Page 16 of Dirty Wild Sultan

Khalid gave me a look after swallowing the whiskey. “You are so bad at this, brother. If you don’t remember using protection, then we have only one option.”

“What?”

“We askher.”

* * *

It had beentwo days since my sister’s nineteenth birthday. Zara had seemed a little distant, but Khalid and I thought it would be best to give her space until she came and talked to us about what bothered her.

We had gone back to the hotel room after lunch with guards flanking us. But we were too late. The woman in gold had vanished. There was no trace of her except the hint of jasmine in the air. The irony.

I had scoffed when I checked her name on the hotel guest list. She had checked in as Jasmine. I knew it was a false name, even though it suited her well. But shewasn’tJasmine.

I had found only one thing from that hotel room that assured me that that night wasn’t any dream. That I had tasted heaven when I had kissed her.

A golden intricate piece of jewelry with an emerald placed as a dewdrop. It was amaang tikka. A traditional piece of head jewelry that would sell for more than the hotel building I had been standing in.

I had kept it to myself, making sure I didn’t ruin it, and wondered about the name of its owner. The woman in gold. My pretend-wife for the night.

I could do a small interview in the media and ask the woman herself to step forward to claim it and privately talk to her about that night. But I couldn’t do it, I didn’t want to make that matter public. That I, Sultan of Azmia, didn’t remember if I had used protection during sex or not. I didn’t want any scandals attached to my name or hers.

The worst part about all of it was that I hadn’t received any sort of anonymous email.

8

Zain

“What is that you are staring at, boy?”

I smiled at myjadati(grandmother) who slowly walked towards the dining room. I held her hand as she was seated in a chair, her dark brown eyes fixing on the beautiful piece of jewelry.

“Hmm,” she grunted. “Are you asking someone for marriage?”

“No,” I said. “I, uh, found this in a drawer of the hotel room. It seemed too precious to let the hotel staff handle it. We are trying to find the owner and return it.”

I half lied, praying she wouldn’t pick up on it and pinch my ears.

“I have seen a similar piece. This looks just like that with the emerald.”

My heart rate picked up. “Where,jadati?”

She eyed themaang tikkaand looked at me. “Sultana of Maahnoor used to wear it back when your father and Hamid Elbaz were friendly neighbors rather than enemies.”

I clenched my jaw thinking about Maahnoor, our neighboring country. Once, a decade ago, it used to be famous for its beautiful sunsets, shimmering palace, sweet foods and jewelry with intricate designs like the one I held. But that was before Hamid Elbaz became corrupted, ruling it, taking the name of Maahnoor to shreds.

I shook off the animosity between Azmia and Maahnoor and asked my grandmother, “If Sultana wore it, then it must have been kept in the palace?”

I looked at the jewelry again. Was the woman in gold truly the owner of a royal heirloom?

“Rumor has it that she gave it to her daughter before she passed away,” Grandma tsked, shaking her head. “Poor daughter was left alone in that palace with her three brothers and Hamid. I wonder what she is doing nowadays.”

“You mean the Princess?”

“Who else, boy? Thatmaang tikkabelongs to Princess Nasrin Elbaz of Maahnoor,” she said. “You better return it to her, ignoring the animosity between the two countries for this instant. It must be very dear to her.”

Princess Nasrin…

My heart fell to my stomach as I stared in horror at the emerald diamond and the golden jewelry. It belonged to the Princess of Maahnoor, daughter of Hamid Elbaz. My father’s nemesis, that meant my nemesis. My country’s nemesis.

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