‘My name is Tasnim and this is Maab,’ the younger one said with a wide smile ‘We are your servants, My Lady.’
‘Oh.’ Imogen smiled kindly. Used to fending for herself and preferring it that way, she had no need for servants. ‘Thank you, but—’
Before she could say anything, Maab had moved closer to Nadeena and was crooning something in Arabic. As if sensing Imogen’s regard, she turned and bowed her head, speaking in rapid Bakaani.
‘I’m sorry,’ Imogen said, ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Please excuse Maab, My Lady. She does not speak very much English but she is excellent with babies and helped raise the royal siblings when they were little. She is asking if she might approach the little princess.’
‘Well, of course she can.’ Imogen smiled encouragingly and the old woman knelt down in front of Nadeena and gasped in surprise. She started spouting the name Sheena and smiling broadly.
Confused, Imogen turned to Tasnim for clarification.
‘Maab says that the little princess looks just like Sheena.’
‘Sheena?’
‘The King’s sister, My Lady.’
‘Oh, Nadir’s aunt? That’s nice.’
Tasnim gave her a funny look. ‘No, My Lady, she means King Nadir’s sister.’
Imogen was silent for a moment as she processed that piece of information. She’d never heard of Nadir having a sister but that wasn’t surprising, really. Their short relationship in Paris hadn’t progressed past the intensely sexual phase and, whether by accident or design, neither of them had wasted their time talking about family or personal history. For Imogen that had been deliberate. She hadn’t wanted to talk about her mother’s recent death and her father’s remarriage a month later. Had Nadir chosen not to speak about his past because he was upset by it as well?
‘The King has asked me to help you prepare for the evening ahead. Would you like to do that now, My Lady?’
The evening ahead? Feeling as if her life was once again spinning out of her control and not wanting to look like a complete dill, Imogen kept her expression bland. ‘By King you mean...Nadir?’
‘Na’am, My Lady. Yes.’
A sudden sense of unease fluttered up from her stomach. Nadir couldn’t be King because if he was that would mean they were going to be here for a little longer than a day, but if he wasn’t then why were these women even here?
‘I think there must be some mistake,’ she began slowly and then Zach’s words jumped into her head from the night before.
It’s your birthright.
Was Nadir here to discuss some sort of succession planning? She hadn’t contemplated that and perhaps he would expect her to meet his father. She nearly grimaced. It was one thing to meet his brother but if his father was anything like her own then he was unlikely to approve of her.
Maab started saying something again in Arabic and there was a hint of pride in her voice.
‘Maab says that we are delighted that he has come back, My Lady. That King Nadir will be a great king because he was a great boy. Kind and loyal and very strong.’