Page 35 of From One Night To Desert Queen

‘You should never have left her alone like that, with no company and no word.’

‘Where is she?’

‘Have you looked for her?’

‘Of course.’

‘Have you seen the incredible things she’s done in the Princesses’ suite?’

‘Of course,’ he said, even though it was a lie. He hadn’t had the chance to see it properly as he’d wanted to seeher.

‘Well, then. She is quite likely to be by the stables.’

Unused to being told off by his staff—other than Amin—he made his way towards the stables, hating the fact that Masoud was right. He turned the corner and immediately stepped back into the shadows. Star was with Mavia, stroking the animal’s long neck even as the mare nudged for more.

Mavia never did that. Not for anyone other than himself. Not even for Samira. What kind of spell had Star cast over the palace, making everyone fall in...

His thoughts were cut short as Star looked up and straight at him and he felt a punch to his gut.

Although she’d hidden it behind a quick blink of her eyes, he’d seen it. The pain, the loneliness. The hurt. And in an instant he remembered. What it was like to be left behind. To be sidelined. And he’d done it to her without even a second thought. He’d been so lost in his own needs—his own desperate need to plan the memorial properly, to impress his father, the country—that he’d left her behind.

He emerged from the shadows, an apology already on his lips. ‘I’m—’

‘Did you find what you needed?’ Star interrupted. She had chosen those words carefully. Because she didn’t want the other words to rush out. Words that would make her sound needy, desperate...lonely. As if she couldn’t be left by herself.

Only she couldn’t. Not really. Every single minute he’d been away had felt like torture. Her mind had delved into things that hurt, things she hadn’t thought of for years and had no desire to think of now.

Perhaps her sisters had been right. She wasn’t ready to do this on her own. Either of them would have had the necklace by now, returned to Norfolk, and they quite likely would have found the jewels. She should have stayed behind.

Would she have been as lonely in the estate in Norfolk? No. It was the pain of knowing that there were people she couldn’t talk to. People she couldn’t be seen by. People who, as kind and amazing as they had been to fulfil her requests each day, could deny they’d ever met her.

Shame. She’d felt shame.

Again.

‘Ye—’

‘I’m glad,’ she said, spinning away before he could either finish the word or stop her.

Tears formed, blinding her to her path, and she dashed them from her eyes. Why couldn’t she have criedbeforehe’d returned? she asked herself. Why not at two in the morning when she’d not been able to sleep? Why not when the horrifying realisation had swept over her that she had filled her life with people and distractions to escape from the feeling of loneliness and shame that had scarred her when she’d visited her father’s family.

‘Star...’

Khalif’s hand was heavy on her shoulder and he spun her round to face him.

‘Who hurt you?’ he asked, staring deep into her eyes.

‘You did!’

He flinched, but as if he’d been braced for it. ‘I know. And for that I’m sorry. But I meant...who hurt youfirst?’

She almost collapsed under the sudden ache in her stomach and heart—as if the years of pushing it down, desperately ignoring it had given the pain even more power over her.

She tried to pull out of his arms, but he wouldn’t let go of her. He searched her eyes, and she let him see. She opened herself up to the hurt so that he would know and was overwhelmed by it too. He cursed and, just as her legs shook, he swept her up in his arms and she felt...protected.

She knew she should tell him to put her down, ask him where he was taking her. Instead she just let go, ignoring the tears seeping into his shirt, the way her throat ached as if she had been screaming. Perhaps she had been, just silently and for far too long.

She closed her eyes as he took her up stairs and down corridors, almost afraid to look. She didn’t want to go back to her room. Didn’t want him to just leave her there. A hysterical woman out of sight of his staff.

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