Altair - Marian Tee Page 0,43

had no chance to reply, with the older man already stepping out to open the door for her.

"The media has already caught wind of Sheikh Mahmud's disappearance," Major Asad said gently. "While we would like to think that the public knows better than to hold you accountable for your father's actions, it is also best not to leave anything to chance."

Safiya swallowed back an instinctive protest and reminded herself that the older man was only doing his job. She forced a smile instead and bowed her head. "Khalis alshukr, Major Asad."

The words translated to 'my sincere thanks' and, the formal expression of gratitude had Major Asad grunting and coughing in an effort to hide his embarrassment. He was not used to having a princess thank him so, and to distract both of them, he gruffly suggested that he take Safiya to the sheikh. That was the plan at least, but both of them came to an awkward halt when a woman burst past the palace doors before crashing into a stop before them.

Safiya could only blink when the woman's gaze turned venomous at the sight of her. There was something...something about this woman that was vaguely and vividly familiar at the same time. She was absolutely certain she had seen this woman before, but when and where, she couldn't quite remember.

Major Asad, on the other hand, had no trouble recognizing the other woman. Agent 53 worked for the palace's secret service, and the only reason he knew this was because they had once been assigned to the same case.

It was, however, all he knew about her; everything else had been beyond his pay grade, and since Major Asad came from a strictly middle-class family, neither did he recognize 53 from her days as a private citizen. Oblivious as he was to the relationship between 53 and the sheikh, the older man did not see anything to worry about when the female agent volunteered to escort the princess to the war room.

53 could feel herself shaking with barely-controlled rage as she strove to keep her face expressionless while the soldier bowed and took his leave.

Safiya became uneasy when the other woman suddenly started to walk without saying a word, and she was forced to hurry forward to catch up. In moments, the woman whom Major Asad simply referred to as "53" had led her down a hallway and straight into an empty drawing room.

Her uneasiness grew when she saw 53 lock the door. "Eafi?" Excuse me? While her instincts told her the woman was in no way evil, Safiya also knew that something was not completely right—-

"Don't you fucking think you've won, you bitch!"

53 saw the princess whiten, and her lip curled in disgust at how pathetic the other girl was. "He was mine before you even knew him," 53 snarled, "and he's going to be mine again. The only reason Altair is keeping you around is because he thinks he can still find use for you. But once your father and the people he's working with are behind bars, Altair will—-" 53 saw the tears start to fall down the princess' cheeks, and the sight just made her fucking snap.

"Don't you dare cry!"

53 could not stop herself from screaming.

"Don't you dare fucking cry when you had everything and I was raped—-"

The princess suddenly snatched 53's hand. "I'm g-glad—-"

53 lost her mind in rage.

That the princess actually dared to say she was glad—-

53's hand struck Safiya's cheek with such force that it had her face snapping to the other side, and she felt the corner of her lip start to bleed.

But even so.

She didn't give a damn.

Wasn't even the slightest bit angry.

But when Safiya turned to the other woman to speak, tears still rushing down her face, she hadn't even a chance to say a single word.

A cry escaped her as 53 clawed at her and ripped her necklace off her throat.

53 released a maniacal laugh at the look of shock on the princess' face. "You fucking idiot! This is fake, Your Fucking Highness." She threw the broken chain on the floor and spat at it. "Show it to any fucking historian or expert you know, and they'll tell you the truth. That necklace is as fucking fake as your relationship with the sheikh. So if you actually think he loved you—-"

I did, Safiya thought numbly.

"Then you're an even bigger and more ambitious fool than I gave you credit for," 53 sneered.

Safiya's shame knew no bounds as she felt the other