'I chose the garden suite for you myself,' the Dowager Sheikha informed Beth, drawing to a halt in front of a pair of exquisite gold-filigree doors. 'I think this apartment enjoys one of the most beautiful aspects in the palace, plus the courtyard and gardens have plenty of shade for baby Hana.' She stared longingly at Hana, asleep in Beth's arms. 'When she wakes-'
'I'll see that you're informed immediately.'
'Oh, would you?' Khal's mother turned grateful eyes on her. 'It's been a long time since we've had a baby at the palace, and I'd like to read to her, and maybe sing to her a little … '
And what would Khal make of that? Beth wondered. Would he dare to disapprove? Her eyes twinkled at the thought of this double-pronged rebellion by the women in his life.
Any thoughts Beth might have harboured about being stuffed away in an attic somewhere out of sight were immediately obliterated when she walked into the cool tiled hallway of her new home. 'It's next door to my own apartment,' the Dowager Sheikha told her as she bustled ahead. 'I planned it this way, hoping I might catch glimpses of baby Hana in the garden … '
As she turned, Beth saw the same longing in her eyes again. 'You can sit with Hana, or push her round the courtyard, any time you want.' Did dowager sheikhas do things like that?
'I'd love to!' Khal's mother exclaimed, dispelling Beth's fears.
Judging by that response, Beth guessed Khal's mother was pretty much like herself and didn't mind starting new trends when she had to.
'I'm going to leave you now, and give you chance to settle in,' she said. 'I expect you'd like a little time to get used to your new surroundings.'
She would never get used to them, Beth thought, acting like a tourist already, turning circles to stare up at the gloriously ornate painted ceiling.
'You'll have your own household, of course,' Khal's mother added at the door.
'My own household?' Beth repeated incredulously. 'Why would I need that?'
'Enjoy your temporary status as a member of the royal family,' the Dowager Sheikha insisted with a mischievous twinkle.
'You're very generous, Your Majesty,' Beth said, remembering her manners as she bobbed a curtsey. 'But it really isn't necessary.'
'Nonsense, you'll enjoy it. And I shall make the introductions myself,' Khal's mother decided on impulse, beckoning to the staff hovering outside. 'It's better if you don't confide too many details,' she murmured confidentially, returning to Beth's side.
Beth's eyes widened as she gazed down the line of neatly uniformed staff. 'But, if all these people are going to be looking after Hana and me, surely they deserve to know the situation?'
'You have a lot to learn, my dear.'
'Don't we all?' Beth sighed. Then, quickly remembering herself, she added, 'Well, obviously not you, Your Majesty.'
CHAPTER TWELVE
HE WAS on his way to the stables when he saw his mother hurrying towards him.
'The baby's adorable!' she exclaimed, clasping her hands together in delight. 'And I've seen your little friend settled in as you requested.' As he turned to go, she put her hand on his arm. 'Won't you stay a little while and talk with me, Khalifa?'
'I'm not in the mood to talk, and Beth is not "my little friend". Hana's mother is called Beth Tracey Torrance.'
'But I may call her Beth on your instruction, is that it, Khal? Too kind … '
'Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Mother.'
'And neither does this aloof manner suit you, Khalifa. And I hope you're not thinking of riding out without guards.'
'There's a storm brewing, enough to keep the troublemakers in their burrows. Don't be concerned about me,' he added, seeing his mother's concern. 'I can read the desert.'
'Can you, Khalifa?'
He looked at his mother's hand on his sleeve, saw the tension in her face, and knew she was remembering. 'I must have some freedom.' As her hand relaxed, he firmed his resolve and bowed to her. 'If you will excuse me … '
'You won't find an answer to your Beth in the desert.'
'She is not my Beth, and I am trialling a horse,' he said with as much restraint as he could muster.
'Whatever you say. Be careful, my son.'
As Beth had suspected Hana wanted nothing more than to sleep after her long journey. The facilities in the nursery were incredible, and the girls on duty were graduates of a college that had been at the forefront of childcare training for over a hundred years. After chatting with them, Beth felt confident enough to leave Hana in their care and take a look around.
The Palace of the Moon was on such a mammoth scale it took Beth a few minutes to reach her private garden. She hadn't been invited to visit this more secluded and very special part of the palace on her last visit to Q'Adar, so when she entered through a gate she gave an exclamation of delighted surprise. It was just like finding the secret garden, she thought, remembering one of her favourite childhood books. The stone walls held the scent of the flowers, intensifying it, and there were colonnades around the perimeter which offered shade along narrow pathways. The sultry temperature of late afternoon was made bearable thanks to the central fountain, which cast plumes of twinkling water high into the air. Having showered and changed in her fabulous bathroom, Beth was wearing a pair of loose-fitting lightweight trousers and a shirt, and felt refreshed, but it was still tempting to perch on the raised lip of the pool and throw her head back to catch the spray.
Dressed for riding in breeches and a shirt, he watched her from the shadows. A new stallion awaited him, the finest of his kind. It was a gift from a neighbouring sheikh, and under normal circumstances nothing could have delayed his inspection. The horse had recently knocked a couple of seconds off the fastest recorded time on a measured track, and he had yet to try him out. That should have been enough to blank everything else from his mind, but it appeared Beth was an exception, and his senses roared as she turned her face to the sky and sighed with pleasure. There was one answer, and that was exercise-fierce and hard.
'Khal … ?'
He paused mid-stride. Had she sensed his presence? She certainly hadn't seen him, and he was moving away from her on silent feet. Was it possible they were so finely tuned that she'd known all along he had been watching her? He stepped out of the shadows and strode across the courtyard. 'I trust your quarters are acceptable?'
'My quarters? If you mean my fabulous apartment, it's great!'
He had to stop himself smiling. How could he have forgotten the effect she always had on him? 'Great?' he said dryly, thinking of the kings and presidents who had stayed there before her. 'Well, as long as you're satisfied and have everything you need.'
'Oh, I do,' she assured him, turning her attention to some rose petals floating on the pond. 'Does someone toss these into the water each day?'
'Why? Would you like the job?'
She looked at him, and he saw the surprise in her eyes at the flash of humour. He agreed with her, it was ill-judged. Beth was here because he wanted to keep her and Hana safe. The last thing he wanted was to remind them both of times when they had been intimate, both in bed and out of it.
'I'd like a job, Khal,' she said, rushing to paper over the cracks as he had done. 'Though I doubt I'll be here long enough. But I do have an idea.'
Why wasn't he surprised? 'Go on … '
'Well, you don't have a palace crèche, do you?'
'There's only one royal baby, as far as I am aware,' he pointed out.
'But there must be dozens more amongst the staff, and you obviously have contact with one of the greatest nursery-nurse colleges in the world. It just seemed to me … '
'Yes?' he pressed, eager to escape so he would no longer have to look into those crystal-blue eyes.
'Well, I just thought you could throw it open.'
'To all-comers?' He frowned.
'To everyone employed at the palace. It will be company for Hana, and I'm happy to help out. I could even run it for you.'
'You won't be here that long.' He could have kicked himself when her face fell.
'No, I forgot.'
She tipped up her chin. She had been carried away by a scheme she had no hope of seeing through, and in doing so believed she had made a fool of herself.