Omar had been to the palace on several occasions and mostly in the company of his father but this was just the second time he would be seeing the King. He sat on the soft cushioned sofa, leaning on an elbow which dug into the arm rest and with his legs crossed. Khalid sat upright with his back straight, his focus towards the stair way which the King with emerge from.
"Omar, sit properly!" Khalid cautioned.
"I am sitting comfortably."
Khalid turned to his son. "I've gone this far for you, it's up to you to..."
"I do not know why you bother when the marriage has already been finalized, or hasn't it?" Omar cut him off.
Khalid frowned and he glared at Omar. This boy. "Omar, you will need the..."
"Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Royal Highness King Jaan bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia." The messenger's announcement interrupted Khalid's talk. The two men rose to greet the King.
"Assalaam 'alaikum your highness." Khalid and Omar greeted simultaneously.
"Wa'alaikum assalaam Sheikh. Marhaba! (welcome!)" The king replied giddily. He laughed when he shook Khalid's hand. "Khalid bin Aaban, it has been a while. Please sit."
"Your highness is kind." Khaild bowed with a smile. "This is Omar, my own son. Your highness."
"As-salamu alaikom." Omar bowed. The King placed both his hands on Omar's shoulder and rose him to stand straight. He smiled.
"The rumors are true indeed. You are quite a dashing young man Omar bin Khalid. Your father couldn't have raised you any better."
"His highness flatters me. A man's worth isn't placed on his looks and neither are they weighed by it but by his achievements and intelligence, your highness."
King Jaaa laughed heartily. "Omar bin Khalid! Truly I can see why your father boasts non stop of you and why you have gained so much fame in so little a time."
"Your highness."
"I am impressed. Please, sit."
The gifts they had come with occupied a side of the Court yard, the Khalidh had gone the extra mile to impress The King and truly he was impressed, not just by the volume of gifts but also by Omar's intelligence. He approved of him.
Omar remained calm and spoke less, only speaking when he was spoken to. King Jaan seemed to admire that because he praised Khalid for raising such a well behaved young man.
"He is my very own blood after all." Khalid boasted while laughing. "Who else would he take after?"
Omar smirked inwardly, he just needed to see the woman he was to marry, he didn't even know what she looked like but he had reasoned to talk to her, to know if she wanted this union also. If she didn't, it would make it a bit easier for him but then if she did tell him that she didn't want the union, how would he go about it?
He cleared the thought, deciding to take it one step at a time. He sat, not really paying attention to the discussion between the two older men, anticipating when Mariam would be ushered in.
As if on cue, three women descended the stairs, the two women on either side holding the one in the middle whom Omar guessed to be Mariam. She was young and looked quite small, he began to imagine himself with a twenty year old bride and shrugged, he thought her to still be immature. He knew it was custom for young girls to be married off to much older men but he hadn't for once thought he would find himself in the same situation.
The abaaya she had on was purple, trimmed with a gold finishing and flowed all the way down to her ankles. He liked the fact that she had not worn the regular black abaaya, as it was just too common. He noticed that she kept her head lowered and her eyes down, her long and dark lashes fanned her cheek and he admired them, he took a fancy to women's lashes, he didn't know why but he just did.
She must have been made up with extra care for him. He scoffed inwardly and sighed sadly for the heart he was about to break, she looked too vulnerable and fragile, still he had to do what he had to do. He looked away, he would talk to her in private.
"My princess." King Jaan spoke when Mariam was brought closer to them, dismissing the two women who accompanied her. They left with a bow.
"Assalaam 'alaikum Father." Mariam greeted her father first, then bowed to the Sheikh and then to Omar, greeting them.
"Wa'alaikum asalaam princess Mariam." Sheikh greeted in return, Omar only bowed slightly. Her father and the Sheikh laughed as they talked on but Omar was quiet and looked away.
Mariam remained standing with her head down and she chose to study the man she was set to get married to. Indeed he was beautiful as Saadiya had described him. His hair, which was left open without a ghutra covering it, was jet black and combed all the way back with a few strands coming forward to fall just above his eye, his lips were set in a thin line, his muscles were taunt, the suit he wore was left open, revealing the shirt he wore and giving subtle outlines to the muscles that lay beneath.
Mariam mentally whacked herself in the head for thinking such thoughts but then she couldn't deny that the man was drop dead handsome, probably carved on the day God took his rest, spending more time on creating this tempting man. She lowered her eyes, refusing to be swayed by lustful temptations. She was the one to drown him in the sea of lustful desires with a single glance and it was not to be the other way round.
She would never agree to marry him. She wished she could talk to him alone so she could voice out her heart.
"May I have a chat with my bride?"
Mariam's heart skipped a beat when he spoke, especially at the way he had mentioned 'bride'. It was the first time she heard his voice and there was something striking about it, the deep baritone cut through her body like sharp daggers and she involuntarily shivered.
With her eyes closed and her thoughts swimming wildly in her head, she didn't hear when her father give consent so she hadn't anticipated his touch on her shoulder. Gentle but firm. She shuddered and looked up, he smiled down at her, leading her away from the group and into a nearby room, closing the door behind them.
"Just to make this crystal clear," Mariam spoke out immediately they were alone. "I am not in agreement with this proposed marriage and I will not want to marry you."
Omar turned and stared at the girl, she took the words straight out of his mouth! Did this just get easier for him? Normally, he would agree with her decision straight up and tell her his mind as well, that they shared the same opinion but he decided to tease this brave woman.
"And why not? Am I not handsome enough?"
"You are," she said in a hurry and bit her tongue, she had spoken too soon which made his lips curve up into a slow smile. She frowned. "You are, but I still would not want to marry you. Your looks do not move me."
"My looks have moved a lot of women. More than can be counted." He tilted his head with a smirk. "So why won't you be moved?"
Mariam rolled her eyes. "I knew you could not be any different. I have met men like you, too proud and arrogant for your own good."
"Proud and arrogant you say?" Omar laughed. "And you are not?"
Mariam turned her head away.
"If I may ask without intruding, is there any reason to your decision of refusing the marriage?"
"There is....." She paused and swallowed. "There is someone I liked."
"Someone you liked?"
"Yes, liked."
"What happened? You do not like him anymore?" He asked.
She looked down with sad eyes and he decided not to probe further, he shoved a hand into his pocket and combed his hair back with the other hand.
"I see. Well there's someone I like too..."
She looked at him. "So you do not want this marriage?"
"I don't." He confirmed.
If he didn't want to marry her also, why go ahead with this?. She wanted to ask but he beat her to it with his next sentence.
"But we are at a disadvantage right now. She is held prisoner somewhere by my father and might be kill harmed if I don't marry you. And I can't afford to lose her."
"Held prisoner by your own father? The Sheikh?"
"Hmm.." He nodded.
Her mind went back to Aadil, she had been afraid to loose him to and they had both succeeded in keeping their affair secret for as long as they could but noting could be hidden under the sun. She knew her father had spared her for the love he had for her but he had also broken her heart. Omar was now in the same situation she had been in and her heart went out to him and his prisoned lover.
"So for her sake, you are willing to marry me?" He nodded. "Then what happens next? You marry her and abandon me?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really think before I act, it's kind of my charm."
"You don't think and that's a charm?" Was he being serious right now? For a moment she had felt for him and now she suddenly began to wonder if this was the same Omar whose intelligence was being praised round Saudi Arabia. She wanted to stab his pride badly. She gritted her teeth in frustration and opened her mouth to speak but his next words left her speechless.
"Take off your abaaya, I want to see what you look like."
It had not been long since Mariam had been excused from the discussion between her father the King, Omar and the Sheikh, she had returned back to her room in anger and just plopped herself down on the bed. The men would still be downstairs talking of the marriage and what not, she didn't want to be stuck in a marriage with the proud and pompous Omar bin Khalid bin Aaban, only son of the Sheikh.She laid down on her bed staring up at the ceiling and not paying any attention to the chattering of Saadiya and Parvina. They had been talking non stop of Omar, most especially Parvina who had made her intentions crystal clear about him; if the marriage didn't work out between him and Mariam, she would convince her mother to talk to her father about the matter. She was after all the daughter of the Queen's step brother, so she stood with just enough chance of getting him as Mariam."So Mariam, what happened? How did it go?" Parvina asked excitedly."Went well." Mariam kept
Megan paced the room, she had been in here for two days without stepping out and was bored already, she really just wanted to leave not just this room but the house as well and possibly leave Saudi Arabia. Was she really going to be locked in here until after Omar's marriage to the princess was completed? The wedding was now only seven days away. She wondered if Omar was really going to marry her? What if he refused and didn't go through with it, what would the Sheikh do to him? More still, what would he do to her?What could he do anyway, being an American citizen had its perks, but she still could not help the fear that claimed her heart whenever the Sheikh was near. She held her chest to feel her heart beat and knew that just by thinking of the Sheikh, it had accelerated a bit. She managed to smile weakly and crashed on the bed tiredly.She just wished Omar would come and assure her that all was well and that he would never leave her. Call her clingy or whatever
Sheikh Khalid bin Aaban was a man of relatively calm nature, and being a Sheikh wasn't a position for the weak. He wasn't weak, he knew that. He was like the calm just before the storm. He was patient and he was understanding, but only when he needed to be and at the same time he was strict and he was brutal but still he believed in tampering justice with mercy until mercy was exhausted. And his mercies didn't usually last long, he never let them to. He relished the fear in people's eyes for him when he was around or when his name was mentioned, it made him feel powerful and powerful was all he wanted to feel.This time, his mercy towards the simple American was wearing thin but still he was calm, having not done anything drastic towards her. At some point he began to wonder if he was softening up. He felt he was giving her and most especially his son too much freedom that they did as they pleased and he knew he had to do something about it. He would do something about it.
Since her last meeting with Omar, Mariam had been unable to keep him out of her thoughts. And she hated it. She hated thinking about him, she hated the sound of his voice revibrating in her thoughts, she hated his image constantly flashing in her memories whenever she closed her eyes. And right now, she hated the fact that she wished to see him. Yes she hated him, at least that was what she told herself and she wanted to believe that. She chose to.The man was witful, handsome and his sense of pride was not actually all that annoying now that she thought of it. It was kind of impressive to have someone praise himself so daringly and without fear. Some of the other suitors before him had either been quite timid before her or they boasted of what they had, what they could acquire and the number of women they had or could get, but Omar hadn't.With his looks and intelligence, Mariam knew for a definite fact that he was well sorted after, she knew that he was aware of that f
Samir Watr-il-Dharah stood on the balcony of the second floor, leaning over the railing and gazing out over the perfectly mowed garden with both hands shoved deep into his pockets. He listened though a pair of bluetooth earpiece to the person on the other end of the line and he smiled a little."I wouldn't want to stress you so much Mr. Hung." He began to pace. "You only entered the country yesterday."As much as Samir wanted to get this project finalized and kicked off soonest, he really didn't want to put others in a position where they felt pressured. Pressure was not exactly good for business, pressure made it easy to make mistakes and he didn't want any mistakes with this project."If you are fully rested then it is no problem, where is your hotel? I will come meet you at the restaurant there so it will be easier for you and we can talk."If he could wrap this up within the week, it would get the burden off him for a while. The funding Mr. Hung would be
Omar wasn't home, Sheikh Khalid knew. So this would be the best time to move the American away, he would take her to another house and deal with Omar's questions later when he returned. Nothing could go wrong with the wedding plans. He would allow absolutely nothing to disrupt his long term plan."You have be summoned by the Sheikh." Megan trembled when Taheem came into the room to call her and she wondered if she had done something which she shouldn't."Can I know why?" She asked, shaken with fear."Only The Sheikh knows why, you would know soon.""Is Omar home?"The rigid man paused then shook his head negatively. Megan swallowed, she feared the Sheikh, which was a wise decision on her part. The man had threatened her life, something she still loved to hold on to. Gathering herself together she left the room and allowed Taheem lead the way.He sat calmly downstairs, his eyes to the front door until he noticed her presence, he smiled at her
Over the sleeping city of Riyadh, the cold dark night settled in, stretching dark grey clouds across the bare sky. Save for the moon which illuminated the empty streets like a bright white bulb hanging freely, there was nothing else in the sky as it was bare of stars. The moon shone like an awakening call to the whisperers and men of the night, bringing within its dark clutches the greed of power and recognition and the ultimate secrecy of royalty; the lost Prince and son of King Faad, the outcast brother to His Highness King Jaan of Saudi Arabia and the man for whom these gatherings has been of top priority for the past years. The hidden man Aazim.Prince Aazim.His place was at the head of the table and seated around were his faithful followers, his powerful men of loyalty who wouldn't hesitate to kill for his cause, and that was what they were to do - kill and eliminate every obstacle in the way of Prince Aazim ascending to the throne as the King of Saudi Arabia
Megan felt sad and broken... and lost and lonely, she just wanted to return to America, to have her sense of sanity back, to be in a familiar environment, to be able to step out whenever she wanted to than to be cooped up in a room in another man's land, in a strange land. She hugged her self as she walked down the halls towards the Sheikh's room, she had just been summoned and all kinds of vibes and emotions and thoughts wrapped around her head and body. She felt them choke her, felt them drain her and she struggled to breathe properly.She relished the feeling that came with waking up on her bed, in her comfortable little apartment, the fresh aroma of the rich coffee and fresh doughnuts which Omar never failed to deliver to her doorstep every morning, she missed that feeling of temporary laziness and being treated like a treasure. Now thinking about it she wondered when last she had tasted coffee. When last did she see Omar?Omar was understanding, he had taken their r