Page 19 of The Sheikh's Fake Bride Scheme

“That’s dinner,” he said.

“You get called to dinner by a bell?”

“That’s how we know it’s ready.” He shrugged, as if such things were normal.

“Does that happen at your house too?”

“Would it be a problem if it did?” He smiled. “No. I’ve dispensed with a lot of royal formality at my own home. I dismissed most of the staff a few weeks after I moved into the place.”

“You fired your staff?” Keira frowned. “That seems heartless.”

“No, I made sure they found other positions,” Kareem assured her. “With a recommendation from the royal family, you can work almost anywhere in Qalmar. They’re fine. It was just that I preferred the idea of having my own routine, rather than fitting with the established one — one more thing for my father to be unhappy about. Don’t bring that up at dinner.”

Keira added it to the growing mental list she was keeping of things not to talk to the king about.

The dining room was cavernous, and Keira couldn’t help hugging her arms tightly around her body as they walked in — the air seemed chilly, somehow. She didn’t think it was actually any colder in here, but it was difficult to relax her muscles all the same.

King Hassan sat at the head of the table. To his right was a woman Keira hadn’t seen yet. She had the same thick, dark hair as Kareem, and unlike the king, she wasn’t going gray at all. She had Kareem’s large, dark eyes, too, and the shape of her mouth was just the same. Keira was sure this had to be Kareem’s mother.

“Right here.” Kareem led her to a chair all the way at one end of the table, right next to King Hassan. Keira wished she could have asked to be seated farther away from him. He was staring at her as if waiting for her to do something wrong. As for the queen, she fixed her eyes on Keira, frowned, and said nothing at all.

Show some spine, Keira. You face men who think they know how to push you around every single day. You can handle this.

She faced the king directly. “Your Majesty, it’s so very gracious of you to ask me to stay for dinner,” she said. “I know this must all come as a surprise.”

“Yes, it’s been quite a shock.” He watched her beadily. “This is my wife, Queen Rajiyah. Kareem’s mother.”

“It’s such a privilege to meet you, Your Majesty,” Keira said to the queen.

Queen Rajiyah said nothing, just observed her quietly. Keira trembled.

“You do know that Kareem will not inherit my throne, don’t you?” the king asked her.

“He’s told me that.” Keira laughed. “And what a relief. I don’t know that we’d have been able to marry if he had a responsibility like that. I’m hardly fit to be queen — this is the first time I’veever been to Qalmar! I only hope I can prove myself suitable to be the wife of the king’s youngest son.”

“We’ll see.” The king leaned back as the cover was lifted off his plate. “I apologize, this food won’t be anything you’re familiar with.” The smug smile on his face belied his words. “Had I known a westerner was joining us today, I would have arranged for a different meal.”

Keira looked down at her plate.

The dish was one that would surely have made anyone from home flinch. It was meat, but the meat was so very red that Keira doubted it had touched a frying pan. She could smell onion, allspice, and nutmeg, and there were a few sprigs of parsley and mint finely arranged over the top of the plate.

The king was watching her. “I can have the cook whip up some buttered noodles,” he said. “I daresay you would like that better.”

Kareem was watching her too.

He wouldn’t be disappointed, Keira was sure. She could send this plate back. She could take the buttered noodles, whichdidappeal more and suited her palate better.

She didn’t need to impress the king and queen.

But she smiled instead. And the smile was genuine, because she had been dealt a card she knew how to play.

“Kibbeh nayyeh,” she said.

The two men looked at her. King Hassan’s eyes were wide with disbelief, but Kareem was clearly having trouble holding back a smile.

“You’re familiar with it?” the king asked at length.

“Oh, very. A client I worked with once was Lebanese, and he always insisted on having this dish whenever possible. I’ve tried it before. But I’m sure what we were able to get in America doesn’t compare to what you serve here at the palace,” she added.

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