Desert King, Pregnant Mistress(14)

'Time  means nothing here in Q'Adar, Ms Torrance. It is measured in  millennia,  rather than hours or minutes, and if you come with me now I  would like  to show you something that will open your eyes to the scale  of things  here in my country.'

Beth wondered what the Dowager Sheikha could  possibly mean as she  followed her across the courtyard. She climbed  behind her, up the steep  stone steps leading to the ramparts, where they  could see for miles  over the surrounding desert. Beth gasped as she  took it all in. As far  as the eyes could see campfires lit the darkness.  She hadn't realised  how far the tented city extended when she had been  down on the beach.  'There must be thousands of people down there,' she  breathed.

'Hundreds of thousands,' Khal's mother confirmed,  turning to face her.  'Now do you understand the weight my son carries?  Do you see now why he  is wedded to duty? These people have come from all  over His Majesty's  kingdom to greet him on his birthday. They have come  to swear their  loyalty to him, Beth. May I call you Beth? And thousands  more will be  here by tomorrow, all wanting to bask in the strength and  the hope that  is His Majesty Khalifa Kadir al Hassan, Sheikh of Sheikhs,  Bringer of  Light to His People. They believe in him, Beth. Look at  them … ' The  Dowager Sheikha's gesture encompassed the whole desert  encampment. 'All  these people rely on my son to lead them out of  darkness and poverty  into a new, brighter future. Would you have him  distracted from the  path of duty? Would you take him from Q'Adar?'                       
       
           



       


'I would never do that!' Beth exclaimed.

'Not  intentionally, perhaps. But because I loved his father so deeply I  know  when love is all-consuming, and when there is no space in your  heart  for anything else. My son loves Q'Adar, and that is how it must  remain.'

'There's no need for you to worry.'

'There  is every need,' the Dowager Sheikha insisted. 'I have seen the  way you  look at my son, and I have seen the way he looks at you.'

'But we hardly know each other … ' Beth bit her lip, hating the lie, hating every second of this deception.

'How long does it take to fall in love, Beth? Is there a prescribed time?'

'Of course not, but-'

'I  ask you again,' Khal's mother said gently, turning her face into the   wind so she could stare out across the tented city. 'Would you take my   son from his people?'

'Of course not. I would never take  something that didn't belong to me.'  But her voice had started shaking,  betraying emotions Beth hadn't even  admitted to herself. She wasn't  prepared for this, how could she be?  'I do like-the Sheikh,' she  admitted haltingly. She loved Khal more  than life itself, Beth realised  now. It had happened in an instant, the  moment she'd first laid eyes on  him. 'But I know who he is, and I know  who I am.'

'And I think you underestimate both yourself and my son, Beth.'

'So what do you want me to do? I'm leaving tomorrow.'

'And if he should try to stop you?'

The possibility that Khal might do that was so far from Beth's thinking she couldn't even answer.

'You're  a good girl,' his mother told her, patting Beth's cheek. 'And I  think  you are standing here with me now with only the very best of  intentions  in your heart.'

'Oh, I am,' Beth insisted, wishing she could think of something to say to reassure Khal's mother.

'Forgive an old lady her concerns, but since the death of his sister, Ghayda, Khal is my only child … '

As  the Dowager Sheikha's features crumpled into grief, Beth realised  this  was why she'd sensed some deep-rooted sadness in both Khal and his   mother. She remained silent, allowing the woman to talk, and wishing  she  could think of something to say to Khal's mother that might help.

'Since  Ghayda's death, my son has been like ice. I have seen him come  to life  in the past few hours, because you have my beloved Ghayda's  warmth and  spirit, and Khal sees this. He believes himself responsible  for his  sister's death, Beth, and nothing I can say to him will change  his mind.  But they were both so young and beautiful at the time of the  tragedy,  both so reckless and irresponsible. They both knew the dangers  of the  desert, and they were both equally to blame,' the Dowager  Sheikha said  with finality. With a ragged sigh, she turned towards the  steps.

Beth  followed, wondering why Khal's mother had chosen to trust her with  this  precious revelation. It was almost as if the she was giving her  the  seal of approval. And, after hearing it, all Beth wanted to do was  rush  to Khal and put her arms around him so she could hold him close  until  the pain went away.

She had to hold on to reality, Beth told  herself, and remember that  what had happened on the beach with Khal was  one isolated incident. It  might have been life-changing for her-she  would remember that first  time for ever-but for Khal it had meant  nothing, and she could hardly  expect to see him again after tonight. So,  whatever secret hopes his  mother might be harbouring, they were just  daydreams like her own  wistful thoughts. 'You're very kind, Your  Majesty, and I wish I could  say something that could express my sadness  for your loss.'

'Your being here and allowing me to talk to you  like this is the  kindness,' the older woman assured her. Reaching out,  she touched  Beth's face. 'Ma'salama, Beth Torrance. Go in peace, my  child … '





CHAPTER SEVEN




MONTHS  had passed since she had left Q'Adar, and yet here she was,  still  struggling to accept the freezing rain falling day after day in  the  north of England. The sunshine in Q'Adar seemed a million miles  away,  and her time with Khal a distant dream. Dipping her head into the  wind,  Beth pulled up the collar on her coat, and walked as fast as she  could  towards the store. It threatened to be a busy morning, what with  the  planning meeting for the Christmas window-display. She was  representing  her department at the annual meeting for the first time  this year, and  had been up at dawn polishing her ideas.                       
       
           



       

Beth stopped abruptly as  she turned the final corner, everything inside  her twisting as she  stared foolishly at the low-slung limousine with  its blacked-out  windows. Who else travelled with outriders and merited  their own  special-force-officers clutching guns? Beth held tight to the  latest  selection of magazines she'd brought to scan in her lunch hour a  little  closer. Since Khal's spectacular party, the press had been rife  with  speculation about when the most eligible bachelor in the Arab  world  would get married. The gossip about him had even overshadowed the   uprising in Q'Adar. You could hardly open a magazine without seeing a   picture of Khal blazing from it. The whole world including Beth knew   that the ruler of Q'Adar must take a bride-the only questions were who,   and when … ?

Well, it wouldn't be a Liverpool shop-girl, would it?  Beth told  herself, starting forward again. And this Liverpool shop girl  had a job  to do. Tipping her chin at a determined angle, Beth walked  briskly  towards the staff entrance. The doorman welcomed her with his  usual  banter, and when he made some comment about their visitor Beth  replied  calmly, 'Ah, well, we all knew we were due a visit one day,  didn't we? I  missed him last time he was in Liverpool.'

'But you must have met him in Q'Adar?'

She  was always bright and breezy, but today she didn't want to stop and   chat. All she could think was: Khal's here? But she had to say   something, because everyone and his wife knew she'd been to Q'Adar and   had met the Sheikh. 'Briefly,' Beth agreed, hating the lie as she turned   for the lift. 'I met him briefly.' She stared up at the floor numbers   on the panel above the sleek steel doors, wishing the lift would come   quickly so the doorman couldn't see her cheeks were on fire.



She  survived walking into the boardroom and having the Managing  Director  introduce each of them in turn. She survived the  all-pervading, and oh,  so familiar scent of him: wealth, sandalwood,  and warm, clean man. She  even survived the sight of Khal in a dark  bespoke suit that skimmed  every inch of his powerful frame, enhancing  it almost more than his  Arabian robes. She even managed to keep her  cool when Khal chose to sit  in the centre of his team directly opposite  her. She survived all that.  But Beth wasn't sure she could endure  Khal's penetrating stare for very  much longer.