Rumours of Zara's return flooded the palace within the hour. The queen dropped her glass when she heard. Her body became paralysed with shock and anger. Why had he brought her back? The King clearly had a cruel sense of humour. The queen was fuming.
“Find out where she is and why he brought her back,” the queen ordered.
“Yes, your highness,” the queen's head maid, Dina, nodded before she left the queen's quarters to find out what was going on.
The King went straight to see Zara after he was done in his office. He practically rushed over to her. Her maids bowed their heads to him as he entered. He asked where Zara was. Maria quickly left to summon Zara from her bedroom. The two of them reappeared moments later. The King smiled when he saw her and gestured for her to come to him.
“Your Majesty,” she said as she approached him. He took her hands in his and kissed her on both cheeks.
“How are you, habibti?” the King asked. Zara felt warmness fill up inside her when she heard the word habibti. She couldn't help but blush.
“I'm confused, why am I here?”
“I wanted you here, by my side,” the King ran his hand through her hair.
Zara blushed even more. He wanted her there; he wanted her by his side. His words sent ripples of warmness and butterflies around her body. She squeezed his hands tighter and asked about Tiana and Amira. Surely, they were not going to take it kindly. She did not want to cause any trouble.
“Do not worry about them, it will all be sorted out soon enough,” the King said to her and kissed her forehead. “Now come, let us eat.”
Zara followed him to the dining room. Zara had been too preoccupied with what was going on that she hadn't realised that she was hungry and the food looked so delicious and tempting. She picked up her cutlery and dug into her meal. She had a burning question that she had to ask the King.
r /> “So, these are my quarters?” she asked him.
“Yes, and anything else you desire.”
I desire only you, she thought. Zara looked at him with a face full of questions. She was still not grasping the situation. She needed more information.
“I can only protect you if you are close to me,” he said, but that was not the real reason for him having her move into the palace. He wanted, needed her to be there. He needed to see her, touch her, talk to her every day. “Do not worry about your family, they have been taken care of,” he added.
The King had seen that her family was moved into a bigger house closer to the palace. The house was already furnished and there were servants to see to their needs. Her mother was to receive the best care from the best doctors while Ruby had the opportunity for a better education. The King had made sure that they had everything they could need.
“This is all too much,” Zara protested.
“It's not enough. You deserve more, princess.”
“I don't.”
“Ruby does,” the King joked. Zara burst out laughing.
“Yeah, she would definitely love to be spoiled,” she said. Ruby loved the King and everything royal. She would definitely be happy and excited. “Wait, what did you call me?”
The King eyed her over the table. “What do you remember before moving to Quabeca?”
Zara eyed him suspiciously. “I remember mountains. Lots of hills. We had a big house. And there were always horses.”
“And your father?”
Zara shrugged, “He really wasn’t around much. The only thing I really remember was riding with him. Your Majesty, what is this about?”
“Do you remember your mother telling me that you are important?”
“Well, yes, but she’s my mum, why wouldn’t she say that?”
“Has she not spoken to you about your father?”
“No, why would she? What are you getting at?” Zara couldn’t figure out where this line of questioning was going.
Taking her hand, the King looked her in the eye. “Zara, we ran a background check on you.” He raised his hand as she was about to interrupt. “Let me finish.” At her nod, he continued. “After the incident, we ran background checks on everyone here. You weren’t singled out. But. Are you familiar with a very small country called el-Quaseem?” As Zara shook her head no, the King continued. “Well it doesn’t exist anymore. About twelve years ago, there was a coup in the country and the King was brutally murdered. The queen and princess disappeared and were never heard from again. Turmoil continued for years before the country was absorbed by a much larger one.”