Page 214 of The Skeikh's Games

It worked only on their father, softening his usually hard blows, though Ahmed doubted even she could have gotten away with what he’d done unscathed.

“Brother,” she greeted with a little bow of her head. “I haven’t seen you all day.”

Already frustrated, Ahmed debated simply rushing right past his sister to find Keisha, but he felt as though he’d already burned enough bridges today. Best not to destroy them all in one fell swoop.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he forced a small smile. “Nonsense,” he told her, trying to sound casual and maybe a little teasing, though he was sure he missed his mark. “You certainly saw me today. Don’t you remember when you and our sisters peeked inside the great hall to see what it was your little baby brother had done this time?” He winked at her to help keep the accusation of snooping out of his voice and it worked.

His sister grinned back at him, then shrugged her slight shoulders, batting her eyelashes feverishly. “Surely you won’t fault us for being curious!” she countered. Looping her arm through his, she began to escort him off to the right, detouring him from the hall he had been aiming to go down in search of Keisha. “After all, it is not every day our brother brings home a… woman.”

She hesitated on that last word as though she’d been about to say something else, but reconsidered at the last moment. Most people thought of Lilac as just a silly, even stupid girl, but Ahmed knew better. She had the whole world fooled—including their sisters and parents alike—but he’d seen how she worried away at people with kindness and false innocence until she got what she wanted.

She’d been doing it for years and up to this point it had never bothered him. This was all a game each of the children played with their royal parents, but he was beginning to quickly suspect that she was now using her wiles on him and he did not appreciate it.

He glanced back over his shoulder, looking at the hallway he’d been about to go down. “That woman is my wife,” he told Lilac sternly, not even attempting to be light or teasing. “That makes her your new sister and I hope that you will treat her accordingly.”

Her pretty face broke into a horrified scowl, just for a brief second, so quick that most would have missed it, but Ahmed had caught sight of it. She was furious at his new bride, and it was difficult to tell why—if it was just about her position being jostled yet again, or if it was more along the lines of their parents and had to do with Keisha’s status—but he’d seen it.

And then the anger was gone. Her doe eyes were wide again and she had a sweet smile on her face. “Of course, dear brother! Anyone who has your affection, has mine, too.”

Her voice was honeyed sweet and Ahmed did not believe it for even a single second. His lips pulled down in a frown and he stopped suddenly. At first, Lilac tried to keep going, trying to pull him insistently along by the crook of his arm, but he held fast. Finally frustrated, Lilac turned back around to him, a small pout on her face.

“Ahmed, what are you doing? Won’t you walk with me?” Her eyes darted back towards the way they’d come and he realized then for certain what he’d already suspected: she was trying to distract him.

Jerking his hand roughly out of Lilac’s grasp, much to her dissatisfaction, he pointedly turned on his heel and away from her. He began to walk away determinedly, pointedly even, back towards the hall he had initially been going down, all of a sudden absolutely certain that that was the hall Keisha was down.

“Ahmed!” called Lilac after him, but he did not even turn to look at him. “Ahmed, you are being ridiculous! Come walk with me. We’ll look at the gardens!”

She continued to call after him for a while, but he did not look back and did not break stride. He was starting to realize something slightly dreadful: like his parents, his three sisters were not going to welcome Keisha with open arms. It would be a constant battle between his family and his new wife to find some sort of peace and acceptance.

The thought did more than just worry him; it terrified him. What if he could never get the lot of them to get along? What if they would forever be throwing spurs and barbs at each other, determined to make poor Keisha’s life miserable? And what of the baby? When it was born, would his parents find it in their hearts to accept the child? Would his sisters?

These questions he was afraid to have answered, because he had a sinking suspicion that it would be a negative answer. They weren’t going to accept her any time soon and he was not sure how to change that.

Ahmed had realized just how unrealistic his expectations had been when he announced his plans to marry to his mother and father the day before he’d rushed in to marry Keisha. His parents were never going to approve a marriage to a girl from such a low class and if he tried to force their hand officially, then they would push back with all their might.

And a Sheikh had a lot of might.

So, in desperation, with a lack of options, Ahmed stole into the night and found his love. He married her at a small ceremony instead of the one she deserved, fit for a queen, but he did not care and neither did she. So long as they were married.

Ahmed had been naïve to think that being married would solve all of their problems with his family. Marriage, though it seemed permanent, was not entirely. There were ways to break it and he was certain that his mother was researching all of them now as he walked down that very hall.

But a pregnancy was more. It was his child! Surely they could find some compassion for a child that was half his?

Ahmed was not sure, but he knew one thing: he had to find Keisha before any of his family tried to dissuade her from their intentions.

Chapter Seven

Keisha awoke to the sounds of gentle knocking on the door. For a moment, she was disoriented and almost afraid.

Where was she?

This lavish, huge room was most definitely not her tiny little apartment there in town. Then she remembered that she was not in her apartment; she was in the palace. It all came rushing back to her and with a start, she realized that it had not been just a dream. Ahmed had actually married her and he had brought her home to meet his parents.

Which had been a disaster.

For a moment, she felt terrible. She remembered how the Sheikh’s wife, Ahmed’s mother, had fainted upon hearing the revelation that Keisha had been wed to her son. It was not exactly an encouraging reaction and his father, the Sheikh himself, hadn’t fared much better. Instead of fainting, he’d yelled and cursed and thrown orders that no one knew how to follow. He’d all but said he’d rather Keisha been dead than walk around as a living bride to his son.

She shivered slightly at the thought. He would not have me killed, she chided herself, promising that this would not be nearly as bad as they all thought. It would just take some time to get used to.

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