“She is fine, Your Highness.” The doctor who had delivered him stood at the head of his bed. Dr. Haumoud was someone Tal trusted implicitly. “I took some blood. I’m going to have it tested for toxins, but I believe she has just had a couple of very stressful days. Her heart rate has returned to normal. She is resting now.”
Yes, she was resting, but he doubted this was anything so simple as stress. The future shaykhah becoming violently ill on the day after her betrothal was far too coincidental for his tastes. “Thank you, Doctor. We will take very good care of her. Please contact me the minute you know anything at all.”
Piper’s chest moved up and down in a graceful symphony of life. Tal couldn’t help but stare down at her and wonder what she was dreaming. Was she wondering what her life would have been like if they hadn’t brought her here?
He stepped back out into the living area of the suite he now shared with his brothers and Piper. It was full. Rafe and Kade paced, both of his brothers pale with worry. Alea stood near the window. Dane and Cooper were talking quietly, conferring together. Landon leaned against the wall, his eyes on Alea. The big guard didn’t seem to be able to focus on anything except Alea.
Tal couldn’t even think about that problem right now. He moved toward Dane, Rafe and Kade joining him the minute they realized he was there. Dane looked up, his shoulders squaring.
“Sir.”
“What have you discovered?”
Dane’s mouth was a flat, straight line. “Not much. By the time we got here, someone had cleaned everything up. Landon went down to the kitchens, but even the dishes had been washed and put away by then. I don’t think we would get anything off them even if we knew which ones had been used.”
Rafe paled. “I’m going to kill him.”
And thereby set off a huge political incident. “We don’t have any proof Khalil was responsible.”
Kade’s fists were clenched at his sides. “He was sitting in here with her when we came up. The bastard just walked into our apartments and talked to our wife without bothering to confer with us. We don’t need fucking proof.”
Talib took hold of his temper since his brothers seemed so determined to lose their own. And they needed several facts pointed out to them. Facts that had been running through his head from the moment they had told him Piper had taken ill. “The press is watching us, Kadir. All eyes are squarely on this family. Do you see the headlines? She isn’t our wife yet. They will talk about the barbarians who killed a man because he merely spoke to their concubine.”
Khalil had a hand in this. Tal didn’t care what the doctor said. She’d been perfectly fine all day, stressed, yes, but not ill. He just couldn’t prove anything yet.
“We’ve questioned the staff. No one remembers who brought the tea up here,” Dane said
Rafe scrubbed a hand across his face. “Ahmed put together the food for the shaykhah. He has been with us since we were children.”
“It wasn’t Ahmed,” Tal returned. “And I’ve just informed the staff that the shaykhah doesn’t eat anything that Ahmed doesn’t approve.”
Alea stood, her hand over her heart. “Khalil usually brings one or two servants with him when he comes to the palace. It would have been easy for him to slip someone into the kitchens. Most of the high-ranking politicians bring their own servants.”
Tal felt like snarling. “Not anymore they don’t. I can’t close the palace, but I can keep the extras out. No more servants. They will have to make do with our staff.”
He knew every single member of the staff by sight and name. If he saw a single person who didn’t belong, he wouldn’t be responsible for his own actions. Piper was still breathing, but Tal was sure this had been an attempt on her life.
“Can’t we keep Khalil out?” Kade asked.
“We can keep him out of the private quarters. I’ve already given the orders. No one except family is to be allowed in the private quarters. I cannot keep a duly elected member of the government out of the palace. Do you understand what that would look like to the press? Give me any evidence and I will work with it.” Darker thoughts took over. He could act now. His eyes met Dane’s, and he knew the American wasn’t averse to handling the problem. Dane would do it quietly, but Tal worried that there would still be talk.
He couldn’t do a damn thing without proof until after the marriage. He had to wait until the press coverage died down. Then no one would care that a minor member of parliament who had connections to the royal house had been murdered in his bed. Tal was forced to shake his head at his lead guard.