Page 37 of At the Sheikh's Pleasure
“So you do remember some things.”He took a threatening step toward her, but she refused to move, only lifted her chin in an attitude of defiance.“And do you also remember the loyalty you owe to a father?”he demanded.
“I owe you nothing, father.”
“You owe meeverything, girl.”
She couldn’t stand it any longer.She walked around him and pushed aside a heavy curtain and opened a window, allowing the evening air to flood into the room.She took a deep breath and glanced over to the room she’d just left and saw Zaire’s shadow.She felt comforted by his presence and knew he would be there in an instant if she called out.But she refused to do that.Instead, she turned to face her father once more.
“Why are you here, father?”
“You know why,” he growled.“I’ve come to take you home.”
His response was so ludicrous, she laughed.
His eyes flashed with anger.“How dare you laugh at me?”he growled.
“Because your mission is ridiculous.There is no way in this world I am returning to Harran with you.”
“You are mydaughter.Your place is with yourfamily.Why can you not see that?”
She shook her head, searching his face, trying to understand the enigma who was her father.How he could believe she’d return to Harran with him was beyond her.She shook her head again.“I did once, but you destroyed my belief in family, destroyed my trust in men.There is nothing for me in Harran.”
“There is yourfamily.Harran is and always will be, your country.You call thatnothing?”
“It should have been everything,” she said with quiet dignity.“But you robbed me of that.I had no option to leave, and I will not return.”
“I suppose you intend to go to England to play at education.Education is for a reason, girl—to use, not for its own sake.”
“No, I won’t be returning to England.”She waited for her words to sink in.
He narrowed his eyes dangerously.“Why not?”
“Because I have decided to stay here, with the king.”
“You will be his mistress?That is preposterous!My daughter, a whore, I think not!”
“We will marry, father.”She felt joy creep through her soul and body as she said the words she’d never imagined saying.After an upbringing like she’d had, she’d never thought she’d find a man she could commit to.“We will marry as soon as possible.”
Then he did something she hadn’t imagined him doing.He laughed and continued laughing as he walked away.After a moment, he turned back to her, his face cruel again.He stabbed his finger at her.“For all your education, you are more stupid than anyone I know.Don’t you understand?”he said, derision curling his lips.
She frowned.“I understand we love each other and we will marry.That is all I need to understand.”
“Then you aren’t only ignorant, you are stunningly stupid, girl.”He took a step closer to her and she could smell garlic on his breath, could see the spittle around his mouth as the words of hatred continued to spew forth.“Zaire, the King of Sifra, is simply using you.He has seduced you for one reason only.”
A tight ball of fear formed in her throat and she tried in vain to swallow it down hard.“We will marry, father.That is an end to it.”
“You don’t want to know the reason he’s seduced you?”
“I will not join you in your ridiculous theories.We are in love.That is all you need to know.”
“You’re wrong, child.And don’t come crying to me when you realize exactly how wrong you are.He’s a king, and everything he does is for political reasons.Think”—he spat out—“with that brain you’re so proud of.If my allies hear that you are with him, it will appear that I have reneged on my deals with them and thrown in my lot with Sifra.”He leaned in even closer.“I would not only lose face, but I would lose allies, and economic and political co-operation.That is what your lover wants from you—my strength diminished, and his relationship with other countries improved.You are merely a tool for this, as any woman is.”
She shook her head.“That’s ridiculous.”
“No,you’reridiculous.All this talk about education, about learning.You knownothing.Thatis what Zaire’s game is, and you were his choice of weapon.”The sneer deepened.“Face it, Rosana, you’ve been used in a manoeuvre which is way beyond your knowledge of play.You’re out of your depth, girl.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but no words emerged because her head was full of images of Zaire talking to his vizier, and then looking up to see her as if she’d interrupted something.Of Zaire asking her about her country and its allies.So many moments which she’d thought nothing of until now, when everything seemed to have taken on another quite sinister meaning.She shook her head to rid it of the images, but they stubbornly remained there.She opened her eyes to see her father’s sneering face.
“Go ask him if you like and then you’ll come running back to me and your rightful family and we will return home.And all this nonsense will be forgotten.”
