guard and believing that I would be witnessing his execution with my own eyes very soon.
“All eyes on me!” the prince commanded, and all of the guards looked at him as he stood in front of the guard and then spoke to him. “You weren’t aware the one in the car was my wife. For a reason someone like you should not know–it was her. Not knowing who was with you doesn’t give you the excuse of not protecting her. You were ordered to guard her and drive her safely to the airport, be it a royal or even a servant, you do as you are told!”
The guard was trying really hard to contain himself, but I could swear I was able to hear the thumping of his heartbeat.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The prince took a step closer to him, then reached for the badge over his left shoulder and ripped it, then did the same to the one on his right shoulder.
“If you cannot be trusted with our women, you are not trusted with our land,” the prince said.
“Your Highness, Prince Jasem ordered me to–”
“Prince Jasem has no power over you,” the prince yelled. “You get your orders from me, Prince Mazen Alfaidy, the Crown Prince, or my brother, Prince Fahd, if not from our father, the king of this kingdom, do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Mona!” the prince called the woman who I wouldn’t have expected to be Mona, for she’d had her face cover down when she entered the room a few minutes ago. “Hand me the scarf.”
Mona walked up to him and gave him the black scarf that was in her hand, and I wondered if he would strangle him with it, or what. It was a really scary and troubling thing to watch and wait for.
The prince reached with his hand again, but this time it was for the hat on the now ex-guard’s head. He shrugged it off of his head and let it drop to the floor, then offered him the scarf.
“Put it on,” the prince ordered, at which Bassel’s eyes widened at his words.
“Your Highness?” I could hear the terror on his voice.
God!
“If you can’t protect our women, then you won’t be treated as a man. Do as you’re told.”
From the tears that sparkled in his eyes as he obeyed, I knew this to be the most humiliating thing for him to do. Still, he did it. And it was a really saddening thing to see.
“Go home, you’re discharged from the army. You won’t be working in anything related to the security of the kingdom or its people whatsoever from now on,” he said. “You,” he pointed to one of the guards, who ran to stand in front of him. “Follow him. He’s not allowed to get any ride to his house, and make sure he keeps the scarf on until he arrives there.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The guard walked out with Bassel, his scarfed head hanging down in humiliation and I felt so bad for him, but then thought it was better than him being killed or punished with something else. Or maybe not…
“All of you, listen to me. This is my wife, your future queen. If anyone touches a hair on her head in your presence, I won’t order you to cover your heads, I will CUT THEM OFF. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” they said in unison, and I thought my eyes couldn’t get any wider.
“I will repeat it in the language you understand better so I’m sure that my order is clear, because I won’t take any excuses ever again in regards my wife’s safety and her honor,” he said and then did speak in Arabic, to which they replied again with something I understood to be confirmation to what they’d heard.
Right when they said the words, I heard clapping coming from behind me. I frowned, turning my head to look at the source of the sound, only to find it was the monster standing by the main door we’d come from. The stupid and silly look on his face made him look even more ridiculous than he already was.
“Bravo,” the monster commented.
“Oh, Jasem, how nice of you to join us, I was just about to call for you,” the prince said with a fake smile that told of disgust rather than anger. The next thing I knew, the prince was moving in fast and long steps in Jasem’s direction so that I had to step away, and then had him by the