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“Does it hurt to hear the truth, Your Highness?” She had seen in his eyes that he had despised the way she had compared him to the other Al-Atassi sheikhs, and it was this she focused on. “Did you really think just because I was attracted to you, I’d think you were on the same footing as the others?” It was a lie, but she was mindless with pain now, and hurting him had become her lifeline.
“I am warning you one last time.” Tarif’s fists clenched. “Compare me to my brothers again—-”
“And what?” Anisah spat. “You’ll do something that will just prove what I thought all along—-”
“Get out!” The sheikh lunged to his feet in a fit of fury. “You may be a great fuck, but that’s all you still are. Someone to fuck—-”
Anisah’s hand connected with his cheek in a vicious slap, its force enough for the sheikh’s cheek to snap to the other side. When he looked back, he saw her rushing out of the room – but he did not stop her.
Chapter Sixteen
Hyacinth paced outside the throne room while doing her best to resist the urge to place her ear to the doors and listen in. Sheikh Tarif had been closeted inside of it with the king for over an hour now, and once in a while she would end up jumping at the sound of the king raising his voice. It was rare for any of the Al-Atassi sheikhs to be at odds with each other, but in this case, it had been inevitable.
Sheikh Tarif’s photos had been all over the news the entire week, with paparazzi gleefully documenting his every date. He had been seen with a different woman each night – a regular occurrence in his life, admittedly, but this time it was different since just last week he had also claimed Hyacinth’s sister as his fiancée.
Kyria and Queen Harper had told her that the other Al-Atassi sheikhs were extremely displeased with how Tarif was acting, but none of them had felt the right to interfere because it was a personal matter. This morning changed that, though.
In a closed-door meeting with other ambassadors, a deeply religious foreign dignitary had taken exception to Tarif’s presence. The other man had refused to do business with the sheikh because of his flagrant act of infidelity towards his intended. The old Tarif could have easily talked and charmed his way out of the predicament, and no doubt everyone had expected the sheikh to do so.
But instead the sheikh had responded aggressively towards the allegation and displayed none of the tact and panache he used to. By the time the king was called to intervene, the dignitary had been threatening to cut his nation’s ties with Ramil. Rayyan had been left to smooth everyone’s ruffled feathers, and as for Tarif –
The massive double doors of the throne room finally opened, and Hyacinth held her breath as she watched Sheikh Tarif emerge. The icy, hard expression on his handsome face was somewhat daunting, and Hyacinth had to remind herself her purpose for seeking the sheikh out.
All her life, Anisah had been there for her. It was her turn now to help her older sister out.
Tension gripped the sheikh’s powerful form the moment he saw the young woman approaching him. Forcing himself to go still, he gave her a brief nod, saying curtly, “Lady Hyacinth.”
“Sheikh Tarif, good evening.” Hyacinth belatedly remembered to bow in greeting. “M-May I have a moment of your time?”
Tarif remembered the last time they had met – it was at the bookstore at Al Sahna, and by the time he had arrived, Hyacinth had already worked herself up to a fine temper, and she had alternated between taking him to task for hurting her sister and demanding he take responsibility for Anisah.
I don’t know what you did, sheikh, but whatever it is you did – you must pay for it! My sister is happy acting like a robot, but ever since she got home she has been acting too human, and it is not right!
She is the best sister one can have! And sure, she may be quite the cheapskate, but not with people she loves! She sacrificed everything for me!
Yes, I know my older sister can be terribly haughty and proud, but when we were young, her pride was all she had. She hadn’t wanted other people to find out that our father beat her constantly because she was afraid what it would do to me if I learned the truth about him.
It’s true she can act like a fanatic when it comes to serving the kingdom, but you don’t know what she had to go through when she was young. There were people who believed that an 11-year-old Anisah was old enough to actually connive with my father, and they thought this was reason enough to mistreat my sister.
Initially, he had only decided to hear her out for a bit simply because he knew Rayyan would be on his case if the other sheikh believed Tarif had disrespected his woman. He would listen to her but not believe a word she said. That had been the plan, but by the time she had finished, he realized that if Hyacinth had sought him out in hopes of putting in a good word for her sister, then she couldn’t have botched the job any better than she had.
Anisah was a robot, a fanatic, and a cheapskate. Anisah was this and that.
She hadn’t even seemed aware she had been insulting and complimenting her sister in the same sentence, and it was that, more than anything else, which had convinced the sheikh to believe in Hyacinth and – later on – give up on Anisah.
Hyacinth’s words had made him think he knew the real Anisah, enough to make him think he did not deserve her. Now – he didn’t even seem to know himself anymore.
“If you’re here to defend your sister and convince me to give her another chance—-”
It was rare for Hyacinth to lose her temper in public, but the sheikh’s words incensed her so that she found herself snapping, “It is you who should beg my sister for another chance!” Drawing herself up, she continued tightly, “My sister doesn’t know I heard her on the phone earlier. She was speaking with a member of the press, and she has agreed to meet with the journalist tomorrow on the condition that the resulting write-up will exonerate you and ensure that you regain public favor.”
Stepping away, Hyacinth said bitterly, “I still don’t know what happened between the two of you, Your Highness. My sister refuses to speak of you in any way. But what I do know is the kind of person my sister is, and if I could do things over again, I would never have called you that night.”
****
At close to six in the evening, the staff kitchen was noisy and crowded, with palace employees happily indulging in chitchat while they prepared dinner. For tonight, Anisah was slated to do the dishwashing, and so she had reluctantly set aside her abaya so she could put on an apron over a large old shirt and jeans. The sight of her in Western clothes had everyone snickering, but she only rolled her eyes to this.
“Do none of you get tired making a big deal out of this,” Anisah muttered crossly as she took her place before the sink.
