Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,142
without him. Or at least, I would try.
“Mona!” I called, moving my hand down my hair and rubbing the back of my neck.
“Yes, Princess,” she smiled brightly once she stepped into the room. “Can I get you anything?” She brought me fluffy slippers from underneath the bed and put them beside the bed on the floor, near where I would put my feet once I got out of bed.
“What time is it?” I asked, stretching, not caring about my nudeness in front of her.
“Eleven-thirty.”
“Ah! I overslept,” I said, getting out of bed. Mona hurriedly brought me a silky blue robe that was on the hanger beside the window. As she helped me put it on, I noticed that her eyes were on the bed, looking closely as if she was searching for something.
I shrugged it off and asked her, “Prepare me a bath, please.”
“Of course,” she said and started making her way to the bathroom before she stopped and turned. “Um, do you wish me to put some herbs in the tub, Princess?” she asked, a soft smile on her lips and a pink blush on her cheeks.
I frowned. Why would I want herbs in th–…Oh!
“No, Mona, that won’t be necessary,” I replied, realizing that she thought I’d had sex with the prince last night, and that was why she’d been eyeing the sheets a minute ago–maybe because of how I was dressed, or because I’d ignored her knocks last night, or whatever.
Nothing happened! Was what I told her between my words, and I knew she heard it well, because her smile fell before nodding and going to make me the bath.
“Is the masjed far from the palace?” I asked Mona, as I sipped on my coffee. It had only been half an hour since he’d left and I already wanted him back.
“No, Princess, it’s not far, you can see it from the sunroom, if you wish,” she told me, as she finished making the bed.
I nodded as I chewed my food hurriedly so I could reply to her. “Please!” I said eagerly.
Inside the sunroom, I stood beside Mona in front of one of the glass walls on the side, watching as she pointed out the enormous building that was the masjed. It was nearby, standing at the corner of the garden that surrounded the palace from the inside. We watched as a large number of men entered the main door. It looked like our church on a Sunday, and that made me smile, disliking the fact that I had missed it last week because it was the day of the wedding. I had no idea if there were any churches here, but doubted I could’ve understood anything anyway even if I’d managed to get to one.
I had to ask, “Is it only men who are allowed there?” because I couldn’t see any women entering.
“No, Princess, we are. It’s just...it’s mandatory for men, but it’s the women’s choice if they want to go or not.”
“Oh! I see,” was my reply.
“Ah! Finally!” Mona said after a minute of silence, making me frown and look where she was looking.
“Finally what?”
“The princesses are leaving the palace,” she pointed toward the other side, and I could see a few women covered from head to toe in black. “They’ve been sleeping over since before the wedding,”
I giggled. “How can you even tell they are princesses?”
“Oh, trust me, Princess,” she said, and then pointed, “Do you see the one in the front who’s just about to get into the car?”
“Uh-huh…?”
“That is Princess Talia, always showing a part of what she’s wearing underneath her cloak as she walks. Nobody does that except her, and she always has her younger cousins following her like sheep,” she said, seemingly not fond of her–which I liked a lot.
Talia! That was the devil’s name, I remembered.
“Uh, the prince’s fiancée, right?” I asked, my heart in my throat as I waited for her answer, because God knows if the prince had lied to me about that…
Mona looked at me as if I’d grown two heads. “Fiancée? Of course not! She wishes!” was Mona’s reply, which caused me to start breathing again. “Who told you that she was?”
“Um, when I was in the king’s wing waiting for the prince, I told Prince Fahd I didn’t want to stay alone, and he said he’d bring one of the princesses to keep me company, an–”
“And of course Princess Talia volunteered so she could bother you,” Mona interrupted, finishing my words for me while assuming correctly.