“You have done nothing?” Abia was looking at Saja with such disgust. “Because of you, my family lost everything we spent years building,” she added.
“No, that had nothing to do with me. That was your husband and your son's fault,” Saja was starting to get really angry. El-Tamar and his son had ruined their lives on their own. It had nothing to do with her and she was not going to take the blame for it.
Suddenly Abia slapped Saja. She couldn't hold herself back any longer. The sight of her and the sound of her voice angered her even more. Saja slapped Abia back instantly. There was no way she was going to stand there and allow herself to be treated like that. Mona and Amber jumped in front of Saja to protect her. Aman drove the car closer to them. He got out of the car and left the doors open.
“Let's take her,” he shouted as he ran out of the car. He punched Amber and watched her body fall to the ground with a thud. Mona and Saja gasped.
“Take her? What?” Akeem was lost. The situation had just spiralled out of control. He expected his mother to confront Saja and leave.
“Get her in the car while I drive,” Abia shouted as she ran to the car. She had been discussing kidnapping Saja with Aman and her other son Anwar but never thought that they would have the opportunity so
quickly. They wanted to take her and punish her for what she had put them through. They planned to ransom back some of their wealth using her.
“Don't just stand there,” Aman shouted to Akeem. He was still standing there grasping the situation.
“Your highness, run,” Mona shouted to Saja. She started swinging her shopping bags at them. She was not much of a fighter but at least she could hold them off while Saja fled to safety. However, Saja refused to run. She wouldn't leave Amber and Mona by themselves. Amber was holding onto Aman's leg. Saja whacked him in the head with her shopping bag, as he was about to kick Amber. Aman slapped Saja with the back of his hand.
“Hurry!” Abia shouted. She was getting nervous as people were noticing. Some people had their phones out, presumably calling the police. Aman picked Saja up, threw her over his shoulder and ran to the car. He threw her in the back seat and punched her a few times. Akeem was trying to flee but Mona would not let him go. She bit and scratched him.
“Just bring her too,” Aman shouted as he realised they were running out of time. A few men were rushing over. Amber tried to grab Akeem's leg but he kicked her in the face. He ran to the car with Mona. He shoved her in and shut the door.
“What are you doing?” a few witnesses shouted. Some were shouting for the police. A man went to Amber to check if she was okay. Her nose was bleeding. She was screaming hysterically. Abia drove off with a screech of tires.
Chapter 5
Basil looked up as a bloody Amber barged into his office and fell to her knees. He quickly stood up from his desk and ran to her. Crouching in front of her, he gently gripped her shoulders. Her face was swollen and there was dried blood on her nose. Her eyes were filled with tears.
“What happened to you?” Basil asked her.
“I'm sorry, your highness.” Amber burst into tears.
“Calm down and tell me what happened,” Basil asked gently. Amber had come to his office in this state. She was never alone. She was always with Saja and Mona. The three of them were inseparable.
“Saja was taken away,” Amber was shaking. She was scared of the Prince’s reaction. She was responsible for Saja but had failed to protect her. Amber looked at the floor.
“What do you mean, taken away? By whom?”
“El-Tamar's family took her and Mona,” Amber replied, her voice was shaking. She could not bear to look at the Prince.
“And they did this to you?” Basil was letting it all sink in. It was not making sense to him. Only a few hours ago, Saja was there in his office, in his arms. Now she was abducted by El-Tamar's family. Amber nodded quietly. Tears continued to flow down her face. “It's not your fault,” Basil said to her and rubbed her shoulders. Amber told him the whole story. With each word, Basil grew more and more angry. It became more and more real.
He stood up and walked out of the office. “Get her a doctor and anything else she needs,” he said to his secretary. “And summon Badir here, immediately,” he demanded as he walked out.
Badir found the Prince pacing outside. Before he could speak, the Prince cried out, “Saja has been abducted!”
“What?” Badir's eyes widened. He knew he should have forced her to take a security detail.
“El-Tamar!” Basil barked his name out. Badir was now even more surprised. He didn’t expect El-Tamar to go that far. His actions were stupid and irresponsible. If anything, he should have been trying to get on Basil's good side not making things worse. This was the biggest mistake he could have ever made.
“How did you find out?
“Amber,” Basil's hands were shaking in anger.
“I'm on it,” Badir bowed his head and left. Basil was not much of a talker. He was not going to spill his heart out and cry on Badir's shoulder. The best thing Badir could do was help him find her.
Badir dismissed himself because he knew what he had to do. He returned to his office and summoned Basil's entire security team to the palace. They were informed that it was a national emergency. Saja was not only the princess of Quabeca; she was also the princess of Al-Basrat.
He went to speak with Amber whilst he waited for the team to arrive. The doctor had just left and she was still shaken up. He sat down in front of her and asked if she was okay. Amber nodded. He then asked her to tell him everything that had happened.