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Or perhaps he was just in shock. Yes, that had to be it. Shock.
But if he wasn’t careful the moment to act would have passed. And if he wasn’t capable of taking action, then she’d do it for him. ‘What Mal is trying to say is that—’
‘I can’t marry you, Your Highness.’ Kalila blurted the words out. ‘It’s too late.’
Avery closed her eyes. ‘Of course it’s not too late! Honestly, you shouldn’t make hasty decisions, Kalila. You need some time to think about this. And when you’ve talked it through I’m sure you’ll change your mind because Mal is a fantastic catch for any girl and you’re really lucky.’
‘This is nothing to do with His Royal Highness—’ Kalila avoided Mal’s gaze ‘—I don’t want to be the Sultan’s wife. I’d be hopeless. I’m shy and I’m not an interesting person.’
Avery gave Mal a look, expecting him to contradict her and when he didn’t, she took over. ‘That is not true at all. Just because you’re shy doesn’t mean you’re not interesting.’
‘You have no idea how hard I find it in crowds. And the Prince doesn’t want to marry a mute. He gets really impatient when I don’t speak.’
‘Of course he doesn’t!’ Avery drove her elbow into Mal’s ribs to prompt him to speak but he remained ominously silent. ‘Mal loves you just the way you are.’ Her less than subtle hint went unrewarded.
‘He doesn’t love me,’ Kalila stammered, her face scarlet, ‘he loves you.’
Silence filled the tent.
Avery felt as if someone was choking her. She lifted her hand to her throat, but there was nothing there, of course. Nothing she could loosen to help her breathing. ‘That isn’t true. He loves you. He asked you to marry him!’
‘He asked you first.’
Oh, for crying out loud. ‘No, he didn’t, actually.’ Avery spoke through her teeth. ‘I don’t know what you’ve heard, but that was all a big misunderstanding. You don’t know the details.’ And why wasn’t Mal telling her the truth? Putting her right?
‘I do know the details. I was there. I heard what he said. I heard him have a row with that horrible man who runs that oil production company and thinks he’s irresistible—’
Avery frowned, confused. ‘Richard?’
‘Yes, him. He told Mal that you were planning his party and he was going to have you as a bonus. Mal was so angry he punched him. And when he dragged him out of the dirt where he’d knocked him, he told him that he was going to marry you and that you wouldn’t be able to run any parties for him, now or in the future, personal or otherwise.’
Avery discovered that her mouth was open.
Slowly, she turned her head to look at Mal, waiting for him to deny it, but still he said nothing. Apart from a faint streak of colour across his cheekbones, he made no response.
Confusion washed over her. She knew he hadn’t loved her. He’d proposed to Kalila within weeks of them parting. ‘You misunderstood.’
‘I was there,’ Kalila said quietly. ‘There was no misunderstanding. It’s the only time anyone has seen Mal lose his cool.’
‘Well, Richard can be a very annoying person. I’ve almost lost my cool with him a million times.’ Dismissing the incident as a display of male jealousy, Avery forced herself back to the immediate situation. ‘He was obviously trying to wind Mal up and he succeeded, which is why he said all that about marriage … That doesn’t have any impact on what is going on here. Of course he wants to marry you. We’ve just spent two days chasing through the desert trying to find you.’
Kalila looked at her steadily. ‘Together.’
‘Not together as such—’ Avery felt her cheeks darken as she thought about their night in the tent ‘—just because that’s the way it worked out.’
‘He went straight to you with the problem because he loves you and trusts you.’
‘He came straight to me because he thought I might know where you were! That doesn’t mean he loves me. He doesn’t! I’d be a terrible Sultan’s wife. Actually I’d be a terrible wife, full stop. I don’t have any of the qualities necessary, in particular the fundamental one of actually wanting to get married.’ She was stammering, falling over her words like a child practising public speaking for the first time, exasperated by Kalila’s insistence that Mal loved her. ‘We’re just friends. And not even that, most of the time.’
Mal remained silent.
Why on earth didn’t he speak? And why couldn’t Kalila stop talking?
‘You’re the only woman he’s ever loved,’ she said. ‘He was just marrying me for political reasons. Because it was agreed between our families.’
‘Well, political
reasons are as good a justification for marriage as any. I’ve known many fine, successful marriages that started from a lot less than that—’
