Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,109

but my wife wanted to do it herself. The gift that she wanted to get at the airport had her country’s spirit in it, like a souvenir. That was the only place she could get it from, and none of the servants would know what she meant, so she had to get it herself,” the prince replied. “And she had my permission to leave; I can’t see what’s wrong in that. Janna had already gotten the queen’s permission for her to leave the wing, and no one would’ve known about it if Jasem hadn’t brought her back the way he did.” His last words were spoken with more venom in them than I’d ever heard him speak before.

Jasem shouted something in Arabic and the king shouted back at him, “Silence!” forcing him to shut up once more. The king’s shouted word caused him to cough hard for a few moments before settling down again.

“Prince Jasem said that she told him she’d pay him not to bring her back to the palace. How do you explain that?” the king asked with a breathless voice.

No way was I getting out of this. Just no freaking way!

The prince was silent for a moment before he replied, “May I bring something to your attention, Your Majesty?”

“You may.”

“Jasem is a liar, a fact the kingdom has known about him since before I was born,” he said. “And the fact that he’s disrespectful to my wife at this very minute by not speaking in her language, and also disrespectful of my orders to do so, shows his disrespect to the entire kingdom–and to you yourself, Your Majesty. Someone this disrespectful, with lying running in his blood, would say anything to trouble us, and we’re already aware of his games.”

“Not true,” Jasem shouted, now finally speaking in English.

“Your Majesty, he dragged my wife here like you would a criminal, and this is insulting on so many levels, something I won’t tolerate. You can ask the guards about the way he brought her here and how he treated her.” The disgust and anger in his tone was clearly voicing the fire that was inside of him.

“Your word is a law, Prince Mazen,” the king said, and the prince held his head high, satisfaction showing on his face. “I won’t ask guards to confirm your words!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The prince nodded his head once, and I fought a smile at the possibility that I was truly getting out of this.

“Prince Jasem,” the king called.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Jasem replied in a low voice.

“Apologize to your future queen for your behavior,” the king ordered.

“But–”

“Now!” the king’s shouted word caused him a new round of coughs.

Jasem walked to stand in front of me and I flinched back once again. Like before, the prince put his hand over my shoulder again, as if he knew what his hand and his touch did to me, sending me the feelings of security and safety that I needed so much. Jasem then bowed his head and kept it down as he did as he was told, “I apologize for the misunderstanding and the way I behaved towards you, Princess Marie.” The evidence of hate toward what he was doing wasn’t lost in his voice–not to mention that he said the word ‘Princess’ as if he was mocking me.

When he looked up at me, the same hate I heard in his voice was clear in his eyes. It sent chills down my spine, but I was able to keep my head held high, probably finding the power from the prince’s closeness and his touch.

“Apology accepted.” I was surprised at how strong and believable my words sounded, even though I never truly accepted his apology. I thought it would be disrespectful for me to not accept it after the king had ordered it to be done.

“Now, if you’ll allow us, Your Majesty, we’ll be heading back to our wing,” the prince said. My heart started thumping fast all over again at the reminder that there were still a lot of things to deal with–the prince for a start.

“Of course, son,” the king replied, but then motioned for me with his hand to come closer, “Come here, Princess Marie.”

I looked up at the prince and he sent me a reassuring look, nodding his head for me to go to him, and I did. I sat on the spot he patted beside him on his bed, and when I did he reached with his hand towards my head and