by Erin Snihur
Finally, Kasin’s face morphed into a cool and subtle smile as his hand reached up and brushed a lock of her hair away from her face. Amira tried not to flinch at his touch, but it didn’t work. He’d seen her fear.
“With what money do you plan on filing for this divorce, zawja?” Kasin asked curiously.
Scoffing and slapping Kasin’s hand away from caressing her cheek, Amira brushed him aside and moved closer to the doors. She needed to be close to the exit in case she needed to escape. Though she doubted she could run very far in the slippers.
“I intend to use my dowry, of course,” Amira murmured. “I am to receive it in full now that I am twenty-five.”
Kasin paused before nodding and began pacing before her as he murmured, “Of course. But you are forgetting one thing, zawja.”
Staring at him in confusion, Amira’s stomach filled with dread as he spoke, “You are a wife now. Your dowry belongs to me and cannot be released to you until you provide a child.”
In shock, Amira’s mind races as Kasin leans back against the dining table, looking ever the skilled victor in their imaginary chess game.
“So, zawja, shall we get started on that heir now?” he asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Kasin hadn’t meant to upset her. He hadn’t even meant to reveal the true reason he was here for her. It was a culmination of things that led to Kasin blowing his top and revealing his plan. First, when he found her in the kitchen like a commoner, second when he realized that she had sent the servants away, third when Amira revealed there was no alcohol to be found in the palace and, finally, when she’d given him the annulment papers to sign.
Kasin had plans. Big plans. He’d planned on wooing Amira. He’d always known she had a school girl crush on him when they were children. Granted, he knew it was wrong of him to leave her here for five years without a word, but he couldn’t risk his enemies getting wind of her existence and using her as a pawn against him. There would be no more bloodshed against those he considered family.
Now, Kasin watched as Amira’s naturally tanned skin went deathly pale at his words. It was almost as if she found the idea of having children with him abhorrent. Kasin knew he was attractive. Women threw themselves at him on a daily basis. But now, he wore his ring once more. He was a married man. His mistresses had all been released. There would be no one else for him. Unless Amira got her way and ended their marriage.
Kasin’s stomach rolled as Amira shook her head, her braids swaying against her back as she did. She looked so beautiful with hair braided tightly against her head and the rest of her hair flowing down her back in a tie. How he longed to run his fingers through her hair as he pulled those braids apart piece by piece.
“I can’t continue this farce of marriage any longer, Kasin. I won’t,” Amira said, her bottom lip quivering.
“You will,” Kasin growled, losing his patience only momentarily before reigning it back in and leveling his wife with a glare.
“Then you will have to rape me.”
Amira’s statement forced Kasin to back up a step. His eyes went wide and he felt as though his heart had stopped beating.
When he didn’t respond and only stared after her, Amira raised her stubborn chin and gave a mocking bow.
“Goodnight, my Sheik,” Amira murmured and scurried out of the room as if the devil himself were on her heels.
Growling, Kasin let loose his anger and plucked platter after platter of the now forgotten food off the table and threw it across the room. Plate after plate, cup after cup, even the forks and knives went flying through the air and landing against the opposite wall with a loud crash.
It wasn’t until his strength began to wane and Kasin clutched the chair to keep from collapsing into the floor that the shuffling of feet behind him forced Kasin to open his eyes and see the carnage that lay at his feet.
Abel stood before him, warily eyeing him and the surrounding area.
“Are you drunk?” Abel asked, his tone light.
Shaking his head, Kasin listened intently before he heard his friend release a pent up sigh.
“Good. That means I don’t have to carry your fat ass up those stairs,” Abel grumbled before motioning to the door. “This way, my Sheik.”
Ignoring him, Kasin stared at the chair Amira had once sat at only a moment ago. “She wants an annulment.”
His words have Abel locking in place and when his friend’s shocked eyes meet his, they fill with pity. Casting his eyes away, Kasin’s gut begins to churn and his fingers ache. His breathing becomes shallow and he closes his eyes to reign in the feeling of dependency that comes from drinking too much.
“What about the throne?” Abel asks hesitantly.
Swallowing, Kasin shakes his head, “I will not divorce her. Her brothers would skin me alive if I did. Besides, I don't...”
When Kasin’s words trail off, Abel finished, “You love her.”
“I did. Once. Now, I’m not so sure I am capable of such feelings,” Kasin mumbles, too upset to really think on his feelings for Amira.
Nodding slightly, Abel sighs, “Then you must begin to woo your wife, your Highness. We can start by training every morning. Show her how you’ve changed. Make her see the boy she loved has turned into a man.”
Snorting, Kasin glared at his friend who shrugged in humor. “The greatest of relationships have started due to physical attraction. Take your friends, Amoz and Teresa. Their relationship began as a one-time thing and now they are married with a lovely baby boy.”
Grimacing at the thought and reminder of what Amira had told him would happen if he attempted to produce an heir. He would have to rape her. Never in all his life had he touched a woman without her consent. He would never harm, Amira.
Scanning the area, Abel sighed once more. “No alcohol in this place. Perfect place to train and quit drinking cold turkey as the American’s say. All for the chance to conceive an heir.”
Kasin’s mind turned and he scanned the dining room, he agreed. He couldn’t win Amira’s heart and love with his demons getting in the way. He would woo her, produce an heir and make sure Amira and his child were safe before the darkness fully engulfed him.
Before she had a chance to see the monster that she had married.
5
Amira didn’t sleep much the night before. Every noise woke her from what little sleep she could grasp. She always imagined it was Kasin coming to take what was legally his. He never had. He never even came to find her when he found their master bedroom empty.
Amira had never slept in the master bedroom. It was so big and imposing. She preferred simple, and the view the guest bedroom a few doors down from the master had was exquisite.
As she walked down the steps in the direction of the kitchen where the servants were preparing breakfast, Amira thought back on their dinner the night before. Kasin had changed, both physically and inwardly. He was no longer the sweet boy who picked her flowers when everyone had forgotten her birthday or kissed and bandaged her knee when she fell in his family's palace garden in the capital.
Amira couldn’t believe that man’s audacity. He demanded she produce him an heir as though the last five years hadn’t even happened? She would never be with a man who held such low respect for her, his own wife.
Calming her thoughts, Amira stopped before the kitchen doors and forced a smile on her face. She had to appear happy, if not for herself, then for the servants. Amira could already tell Leeta knew something was wrong when she found her mistress alone in her own bed this morning. No need to add more fuel for the fire of gossip that was sure to fly.
Marching into the kitchen, Amira called out hellos and good mornings to all that were either getting their own breakfast or helping cook breakfast.
Staring wide eyed at all the food, Amira chuckled to their head chef, “You sure are making a lot of food, for just us, Chef.”
The old man rolled his eyes and made a motion toward the kitchen doors, “His Highness has demanded the
palace kitchens assist in feeding his guards. He’s brought fifty of his own men. Fifty! As if we mountain dwellers were planning a coup!”
Laughter trickled down amongst the other servants and a few commented in teasing at the idea of their grumpy chef attacking a soldier with a ladle.
Amira’s smile grew easier to manage as she grabbed a small plate and listened in on the goings on since Kasin’s arrival. It wasn’t until one of the maids mentioned a fire in the village that had left a large family without their home and belongings yesterday night that Amira’s thoughts drifted away from her husband.
“Is the family alright?” Amira asked and the maid’s face turned down.
“The husband is hurt badly, my lady. They don’t expect him to make it,” the maid murmured and the whole room turned morose. “Father of five, I heard.”
Shaking her head, Amira stood and began directing orders, “Leeta, call the doctor and let him know it is of his utmost importance that he attend to the man, have the bills handled through my accounts and Chef, if you would please have a bag put together, we shall go into the village and give those poor people some clothes and perhaps some food as well.”
As everyone went about doing their Sheikha’s bidding, Amira thought back on Kasin. What would he think if he knew she was leaving the palace. When she arrived, she had been told to never leave. She had. Always accompanied by servants, but never anywhere dangerous. The village at the bottom of the mountain loved her visits. They usually consisted of Amira visiting the local orphanage with some sweets Kasin had sent her way. She would never eat the candy he had delivered to her just to gain forgiveness for his cheating ways. But the children loved them and who was she to deny them.
Rushing up the steps, Amira was so very distracted with thoughts on what to do for the poor family that she ran head first into Kasin’s friend, Abel. The one who’d delivered her here five years ago and the one to draw his gun on her the night before.
Scrambling away from the intimidating man, Amira had to blink a couple of times when his face broke out in a sincere smile and he gave an apologetic bow.
“My apologies, my Sheikha, I was not paying attention to where I was walking,” Abel murmured, his accent thick as his skin was dark.
Blushing at the term Sheikha on his tongue, Amira nodded in acknowledgement, “That is alright. I was distracted. If you’ll excuse me.”
Amira rushed past the tall man before he could say anything more, though she did feel his eyes watching her as she dove into her chambers and slammed the door shut. Breathing in, Amira cringed at the thought of what that man must think of her. A complete fool is what Amira thought of herself. If she had known, when Kasin had asked for her hand, that he would abandon her for five years, cheat and whore his way about, then she would never have agreed to marry the man she had loved as a child. But then, she wouldn’t have met Leeta or the others and she certainly wouldn’t be here to help the poor families and children in the village.
Staring at the ceiling Amira murmured to the heavens, “Will I ever be free of another man’s control?”
Kasin cursed and grimaced inwardly as one of his soldiers that he was training with one on one in an open field outside of the palace walls jabbed him in the back with the wooden staff they were practicing with.
“You need to keep your eyes off your feet and level with your opponent,” Abel called from outside their fighting circle. “My grandmother could beat you in a fight, Kasin, and she’s blind.”
Anger bubbling, Kasin watched as the guard grew uneasy with the way Abel taunted Kasin, their Sheik and ruler of Masarat. No one could taunt the Sheik and survive. Abel was pushing him. Trying to get Kasin angry.
Growling under his breath, Kasin attacked the helpless guard. Swinging with all his might against the guards own staff. When the guard blocked Kasin’s staff, Kasin kicked with his foot. Finally when the dust settled, Kasin stood atop the guard, holding both staves in his hand, pointed at the guard’s neck.
“Do you yield?”
At the guard’s nod, Kasin dropped the staves off to the side and helped the man to stand. With a pat on the man’s shoulders, Kasin sent him on his way as he approached a stoic looking Abel. Shirtless, Kasin grabbed a wet towel that lay on one of the supply tables and wiped away the perspiration.
“Better, but still not perfect,” Abel crooned and, when Kasin met his friend’s gaze, the man winked back teasingly.
Kasin bit back his retort, but was about to invite the man into the fighting circle when another guard came running from the direction of the palace.
Bowing breathlessly before Kasin and Abel, the guard stood at attention and at Kasin’s nod began his report.
“I’m sorry for intruding, your Highness, but you wanted me to inform you of your wife’s movements throughout the palace,” the guard stuttered and paused.
“And?” Kasin asked, running his hands through his hair.
“A group of servants were seen packing a car with food, clothing and other essentials. I also noted, her Highness, wearing commoner garb and she got into the vehicle with a few servants and her own personal maid, Leeta, before driving out of the gates and down the mountain,” the guard managed to get out before Kasin’s eyes filled with anger and he began shouting so loud the other guards present backed away slightly.
“What! You let her leave the palace?” Kasin yelled and threw the towel at the man’s head before shouting out orders.
Sliding on a t-shirt, Kasin had no time to change before he, Abel and his guards crammed into their SUV’s and drove off.
“The vehicle has stopped in the village at the bottom of the mountain,” Abel murmured as he stared at the tablet in his hands.
“You put a tracking device on my wife?” Kasin growled at his friend.
The corners of Abel’s lips curled into a smile as he murmured, his eyes not moving from the tablet, “No, on your wife’s car.”
Rolling his eyes at his friend’s joke, Kasin urged their driver to go faster.
“What could she be thinking? Doesn’t she know it isn’t safe to leave without protection?” Kasin grumbled out loud.
“You never told her about the insurgents. She hasn’t seen what you have seen. Do not fault her for trying to live her life,” Abel muttered.
“Her life is with me. Do you think she’s trying to leave me? Perhaps she has met someone,” Kasin’s insides twisted at the thought of Amira with another man.
In his mind, the images began to flow. He hated them all and shook his head to clear him of his thoughts. He was given weekly reports on Amira’s health and wellbeing. They never hinted at Amira being overly friendly with another man. She treated everyone with kindness and grace befitting a Sheikha.
When the vehicle finally stopped in the tiny village, Kasin’s nerves were going haywire. Would he find her with another man? Would he find them intertwined in bed? The same way he had wanted Amira all those years ago, but denied his instincts.
Shaking those thoughts again from his mind, Kasin exited the vehicle and approached Amira’s palace car. The driver, an elderly man stood in shock as Kasin approached him.
“Where is my wife?” Kasin growled roughly, startling the old man.
“She was visiting a family here, my Sheik. They lost their home in a fire. Now she is in the orphanage, visiting the children, as she always does when she visits the village.”
Turning to Abel, Kasin raised a brow, “None of the reports I’ve received on my wife in the last five years have mentioned her visiting the village.”
Abel visibly swallows and shakes his head, “I had no idea, Kasin. I’m sure nothing untoward has happened without our knowledge.”
Turning away from him, Kasin stalks toward the orphanage the man pointed out. The dilapidated building is almost as old as a few of the homes in the village. His large party draws attention from some of the village people, but Kasin just ignores them.
As he draws closer and closer to the orphanage’s open doors, K
asin hears it. Or rather, her. Amira’s voice. Her sweet, siren song. Standing in the doorway to one massive room with a kitchen and curtained washroom. Bed pallets line the floor from wall to wall. Children huddled in blankets surround his wife as they listen with rapt attention to her sweet song about an invincible warrior and the maiden who pierced his heart.
Kasin wondered if she recalled the way he used to beg her to sing it for him and his siblings when her family would visit. He always enjoyed listening to Amira sing. Every tale she sung was as wonderful as the next.
Kasin didn’t interrupt until her song was complete and only then did he stare at her in wonder and clap his hands, louder than any of the little children. All eyes turned to Kasin, but the violet ones that shone so brightly were the only ones he cared about viewing.
Obviously not expecting Kasin of all people to invade a children’s orphanage, Amira stood from her stool and called all of the children to attention.
“Take the sweets from the boxes over there and enjoy. Perhaps after we can sing a song together, all of us.”
All of the children seemed to brighten at the sound of the word sweets and, soon, all the little girls and boys were clamouring in line to get a few sweets. As Kasin took everything in while Amira spoke with a few reluctant children, he finally gazed upon the chocolates and candies that were being handed out. The boxes themselves clearly belayed the fact that they were expensive chocolates.
Where had she gotten such food? Kasin wondered, he hadn’t noticed anything in his reports about her ordering expensive chocolates. It was then that Kasin realized when a heart-shaped box was revealed and given to a few children to pick from.
These were the gifts he had given to her, Kasin thought and his heart began to harden. She was giving his gifts away. Inwardly, a voice hissed at him, to orphaned children, you fool!
Kasin knew his anger was ridiculous, but he couldn’t help it. When he’d bought chocolate especially for Amira, he had expected her to enjoy them. When Amira seemed to notice his angry gaze, his wife pushed the other children toward the candy and scurried over to him, her eyes sharp and darker then before.