by Lynn, Sophia
"Dammit, Khaliq!"
"No, listen. I'll make you a deal. If you will stay here, happily and without trying to escape, without risking yourself and the children you bear, I will treat you like a queen throughout your pregnancy. It will not matter if Dr. Rai tells me the children are mine, or if they are not. You will have a safe place to stay, and your children will receive a fine start in life, better than they would have where you were living in London.”
"And if they aren't yours?"
"Then I'll give you and your daughters a generous reward for spending so much time in my company, and send you wherever you want in the world."
For a moment, Frannie was stunned by the generosity. A healthy and safe place for her and her children to come into the world in, and then a trip anywhere they wanted... That could make an enormous difference to their lives.
Then she remembered the truth, the one she knew, the one that Khaliq seemed to find so hard to believe.
"And when it turns out that they are in fact yours?"
"Then they will stay as citizens of Beian, one as my heir. They will be beloved by all the people of my country, given every advantage, and cared for in every way."
Princesses, her mind whispered. My daughters would be princesses.
"And me?"
Khaliq hesitated. "What do you want?"
"To raise my children. To care for them, to love them like any mother would."
She and Khaliq were still, and Frannie felt her stomach sink. "There's no place for me in that world, is there?"
"One would be made for you. It would be...your choice."
"Like everything else up until now hasn't been?"
"Frannie..." Khaliq sighed. "Yes. I'm sorry. I would not have acted differently. I cannot be sorry you are here."
Frannie shocked herself and Khaliq by grabbing his hand. There was that electric pull towards him again, and this time, she could feel the twin flame that leaped up in his eyes.
"Swear to me that I can be with my daughters. Swear to me that I will be their mother, no matter what happens."
Khaliq nodded. "I swear. You may not be my queen, but you will be their mother."
Frannie remembered his mother and uncle's disgust when they saw her, and she flinched. Of course she wasn't queen material. She would be the first one to agree to that. However, maybe there was something harsher about hearing it from someone else. Well, it wasn't like it was a surprise.
"All right. I agree. No running away. I am here until my girls are born."
Khaliq looked unaccountably relieved, and to her surprise, he brought her hand up to his lips.
"Thank you. I want the babies safe...and I find I want you safe as well."
There was a curious warmth in his tone that she wasn't quite sure she understood. Frannie found herself wondering about it as she learned her way around the palace and as she got used to her strange new circumstances.
Then, two days later, Dr. Rai sent her the test results, and she knew that things had become more complicated, not less.
CHAPTER NINE
Khaliq
Dr. Rai had been his physician since he was a young boy. He was comfortable with her in a way he wasn't with his own mother, and when she gave him the news, he sunk down into the chair, feeling as if he had been struck by lightning.
"How?" he asked, his voice hollow.
She quirked a brow at him. "Well, if you don't know by now, I should give up my medical license..."
He glared at her. "Stop. You told me it was impossible."
"I told you it was unlikely."
"Unlikely to the point of being impossible!"
"It was. The information I had at the time, the tests, the procedures we ran, it all told us the same thing. At the time, you were sterile."
And what a blow that had been. Khaliq had felt as if his world was ending. In the end, it had led to his divorce, something the gossip mongers in the capitol still chewed over when it was a slow news day. Amina had understood, but they had both had goals in life, and hers involved being a mother, something she would not give up even for being a queen.
"And now, somehow, I am not?"
Dr. Rai shrugged. "Sometimes, I think the only thing that science tells us is how little we really know. Our bodies change. Life changes us. What was impossible once becomes possible."
"Then you're sure."
"Beyond sure. The babies that the young American is carrying are yours. I am as sure as it is possible to be." Dr. Rai smiled a little as the importance of the news sank in. "Take a moment to compose yourself. I'll be in my office, so ring if you need anything."
"Wait... Have you told Frannie the news yet?"
"I would have if you had not demanded to hear first. I was going to tell her this afternoon."
"No. I will do it."
She looked at him sternly. "I do not need to tell you how sensitive a time this is for her. Be gentle."
"Of course."
She left him alone then, and for a moment, Khaliq simply stared off into space, stunned by the news.
He was going to have children, two daughters. He was going to be a father.
A joy so vivid and bright poured through him that he was surprised he didn't burn up. It was his duty, one of the most important duties he needed to fill for his people, and for years now, he’d thought he would fail. Now he hadn't, and that knowledge made him want to jump for joy.
He was going to be a father.
Now to tell the mother.
Frannie had been placed in the west wing of the Beian palace. It was where the most honored guests were put up, and from all the reports of the servants, she was settling in very well. Despite his natural impulse to see her, he had held himself back, thinking it would be best to let her alone. She had been so angry when they’d last spoken that he’d thought it would be kinder to give her time to cool off.
Now that he went looking for her, however, he was surprised to find her gone. The panic was just beginning to rise up in his throat when a maid mentioned that she was taking lunch with Jameela.
"Jameela's back from school already?"
"Yes, my lord," said the maid. "She came to see the American lady yesterday, and then the American lady went looking for her today."
Jameela was his little sister, younger than he was by more than a decade. They had never had all that much in common, but he cared about her deeply. He had put his foot down last year when she had wanted to go to boarding school in Switzerland, and despite their mother's rantings about the corrupting West, had sent her off to the U.S. with plenty of money and love.
When he came to Jameela's suite, Khaliq paused with his hand at the door. Inside, he could hear a quiet murmur of voices, and then his sister's high and familiar laugh. Intertwined with it was a lower laugh, a soft and husky sound that felt like soft fingers running through the hair at the nape of his neck.
Is that what she sounds like when she laughs? I never knew.
The thought of not knowing such a simple thing about the mother of his children—he had to pause for a moment because that thought had caught him unawares again—hurt a little.
Well, no time like the present to know her better.
He knocked on the door, and when there was a cheerful hello, he opened it and entered.
Jameela was a leggy and lovely seventeen, her long hair pulled up in a high ponytail and dressed in the newest fashions from the West.
By contrast, Frannie was dressed in a simple blue tunic with wide-legged trousers in a darker shade. The garments were traditionally Beian, offering comfort and an easy grace, but to Khaliq, there was a sense of glamour there. The blue of the tunic made Frannie's eyes bluer, even if she did look at him with a trace of apprehension.
"Brother! You have come to say hello!"
Distractedly, Khaliq gave his sister a hug and exchanged a few words with her about her schooling and some new romance that he forgot a moment afterward.
"Ladies, I have a great need to speak with Fr
annie. Frannie, do you mind?"
"No, no, I suppose not. Jameela, I want to hear more about your art class, all right? Maybe we can get together later to talk about it."
"Of course, Frannie!"
The door closed, Jameela's cheerful presence behind them, and Khaliq was aware of a heaviness between himself and Frannie. For some reason, that made him angry, even if it made perfect sense. He had only shared one amazing night with Frannie and then a series of very complicated hours.
Still, there was something terrible about this weight between him and the mother of his children, and it hurt.
"Sheikh Khaliq..."
"No."
She frowned. "I asked around what the best way to address you is, and—"
"That is not how you address me. Call me Khaliq." He paused. "It is only appropriate that that is what the mother of my children call me."
She came to a stop, looking up at him with those blue eyes. They reminded him of the north seas close to Iceland and Norway. He wondered for a moment what it would be like to take her there, whether she would love the northern snows or prefer the Mediterranean warmth of Beian.
"So Dr. Rai has the results," Frannie guessed.
"She did. She confirmed what you told me."
Frannie nodded, impressively calm. "I knew what she was going to say."
"And now, what do you have to say?"
"That life is very complicated sometimes."
The feelings that had been boiling in Khaliq came up in a sudden spike of frustration, and he grabbed her wrist, making her look up at him.
"Is that all you have to say? You are carrying the heirs of my country."
She tore away from him with an impressive amount of strength and spirit. There were two red patches high on her cheeks, and she glared at him.
"What the hell do you want me to say? Less than a week ago, I was on my own, wondering how in the hell I was going to afford enough to eat three meals a day. Now...everything is different. Suddenly, you're back in my life, and you seem to think you're running it."
"You are carrying my children—"
"Yes! I am carrying our children, and the idea that you have taken control of it all is terrifying!"
The final word made Khaliq draw back a little. He realized with a pang that it wasn't anger, or perhaps that it wasn't only anger that made her watch him with such reddened cheeks. There was fear there too, and his frustration melted.
"You're terrified?"
"Have you never been afraid of anything before?"
"Afraid of failure. Afraid of failing my country and my family."
"Well, I'm in a foreign land all alone where my only ally is a very sweet seventeen-year-old. I don't have any of my things, none of my documents, I'm very pregnant and...and oh no..."
Frannie turned away quickly, but not before Khaliq saw bright silver tears in her eyes.
"Frannie..."
He thought she would pull away, but to Khaliq's surprise, she allowed him to bundle her into his arms. There was a solarium close by, what he and his people referred to as a solar, and he hurried her into it, out of the halls. The soft morning sunlight gave the place a peaceful appearance, and he sat down with her on a velvet couch.
"Frannie, you have nothing to be afraid of..."
"God, it feels like being a mother is nothing but fear! First, I was afraid that I would hurt my babies by not getting enough food, then all this! I mean, I don't know anything about you. I know you want heirs. I know you are powerful enough to kidnap me from London... What else?"
Khaliq searched for the words, and he realized that his natural charm wasn't going to help him here. The only thing that mattered was the truth.
"I am not a cruel man. I would never harm a woman or a child. I want the best for my country, and that means wanting the best for the daughters you carry. I am not going to hurt you, Frannie."
"I want to believe you."
"Try."
She looked up at him, and he wondered if there was just the beginning of hope and trust there. Her eyes were so beautiful, and for a moment, it was all he could do to keep from leaning in and kissing her again. He kept himself back, and after a moment, she relaxed a little.
"So what now?" she murmured.
"You bear my children—"
"Our."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Our children. You keep saying 'my children,' and it's terrible. You've only been involved for a few days. I've had five months of morning sickness and worry. Just...stop."
"All right. You bear our children. You stay in the palace and eat and drink as you should. Dr. Rai looks after you, and you work with Melani so you are ready for the delivery. You can have whatever you like, really."
"And then after?"
Khaliq hesitated. "After that is when we will decide."
She scowled. "You are not pushing me out of my daughters' lives..."
"Our daughters. And no, I wouldn't."
"And what if I want to return to London, or the United States?"
Khaliq felt a rill of alarm run down his spine. "Do you?"
"Why shouldn't I? I was born in the United States. I have work in London. I've only been in Beian a few days now, and all I have seen is the palace. Beian is your country, not mine. Our children will be born of two cultures. What if I want them to share mine?"
"Well, there are trips and visits..."
"And if I want them with me half the time?"
"No."
Frannie glared at him. "That's it, just a flat no? Am I your prisoner, then?"
"Of course not. You can come and go as you please after the children are born."
"So my children will come with me."
"No!"
Khaliq wasn't sure where the anger in his voice had come from. Suddenly he was on his feet staring down at Frannie, and she was looking up at him with defiance in her bright blue eyes.
"Well, well. I see there are limits to the freedom you're offering me."
Khaliq narrowed his eyes. "Do not push me, Frannie. Not when our children are what you are using to do it."
She started to say something, but Khaliq was suddenly frightened of his temper in a way that he had never been before. He had a feeling that if he kept on, if they continued speaking, he might say something that he couldn't take back.
He turned on his heel and walked away.
CHAPTER TEN
Frannie
Dr. Rai said that exercise was good for the babies. Well, girls, what do you think?
It had been a week of blessed calm. Frannie was eating again, and when she got on the scale, Dr. Rai nodded approvingly at the weight she had gained. Her body was responding to the improved care, and Frannie could feel herself losing the sharp and desperate edge that she had gained while she’d been in London.
What hadn't been fixed was what was to become of her in Beian. After her last disastrous conversation with Khaliq, they had avoided each other. Most of her days were spent wandering the palace, walking to get the exercise that she was supposed to get, and talking with Jameela. Jameela was young enough to be the little sister she had never had, and she was bright, happy and energetic, things that helped Frannie relax when she was feeling too stressed. Jameela had respected Frannie's hedging about her relationship with Khaliq, and even if the teen was obviously burning with curiosity over her brother's love life, she restrained it to the occasional oblique question that Frannie would answer vaguely at best.
Jameela seemed to think that Frannie and Khaliq were a couple that was going through a tough time, and that with enough thought and communication and care, they would be as right as rain.
“You know, communication is the key to every good relationship,” Jameela said earnestly. “It really is! I mean...that is, I was always told...”
“And who told you that?”
Jameela would turn a becoming pink under her warm complexion, saying something about the girls at the boarding school or the magazines that she was strictly not all
owed by her mother to read, but Frannie sometimes wondered if there was something more to all of it. Jameela seemed young to Frannie, who had been on her own since she was almost eighteen, but she also seemed like a level-headed young lady. Frannie had the feeling that she would have liked Jameela wherever she happened to meet her.
Of course she couldn't say the same thing about Khaliq. He had made himself scarce since their last disastrous conversation, but that didn't mean that it hadn't preyed on her mind, his words and the rage that had shone in his eyes.
He has no right, no right at all to tell me what to do.
Sometimes, the thoughts of that conversation were so aggravating that Frannie found she couldn't sit still. That was why it was past midnight and she was wandering the garden in her nightgown and a light silk robe. She had to admit that the clothes that Khaliq had supplied for her were nothing short of luxurious, even if it galled her to be wearing what he gave her to wear.
Her slippered feet made a soft shushing sound on the gravel path, and slowly, she was walking off her frustration. The questions of what she was going to do when her twins were born and how in the world she was going to fight Khaliq if she had to spun around her mind, but they were quieter now, less urgent. She had time, even if every day brought that moment closer.
Frannie was just beginning to think that she was ready for bed when she heard it. It was faint, but it was unmistakable as music. A guitar? No, there was a hollow sound to it, more tense but at the same time more sweet. The notes were slow and lingering in the warm air, ringing out beautifully before fading away.
Isn't this how kids used to get kidnapped by fairies?
As unwise as it might have been, Frannie found herself drifting towards the music. As she came closer, the unseen musician grew quicker, the music more lively even if there was still some mournfulness about it. Each note was clear as crystal, and there was something about the music that snagged at her heart like a hook.
The moon had risen, casting blue shadows through the garden, and as she made her way through the lush greenery, Frannie realized she was coming to a gazebo nestled among the tall trees. There was a lean figure seated in the shadows of the gazebo, dark and shadowed, and when he heard her approach, his hands muffled the strings.