Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,76

that I couldn’t handle it, but not as if I had done nothing. I made a mental note that I should go back to working out often. Well, if I ever found the time for it, that is.

“Wow!” was all I could say. The sight from the top of the mountain was better than anything I’d even seen in this kingdom: it was the kingdom itself.

Not better than the sight of the prince with Salma and Thunder, but still…

From my spot, I was able to see the tiny lights of the city in the very far distance, the city that I knew to be the capital of the kingdom. It was an amazing view; all I could see were organized lights and neat buildings that looked so tiny I could fit them between my thumb and pointer finger–but it looked fantastic nonetheless.

“Come here, Princess,” I heard the prince saying, pulling me away from my haze and making me aware of my mouth hanging widely open.

I moved to where he was standing and he took me by the hand to a place a few feet away, in the opposite direction to where I had been standing. “No way!” I said excitedly as I went toward the object he was leading me to. “A telescope?”

“Enjoy yourself,” he smiled.

And enjoy myself I did. There was some sand stuck to the lens and I buffed the heck out of it until it was clearer. I looked around, here and there, smiling at the really nice view in front of me, perfect buildings and almost empty streets. A minute later, my smile dropped as my eyes settled on something I couldn’t believe I was seeing. A huge pang of familiarity and longing hit me hard on the chest at the sight. I was sure I was imagining it, but more staring told me I really wasn’t. But how could it be?

“Uh…is that…” was all I could say.

“Is that what? What are you looking at?” the prince asked.

“Is that a cross?” I finally said.

“Where?”

I moved a little to show him and he placed his head where mine had been, looking through the telescope himself.

“Yep. That’s a church.”

“Seriously?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, there are like twenty or something around here.”

“Twenty? Really?”

He nodded, frowning a little.

“Why?”

“Why what, Princess?”

“Why do you have them? Who goes there?”

I bet it’s empty.

“People go there!”

“Why would you build churches for ‘people’? Don’t you have like Muslim churches or something?”

“Er…that’s a mosque or masjed for you, not ‘Muslim churches.’Christians would prefer to pray in churches instead of masjeds, don’t you think?”

“Christians? You mean the ones who come to visit or whatever? But why build so many for them?”

“Oh! I think you’re not aware of the fact that twenty-three percent of my country’s population are Christians, Princess?”

“What? You mean like…natives?”

The prince chuckled. “Yes. ‘Natives.’ Christian-Arabs. What? You thought that Arabs could only be Muslims?”

I didn’t reply, only gaped in disbelief.

“We have several religions in the kingdom, Princess. The majority are Muslims, yes, but still.”

“Huh!”

“Enjoy the sight,” he smiled and walked back a few steps, then sat down on the ground.

I gazed at the church again from the telescope, trying to take in what he’d said. I’d never really thought about it before and I was kind of shocked to learn that Arabs could be something other than Muslims. Though when Joseph had told me about Janna, I’d hoped that somehow she would be Christian. But then again, I had already admitted to myself that I barely knew anything at all about Arabs or Muslims, for that matter. It was really…I didn’t even know.

Sometime later, I walked back to the prince and sat beside him on the ground. He was now resting his back against the mountain so he was half-sitting with his hands folded behind his head, his eyes focused up.

“What are you looking at?” I asked him dumbly.

“The sky.”

I sat back a little and watched it with him, the same beauty I’d noticed from the sunroom; if it wasn’t a crazy thing to consider, I would’ve said the full moon looked bigger from here.

I rubbed my arms with my hands a bit when the weather started to become a bit uncomfortable, and the prince sat up. “Are you cold?” he asked.

“A little,” I replied honestly, and it seemed to upset him.

“That’s why I wanted you to wear the abaya: it was the thickest thing I could find. I knew this was going to happen.” He stood up and motioned for me to take his