‘It is customary to bow when you greet the King,’ Fahid said. He sat at his desk and Zahid stood behind him, a little to the side.
Mikael bowed.
He could see the fury in the King’s eyes and indeed Fahid was furious—for Zahid had just told him that Layla had possibly been friends with the man they had just paid. A man they had thought had taken care to ensure that Layla was safe and looked after.
Layla had told him herself that she had danced, and of other things that she had done.
‘You are dismissed,’ Fahid said to Abdul, and when it was just the three of them he addressed Mikael. ‘I assume you are not here to discuss your fees?’
‘That is correct,’ Mikael said.
Ill, old, Fahid was still very much a king, and he looked with distaste at this man who came from a country with the most expensive apples in the world.
‘Why are you here?’ the King demanded. ‘What is it you want?’
‘Permission to ask Layla to be my wife.’
Mikael heard an angry breath from the King before he responded.
‘A commoner does not ask royalty to marry him. It is for Layla to choose…’
The King halted then. He was an honest man, but as he met Mikael’s eyes he looked away, for the truth was that Layla did not truly choose.
‘I went through your bill very carefully and I also spoke with Layla. She says that she drank alcohol and danced. Were you with her when she did these things?’
Fahid did not give Mikael time to answer.
‘The fact you are here must mean that something more went on in those days that she was away.’ The King was almost shaking in fury. ‘Or is she such an amazing dancer that you want to marry her? Was there a romance?’ Fahid demanded.
Mikael looked briefly to Zahid. He was terrified now for Layla, for the damage his being here might cause her, but Zahid gave Mikael the slightest nod.
‘Yes,’ Mikael said. ‘There was a romance.’
‘Have you any idea how foolish of you it is to admit that?’ The King stood. ‘What went on between the two of you?’ he demanded.
Mikael’s face was as impassive as it was in court. He watched every flicker of the King’s reaction as he used one of the few weapons he had against this powerful man.
‘Your Highness, just as you must have the moment you saw Layla, I fell in love.’ He watched as the King’s hand moved to his ear. The slight telling gesture told Mikael he was right and so he continued. ‘The first time I looked into her eyes I knew I would do anything to save and protect her.’ He looked to Zahid, who stared straight ahead. ‘I knew that Layla would do those things with or without me, and I considered her safer with me than without.’
‘Oh, so you did not lead my daughter to do these things? You are telling me that it was all Layla’s fault…?’ He cursed at Mikael, but Zahid spoke to his father in Arabic.
‘Father, I realise now that Layla had been planning this escape for some time. She tried to go to London with me once. She would have done those things there.’
Fahid felt sick at the thought of Layla in London, trying those things, doing those things, and he looked to Mikael again, who had returned her with not so much as a bruise. Here was a man he begrudgingly admired for having the nerve to stand before him and admit to these things.