the private garden, which was still a terribly sad place with all the dead plants around.
Somehow, she managed to find her way back to the west wing, passing right by Atnan’s forbidden office. She stopped there, staring at the closed door.
Atnan had told her that the room was off-limits, but there was so much she wanted to know about him, so much more she wanted to understand. Would he be angry with her if she snooped a little? She wouldn’t have to reveal anything she found in there if she didn’t want to. After all, what could he have done that warranted hiding from her?
Glancing around and finding the corridors empty, as she knew they would be, she placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it. She was met with force, the door clearly locked.
“Hmm,” she hummed to herself, taking a step back and eyeing the door.
So he had been concerned enough to lock it, even though no one was in the palace but herself, and she hadn’t known that the room had existed until the night before. What was he trying to hide?
Lily’s curiosity raged as she gazed around the area, her eyes landing on a loose-looking floorboard off to the side of the staircase.
“No way…” she whispered, walking over and lifting the piece of wood.
Underneath, there was a small silver key glinting atop another piece of wood. Lily felt a hunger to know just what Atnan deemed worth hiding behind that door. She took the key and pressed it into the hole—a perfect fit. Turning it, she felt the lock unclick, and she hesitated.
A feeling of foreboding washed over her, and she wondered if she was better off leaving it alone. Atnan was entitled to his secrets. Who was she to barge in on them? Should she wait to let him tell her in his own time?
Would he ever?
Realizing she’d come too far not to press on, she brushed her doubts aside, pressed open the door, and stepped inside.
The air was a bit cooler in that room, as though temperature controlled. There was a large desk in the center that was covered with newspaper clippings, and as Lily gazed around, she realized there were newspapers and notes plastered over every inch of the four walls surrounding her.
Her nerves quivered as she walked around, trying to pick out a newspaper column to read. She finally found one that had a large picture of a frowning Atnan on the front. She began to read.
Police are still hunting for disgraced Sheikh Atnan Shadid after he was found harassing a local woman in a public square. The Sheikh has been indicted for public indecency and harassment by the chief of police, Kaveh Tahan. When asked for comment, Chief Tahan was blunt in his remarks.
“While I am saddened and disheartened by Atnan’s behavior, rest assured that he will be brought to justice. I can only say that I am ashamed to call him my brother. No further questions.”
If the Sheikh is found guilty, there is a chance he will lose his claim to the throne and that it will instead pass to Chief Tahan, who has reluctantly claimed that he would uphold that position were it to fall to him.
The Sheikh’s father was unable to be reached for a comment.
Lily’s blood turned to ice as she read article after article calling for Atnan to relinquish his claim to the throne. Legal papers smattered his desk, defense arguments that looked shaky at best and incriminatory at worst. Lily realized in that moment that Atnan was lying to her, perhaps even seducing her to keep her quiet.
A wave of panic flooded her heart and she ran from the room. She found her way to the back garden and fled the palace as fast as her bare feet could take her. When she reached the garden’s edge, a small gate opened to a vast sea of desert. Unable to consider spending another moment with a man who might harm her, she wiped a stream of tears from her eyes as she opened the gate and sprinted out into the desert.
She ran for some time, even in the heat of the morning sun. Her mind was a blur of images, first Atnan caressing her cheek, then looking at her in adoration, and lastly the image of him glaring out at her from the black-and-white newspaper article. The truth was, she had been foolish to let her guard down with him. He was practically a stranger, and