to soothe him. For a brief moment, I wondered if I should open the secret door in the closet that lead to the living room instead of this one, for it was closer to where they were, but thought better of it.
The prince laid his head back, his eyes closed, still not replying to her. Then I saw her as she patted the top of his chest, then smoothed his hair with one movement, starting from his forehead to the middle of his head in a motherly gesture, and then left the room.
This woman’s closeness to him was a bit confusing to me, but I doubted that Mona was his nanny when he was a kid or something of that sort.
I stared at the prince’s troubled form for a few minutes before I decided that enough was enough, and I closed the door as quietly as I’d opened it.
A few hours later, when it was the early hours in the morning, I took the hint that the prince wouldn’t be coming, and the empty feeling I had at the realization wasn’t an easy sensation to bear.
I went to my bed, trying to get some sleep, because I wanted this nightmare of a night to end. Funny that, unlike any other nightmare you’d end it by waking up, I was trying to end mine by falling asleep.
I prayed. Sleep still wouldn’t visit me, and my thoughts and worry for Janna just wouldn’t let me be. So I got up, dropped a fluffy scarf that was on the couch over my shoulders and went to the sunroom.
It was chilly, but I didn’t care, and when the windows opened, it was even colder, but I still didn’t leave it. I sat on the swing and swung myself back and forth lazily.
The night seemed longer than a week, and the quietness around me was so noisy that it hurt my ears. I thought about going to check on the prince, to see if he was alright, but I didn’t do it, feeling as if it wasn’t my place to even feel worried about him.
A while later, I heard the azan, powerful and strong, but quiet and peaceful, just like I’d heard it with the prince on the roof of the palace. I wondered if the prince would come out now to pray. I knew he could do it in any room, so I still might not see him if he decided not to come to our bedroom.
Next, I found myself reaching for the secret door in the sunroom that opened into the kitchen, and without hesitation this time, I went in. My hands touched the black marble counter and I looked around to see if Mona was nearby or would come out of nowhere like last time. I knew she would be awake now to pray. A few minutes passed and as I expected, she came with hurried steps.
“Can I help you with something, Princess? I apologize if you called and I didn’t hear you, I was praying.”
Figured.
“I, um…can we talk for a few minutes, please?” I asked hesitantly.
“Of course, Princess,” she said, I smiled a small smile and then pulled one of the stools and sat on it, waiting for her to do the same, but she didn’t, so I asked her to do so.
“I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you, I promise that hurting the family or even causing problems was never my intention, Mona. Please believe me,” I apologized with quiet voice.
Mona looked at me for a moment, offered me a small smile, then nodded. I wasn’t so sure if she believed me at all; her eyes told me that she wasn’t the one I should be apologizing to–and I knew she was right–but she still said nothing.
“I...um, do you know if Janna is okay?” I asked softly.
I heard her sighing as she looked down, taking a moment of silence before she replied, “She’s stable, may God protect her.”
“Stable? What happened to her? Why was she bleeding? Did Prince Fahd hurt her?” I asked, my heart crying for Janna and whatever she’d gone through, though thankful to learn she was stable, whatever stable meant.
“Uh…it’s not my place to answer those questions, Princess, I’m sorry,” she said in a soft, almost-embarrassed voice as she looked down.
“Look,” I reached with my hand for hers on top of the kitchen table and touched it, “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I swear I will keep whatever you tell me