The number of times and things she’d done to the two wives, wishing she could take their place, made me sick. They suffered from her wickedness each and every day.
She’d truly wanted to kill Mazen the day he was born, and then she’d poisoned his food twice. She’d almost murdered Prince Fahd when he was only eight years old, and succeeded in killing his mother. She’d planned and paid for it all.
It was only when she’d started plotting of how Talia could be the next queen if Mazen married her that Qamar stopped trying to end their lives. She’d raised her daughter with one goal, to be Queen. It didn’t matter who Qamar hurt on Talia’s way to the throne, she had to get there, and that was that.
Talia had taken her mother’s words to heart. It had become ingrained in her brain, in her blood, and in her soul. She’d used all of her studies and free time trying to manipulate things to work for her. She created medications that were used to harm, not cure. And she used many of her creations on Rosanna and me.
I read in The Snake’s diaries about how she’d used one of Talia’s injections on me. That was when I had that bump on my head and was unconscious for hours. I didn’t remember anything related to that incident, and that was exactly the expected result from that shot. The medication was designed to affect the victim’s short-term memory, like when a person gets really drunk. Only in this case, the dosage was stronger than the effect of two bottles of whiskey. I was fortunate that my liver wasn’t damaged after that since it was one of the known side effects, but my son didn’t have such luck.
Adam had many health problems when he was born, and it took him a long time to recover. I was thankful that he was now well after months of medical care. That was the only thing that made me wish The Snake was alive, so I could sentence her to death a few more times, if possible.
Although the way she’d died was satisfying, I still wished that she had suffered longer than it had. I would remember her screams for the rest of my life, the way she tried to run, while her body was in flames, the way she lost her balance and threw herself from the top of the staircase, the moment I heard the sound of her crashing bones joining her screams. It was all vividly clear in my head, and I couldn’t feel bad about it.
The only thing that I tried hard to forget was the cold look on Mazen’s face as he set her body on fire. His mind was paralyzed by anger – taking her life was all he could think of. When he saw the bottles of alcohol inside the room – she’d been using as hers – along with cigarettes and a lighter, he reacted. He didn’t see a better use for them than to watch the damage a lighter and alcohol put together could do to a person.
The Snake had written of the many times she’d been inside my wing with the help of the monster called Mo’taz. It had served her well that my mother-in-law was in my wing many times during the day. She’d abused Sameera’s naïveté and made her believe they were the same person.
She’d written of her frustration when she couldn’t put her hands on our food. She didn’t want to kill me, but poison me enough that I would be bedridden, and give birth to an unhealthy baby. She’d wrote that that would kill us slowly, which was what she’d wanted the most – she wanted us to suffer emotionally, mentally, more than physically.
She’d gone through my things. She’d wanted to rip them up, she said, but changed her mind at the last minute, wanting to keep the fun to the end. She’d watched me as I slept and caught herself seconds before she strangled me. She’d plotted my death as she’d spied on me from around the palace – she’d been almost everywhere.
The Snake had planned every tiny detail and knew all of the right people to use and as she’d put it, ‘knew which arms to twist’. She’d written about Bassel, and how she’d seduced him into working for her so she’d have a later use for him. Until this day I didn’t know what it could be, the same as we still didn’t know what she’d wanted to do with the map. It was only a few hours before she contacted him that she thought about having me raped. It was – to my luck – her worst mistake.
Mazen fought with me into letting go of the books where The Snake had written about it all, about her plans and how desperate she was to make our lives a living hell until she got what she wanted. I didn’t listen to him.
Reading her words made me sick, but I couldn’t stop. I had to know it all. I had to find out if there were more people that she had involved, people that we should be aware of, but apart from her husband who was banished, and associates who either died or were captured, I didn’t find anything new.
But, I was able to find the answer to why Jasem was after Janna the day I tried to escape. It was nauseating.
I continued to read each and every book, from start to finish. One of the most disgusting parts was when she convinced her daughter into giving Mo’taz her virginity so he would trust her and fall for her lies. That was how they converted Mo’taz into being a traitor. His role as a Royal Guard allowed him to grant them access to every part of the mansion. He’d given up his loyalty to the Kingdom for Talia’s body and fake promises of love.
Talia had even told him that she’d marry Mazen and have her son with Mo’taz who would become the Crown Prince. “No one will ever find out,” she’d told him. And the moron had believed her. He’d even given them his back when they’d met up on the roof of the palace.
He had passed stupidity level with miles. And that proved my point to Mazen about how Talia would’ve always found a way to get into areas in the palace where she wasn’t supposed to be.
Qamar’s daughter hadn’t been a virgin long before I came into the royal family, yet The Snake often spoke to my mother-in-law about honor and how I needed to prove my virginity to them. She had called her daily, poisoning her thoughts with how I could make her son sick with all sort of imagined disease. She’d kept pointing out to her how miserable Mazen would be in the end, and how my mother-in-law needed to prove to him that I wasn’t a virgin, and he should leave me.
She’d convinced Queen Mother Shams into performing Common Deflowering on me. It was all her.
The bombing near the hospital was her plan that ‘went wrong’ as she’d said. She’d thought that I’d be accompanying Mazen, and when we would take a break in our beach mansion, Mo’taz would kidnap me then, knowing that Mazen would leave me at some point – an hour was all she needed.
Writing in her diaries was one of The Snake’s favorite things to do. She’d thought of herself as a legend, fantasizing about history speaking about her after her death for how genius she was.
That was the only thing on which I could agree with her; she would be remembered, but in the dustbin of history.
The excitement in her eyes as she saw me making my way toward her was heartwarming. It seemed like she had been awake all night waiting for this visit since I’d requested to see her.
“Hel-lo!” she sang with happiness lighting up her whole face. It was a beautiful thing to see; she’d been miserable for the past few months.
“Your Royal Highness.” I smiled in greeting, gently placing Adam into her waiting arms.
“You’re already out of bed! Did you wake up early?”
“Oh, I barely got any sleep, waiting for my little prince to come,” she said, hardly looking at me. Adam was taking all of her attention; she loved him dearly, and I could see how much he already adored her back.
“Aw! I’d bring him every day if I could. But I don’t want to bother you; you need your rest,” I said.
“I’d never be bothered by my grandson,” she mock-gasped.
Since Adam had come into the world, I was seeing a different side of Queen Mother Shams. It was like she was a completely different person whenever they were in the same room. She would laugh and play with him until she was drained and had to be put back to bed for a much-needed rest.
Six months after the accident, she had not wholly recovered.
I nodded with a smile, “Would you like to go outside? Take a walk in the gardens?” I asked, then regret washed over me as I w
ished I could take my last question back. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean …”
“It’s alright, benty. I would love to. We’ll just need one of the guards,” she smiled.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it,” I said, smiling as she fixed Adam on her lap and held him tightly. I moved behind her, put my hands on the bars, then started pushing her wheelchair.
Adam let out the softest of giggles as his grandmother tickled him while we made our way to the gazebo. I wanted to make small talk with her, but I didn’t want to ruin her time with Adam – I knew she lived for those moments. Literally. She’d told me so herself.
The strangest thing she’d told me was that she loved my son even more than she loved hers. It didn’t mean that she loved Mazen any less, but her statement was to make a point on how precious Adam was to her.
Whenever we got the chance to visit, our talk was always about Adam and how he looked exactly like Mazen, more and more each day. She told me stories about Mazen when he was Adam’s age and a bit older; they were some of the nicest things I’ve ever heard.
In all honesty, I absolutely loved how Adam brought happiness to her life.
It was such a sad thing to look at her now, paralyzed from the waist down, knowing fully well that her sister was behind it. Her twin sister, that is. Qamar had converted the new gardener into her gang. He broke in through the window over the back gardens and hit Queen Mother Shams on the head with a shovel. Before he fled, he pushed a cabinet over her unconscious body so it would look like an accident, abusing the fact that he knew that area was a dead zone for the security cameras. He was found dead one week after the incident.
Not only that, she was now aware that The Snake was the reason why she couldn’t have another baby after Mazen, and the reason why I’d been kidnapped. She was wrecked when thinking of the horrible things that could’ve happened to Adam.
I was grateful that Adam brought light back into her life.
Later that afternoon, I had a family meeting with Prince Fahd and Rosanna. I met them where the cars were waiting, watching their bright smiles as they saw me approaching with Adam in my arms.
“Hey! I’m sorry I’m late,” I said, handing my son to his uncle, then hugging Rosanna in greeting.
“It’s all right. Where’s His Majesty?” Rosanna asked.
“He’ll be right behind us, he just has a few papers to look at,” I said, smiling apologetically.
“Okay, let’s get there before it gets dark,” Prince Fahd said, and I gulped – something told me it wouldn’t be all nice until the end. After all, we were going to see what Prince Fahd bought Adam as a late birthday gift.
“To the stables?” I asked as we hopped into the limousine.
“That’s right, Your Majesty. How did you know?” my brother-in-law asked.
“I made a wild guess!” I replied, to which Rosanna giggled. “Shut up,” I said under my breath.
“I can’t! You should see your face right now,” Rosanna continued to giggle like a schoolgirl, and I wanted to punch her in the boob. She had told me they were sore from breastfeeding, and that would really stop her giggles. She was lucky I loved her so much and would never do that.
“Oh, please, be a caged bird. Please, be a caged bird,” I chanted in whispers once we hopped out of the car and Prince Fahd led the way to the room where Adam’s ‘gift’ was. A bird in a cage – no matter how big it was – couldn’t be as dangerous for my baby as a big animal, right? I hoped so.
“Nuh. You’re not that lucky,” Rosanna said. “He already got that for Julia last month. A hawk.”
“You’re kidding!”
“I wish.”
“Here, Your Majesty,” Prince Fahd said, and I tightened my arms around Adam before stepping into the room. There was a huge cage with a silk sheet draped over it, and topped with a big red bow. I offered Prince Fahd my best smile and gave Rosanna a glare when I saw that she was holding back her laughter.
“Are you ready?”
A nod was all I could manage, and it was all my brother-in-law needed to uncover the cage.
“Oh, my God!” I gasped. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and I imagined that Rosanna was just as shocked since she wasn’t snickering anymore.
“What do you think, Adam?” Prince Fahd asked excitedly, as if my little baby could understand what he was being asked. He only gave him one of his heart-melting baby-giggles at the sound of his name.
“A baby lion?” I asked in utter shock. He couldn’t be serious.
“Yes. It’s a rare…” Prince Fahd continued to talk, but I was too taken aback by the sight of the wild animal in front of me to pay attention. I was sure that it would be along the lines of ‘rare species’ and how he rescued it.
“A lion?” Rosanna asked in a scolding voice.
“Yes! What? Lions can be tamed,” he defended.
“You got a six-month-old baby a LION?”
“Six and a half,” he corrected her. “He’s the Crown Prince – what could I get him that’s stronger than a lion?”
“Why can’t you gift him lands like normal people?”
“He’s six months old, what would he do with lands?”
“He’s six and a half,” Rosanna corrected, and it was my turn to hide my chuckles. I actually had to turn my back so they wouldn’t see me as I was about to burst into laughter, and when I did, I saw one of the most beautiful sights which I’d never get bored of.
Mazen with Thunder.
Mazen was standing beside him in the garden located in the middle of the stables. I imagined he was on his way to where we were, but had stopped to say hi to Ra’ad, seeing that he was already outside.
I excused myself, although I had a feeling that neither the Prince nor the Princess heard me. They were too caught up in their argument about Prince Fahd’s lack of sense when it came to choosing gifts for anyone.
My legs took me to where my love was standing, a big smile on my face as Adam started wiggling in my arms when we got closer. He was too eager to be carried by his daddy.
Mazen smiled as we neared him, hugging Adam tightly to his chest once he was in his arms. After a moment, he turned to me and said, “Get on.”
“Who? Me?” I asked in a surprise.
Mazen nodded with a smile.
I considered his offer for a moment. I was wearing a dress, but it had a loose skirt that wouldn’t prevent me from getting on Thunder. So, I thought, why not and did just that. Mounting a horse had become easier with time; I wasn’t at all bad anymore.
“Here,” Mazen said as he held Adam up for me to take the minute I sat comfortably on the horse who’d witnessed the first sparks of our love and the brightest ones.
“Are you sure?” I asked, not sure myself.
“He’ll be fine,” Mazen smiled. “Just hold him tight.”
I put Adam in front of me, with his tiny legs on either side of Thunder’s neck. I had to admit, he looked cute enough to eat.
There was delight in Mazen’s eyes as he pulled the leather belt around Thunder and started strolling along. It was a beautiful moment that I wanted to keep forever; the first time our son got on a horse’s back.
To make it even better, Adam’s hand caught a part of the leather rope, and he pulled it to him.
“See? He’s a natural!” Mazen said in amusement, his smile dropping a moment later when Adam brought the rope to his mouth and started to chew on it. He wasn’t trying to lead the way, after all, he only wanted something to chew on. “Well, that’s shocking,” Mazen said, before we both burst into laughter.
The best part was that Prince Fahd took a few pictures of that special moment with his cell phone. Honestly, those photos were a much better gift than the baby lion.
“Adam! No!” Mazen screamed in Arabic, startling me.
Some days were better than others, but most nights, Mazen had nightmares. It had been happening on and off for the past two years, since the day Adam was born. He’d wake up calling Adam�
�s name or mine – sometimes both. It was heartbreaking.
I didn’t have to ask him what his nightmares were about; I already knew the answer.
“Hey! Shhh! It’s okay, angel. It’s just a dream.”
With a sleepy voice, I tried to calm him down. He was sweating and gasping for air, seemingly very alert and shocked.
Mazen didn’t pay me any attention. He reached for the iPad on his nightstand and tapped a few times until the screen showed Adam’s camera. He didn’t calm down until he saw that our son was sleeping peacefully in his room.
When he lay back, he took me in his arms and hugged me tightly. With my ear against his chest, I could hear his heart beating a mile a minute. Mazen was shaking from the inside even though he hid it very well.
It saddened me to no end. I knew very well that since the day I’d been kidnapped, Mazen hadn’t been the same. He was wounded, and his worry about Adam and me had no limit.
I couldn’t blame him.
The worst part was, Mazen couldn’t always shake the feelings brought on by his nightmares. He would hold Adam tighter, watch him even more closely. It sometimes reached the point of him skipping important meetings just because he needed to make sure that Adam was okay. It wasn’t always a good thing; a lot of work was delayed just because of that.
When he couldn’t skip a meeting, he would ask me to attend on his behalf, which made me delay many of my responsibilities or pass them over to Rosanna. I couldn’t always tell him no; I wanted him to have peace of mind.
The clincher happened on a Friday. I was feeding Adam breakfast with the help of Mazen, then Mona came to change his clothes and was holding Adam’s sippy cup of orange juice. It was the only drink that Adam liked – he was very picky.
I turned my back for one minute, and the next thing I heard was Mazen yelling at Mona like I’d never heard him before – especially not with Mona.
When I quickly turned around, I saw Mazen holding a screaming Adam in one arm, while his other hand gripped Mona’s wrist. It looked like he was ready to break it.
Golden Chains (The Colorblind Trilogy Book 3) Page 34