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They entered the room the women had just vacated on a tide of welcoming chatter and questions. Fortunately everybody seemed to speak at least some English. Children joined their mothers in the crowd surrounding Ruby. There was an incredible amount of noise. Most of the men standing around in the big room attempted to act as though they were not as curious about Raja’s bride as their womenfolk were. One tall young man made no such attempt at concealment and he strode across the room to seize her hand and shake it with a formality at odds with his wide grin and assessing eyes. ‘Raja said you were even more gorgeous than you looked in your photo and he was right. I’m his brother, Haroun,’ he told her cheerfully.
Ruby thought that it was heartening to know that Raja paid her compliments behind her back that he would never have dreamt of making to her face. Was he afraid she might get big-headed? Or did compliments fall under the dubious heading of romance? Or did a woman in a platonic relationship just not qualify for such ego-boosting frills? Haroun looked like a smaller, slighter, younger version of his big brother and he was rather more light-hearted, for he was cracking politically incorrect jokes about Ashur within seconds. Drinks and snacks were served by uniformed staff and Raja’s sisters, Amineh and Hadeel, were quick to come and speak to her.
‘You are very beautiful,’ Hadeel, a tall, shapely woman in her mid-twenties, told her with an admiring smile. ‘And a much more suitable match for my brother than your unfortunate cousin.’
‘Am I?’ Ruby studied her sister-in-law hopefully. ‘I never met my cousin so I know nothing about her.’
‘Bariah was thirty-seven years old and a widow,’ Amineh told her wryly.
‘But she was also a very good and well-respected woman,’ Hadeel hastened to add, clearly afraid that her sister might have caused offence.
Ruby, however, was just revelling in the promise of such indiscreet gossip. She had missed that aspect of female companionship and felt that when Raja’s sisters were willing to be so frank with her it boded well for her future relationship with them. Learning that Bariah had been eight years older than Raja and had also been married before was something Ruby could have found out for herself from Wajid, but she had been too proud to reveal her curiosity and ask more questions. She met Amineh’s and Hadeel’s husbands and a whole gaggle of children followed by a long parade of more distant relatives. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and she was thoroughly relaxed by the time that Raja came to find her. He explained that his father found large family gatherings very tiring and that he was waiting in the next room to meet her in private.
King Ahmed was in a wheelchair and frail in appearance. He had Raja’s eyes and white hair and, although he spoke only a few words of English, his quiet smile and the warm clasp of his hand were sufficient to express his acceptance of Ruby as the latest member of his extensive family. Ruby was surprised to learn that Raja had already told his father about Leyla and their plans. The older man was warmly supportive of their intentions and talked at some length about his sadness over the suffering and disruption inflicted on families during the war.
‘I didn’t realise that you were so close to your father that you would already have told him about Leyla,’ Ruby commented on the way back into the party at the end of their audience with the king.
Raja laughed. ‘No matter where I am in the world we talk on the phone every day. I think he would have been very shocked to hear the news about Leyla from anyone else!’
‘I wish I’d known my father,’ Ruby confided, feeling a slight nauseous lurch in her stomach and tensing slightly, for she had assumed her tummy upset at the start of the day had gone away and she didn’t want it revisiting her while she was in company.
Raja paused to look down at her with his dramatic, dark, deep-set eyes. ‘The loss was his, Ruby. I fear that you suffered because he and your mother parted on bad terms.’
‘Well, after what he did to Mum, naturally they did.’
‘The story of your background that I heard suggested that your mother was aware that your father might well take another wife after they were married. It was a lifestyle practised by several of your ancestors over the past hundred years,’ Raja told her quietly. ‘Perhaps your mother didn’t understand what she was getting into when she agreed to marry him.’
‘That’s very possible…’ Ruby focused wide brown eyes on him that were suddenly full of dismay. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t ask you but—’
Raja laughed and rested a silencing forefinger against her parted lips. ‘No, do not ask me that question, habibi. I would be mortally offended. One wife has always been sufficient for the men in my family and the thought of more than one of you is actually quite unnerving.’
‘Unnerving? How?’ Ruby demanded and just at that moment her fractious insides clenched and went to war with her dignity again. Forced to hurry off to the nearest cloakroom, Ruby was so embarrassed by her digestive weakness that her eyes flooded with tears. Her mood was not improved when Raja’s sisters insisted on waiting outside the door for her to ensure that she was all right, for she would rather have suffered the sickness without a concerned audience close by.
When the emergency was over, she was ushered into the building that acted as Raja’s secluded home within the rambling fortress. He had his own staff, one of whom showed her up a flight of stairs to a superbly decorated bedroom suite. It was a relief to slip off her shoes there and lie down on top of the bed. A drink reputed to soothe a troubled stomach was brought to her and a little while after that as her tension eased and she relaxed she began feeling fine and eventually and surprisingly rather hungry.
A pair of Saluki hounds trotting at his heels, Raja walked in to study her from the foot of the bed. Hermione had accompanied them and the little dog jumped up at the side of the bed to nuzzle her cold nose against Ruby’s hand, the Salukis following to make her acquaintance. ‘Oh, they’re beautiful, Raja!’ Ruby exclaimed, leaning out of bed to pat their silky heads. ‘Do they belong to you?’
‘Yes. Hermione seems to like them well enough. How are you feeling?’ Raja asked
‘Great now, believe it or not,’ she told him with a hesitant smile. ‘I’m going to have a shower and then I’d like something to eat. I’m sorry about all the fuss.’
‘Are you sure that you’re feeling well enough to get up?’
Ruby slid easily off the bed and scolded Hermione for trying to jump up on it. She could not help noticing that Raja’s dogs, who had retreated to sit by the
door, seemed to be very well trained. ‘Very sure.’
‘I’ll order a meal.’
‘Haven’t you eaten either?’
‘I wanted to see how you were first.’
Ruby checked out the dressing room in search of her wrap and found the closets and drawers were already packed with unfamiliar clothes in her sizes. ‘That’s some new wardrobe you’ve bought me!’ she called to Raja.
‘It won’t matter what you wear. You will still out-shine every outfit,’ Raja responded huskily.
Ruby was surprised by that tribute. A flowing blue negligee set draped over one arm, she emerged from the dressing room to study him, the colour of awareness lighting up her face. Having discarded his traditional robe, he was in the act of changing into designer jeans and a shirt. The fluid grace and strength of that muscular physique of his still had enough impact to take her breath away. It didn’t matter how much exposure she had to Raja al-Somari, he still had the power to trip her heartbeat inside her and make her mouth run dry with excitement.
‘Shower,’ she reminded herself a little awkwardly.
The bathroom was as palatial as the bedroom and the invigorating beat of the water from multi-jets restored her energy levels. She wondered how Raja had tolerated the weak water flow of the old-fashioned shower in their suite of rooms in Ashur. Since her arrival in Najar she had come to realise that he was accustomed to a lifestyle in which every possible modern convenience and luxury was available to ensure the last word in comfort. She admired him for not having uttered a single complaint while he was forced to stay in the palace in Ashur.
When she returned to the bedroom Raja was talking on the phone in Arabic. He glanced up and then stilled to stare, lustrous dark eyes flaming gold at the sight of her. A wealth of blonde hair falling round her lovely face, her slim shapely figure framed by the flowing blue nightwear, she was a picture. With an abstracted final word he concluded his call and pushed the phone into his pocket.
