A Cinderella for the Desert King

by Kim Lawrence

  ‘You’re coming back...’ The wildness died from his eyes as they swept her face, and his body began to unclench as the explosive tension lowered. For the first time he noticed her pallor, the red rims around her beautiful eyes...the protective swell in his chest so intense it was a struggle to breathe past.

  ‘Well, not tonight...unless you need me to?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ he said with a shrug that made it clear he didn’t need anyone.

  ‘The plane is on standby; I hope you don’t mind,’ she said, not quite meeting his eyes.

  He frowned and she worried he could see through her lies.

  ‘Of course not. You’ll ring me when you land...?’

  She nodded. ‘Of course.’

  ‘Come here...’

  She went to him and sighed as he drew her body against his, smoothing her hair back. With one hand he cupped her chin and drew her mouth up to his... The tenderness meshing with the passion brought an emotional lump to her throat.

  Afraid she was going burst into tears, she pulled away, sure that if she lost control she might start blurting out things she shouldn’t. She allowed herself to say ‘I love you’ silently in her head but kept her mouth closed.

  Zain didn’t want her love and he certainly wouldn’t have wanted their baby. But she had, she really had. Until this morning, she hadn’t known just how much that hope had flickered inside her.

  Hand on the door handle, she turned back. ‘Oh, and I’m not pregnant, by the way, so you can relax.’ She managed what she hoped was an unaffected laugh before she almost threw herself through the door because this time no amount of determination could stop the tears.

  * * *

  A few days later as Abby returned to Aarifa the sadness was not gone but it was contained. Although she had told herself otherwise, she knew that she had allowed herself to hope.

  It had been a selfish thing, wanting a child that was a bit of Zain because she couldn’t have him or his love. She recognised that now. A baby should have two parents who loved one another...it didn’t always happen, of course, but in a perfect world it would, and didn’t everyone want their child to be born in a perfect world?

  She had to focus on what she had, not what she didn’t have. Her chin lifted as the co-pilot came out to ask her if she’d had a good flight and then continued to make small talk while she only half listened. She would make some lovely memories over the next few months, memories to treasure when she returned to her old life, not that it would ever be the same, she realised, because she wasn’t the same.

  It was weird stepping off the plane and walking into the wall of heat that not long ago had felt so alien but now felt like home.

  Bubbles of excitement exploded like star bursts in her stomach as she shifted in her seat, leaning forward to stare out of the window as first the city gates came into view and then the palace.

  She had told Zain that she would be back late-afternoon but she planned to surprise him with an early arrival, telling the palace staff to keep quiet. Although, she realised now, it might not be much of a surprise if he was tied up in meetings all morning.

  Quietly entering the sitting room, which was empty, she moved through to the bedroom they shared. It was empty, the bedclothes rumpled, which was surprising, considering how keen the housekeeping was under Layla’s watchful eye.

  Ah, well, at least Abby would have time to repair the ravages wrought by the flight. Dropping her handbag, she walked across to the bed, automatically twitching the quilt to pull it into place. As she did so, something glittered as it fell. Abby bent to pick up the small, shining object and as she lifted it her heart stopped.

  She had seen the very distinctive diamond earring before, she realised. Kayla had been wearing it that first day in the stables. A whimper escaped her white, clenched lips.

  The hand she pressed to her mouth to contain further cries shook; she shook everywhere as she stared at the tiny object that had shattered any and all illusions she had built up about how Zain might really feel.

  She couldn’t be angry that their marriage was a sham—it was meant to be a sham—but she could be angry and hurt and mad as hell that he was a cheat!

  She backed away from the bed, unable to bear the things she saw when she stared at it—her bed, their bed...it felt like a violation that he had taken her to their bed...maybe not even for the first time.

  ‘Oh, excuse me... I am so sorry.’

  Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Abby spun around to see a young woman in the uniform worn by the household staff standing there.

  The girl dropped a curtsey. ‘So sorry to disturb you but I...’ She saw the diamond sparkling in Abby’s hand and exclaimed. ‘Oh, you have found it! I am so grateful.’

  Smiling, she went to grab the earring out of Abby’s hand but Abby’s fingers closed over it. There was something strangely familiar about the girl.

  ‘It is a very pretty thing,’ Abby said, realising where she had seen her before—at Kayla’s side on those rare events when their paths crossed.

  ‘It’s not real but it was a gift. I am most grateful—it must have come out when I made the bed.’ The girl held up a hand with a look that was probably meant to feign innocence but was hampered by the hint of a smirk.

  Maybe it was the smirk, the connection to Kayla, or maybe just the fact she was able to think past that first blast of hurt, jealous outrage, but suddenly Abby joined the dots and saw what this was about...

  So... Kayla wanted Zain, the crown or maybe even both. It had been obvious from the rumours that Kayla didn’t like her, but Abby had told herself that it didn’t matter, she was not here long enough for it to matter, and she had no intention of running to Zain any time she had a problem. She had wanted to prove to him she could cope.

  She had been wrong not to tell him. This was a problem that needed addressing immediately.

  ‘No, I don’t think that’s what happened at all.’ What was Kayla’s problem? she wondered, watching the look of revealing shocked apprehension wash over the girl’s face. ‘Where is Kayla, your mistress? I think I’d like to return this trinket.’ She dangled the earring. ‘In person,’ she added grimly.

  The girl looked scared now and as Abby walked towards her she shadowed the steps, backing towards the door. ‘I... I don’t know, really—the stables maybe, Amira?’ She fled.

  * * *

  When Abby reached the stables a stable hand she recognised spotted her and approached shyly.

  ‘You want to see the King of Night?’ he asked in halting English.

  To Abby, her King of the Night would always be Zain. ‘Yes, please, if it’s not too much bother?’

  The idea of anything being a bother seemed to shock him.

  Abby fingered the earring in her pocket. ‘Have you seen the Princess Kayla?’

  ‘She was here, Amira, but she left.’

  Abby was not sorry to hear this; her appetite for a confrontation had waned considerably as she had walked the corridors. Wasn’t there a certain amount of hypocrisy in her reaction? The woman might be trying to break up Abby’s marriage but that marriage was a sham. ‘Your English is excellent.’

  He flushed with pleasure at the compliment. ‘I worked in England long time ago at a very important race stable; it was my wish to be a jockey.’ He pressed a hand to his stomach and rolled his eyes. ‘But I got too fat... I like my food too much.’

  ‘Well, the stables here are beautiful, spotless, and the weather is a great deal better than in England.’

  ‘It is a very grey place,’ the man agreed. ‘But I enjoyed the fish and chips. Here he is.’ He gestured towards the next stable along the row, one with the top door open.

  The stallion whinnied as she approached.

  ‘Hello, boy,’ she whispered as she pressed her face into his mane.

  ‘He likes you.’


  Well, at least someone does, Abby thought, swallowing a sob of self-pity just as the person she least wanted to see in the world at this point appeared.

  Not dressed for riding today, Kayla was instead wearing a pencil skirt that ended mid-calf, her legs elongated by the spiky heels she wore. Her silk top had bell sleeves and a square neck above which she wore some massively impressive pearls.

  She lifted her chin; this woman was a bitch, but Abby’s childhood experiences meant she had had a great deal of practice dealing with mean spirits and she knew that you should never let them see that they had got to you, as fear and pain were the food they fed on.

  ‘Kayla.’ She tipped her head in cool acknowledgement and had the satisfaction of seeing an expression of annoyance in the other woman’s dark, malicious eyes as the thundering sound of horses being put through their paces on the gallops in the distance got louder and then faded away.

  ‘How was your trip to England...home? You must miss it.’

  ‘I miss my family and friends.’ But not as much as she missed the sound of Zain’s voice, the touch of his hand...his lips.

  ‘Then I am surprised your visit there was so short.’

  Abby closed her eyes and shook her head. She had no appetite for the cat-and-mouse fencing. She heaved out a long, sibilant sigh, opened her eyes, lifted her chin once more and prepared to take the metaphorical gloves off.

  ‘Actually, I was looking for you. I think I have something of yours.’ She held out her hand, the diamond stud between her fingers catching the light.

  The woman’s smile was almost as insincere as the sympathy and regret in her response. ‘Oh, dear, I wouldn’t have had you find out this way for the world.’

  Abby’s brows lifted as she dropped the earring onto the woman’s palm. ‘Find out what? That you are totally desperate and wouldn’t know a moral scruple if it bit you?’

  Kayla’s triumphant smile faltered as her lips compressed in a petulant pout, but she recovered quickly and threw out a fresh taunt. ‘You probably don’t know, but I had a relationship with Zain before you were married.’

  ‘I was here about five minutes before I learnt that on the palace grapevine.’

  ‘But what you didn’t know is that it carried on...and is still carrying on,’ Kayla added before dramatically producing the twin to the earring.

  Abby felt a fresh stab of shame for those split seconds when she had allowed her own insecurities and jealousy to make her jump.

  ‘If you expect me to believe that you slept with my husband last night, forget it... Zain has too much...’ her lips quivered and her eyes misted ‘...too much respect for me to act that way.’ She clung tight to this; she might not have his love but by his actions Zain had proved time and time again that it wasn’t just words—he did respect her.

  The other woman’s eyes flashed with pure malice in response to the simple pride ringing out in Abby’s confident statement. ‘You mean you amuse him right now. It won’t last, you know; the novelty value will wear off.’ Abby’s dignified silence seemed to enrage the woman even more as she snarled out contemptuously, ‘You love him, I suppose?’

  ‘Yes.’ Even in this situation it felt liberating to be able to say it out loud.

  ‘And you think he loves you...? I suppose it is his great love for you that will carry him through the latest polling disaster...’ She saw the flicker of shock in Abby’s eyes and nodded. ‘Oh, yes, not good news at all, but then, no great surprise either,’ she drawled. ‘His advisors were expecting it; they warned him that seeing you, an outsider, with him will always remind people of his mother.’ She stepped in closer. ‘You’re the kiss of death for Zain, and if you really loved him you’d leave!’ she hissed, before turning and sweeping majestically away.

  Abby stood perfectly still, her thoughts whirling. Kayla was trying to manipulate her but that didn’t mean what the woman was saying didn’t have an element of truth—more than an element, she realised; it was the truth.

  Presumably at the outset Zain had calculated that any damage to his reputation that the sham marriage to her might cause could be rectified after they split up down the line, but what if he was wrong...? What if the longer she stayed the more damage she did to his reputation...what if it became irreparable? What if the people he loved rejected him?

  She knew that would kill him.

  ‘Amira?’

  The young stable boy was standing there looking concerned.

  Abby shook her head and turned, pride keeping her head up as she walked away, her firm tread contrasting with the awful icy chills running through her body.

  Her chaotic thoughts chased around in her head. She didn’t know where she was going or what she was going to do yet she knew she needed space...time...distance...but a moment later the stable hand caught her up.

  ‘Excuse me, Amira, but the driver found this in the car.’

  She looked blankly at the tiny charm that had fallen from the bracelet that had been her mother’s. ‘Oh, thank him...’ A sudden thought occurred to her: if she was going to do this it was best to do it quickly, better for Zain. ‘Is the Prince here in the palace?’ she asked quickly.

  ‘Yes, I think so, Amira...’

  Abby reached into the pocket of her trench coat, her fingers curling around the passport she had not removed.

  ‘Do you have paper...a pen?’

  * * *

  Zain stood there for a full ten minutes after he had read the note.

  He didn’t trust himself to move.

  She was gone; the note, the ink blurred, was some drivel about leaving for him...she had left!

  He had never chased after a woman in his life and he wasn’t about to now.

  Last night he’d lain awake longing and aching for something he could not name that she gave him, missing her softness, her scent, her warmth.

  But life was a hell of a lot simpler without her. Without her there was no temptation to allow her to do to him what his mother had done to his father. His mother had drained his father, making him grow weak, making him love her so much that she blocked out his responsibilities...to his people and to the son who needed him.

  He couldn’t silence the counter-argument in his head.

  Had Abby made him weak...? Could he have done what he had done these past weeks without her support? She didn’t take from him, didn’t drain him. She gave instead.

  And now she had gone.

  The thoughts tumbled in circles around his head until he took a deep breath and blinked like a man waking up and realising he had one more shot. He hit the ground running.

  Considering she was not exactly inconspicuous, it took him a long time to find anyone who had actually seen her. It took him fifteen minutes to track her as far as the stables and another five to discover that she had been seen deep in conversation with Kayla, after which it seemed she had been driven away.

  A phone call to the private jet confirmed his suspicions. He made it clear that under no circumstances was the plane to take off, and went around to the garages.

  His fastest car got him as far as the palace gates, where he found his way totally blocked by a hundred or so banner-waving protestors taking advantage of the fact that such gatherings were no longer prohibited—one of his reforms that had definitely backfired!

  Frustrated but not defeated, he flung the high-powered car into reverse and drove back to the stable yard.

  He saddled the stallion himself with stable hands watching and wondering who knew what? Zain didn’t actually care—the burning frustration that drove his every action was choking him.

  * * *

  ‘Shall I stop, Amira?’

  Dragged from the depths of her despairing reflections, Abby looked up. It didn’t matter how many times she told herself her life was not over, it felt as if it was and so she could only try to take comfort from th
e fact she was doing the right thing. Maybe this knowledge would make her feel better in the future but right now it didn’t.

  ‘Pardon?’

  The driver nodded to the rear-view mirror and Abby turned to see what he was looking at. The blood drained from her face and her heart began to thud as fast and hard as the hooves of the stallion that was galloping full pelt towards them.

  ‘No!’ she said in a wobbly voice of panic. ‘Don’t stop!’

  ‘Amira!’

  ‘Don’t stop for anything!’ she ordered imperiously as Zain and the stallion began to overtake the car.

  ‘Yes, Amira.’

  He did, of course, but he didn’t really have a choice when there was a rearing stallion in the road ahead, the hooves inches away from the car bonnet.

  ‘Sorry, Amira.’

  Abby barely heard as she watched as Zain, looking just as rampantly male and awe-inspiring as the first time she had seen him, dismounted and walked over to the car.

  He wrenched open the door. ‘Get out, cara.’

  She thought about ignoring the order but decided getting out of her own volition would be more dignified than being dragged out, and Zain looked more than capable of that.

  While she stood there he leaned into the cab and spoke to the driver, who turned the car around and drove away before her horrified eyes.

  Leaving her, Zain, the stallion and a lot of sand.

  ‘Just like old times,’ he said, walking towards her with long, purposeful strides.

  She shook her head. He was standing almost toe to toe with her and looking at her in a way that made Abby’s head spin as she looked up into his dark, lean, beautiful face, her heart lurching wildly in hope.

  ‘What is this about, Zain...?’

  ‘This.’ He took her by the shoulders and dragged her into him, covering her mouth with his. The kiss went on and on.