Page 24 of At the Sheikh's Pleasure
The officials nodded.“It is, Your Highness.”
One of them fumbled through a set of keys until he found the correct ones to open the doors.In the end, unlocking wasn’t sufficient, and he had to shove with his shoulder to release the swollen wooden doors which creaked in protest against this disturbance from their slumber.
The officials stepped aside, as did Zaire who gestured for her to enter.She needed no further invitation.
As soon as she stepped inside, she knew she’d found the right place.Her senses were assailed by the sight and smell of history.Even the sounds of the present day came from a distance and were muffled and remote.Before her was the chaotic jumble of discarded objects, some piled on top of each other, and others partially covered with dust sheets which had rotted over the years.
From the ornate decorations on the ceiling and walls, she could see that once, many centuries ago, this chamber had been important.But not now.Now it held no meaning for anyone except her.She glanced back at Zaire, who stayed with the officials outside the door, after a swift, disdainful glance into the interior.He was still smarting from what she’d said, which told her that her comments had found their target.She’d deal with him later.Now she’d focus on the treasure trove before her.
She walked around the room, stopping at each pile to discover what lay beneath the dust sheets.Ancient objects of stone, of marble, of precious metals, and of gold lay discarded, as if of no value.She guessed their comparative value was small when measured against the treasures which were on show in the palace.She continued to explore, ignoring the impatient movements of the men by the door, until she stopped, arrested by the shape of the dust sheet before her, initially disguised by other objects piled up around it.
Without waiting for permission, she wriggled through the surrounding piles of furniture until she could pull away the dust sheet which had caught her eye.It slid away with a swish like a gasp, as if it were saying, at last, I’ve been found again.She blinked and coughed at the dust.But when she’d wiped her eyes clear of the tears that her sneezing had created, she could see she’d found what she was looking for.
The shape was more feminine than most thrones, as Queen Mandana had commissioned it for herself.She’d obviously wanted a throne which didn’t look as if it drowned her, but enhanced her power, rather than making people doubt her eligibility for it.The famed peacock motif fanned out behind where her head would have been, and the emeralds still shone in its decorations.It wasn’t a lumpen chair made of gold with no style.This chair had integrity.Suddenly, she was aware of a presence behind her.
Zaire gave a low whistle.“Are they emeralds?”he asked, rubbing his thumb against them.
“Yes,” Rosana said, “they are.And the stars are small diamonds.”
“Then what on earth is such a thing doing hidden away here?It’s beautiful.”
“I should imagine it’s hidden because your ancestors wanted no reference to, or trace of, Mandana in the public reception rooms.She was persona non grata after what happened.”
“I didn’t realize.”
“She’d made the fatal mistake of loving someone more than she loved her country.”
He called the officials over to move things out of the way, so she could better examine the chair.Eventually it stood before them in all its subtle grandeur.
“So, is there a similar hidden place to the one on the other throne?”
“No.Not the same.”She moved around the back, her fingers exploring along its edge.“In some of the poetry she wrote, she gave the exact description as Gleave did.”She looked at him.“Remember the prophecy?”
He shook his head.“Should I?”
“Both Leonora and Janey would have told your brothers.”She shrugged.Obviously, there was a distinct lack of interest between the brothers about the diamond.None of them believed their theories that it would be here, in Sifra, hiding in plain sight under their noses all these years.But Rosana couldn’t think of anywhere else it could be.The removal of the false ceiling in Oxford at Gleave College, nearly a year ago, had originally raised hopes it might be there, but nothing had been discovered, only a complicated set of glass prisms.So here was their last hope.
“In that elevated place of sensual indulgence you shall find what you seek in the eye of heaven,”she quoted.“‘Elevated place’—once this throne was in the harem—one of the highest points of the palace.And it was a place most closely identified with sensual indulgence.‘Eye of heaven?’That’s easy.This”—she pointed to a central motif of a fountain—“represents the fountain which Leonora believed to be the hiding place of the diamond.The Qur’an describes gardens as earthly paradises, and this one represents the original eye of heaven.I believe it’s here.”It was a tricky place to find, but she slid her fingers underneath the chair.“It’s where she would have hidden other things.Why not the diamond?”
The mechanism sprang open, and both Rosana and Zaire peered inside.Zaire straightened up immediately, but Rosana continued to look into the secret place, unwilling to believe what she could see before her.There was no diamond.Only the knowledge that it had once lain there and had left its mark in the crushed, cushioned velvet.
Chapter11
For a moment, Zaire had almost believed Rosana.She’d been convincing, and he’d been impressed, despite himself.She’d almost had him believing her.But then she’d pulled aside the secret compartment to reveal an empty space.
He was about to say something derogatory when he saw the look on her face.She was devastated.She looked up at him with bleak eyes and he suddenly realized how much she’d had riding on this.
“I’m sorry you didn’t find what you’re looking for.”
“It’s your diamond.I’d have thought you’d be more sorry,” she snapped before turning away.
“I never thought it would be here.Gleave took it.It’s in England.You should look there.”
“We have.It’s not there.”
He shrugged.“Anyway, you’ve tested your theory and found nothing.Mission accomplished.”
“Exactly,” she said sharply.“I’ve done what I came here to do, and now I’m free to leave.”
