Education was the best solution; it might take quite some time to work perfectly, but I had faith it would. I had never been so sure of anything like I was on this matter.
Finally, I didn’t feel like a failure for the first time since Donia’s wedding.
“I’m happy I’ve found you,” Mazen whispered, warming my heart with his sweet words.
His hands kneaded the back of my shoulders gently, giving me the best massage ever. His thumbs were making the softest of circles just above my shoulder blades.
“Where did you learn to be so good at this?” I asked breathlessly.
“I didn’t,” his voice was just above a whisper. There was no way he was that perfect in giving a massage by nature – could it be?
“How come?” I gasped, his hands making all of the right touches.
“I’m listening very carefully to your moans, hayaty. It’s so beautiful,” he breathed out. He called me ‘my life’ in Arabic, making me realize that he was already losing it. Although, he really didn’t need to say anything for this massage was turning into something else, and very quickly. His massive erection had been rubbing my lower back for quite a while now.
I turned around awkwardly to touch my mouth to his, kissing him sweetly, which quickly turned into a hungry and impatient one: tongues tasting, and lips sucking.
Mazen’s hands moved to the top of my shoulders, and he gave them a good squeeze while his lips stayed on mine, and then he touched my breasts through my light gown.
I moaned into his mouth as he circled my nipples, and the whole world disappeared leaving only me, him, and the ache between my legs.
Suddenly, Mazen squeezed my breasts with some pressure, and I yelped in pain.
“Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry, princess. Are you okay?” Mazen said in one breath, backing away and adjusting his position so he’d be able to look me in the eye.
I touched my breasts lightly with one hand, using the other hand to support myself on the bed. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine. My breasts are very tender, that’s all,” I told him, a slightly pained look on my face.
“I’m so sorry. I got lost in the moment and completely forgot.” He got off the bed and stood a step away, looking very guilty.
“Don’t be sorry, silly,” I reassured him. “Nothing happened. Come back, and let me take care of that,” I said as I looked at his bulge in his boxer-briefs, and then bit my lower lip.
Mazen shook his head. “No, don’t worry about that. I got carried away. We shouldn’t be doing this anyway.”
My eyes rolled back again, but for an entirely different reason this time. “I told you I’m fine. Are you seriously going to listen to Dr. Maya about that?”
“Of course, I will,” he said. “Once a day is enough. You already suffer from cramps every now and then, and that’s not good.”
“It happens to most women,” I argued. “I told you I’m feeling fine,” and crazily turned on.
“Maybe later, princess.”
“Do you want me to beg? Because I will.” I gave him a seductive look.
“God! You’re killing me!” He pulled on his messy hair.
“You too,” I said. “We didn’t even do it at all today!” I faked innocence, which made Mazen chuckle.
“We made love not twelve hours ago; just because it was before midnight and now it’s ten in the morning doesn’t change anything.” He shook his head, laughing, “Nice try, though.”
I actually pouted like a two-year-old when I saw there was no way I could convince him. He wanted to follow the doctor’s orders since Adam had already dropped, two and a half months too early.
My pout turned into a dirty look when Mazen stretched his body and then palmed his erection through his underwear. The jerk only chuckled, so I told him exactly what I thought of him.
“You’re mean.”
“I love you too, princess,” he said as he made his way to the bathroom.
“If you touch yourself in there …” I called after him, but before I could finish, he turned around, blew me a kiss then winked before closing the door behind him.
Ugh! I wanted to strangle him. Or make love to him. Or a little bit of both.
The next day, Mazen had to fly to Dubai to meet with the leader of the princedom.
We both hated that he had to leave, especially now; he needed to be nearby lest – God forbid – I have an early childbirth given my condition. But he promised he’d be home tonight; I couldn’t ask for more than that.
That afternoon, my mother-in-law unexpectedly came to my wing, letting herself in after knocking just once. She had already made me lunch an hour ago and put a full basket of fruits near me to snack on – not to mention the already prepared food in the locked fridge that I could always heat in a minute if I wanted a full meal at any time. So, I wasn’t sure why did she return.
What I also found weird was what she was wearing –it was actually an abaya that I’d seen her wear before. Most of the royal family never wore the same outfit twice. We gave it away, or if it was too expensive or valuable – like the dress I wore on the day of coronation – that went to a museum.
I remembered that abaya very well because it had a pattern that reminded me of some pharaonic decorations on temples I’d seen in books about the ancient Egyptians and how they lived.
Not only that but for the past several months, Queen Mother Shams had only used the secret door to reach my wing; she never used the outside doors.
Weird.
I didn’t dwell on it. I was weary, and already counting the minutes until Mazen’s arrival.
“Hey!” I said, sprawled on the couch near the bedroom’s main door.
“Hello!” she whispered, and I raised my head to look at her as I heard her voice. Something was off about her, and it caused a chill to run down my spine. I wasn’t fair to her by feeling edgy by her mere presence, but her voice sounded odd, like a witch’s voice from horror movies.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong with your voice?” I asked her, still trying to figure out why she was making me feel off. I thought my uneasiness around her was a thing of the past.
Maybe I was wrong after all, and I was still uncomfortable in her company? Maybe.
“I caught a cold,” she replied in Arabic, which was even weirder than everything else.
“Okay,” I said, resting my head back on the couch, determined not to show her that she was making me uncomfortable, I didn’t want to be rude.
“I have a request,” she whispered.
Something told me that this couldn’t be good. Whatever she needed from me— it just couldn’t be good.
I wish I had listened to my intuition.
I’d made many mistakes through my life, some that I regretted, some that broke me, and some I was happy I’d made – because the lessons I’d learned from them benefited me.
Sometimes, I’d made mistakes by attempting to be kind to someone.
That day, I made one of those mistakes.
When my mother-in-law said she wanted to make a request, I didn’t overthink it. I sat up and faced her.
“What can I do for you?”
Queen Mother Shams’ lips formed something that I couldn’t call a smile, but more like a sneer. It made me feel even more uncomfortable.
What’s going on?
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” she said in Arabic, still whispering. “You see, I haven’t seen the outside of the palace in over two years now.”
The area between my eyebrows shrunk as a frown was born there. Why was she telling me something that I already knew? And why was she bringing it up now?
With two nods, I motioned for her my understanding, and to go on.
“I want to beg your kindness to take me outside,” she said, her eyes pleading and her tone hopeful. “Just once.”
The first thought that came to my mind, why me? But then again, I wondered why she didn’t just roam around the palace the way I had seen her doing on the night of the execution. I wonde
red if I might have misunderstood her. “You mean – allow you out?”
I was confused. Maybe she was just asking me for my permission since only Mazen and I could give it to her? She still had a year left of the sentence which her husband had imposed her because of what she’d done to his mother. But why wasn’t she asking Mazen? I couldn’t understand that.
“Of course, Your Majesty. Just one hour, maybe less. I want to see the outside of the palace.”
“I’m not sure, Your Royal Highness,” I replied honestly. “I don’t know how Mazen would feel about that.”
“Mazen wouldn’t mind, trust me. I would’ve asked him, but he would be afraid to upset you by agreeing to my request. So, I thought – I should ask you directly.”
“I don’t know …”
“Please? It would mean so much to me.” Her hopeful, pleading eyes glistened with tears, which began falling onto her cheeks.
The sight shocked me. I couldn’t stand the idea of someone as powerful as my mother-in-law cry as she begged me for my permission to give her an hour of freedom, something that she’d desired for two years now.
I remembered all the hours and days she’d spent on her feet as she prepared food to make sure that I wasn’t going to get sick or poisoned. She really didn’t have to, but she’d accepted our request in a blink of an eye.
I couldn’t see any reason to deny her small request. It was really nothing, considering everything she’d done for my unborn child and me.
“Well, I can’t see any harm in you spending an hour outside,” I smiled. “You may go wherever you’d like, Your Royal Highness.”
Her grin was huge. “Oh, thank you. Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome; it’s the least I can do.”
“Will we go right now? Or do you need to change?”
Her question was startling. “We?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she said. “I don’t wish to be alone, and I think you could benefit from a walk.”
My doctor hadn’t said anything about walking, but I didn’t think too much of it. My mother-in-law was always right about what was healthy for me.
“Um … okay,” I said, and her smile brightened.
“We should use the secret tunnels. That way no one will see that I might be breaking any rules.”
“Right,” I said, getting up. “Where do you want to go?”
Her eyes tightened a bit. “I don’t know. Anywhere out of the palace would be great. What do you suggest?”
“Ah, I’m not sure. There are many options. Would you like to go to the outside gardens? The Great Mosque’s area? No, that’s too far for me,” I chuckled nervously, then I went on, “The stable? The hi–”
“The stable sounds perfect,” she suddenly interrupted.
“Really?” I asked, to which she nodded. “All right,” I said, glad to see the delight in her eyes.
My steps were somewhat slow, yet she was walking behind me as we passed through the living room, and then the hallway which led to the elevator. I pressed a few buttons, and it started to take us down.
“So,” I began, trying to start a conversation since the way to the stable was long, “do you have any plans for things to do when we get to the stable?”
“Huh? Oh! Um, … no, not really. I’ll be happy to just walk a bit in the gardens there.”
I couldn’t understand – if she wanted a walk in the garden, why hadn’t she chosen the wider ones? She could’ve worn something less fancy if she didn’t want anyone to recognize her.
I didn’t say anything. I just smiled and nodded, the ride in the elevator was already making me sick. Unlike the elevators we had inside the palace, these weren’t as new or as improved – we didn’t use them as much, anyway.
Once the elevator jolted to a stop, it opened to the wrong tunnel. I realized I’d pressed the wrong number. I was used to going there straight from the hall in my bedroom, but this time I’d used a different elevator and hadn’t used the correct passcode since the passcodes change by the number of doors used to reach the elevator.
“Oh, I made a mistake!” I said. “Sorry about that.”
My mother-in-law offered me a tight smile, but didn’t say anything.
“How many hidden doors did we use?” I thought to myself with a loud voice. “Oh, three, I believe,” I said. “Then, we should’ve started the passcode with three.”
Before I pushed the right buttons, a thought flashed in my head. This was the first time I’d made a mistake about which button to press, but at the last minute, I remembered what Mazen had taught me to do in that case. I needed to go back up first and start the whole process over. Otherwise, there was no way it would allow me to go to another place. We had to return to the first destination: my living room.
I had remembered that at the last minute, but, I had the excuse of feeling sick and dizzy. What was Queen Mother Shams’? She hadn’t told me that I was mistaken at first, or even tried to remind me now.
It was then that I knew something was definitely wrong. My mother-in-law knew those hallways and tunnels much better than I did. Heck, she was the one to teach Mazen, and he’d taught me. She surely knew the system even better than the two of us. She’d used the tunnels for years and years before us. Why hadn’t she pointed out my mistake?
I gulped, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. Something was horribly wrong, and my heart was shaking with fear.
On the outside, I stayed composed. “Maybe you should put the codes in, I’m not feeling well,” I said, putting a hand on my forehead.
She laughed nervously, but her laugh was enough to make me break out in cold sweat – that wasn’t Queen Mother Shams’ laugh.
“No, you’re fine. You do it.”
My hand hovered over the button that would send the elevator back to the wing. I felt danger surrounding me from every direction.
“Maybe I should go back to my room and lie down. I really don’t feel well.”
“No, you don’t!” she shouted in English, her eyes flared in warning. Her accent didn’t sound the same, her voice wasn’t that of Queen Mother Shams.
“You’re not my mother-in-law.” I stated, my shaking voice revealing all of my fear.
As I said those words, I pressed the button quickly and screamed when I saw the woman take a needle out that was hidden in the layers of her clothes. Before I could even react, she injected it into my arm.
I felt as if the whole place was shaking around me. My body was suddenly heavy, so heavy to the point where my legs couldn’t hold me up. My eyelids drifted close, as I slowly dropped, my back sliding down the side of the elevator, and ended on my side on the floor, my whole world turning black.
I felt like I was swimming in space, and had finally found my way to Earth.
To my home.
To my bed.
To my Mazen.
I smelled his scent before I was even able to open my eyes. When I finally did get them opened, everything was blurry and confusing.
“Marie,” Mazen sounded desperate and troubled. He panted my name as if he couldn’t believe he was seeing me awake.
My mouth was so dry, and my throat hurt as if someone had shoved something in it. My head was heavy, and the back of it was quite painful.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked, my throat hurting.
“Long enough to drive me crazy with worry, princess.”
“What happened?” My vision was getting a bit clearer, and I could see the fancy ceiling of my bedroom.
“You don’t remember?” Mazen asked, and I turned to look at him. He was sitting on the bed beside me in his formal clothes. His eyes were worried, and he looked miserable.
“Remember what?”
My frown deepened; what was he talking about?
“I believe she’s just confused, Your Majesty. Her memory will come back, but it may take some time. The wound is deep,” a voice that I couldn’t recognize said. When I looked in his direction, it was someone I�
��d never seen before.
“What wound? Who are you?”
“Shhh,” Mazen soothed, his hand rubbing my arm slowly. “He’s your neurologist, princess.”
“Why do I need a neurologist?”
“It’s okay. Just relax, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Is my baby okay?” I asked, horrified, my hand automatically going to my stomach, making sure that everything was still the same. I noticed that a pulse oximeter was connected to my finger, which explained the constant beeping that I was hearing.
“He is fine, princess. Everything is okay. Alhamdulilah,” Mazen said. “We think you passed out while standing alone, and you hit the back of your head on the nightstand. And since you can’t remember, I’m not really sure if that was the case.”
“Oh!” was all I said. At least, it explained the sharp pain I was feeling in the back of my head.
I shut my eyes tightly, trying to remember anything, but I couldn’t. I was even confused about many things, like whether the colors on the wall had changed, or if I had different curtains before, but it was petty stuff.
“My Queen,” the doctor said, “can you tell me the year?”
“2017…?”
“And your birthday?”
“May the 13th.”
“And that of His Majesty?”
“The 11th of November.”
“Can you count backward for me from ten?”
I did so. Nothing seemed wrong. I just couldn’t remember how I’d struck my head.
“You don’t remember anything at all about how you hit your head?” Mazen asked.
“The last thing I remember was you leaving for Dubai.”
Mazen shook his head. “That was yesterday morning,”
What?
“We’ll do some tests, Your Majesty. I’m very sure it’s all due to the bump in the head. Everything will come back eventually,” Doctor – wait, had they told me his name? – the neurologist said.
“How long?” Mazen asked in concern.
“Minutes, hours, weeks. It depends on how fast Her Majesty’s mind wishes to remember.”
Mazen looked down, seemingly deep in thought. I reached to touch his hand, trying to comfort him. I hated to see him looking this miserable.
Golden Chains (The Colorblind Trilogy Book 3) Page 21