And now the time had come and, surrounded by those who loved her, Beth walked out of her apartment and along the corridors to the top of the grand marble staircase in the Palace of the Moon, where she looked down on the crowded assembly. Her gaze locked instantly with Khal's, and in response to his look of love she started her journey towards him.
EPILOGUE
THREE months earlier Khal had bought an emergency licence. For an emergency marriage, he'd told Beth, dragging her into his arms to tease her with kisses.
'You can't do that in Liverpool,' she'd protested, leaping up in bed in her little house.
'If the Sheikh of Sheikhs can't, then he'll find someone who will.'
'Friends in high places?'
'Relations between our two countries have never been better,' Khal had agreed, throwing Beth down on the pillows. 'I've got something for you.'
'What is it?' she demanded, starting to rifle the pockets of his casual jacket.
'This,' he said, straight-faced, handing her a box he had hidden behind his back. 'I know you can't stand jewellery.'
'Who says I can't?'
'And so I thought … '
'Khal,' Beth protested, leaping up in bed. 'What have you done?' She burst out laughing as he opened the ornate jewellery box and plucked out the 'engagement ring' he'd bought her.
'Plastic fantastic!' she exclaimed. 'How did you know it's exactly what I wanted? Did you have it made especially for me?' Holding it up to the light, she brandished the chunky ring, pretending to admire it.
'I had to buy a lot of crackers before I found one I thought you'd like.'
'I love it, and I'll never take it off,' she assured him, overacting terribly.
'I hope you don't mean that,' Khal said, turning serious. 'It could give a man a nasty bruise.'
'And what's this?' Beth said, as he handed her an intact cracker.
'Let's pull it and see, shall we?' he suggested, joining her on the bed.
Beth gave it all she'd got, and gasped when the contents came tumbling out. 'Is this real?' she gasped.
'Please, not that again,' Khal begged her, affecting weariness.
'Okay, it's real,' Beth agreed excitedly. 'But Khal, you shouldn't have.'
'Okay, give it back to me.'
'No-finder's keepers … '
'Let me help you, then,' he said, easing the plastic ring from Beth's wedding finger and replacing it with the most spectacular jewel Beth had ever seen. The ring was composed of a cluster of sapphires in all the colours of the rainbow.'
'Except for red,' Khal explained. 'Because red is the preserve of the ruby … '
'Oh, Khal, no!' Beth protested when he brought out yet another ring from his shirt pocket. 'You can't do this.'
'Who says?' he demanded. And now he replaced the second ring with a third, a ruby heart the size of a quail's egg.
Beth was astounded. She had never seen anything like it. The ruby heart was surrounded by the most fabulous blue-white diamonds.
'I hope you like it.' Khal said dryly. 'You can keep the plastic for every day.'
'I love it … '
'Good,' he said, and, ignoring laughing protests, he brushed the debris off the bed, threw off his clothes, and joined her beneath the covers.
The grand ceremony in the Palace of the Moon was quite a wedding, though they both knew that nothing could mean as much to them as that simple service back in Liverpool. The two weddings had reflected their very different lives, but from now on they would walk the same path, and share the same life …
Khal had been waiting for her, looking magnificent in his robes of Bedouin black trimmed with the crimson and gold of the al Hassan family, while Beth's fairy-tale gown had been picked out for her by her friends at the Khalifa store in Liverpool. She was going to keep in contact with all of them, now Khal had involved her in the business-though her brief had just expanded to embrace a country. For, when Khal placed the official wedding-band of Q'Adar on her finger, she became queen of that country. That ring would sit next to the plain gold wedding-ring he had bought for her in Liverpool, and in tribute to both their countries she would never take either ring off.
It seemed for ever that day until they were alone again. 'You didn't need to do all this for me,' Beth protested, staring out across the ocean as Khal's yacht slipped out of port. Their honeymoon would be brief but wonderful, as neither of them could bear to be parted from Hana for longer than a few days. Of course Beth wasn't to know that Khal had arranged for Hana and Faith to join the yacht when they docked at the next port. It was just one of many surprises the ruler of Q'Adar had planned for his beloved wife.
'I know I didn't have to do anything for you,' he said. 'Which is why I want to do so much for you.'
As Khal moved to brush her hair back from her face when the ocean breeze tossed it in her eyes, Beth trapped his hand in hers. 'Well, I'm very glad you did … '
'So am I … ' He turned her hand and stared down at the ring she was wearing. 'The colours of the sapphire will always remind us that life is full of possibility.'
'If we take it by the scruff of the neck and shake it?' Beth suggested with a laugh.
'I couldn't have put it better myself-though right now that's not what I've got in mind … ' He glanced towards the companionway that led the way to the owner's suite.
'So it's more of a passionate ruby-red-heart sort of moment?' Beth guessed, smiling up at him.
'Exactly,' Khal agreed, drawing Beth into his arms.