the least."

  "How would it have worked?" she asked innocently. "Logistically, I mean. After all, I know how the—other parts—might have gone."

  "Do you?" Before she could question that, he continued. "Well, most likely, you and your sister would have come from some land or other that my brother and I conquered. You would have been sent as a peace offering, or perhaps as a bribe."

  "We would have been terrified," Viviana said, warming to the tale. "Sent hundreds of miles, away from the land that we had always lived in."

  "Yes, but you would have known that you were destined to be wives and not concubines. That is something that has always been said of the Lords of Khutal. We have always been most loyal, most faithful. Betraying our trust is deadly, but where we love, we are faithful to the end."

  "Intimidating reputation for a woman to hear," Viviana retorted. "Women have no idea how a man might decide to be faithful or trusting on any particular day."

  "You would have learned," he said with utter confidence. "You would not have been allowed to see us the first few days. Instead, you would be cleaned, jeweled, and dressed, and then, the night before our siblings' wedding, you would have been taken to my home. In the far distant past, it would have been a tent nearly as grand as our houses of today, with rooms and carpets—even musicians to play us to our rest."

  "And then?" she asked, leaning in. At some point they had stopped. She was certain he hadn't been that close to her before.

  "And then … well … those are the logistics," he said with a grin. "You said you could fill in the rest yourself."

  She made a slightly frustrated sound, and then she laughed with him. "Better leave that to the imagination, then," she said, shaking her head a little.

  They had come to her door already, and she turned to him with a sigh.

  "Thank you for walking me back. I think I could have found my way back here without a problem, but I thought that about the dining room as well. I appreciate it."

  He moved in to give her a brotherly hug, and she was prepared to respond in kind, even though she could feel how strong and muscled he was underneath his impeccably tailored clothes.

  "If you ever decide to take those ideas away from the realm of imagination," he whispered, "you should let me know."

  Before she could respond to that, he had turned with a smile and was walking down the corridor briskly. She stared after him for a moment, and then she shook her head, closing the door behi
nd her.

  Damn him anyway for teasing her like that, but she couldn't deny that she was attracted to him. She had spent so many years thinking of Mikal as a shy nerd that this juxtaposition was both alarming and fascinating.

  She shook her head again. No matter what she thought about him, she had resolved to be on her best behavior. She owed her sister a drama-free, problem-free wedding, and that was what she intended to deliver.

  Even as she strengthened her resolve, she couldn't keep her thoughts away from what it might be like to be delivered to the tent of a legendary warlord, knowing that all that separated her from her fate were a few thin tent walls …

  ***

  The next few days were a rush of preparation, and even Viviana, who tended to live life in a constant hurry, was a little stunned by everything that needed to be done. She and Mikal had to rehearse their parts for the wedding, but even beyond that, she had to be fitted for a traditional Khutal gown, headdress, and shoes. She also had to be provided with the right kind of jewelry, and she had to be plucked and pampered to perfection.

  "Thank god you're only going to do this once," she said to Charlotte, as they rested in her room before the next task.

  "Well, I'm only going to do this once, but maybe you'll end up doing this again?"

  Viviana eased herself up on her elbow, frowning a little. "What do you mean by that, Charlotte?"

  "Well, I just mean that I’ve seen how you and Mikal have been looking at each other," her older sister reflected. "You two are getting a bit of a reputation …"

  "Hey, we're definitely behaving ourselves," Viviana protested. "If there's some kind of problem, you're welcome to talk to him!"

  "Oh no, no, nothing improper … But … you like him, don't you?"

  "Oh come on, Charlotte, that's so fifth grade!" Viviana tried to laugh it off, but her sister shook her head.

  "Well, I know what you're like, and I know Mikal as well. You two could fit very well, but I'm not going to push it. Just … maybe keep an eye open for him, you know? He's a good guy, and I know he's interested."