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‘Ladies and gentlemen. My family and I are honoured that you could be here tonight. For some, it may have seemed like a long time coming,’ he acknowledged to the gentle murmur rippling across the guests. ‘However, I truly believe that my brother and Samira deserved such consideration. The...hole they left in the lives of their family and friends is immeasurable and it was important to respect that grief. Faizan and Samira touched so many lives. They didn’t just merge two families, but they brought two countries together and two beautiful princesses into this world.
‘Growing up with Faizan was no mean feat,’ he said, to the slight laughter of the crowd. ‘He was focused, driven, bright, intelligent, compassionate. And I can see those qualities already in Nadya and Nayla. Faizan always knew what legacy he wanted to leave behind him. One of peace in the present and hope for the future. Hope not just for his people, but his planet. And Samira? She was always smiling, always ready to be the balance in disagreements, always ready to bridge the gap between her husband the Prince and the man who loved his family and his people above all else. Samira and Faizan were proud, loving and very conscious of their countries.
‘She was the bridge and he the river that ran deep beneath it and that is how I, and I hope all of you, will remember them.’
He stepped back from the stage and allowed the lights to dim. The gentle hum of excitement building from the crowd momentarily stopped in awe when they saw the first images from the holographic display.
Khalif heard the words of his pre-recorded voice-over explain about the area between Duratra and Udra that had long since been abandoned. It was a kind of no man’s land where the river, coming from the Red Sea, cut between Duratra and Samira’s home country.
The hologram showed images of what the country looked like now and slowly how the area would be cleared, cleaned and prepared for what was to come. Over the next few minutes, the graphics showed a bridge being built over the river between the two neighbouring countries. Beautiful plants and lush greenery developed along both sides of the banks as well as each side of the wide bridge. Oohs and aahs came from the audience as they could see the trees grow, healthy and strong and high on top of the bridge.
‘There will be no cars or vehicles in the area. It will be completely pedestrianised. Wildlife will be introduced—birds, insects and eventually larger animals—all cared for by specially trained staff who will provide guided free tours for any visitor.
‘It will be a sanctuary. A place for people to come and honour the memory of Faizan and Samira, and the investment in the future that was always so very important to them. It is the paradise they would have wanted for their children, and it is what their children wanted to honour and remember their parents.’
His family needed this, his country needed—deserved—stability, unity, cohesion and healing and he knew deep down in his bones that this would be the first step.
Khalif looked out into the audience, touched by the overwhelming emotion he felt rising up to meet his own. Goosebumps pebbled his skin and he thought that he saw a flash of red, looking up in time to see the movement of a curtain at the balcony near the private suites on the upper level.
‘Uncle Kal... Uncle Kal!’
He turned just in time to catch Nadya, who had thrown herself at him in wild abandon.
‘You had the birds!’ Nadya’s voice was a little muffled from where her face was pressed against his stomach and she gripped his waist like a limpet. Nayla, the shyer of the two, stood with a massive grin and wide eyes showing her delight, standing with one foot tucked behind the other.
‘And flowers,’ he said to her, and she nodded enthusiastically.
‘Will it be bright blue and pink like the hologriff?’
Kal didn’t have the heart to correct her. ‘Well, maybe we can speak to the designers about that. We have quite a bit to do before we get to that point.’
Over his nieces’ heads, he saw his parents making their way towards him. Unease stirred briefly but then he grounded himself. He knew that he had done the right thing—not because it pleased everyone, but because he felt it in his gut. The memorial would be doing the right thing by his nieces and by Faizan and Samira.
‘My son,’ his mother, Hafsa, greeted him, her eyes crinkling the fine lines at the corners into fans. He wasn’t sure whether it was a consequence of losing his brother, or valuing the family he did have and the love he felt for them, but his heart felt torn—between being here with his family and being with the woman upstairs. And he knew that neither deserved half a heart.
It took him an hour to extricate himself from the gala, but he couldn’t have said that he’d tried too hard. He had felt it. Something in the air had shifted. A kind of knowledge, or awareness, had begun to creep over him, without him knowing specifically what it was. He just knew that he had to get to Star.
His heart was pounding as he made his way through the private areas of the palace, but his footsteps were slow and purposeful. Something inside him was roaring to get out, but he hardly made a sound. He smiled at the staff and few family members he passed, though in his mind’s eye he saw only one thing...one person.
He closed the door to his suite behind him and stopped. He inhaled the scent of her on the air, wondering if that might be the last time he did so. He didn’t have to look, to know that she was out on the balcony. She loved that view almost as much as he did.
He took two steps into the room and paused. Letting himself see her. The way her hair twisted in the gentle desert breeze. From this angle she stood at the balcony amongst the stars and he bit his lip to stop himself from saying something, not wanting to spoil the moment—for her or him.
She turned slightly to the side, as if sensing his presence, and wiped at something on her cheek that he didn’t quite see, so caught up in the sight of her.
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked.
‘I live here,’ he said, but the joke fell flat. ‘I was worried.’
‘About the presentation?’
‘No, that went well. Really well.’ He closed the distance between them as she turned to face him fully. ‘Everyone loved it.’
‘Of course they did.’ She smiled and his heart ached at the easy acceptance and surety ringing in her voice. ‘You should probably get back,’ she insisted, ‘it’s still early.’
‘I was wrong,’ he said, offering her all that he could. ‘To ask you to stay here.’
‘You weren’t and you know it,’ she replied without malice or anger. This was Star as he’d never seen her before. Regal, poised and absolutely breathtaking. And that was when he saw the necklace, the double strands of the chain on either side of the pendant making it something strangely beautiful. And instinctively he braced himself against something he felt he already knew.
