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Instantly, Kadeem felt his guard rise. "Is it about anything in particular."
Azem shrugged. "Just a quiet word about last night."
Kadeem felt tension twist in his middle. Obviously, Azem thought to get at Kadeem before Eliana came down. Maybe he wanted to take the opportunity to put Kadeem in his place after last night's interruption.
Kadeem was determined not to reveal how he felt about the invitation to speak with Azem. "Sure," he said curtly and walked past Azem and into the sitting room.
Azem pointed toward a sofa. Kadeem took his seat and Azem sat next to him. On the table in front of the sofa, Kadeem saw a large brown envelope. He glanced at Azem, seeking some indication about the envelope's significance, but got not the slightest hint from Azem's blank stare.
"About last night, Azem," Kadeem started to say, but Azem lifted a hand and cut Kadeem short.
"That is why I asked you to come in here. So that I can address something very important regarding that, Sheikh Al Kharif."
"Really?" Kadeem asked.
Azem sighed and nodded sternly. He lifted the brown envelope and opened the flap, sliding out from within the envelope what looked like a copy of an old document.
Azem passed it to Kadeem. "Are you familiar with this?"
Kadeem peered at the copy and felt something heavy sink in his stomach. It was a copy of the document he'd looked at when his arranged marriage had been originally proposed. Kadeem examined the cursive handwriting that filled the page. It was the same as the ancient document which was housed in the archives of the Qazhar government.
Kadeem looked up at Azem. "This is a copy of the original scroll. The one that sets down the rule about the marriage every four generations between our two nations."
Azem smiled. "Indeed, it is," he said. He looked too happy about this, Kadeem told himself. There was something going on, and he suddenly felt that it wasn't going to mean good news.
Kadeem squinted at Azem. "Why are you showing me this?"
Azem lifted his chin and peered down his nose at Kadeem. "Because of what happened last night."
Kadeem frowned. "What has that got to do with this?" he asked lifting up the single page copy.
"Everything," Azem said with a strangely victorious tone.
Azem took the page from Kadeem and held it. He pointed to a line at the bottom of the page. "I assume you can read this handwriting," Azem said.
"Of course," Kadeem said irritably. He leaned closer and scanned the line Azem had indicated. As he did so, Kadeem felt his breath halt in his chest; he sensed the heaviness in the pit of his stomach become as hard as a rock. Kadeem knew his face had changed color. That all the blood had just drained from his features.
This could not be real, he told himself. He reread the lines which had triggered the reaction. But that just confirmed what he'd read the first time.
Kadeem glanced up at Azem and saw the horrible triumph on the man's face. Azem's gaze was steady and resolute.
For a moment, an unspoken exchange passed between the two men. Two expressions. One of victory. Another of defeat. And, with the world tumbling around him now, Kadeem knew who had seized victory from the jaws of defeat.
Azem.
"Do I have to read you what it says?" Azem asked, his voice shaking with positive emotion.
Kadeem leaned back against the back of the sofa and sighed heavily. He nodded and waved a hand dismissively. "You can, if you like," he said, feeling a sudden weariness settling upon him.
Azem lifted the sheet of paper up and read from the ancient text which was written there. "If during the course of a courtship between the two representatives of Qazhar and Zahram, there occurs any of the following incidents which serve to bring shame upon a ruler of either nation, then the proposal will become null and void," Azem announced.
Azem glanced at Kadeem and then returned his attention to the sheet of paper. "In particular, if a proposed bridegroom publicly shames a ruler of either nation in such a way as to bring his reputation into ill repute, then the ruler has the right to declare the courtship at an end."
Azem laid the paper down into the table and turned to Kadeem. "Do you fully understand the importance of what I have just read out?"
For a few long moments, Kadeem was utterly lost for words. Of course, he understood what Eliana's father had discovered. How he'd done that wasn't at all important to Kadeem. All that mattered was that Azem had found a way to stop the marriage from going ahead.
And Kadeem had handed Azem an excuse on a plate. Last night hadn't only been about the beginning of Kadeem and Eliana. It had also been the end of their life together.
