Black Keys

by Rose B Mashal

  Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d be treated this way: forced to sign papers I didn’t want to sign, ordered to obey traditions I’d never believed in, always scared for my life, pushed around and humiliated, and then teased and burnt with jealousy for someone I didn’t even love.

  It wasn’t me.

  It was like a nightmare that seemed to be endless. I was becoming someone I didn’t know, someone I wouldn’t even like to be friends with. Someone weak and scared all the time, to the point it was pathetic. It disgusted me.

  Being my new me, I replied to the prince with nothing. Stayed silent because it had become what I did best.

  The prince didn’t like it: it showed on his face when I looked in his eyes with my tear-filled ones. I wanted to reply; there was nothing left to hide. But I couldn’t–maybe he didn’t know about Janna helping me? Maybe I could still save her from being punished? Maybe she had already found her way out of the palace? But, no. It was impossible that he didn’t know she’d helped. Surely, Mona had told him what Janna had ordered her to do. He knew, there was no question. But–what more was there to tell, why would he need details?

  I heard the prince inhaling deeply, then letting go of his breath slowly, his eyes not as soft as I always remembered them to be. They looked very similar to the time he’d told me I was a filthy American. Just hard and unkind, unlike him.

  “You must be aware that your life is in danger,” he said through clenched teeth. “I need to know what happened,” he repeated, emphasizing the word ‘need.’

  I swallowed audibly, still not knowing what I should say, but then thought that nothing could ever put me in a deeper mess than I was already in, so I talked. I told him. Everything, just like he’d asked.

  Just a few words in, he turned his back to me, gazing away, at what I didn’t know. I didn’t stop talking, though I was completely devastated by the fact that I couldn’t see his face and study his reaction to my words. But then I thought that I’d already seen him hurt enough; seeing him even more hurt than now wouldn’t be such a great sight to behold. Since I couldn’t see his face, I stared deeply at what I could see. Closely.

  His tensed shoulders told me of his upset, and his clenched fists told me of his anger. But the movement of his fingers through his hair when I was finished told me that he was really frustrated. It didn’t surprise me. I would be frustrated with me if I were him. Heck, I was frustrated with me.

  The prince stayed silent for a minute or two after I finished talking, seeming deep in thought, and I would’ve paid anything to know what was inside of his head.

  “All right,” it came out of him in a whoosh of breath, “Now we’ll go to my parents’ room. Follow me, please,” he said without looking in my direction, and simply did as he’d said he was going to do.

  That was it? He wouldn’t show me how angry he was with me? He wouldn’t ask me ‘why’ and demand answers? He wouldn’t curse? He wouldn’t yell? Why wouldn’t he? I was really confused, and didn’t even know if I was grateful for it or not.

  I reached for my head scarf and put it over my head, not really aware of what I was doing until I actually did it, then frowning a bit at why I did it without being asked to do so. Thinking that maybe I’d started to pick up on their traditions.

  Huh! Just when it’s gotten worse do I start to get along…

  I followed him, going back the same way I’d come with his brother quite a while ago. Only the two of us were in the anteroom that lead to the king’s bedroom, and when we made it to the door, the prince knocked then ushered me in, following right behind me.

  Inside, only the queen and the king were there, and right before I could breathe a sigh of relief at not finding Jasem there, he spoke to bring our attention to him, sitting in a corner a bit far from where we were standing.

  He said something in Arabic and I flinched back just hearing his voice, my back hitting the prince’s chest. I turned my head and looked back at him.

  His eyes held a lot of emotions that I couldn’t even begin to understand.

  They weren’t looking at me, but at the monster. When his hand dropped over my shoulder and then pulled me the slightest bit protectively against him, I couldn’t help but close my eyes as a wave of security washed over me and filled my insides, just at the feel of him being so close to me and holding me to him that way.

  The prince didn’t reply, and all I could see when I opened my eyes again was him sneering at Jasem before he turned his gaze to his parents and then squeezed my shoulder slightly before going to them, kissing his father’s hand then his shoulder. He then turned to kiss his mother’s hand, then her head, and returned to his spot beside me again.

  “Now, what seems to be the problem that I was brought here for, Your Majesty?”

  “Prince Jasem found your bride a little far from where she should be, Prince Mazen,” the king spoke. His tone sounded strong, truly belonging to a king, but his voice was weak, revealing how bad his health really was–though it was obvious he was trying his hardest not show it, despite everything.

  “And what is the problem in that, Your Majesty?” the prince replied.

  “What do you mean what is the problem, Ameer?” the queen asked with a held-in rage I could sense in her voice, calling him with the name I figured meant prince in Arabic since I knew Ameera meant princess. “What would make a bride leave her wing and her husband just four days after the wedding? Break all the rules and not only that–she was on her way to the airport!”

  God! I couldn’t even think of all of the things they would do to me now that they knew what I was really doing–that I was escaping.

  “Princess Janna received your permission to take Princess Marie to meet Princess Rosanna, and that was what my bride was doing,” the prince replied, his expression blank and his eyes hard.

  Huh?

  “I believe Princess Rosanna’s wing is right on the same floor as yours, not fifteen minutes away from the palace!” the queen said sarcastically.

  “True. But my wife didn’t want to go to her empty-handed. She saw something at the airport when she arrived and she wanted to gift it to her; that is why she was heading to the airport, nothing more.”

  Oh!

  I looked with shock in my eyes at the prince when I heard his reply to his mother. He was covering up the truth. For what? For me? To protect me? It couldn’t be. I’d hurt him. Why would he want to do that?

  Unless he wants to keep your punishment for himself…a voice in my head suggested.

  “Huh!” Jasem let out a sound airing his belief that the prince said nothing but lies, and then spoke in Arabic until the king silenced him with just a warning in his eyes that silenced him right on the spot.

  “Prince Mazen, I believe your bride could’ve gotten anything she wanted without having to go anywhere,” the king said.

  “True, Your Majesty, but my wife wanted to do it herself. The gift that she wanted to get at the airport had her country’s spirit in it, like a souvenir. That was the only place she could get it from, and none of the servants would know what she meant, so she had to get it herself,” the prince replied. “And she had my permission to leave; I can’t see what’s wrong in that. Janna had already gotten the queen’s permission for her to leave the wing, and no one would’ve known about it if Jasem hadn’t brought her back the way he did.” His last words were spoken with more venom in them than I’d ever heard him speak before.

  Jasem shouted something in Arabic and the king shouted back at him, “Silence!” forcing him to shut up once more. The king’s shouted word caused him to cough hard for a few moments before settling down again.

  “Prince Jasem said that she told him she’d pay him not to bring her back to the palace. How do you explain that?” the king asked with a breathless voice.

  No way was I getting out of this. Just no freaking way!

  The prince was silent for a moment before he replied, “May I bring something to your attention, Your Majesty?”<
br />
  “You may.”

  “Jasem is a liar, a fact the kingdom has known about him since before I was born,” he said. “And the fact that he’s disrespectful to my wife at this very minute by not speaking in her language, and also disrespectful of my orders to do so, shows his disrespect to the entire kingdom–and to you yourself, Your Majesty. Someone this disrespectful, with lying running in his blood, would say anything to trouble us, and we’re already aware of his games.”

  “Not true,” Jasem shouted, now finally speaking in English.

  “Your Majesty, he dragged my wife here like you would a criminal, and this is insulting on so many levels, something I won’t tolerate. You can ask the guards about the way he brought her here and how he treated her.” The disgust and anger in his tone was clearly voicing the fire that was inside of him.

  “Your word is a law, Prince Mazen,” the king said, and the prince held his head high, satisfaction showing on his face. “I won’t ask guards to confirm your words!”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty.” The prince nodded his head once, and I fought a smile at the possibility that I was truly getting out of this.

  “Prince Jasem,” the king called.

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Jasem replied in a low voice.

  “Apologize to your future queen for your behavior,” the king ordered.

  “But–”

  “Now!” the king’s shouted word caused him a new round of coughs.

  Jasem walked to stand in front of me and I flinched back once again. Like before, the prince put his hand over my shoulder again, as if he knew what his hand and his touch did to me, sending me the feelings of security and safety that I needed so much. Jasem then bowed his head and kept it down as he did as he was told, “I apologize for the misunderstanding and the way I behaved towards you, Princess Marie.” The evidence of hate toward what he was doing wasn’t lost in his voice–not to mention that he said the word ‘Princess’ as if he was mocking me.

  When he looked up at me, the same hate I heard in his voice was clear in his eyes. It sent chills down my spine, but I was able to keep my head held high, probably finding the power from the prince’s closeness and his touch.

  “Apology accepted.” I was surprised at how strong and believable my words sounded, even though I never truly accepted his apology. I thought it would be disrespectful for me to not accept it after the king had ordered it to be done.

  “Now, if you’ll allow us, Your Majesty, we’ll be heading back to our wing,” the prince said. My heart started thumping fast all over again at the reminder that there were still a lot of things to deal with–the prince for a start.

  “Of course, son,” the king replied, but then motioned for me with his hand to come closer, “Come here, Princess Marie.”

  I looked up at the prince and he sent me a reassuring look, nodding his head for me to go to him, and I did. I sat on the spot he patted beside him on his bed, and when I did he reached with his hand towards my head and patted it, speaking to me with a kind voice, “May God make you the best mother for my grandchildren, and the greatest queen for my people.”

  I smiled a genuine smile at his words, a smile that I didn’t have to fake whatsoever, for I had truly liked the sound of his words, though the reason why I liked them was unknown to me.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” I replied softly.

  He smiled back and then motioned with his head to the queen. She nodded with tight lips and went to bring something from a room she entered for a minute, coming back with a box in her hand.

  “This is for you,” he said as his wife handed me the box. “It’s the contract for a beach mansion I’ve signed over to your name, Benty. Forgive me for not attending the wedding or giving you your wedding gift in a more decent setting.”

  “A mansion?” I whispered my question, not really asking him but rather surprised at the generous gift.

  “I hope my son takes you there before the winter approaches.”

  I offered him another smile. “Thank you so much, Your Majesty, it’s very kind of you.”

  “You’re most welcome, Princess Marie.”

  I got up with the box in my hand and found Jasem sneering even more than before. I ignored him and went to the door that Prince Mazen held open for me, finding Jasem rushing to it to get out before me, which was seriously rude to the both the prince and myself.

  “Jasem, we haven’t finish talking yet,” the king’s words were the last thing I heard in that room, and the stare of the queen’s unconvinced eyes were the last I saw before I stepped out of it.

  Outside the room stood Prince Fahd, and next to him was someone I never thought I’d feel so relieved to see when I saw her as I felt at that moment: Mona.

  Oh, thank you, God.

  I smiled widely when I saw her, but she replied to me with a very small smile that was barely there, and then looked down after she took the box from my hands.

  Oh! Guess I upset her as well.

  “Prince Fahd, bring me the guard that drove the princess to the airport. Mona, bring me a scarf and meet us outside of the wing at the main entrance.”

  “Yes, Prince Mazen,” Mona said, and Prince Fahd nodded, both going in separate directions while we continued our way through the very long anteroom.

  The walk was silent apart from the sound of my heels on the marble floor. My mind was busy trying to figure out what the prince would want a scarf for. Was the one I had over my hair not enough or what?

  Eventually, we made it to the great wooden door and the prince held it open for me. When we stepped outside the king’s wing, he pulled me closer to him and left his hand at the small of my back, as he looked at the guards with his head held high and his broad shoulders seeming even wider than the norm, like he always did when he was about to command something. Then we just stood there doing nothing other than looking around at the guards who were surrounding the area with their gazes lowered to the floor.

  A minute or two later, Fahd entered from a door that was on the side of the room, followed by the same guard who drove the limousine.

  “The guard you asked for, Prince Mazen,” Prince Fahd said.

  The prince sneered at the guy, and for a moment I was scared of what would happen to him. The look in his eyes somehow mirrored the very same look I’d had when Jasem brought me here and I didn’t know what was about to happen to me.

  “Do you speak English?” the prince asked the guard.

  “Yes, Your Highness,” the guard replied with a heavy accent, shaky voice and lowered eyes.

  “Good,” the prince said. “Were you the one to drive my wife to the airport?”

  “I didn’t know she was your wi–”

  “I asked you a question!” the prince shouted, interrupting him and causing both of us to flinch.

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Bassel, Your Highness,” the guard replied, to which the prince snorted and shook his head.

  “Do you know the meaning of your name, Bassel?”

  “Yes, Your Highness. Courageous.”

  “You sure are not. Stand in the center of the room for everyone to see you,” the prince ordered. I had to hug my arms to myself once again, so afraid of what would happen to the guard and believing that I would be witnessing his execution with my own eyes very soon.

  “All eyes on me!” the prince commanded, and all of the guards looked at him as he stood in front of the guard and then spoke to him. “You weren’t aware the one in the car was my wife. For a reason someone like you should not know–it was her. Not knowing who was with you doesn’t give you the excuse of not protecting her. You were ordered to guard her and drive her safely to the airport, be it a royal or even a servant, you do as you are told!”

  The guard was trying really hard to contain himself, but I could swear I was able to hear the thumping of his heartbeat.

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  The prince took a step closer to him,
then reached for the badge over his left shoulder and ripped it, then did the same to the one on his right shoulder.

  “If you cannot be trusted with our women, you are not trusted with our land,” the prince said.

  “Your Highness, Prince Jasem ordered me to–”

  “Prince Jasem has no power over you,” the prince yelled. “You get your orders from me, Prince Mazen Alfaidy, the Crown Prince, or my brother, Prince Fahd, if not from our father, the king of this kingdom, do you understand?”

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  “Mona!” the prince called the woman who I wouldn’t have expected to be Mona, for she’d had her face cover down when she entered the room a few minutes ago. “Hand me the scarf.”

  Mona walked up to him and gave him the black scarf that was in her hand, and I wondered if he would strangle him with it, or what. It was a really scary and troubling thing to watch and wait for.

  The prince reached with his hand again, but this time it was for the hat on the now ex-guard’s head. He shrugged it off of his head and let it drop to the floor, then offered him the scarf.

  “Put it on,” the prince ordered, at which Bassel’s eyes widened at his words.

  “Your Highness?” I could hear the terror on his voice.

  God!

  “If you can’t protect our women, then you won’t be treated as a man. Do as you’re told.”

  From the tears that sparkled in his eyes as he obeyed, I knew this to be the most humiliating thing for him to do. Still, he did it. And it was a really saddening thing to see.

  “Go home, you’re discharged from the army. You won’t be working in anything related to the security of the kingdom or its people whatsoever from now on,” he said. “You,” he pointed to one of the guards, who ran to stand in front of him. “Follow him. He’s not allowed to get any ride to his house, and make sure he keeps the scarf on until he arrives there.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  The guard walked out with Bassel, his scarfed head hanging down in humiliation and I felt so bad for him, but then thought it was better than him being killed or punished with something else. Or maybe not…