Page 56 of Desert King's Forbidden Temptation

‘What truth?’ she pressed urgently.

He was still a moment, contemplative and then nodded, as if committing this to himself. ‘I’m adopted, Eloise.’ He waited for those words to filter through to her. ‘My biological parents died in the accident that injured me so badly. Until today, I believed I was alone, that the accident left me an orphan. No parents, no siblings, just me.’

She pulled up closer to his face, urgency drawing her eyes together. ‘What happened this afternoon?’

‘My biological brother came to see me.’

She gasped, lifting a hand to her mouth. ‘You have a brother?’

‘I don’t remember him.’ He frowned. ‘And yet somehow, I do. I felt a link to him immediately.’

‘But...you’re angry about this?’

He expelled a breath. ‘No, not about discovering a brother. Eloise, don’t you realise what it means?’

She furrowed her brow.

‘I’m not royal. My place in this country, on the throne, it’s all predicated on a lie.’

She shook her head, rejecting that outright. ‘You might not be the biological son of the late sheikh but you were born to this. You are strong and powerful, smart, wise, kind, all the things that are necessary for a role like yours, all the qualities you just listed as being required by your customs.’

‘But I am not royal,’ he stressed adamantly, and finally, the penny dropped.

‘And Elana is,’ she said with a soft gasp. ‘That’s why you proposed this marriage.’

‘Not only is she royal, many generations ago, our bloodlines were of the same royal lineage. Her heir would sit on the throne of Savisia, and this would negate any discontent. It would avert a civil crisis—most importantly, it would right the wrong of my parents’ decision.’

‘What your parents did was save a boy who needed saving.’

He shook his head. ‘They should have told me the truth.’ He closed his eyes, features showing anger.

‘For years, I have had this single nightmare,’ he said quietly. ‘I didn’t realise it, but when my mother told me the truth, I realised immediately. It is a strange memory, not of anything specific, just a familiarity I have with someone, something else, somewhere else. I was only nine months old, but somehow, a part of that life is imprinted on me, a part of me; it’s as though I’ve always known I was different, that something was wrong. All my life this nightmare has tormented me. Now I believe it is my past, trying to be known. I just didn’t realise there was something I needed to reach out and grab.’

She felt sympathy for him, not just that his parents had concealed the truth from him, but also because his world had been rocked to the foundations. Because he’d lived with this for five months, worrying about the political fallout from a deeply personal situation.

‘How do you know there’d be a crisis?’ she asked gently. ‘Even if anyone found out...’

‘People will find out. My brother’s appearance changes everything. Too many people know. The only way to handle this is to get ahead of the information with an announcement of my own.’

‘And what? Forfeit your right to rule?’

‘It should not be mine, by right,’ he said sharply. ‘If there were anyone else—’

‘But there’s not. You were born for this, raised for it, at least.’

‘Yes. I was raised for it,’ he agreed gruffly.

‘And you’re good at it. How can you even think of walking away—’

‘I’m not. Don’t you see? Everything we’ve been doing here has been to secure my place on the throne, not to abandon it. However I might personally feel about this, I owe the people of Savisia a great debt of gratitude. I cannot desert them—’

‘You don’t owe anyone anything,’ she interrupted.

‘There is no one else. A distant cousin has a claim on the throne, but he is far from a suitable fit. He would drive the economy into the ground within a decade,’ he said with a shake of his head. ‘If there were someone, anyone, else I would abdicate, but I can’t. Don’t you see? I was raised to fulfil this role and I cannot walk away from that.’

Eloise’s eyes were awash with sympathy.

He continued with gruff determination. ‘Marriage to Elana is politically necessary for me, and also, for her. The kingdom of Ras Sarat hangs by a thread, but Savisia is rich, powerful, with strong alliances and trading partnerships. Everything about this makes sense.’

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