Now he was married to her, and no matter how much he’d said it had to be done and there was no choice, he clearly wasn’t happy about it now that it had taken place.
His frown deepened. “Kadir says you are frightened of me.”
Sheridan shook her head. “I’m not.”
“I didn’t think you were. You’ve been giving me hell since the first moment I saw you. If you weren’t frightened then, you could hardly be so now that I’ve made you a royal princess.”
Her belly rolled with nerves. A princess, but not a queen. In order for there to be a queen, the king had to make a proclamation. That much she’d learned from Emily. And while it was silly to even think about the difference, it was quite obvious that Rashid did not intend to issue a proclamation. His father had never done so, either.
“I don’t feel like a princess.”
“You will soon enough. You’ll have to go before the council, and then there are state functions to preside over, meetings to attend. You’ll have a secretary and a staff. You will have to choose a cause to support, and then you will need to make appearances for it—”
“Rashid, please.” He stopped speaking. There was no moisture in her throat at all. She thought of everything he’d just said and wanted to run and hide. She wasn’t shy, but it was too much to process so soon. “Can I please get used to the idea of being married before you start throwing duties at me?”
He looked stiff. Formal. He was so incredibly handsome in his dark desert robes today. They were trimmed in fine gold embroidery that sparkled and shimmered as he moved. Her own dress—a deep purple silk gown with a cream hijab—was not as beautiful.
“Since you informed me you did not wish to be married, and that you did not like having nothing to do, I assumed you would be happy to do things that would take you away from me.”
This conversation was like navigating a minefield. How did one respond? Did she ignore the jab about marriage and focus on the part about being busy? Or did she address them both?
“You know what my objections to this marriage are, so I’m not repeating them. And I would like to be busy, but the things you’ve mentioned are not like running a party-planning and catering business.”
His mouth flattened. “Some of the skills are the same. You said you liked to make people happy. You will be doing the same as a royal princess. And there will be functions to plan, if you wish to be involved in that.”
“I think you know I would.”
“Then you will inform your secretary. She will arrange everything for you.” He went over to his desk and shuffled through some papers while she stood there and felt like a kid who’d been called into the principal’s office for misbehaving.
“Are you angry with me?” she finally asked, deciding that the only way to get anywhere with him was to speak her mind.
He looked up then, his dark gaze spearing her in place. Her blood thumped slowly in her veins at the heat she saw there.
“Angry? No.”
He went back to what he was doing and she huffed a sigh. “Rashid, you don’t act like someone who’s not angry.”
He dropped the papers he’d been going through and came around the desk. Then he leaned back on it and crossed his arms. “You looked like a lamb being dragged to the slaughter at that table just now.”