Page 52 of Her Vow to Be His Desert Queen

‘I know,’ Galen said, no amusement in his tone now. ‘It’s hard. But ask yourself what you want, what youreallywant. And whether that’s more important to you than anything else in your life.’

Khalil let out a breath. ‘More important than my crown?’

‘Yes,’ Galen said without hesitation. ‘A crown is just a thing. Someone else can wear it. And you don’t cease to exist just because you’re not a king. But will you cease to exist without her?’

Khalil stared at the wall, the words echoing inside him, resonating like a note with a tuning fork.

What did he want? What did he really, truly want? More than anything else in his life?

You know what you want. You’ve known it all along. And she was right. You went to England for her and you married her. You brought her back to your mother’s house and you told her your secrets. And it’s not for your country. It’s not for your crown. It’s not even for your own gratification. You brought her back because you lived without her for five years and you can’t live like that any longer.

The truth of the thought hit him like lightning. Like a bullet from a gun. Shattering the stone around his heart, setting him free.

He loved her. He’d always loved her. He’d loved her for every second of those five years and that was why it had broken him, why he’d retreated so rigidly into the strictures of his kingship.

He’d loved her and he’d thought he couldn’t have her, and the pain had torn him apart. The only way he’d been able to cope had been to tell himself he didn’t feel it. To cut out his heart and get rid of it.

Galen was still talking. ‘It’s not easy, as I think I said to Augustine when I realised I was in love with Solace. Facing up to my fear was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, but I did. Because without Solace I was nothing and I knew it.’ There was a pause and then he added quietly, ‘It’s worth it, Khal. Believe me, it’s worth every second of pain.’

Yet he’d already had too much pain and so had his Sidonie.

She was more important to him than anything in his life. More important than his crown and more important than his country. Without them he would still exist.

But he couldn’t exist without her. And if she was brave enough to love him, then he had to be brave enough to love her back.

‘Galen,’ he said roughly, ‘I think I have just made a terrible mistake.’

‘Thought you might say that,’ Galen murmured. ‘Then you’d better fix it, hadn’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Khalil said and dropped the phone.

He didn’t even waste time ending the call.

It was dark, but Sidonie sat still on the terrace, even as the wind became colder, the stars wheeling in the night sky above her head. She was thinking of plans and discarding them, trying to decide what to do about Khalil.

She didn’t know whether he’d come back, and she was on the point of deciding that she would just go to him, when she heard the sound of a helicopter overhead. Returning. And her heart squeezed tight in her chest.

Then five minutes later a man strode onto the terrace, still in the robes he’d worn when he’d left that morning, and he came over to where she sat. And before she could say anything, he knelt at her feet and looked up at her.

‘My queen,’ he said roughly. ‘Will you forgive me?’

She was trembling all of a sudden. ‘For what?’

‘For leaving you. For walking away from you again.’ His face was stripped bare of any of his usual guards and there was nothing but naked desire and a burning, fierce need that lit his eyes like stars. ‘For being a coward. Because you were right. I was afraid. The way I left you in London hurt so much. It tore me apart. And that is what I have been afraid of ever since. I never wanted my heart to be so at risk again. But...another good friend of mine asked me what I wanted more than anything else. What was more important to me than even my crown.’ He reached for her hand and held it gently in his, her wedding ring glittering in the starlight. ‘And I realised that it is you, Sidonie al Nazari. Without my crown, I am just another man. But without you, I am nothing. I have only been half-alive these past five years, barely existing, and I am tired of it. I loved you back then, and I told myself many times that I could not possibly love you now. But I was wrong. I love you,ya hayati.My life. You were my sunshine back then and you still are. You always will be.’

She didn’t mean to cry and yet a tear escaped, running down her cheek. ‘I didn’t want to walk away from you, Khal. I didn’t. But I wanted you to choose for yourself.’

In the darkness he smiled, and took her other hand, turning both of them up. ‘You are so very wise.’ Then he kissed one palm and then the other. ‘And so, I have chosen. It is you, my beautiful Sidonie. You are my life, my heart. You are my soul. And until death and beyond I am yours.’

There were more tears on her cheeks—she couldn’t stop them, joy lighting up inside her. ‘Now, that’s a romantic proposal,’ she said huskily, and then, since she couldn’t stand it any more, she pulled her hands away and tugged him to his feet. ‘Kiss me, you idiot.’

He laughed softly. ‘Perhaps is it I who needs to teach you some romance.’ Then he pulled her into his arms, and his mouth was on hers, and her whole world turned to flame.

He’d once been her friend...now he was a king and her husband, and they would have a family. They would bring healing to this country,theircountry.

They would bring healing to each other.

It was the happy ending she’d always longed for, yet never quite dreamed would be hers, and now it was. And all because of a vow she’d written on a stained serviette, one night in a bar in Soho.

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