Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
As soon as the door closed behind the technician, Rayyan asked sharply, “Wasn't Kahveci the traitor executed fifteen years ago for leading a coup against King Khalid?” And if he recalled correctly, the palace had then covered everything up and made the man’s death appear an accident to save his family from public disgrace.
“Yes, that is him,” Altair said grimly, “and it is the Kahvecis’ coat of arms engraved on the hilt.”
“You are certain of this?” Khalil questioned.
“Not only am I certain of this, but I’m equally certain that his dagger had not left his clan’s possession.”
And with Altair’s confirmation, the four other Al-Atassi sheikhs came to understand that the woman so bravely defending the queen in the failed revolt could only be one of the two daughters the palace had rescued from Sidqi’s residence. The older girl had been eleven at that time while the younger one had been four, and when the palace had found them, both girls had been severely malnourished. Apparently, starvation had been one of their father’s favorite forms of punishment.
“It can’t be Hyacinth.” Rayyan’s tone was hard as he referred to the younger of Sidqi’s daughters, the very same woman who now interned for him as his personal assistant.
“You’re certain of this?” the king asked in an equally hard voice.
“Nem.”
The other sheikhs exchanged quiet looks of interest at their cousin’s clipped tone. As the five men trusted each other implicitly, none of them had any problems taking Rayyan’s word for truth. Even so, one question remained in their minds: how was Rayyan so sure of the girl’s whereabouts that night?
It was a puzzle worth mulling over, but for now the other sheikhs put the matter aside. There were more pressing issues at hand, and time was far from being on their side. That it had taken the palace two long, frustrating years to gather sufficient evidence on the failed revolt still chafed at them, and they were still no closer to identifying the true culprits behind the attack. For now, the sheikhs were concentrating on identifying who was and wasn’t on their side—-
And the courageous woman who hid her face behind the silver niqab was definitely fighting in their corner.
Staring at the woman with flashing violet eyes on the screen, Tarif tried to summon her image to mind now that he had the necessary clues to her identity.
Hyacinth’s older half-sister was the queen’s former tutor as well as Kyria’s, wasn’t it? And her name was...Anisah? As soon as he thought of the name, a vivid picture flashed in the sheikh’s mind: a tall, slender woman wearing stern-looking, black-rimmed glasses and perpetually dressed in a dark-colored abaya.
“Harper never spoke of this to me,” Tarif heard his king murmur thoughtfully.
Malik snorted. “Are you truly expecting otherwise? You know how Anisah hates any kind of fanfare.”
“That’s true,” Rayyan acknowledged. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she had asked the queen to not speak of her involvement.”
Altair smirked. “Actually, I wouldn’t even be surprised if Anisah threatened our queen with a two-hundred-point test if Her Majesty so much as hinted of her heroics.”
The four sheikhs laughed while Tarif’s puzzlement grew.
Something wasn’t fucking right here.
“Why do you all know her so well,” Tarif questioned, “and I don’t?” His cousins’ laughter abruptly died down, but Tarif wasn’t fooled at all. This time, he had a feeling that all four men were silently laughing...at him.
“Well?” Tarif’s tone was now testy. “Just fucking spill it.”
Khalil let out a polite cough. “There’s, err, nothing to spill.”
“Like I’d fucking believe that.” And when the other four sheikhs grinned, Tarif knew he was right in suspecting the lie in the king’s words.
“She’s been living and working here since she was eighteen,” Malik began.
Tarif’s eyes bored through Malik’s. “That still doesn’t explain things.” Hundreds of people lived within the palace’s vast compound, and he knew all of them as well as the other sheikhs did. So why was it that this Anisah was different? How was it that all of his cousins appeared to be so familiar with her, and he alone was not?
“Do you really want the truth?” Altair asked finally.
“What else do you think I’ve been asking for from the—-”
The king interrupted him, saying simply, “She doesn’t like you.”
“I think she used the word ‘immature’ when describing you,” Rayyan put forward solemnly.
“I believe she also said something about our brother being a man who has no business in the courtroom since he spends too much time hopping from one bedroom to another,” Altair mused.
“A disgrace to the palace,” Malik drawled. “I distinctly recall her saying this as well.”
And then Tarif said very slowly, “I see.”
The four other sheikhs’ amusement disappeared in a flash.
That tone was not good...for Anisah.
“Do not take her words personally,” the king said immediately.
“You chose to portray yourself as a playboy,” Rayyan asserted. “It’s not her fault she sees you the way the rest of the world sees you.”