“He thinks he loves you.”
“He does love me. And I love him. Now, take your hand away.”
“Love.” Hakim spat out the word. “What does it mean?”
“Everything, but you wouldn’t understand that.”
“Love is a western fantasy. What we have believe in here is—”
“Tradition? As in, marrying off the sheikh’s cousin to a man she doesn’t love? The only thing that can come of such a tradition is the pain of a broken heart.”
Hakim stepped toward her. Megan almost shrank back against the wall. She’d never seen such hatred in anyone’s face.
“The woman is called Alayna. She was betrothed.”
“Yes, to a man she didn’t love. It’s fascinating, but it has nothing to do with me.”
“At first, when she came to my lord Qasim to beg his mercy, he denied her. He understood the meaning of tradition.”
“But he’s changed. Is that why you hate me, Hakim? Because you think I’m responsible for that?”
“When she came to him again, you had arrived in the palace.” Hakim’s mouth twisted. “Again, she pleaded for my lord’s understanding. And that time, he said he would find a way to help her.”
“Does it trouble you to know that your king has a heart?”
“Does it trouble you to know you are interfering in our way of life?”
“That’s not true.”
“You married Lord Qasim.”
“I did. And I’m going to marry him again. Are you so blind that you can’t understand the world is changing? Just because I’m a foreigner—”
“Our king is already betrothed!”
Megan stared at Hakim. “What?”
“To Alayna. They were pledged to each other at birth.”
What had she said to Caz, just this morning? There are things we don’t know about each other…And he’d smiled and said they had their whole lives to learn those things…
“A betrothal isn’t a marriage,” Megan said. Her voice shook, and she cleared her throat. “Obviously my husband changed his mind. He married me, not Alayna.”
“He married you, and said he would divorce you. But he didn’t. You ensnared him.”
“I’m not listening to another moment of this non—”
“Alayna’s people will not tolerate such an insult. They will not permit her to be disgraced.”
“Don’t you get it? Alayna didn’t want to go through with this marriage. She won’t be disgraced, she’ll be thrilled! Her family will understand, once she explains it to them.”
Hakim’s face grew dark. “You are a fool, Miss O’Connell! Alayna will n
ot be able to hold up her head. Her family will have to do something about what Lord Qasim has done, or she will never find another husband.”
“Even if that’s true, I’m not responsible for it. You said yourself, my husband has already promised to help Alayna.”
“Only after he met you. After you bewitched him, and then married him and refused to divorce him.”