Shackled to the Sheikh

The price of failure was too high.

* * *

Their return to the Old Palace was subdued, Rashid lost in thought as he watched the desert retreat in the face of the city. Kareem would welcome his decision, he knew, and throw himself into executing the plans for the coronation he already had mapped out. And still he wondered if it was the right decision.

‘So what will you do with the palaces?’ she asked. ‘Unless you’re planning on establishing your own harems, of course.’

Lord help him. He couldn’t imagine having six women, let alone six harems. One woman was more than enough and he didn’t have her. Not really. And there was another problem...

He shook his head, because there were no easy answers to anything. ‘I’m not sure. But the state can’t keep paying for them. Kareem wanted to show me, in case I preferred one of them over the Old Palace.’

‘I like the Old Palace,’ she said. ‘It has history and character. You have to keep that as the kingdom’s base, surely?’ And then she paused. ‘Not that it has anything to do with me, of course.’

‘But that still leaves the problem of what to do with the rest. Qajaran already had a Desert Palace and a Mountain Palace before Malik took it into his head to increase the number of palaces by two hundred per cent.’

‘Sell them, then.’

‘Not possible. They belong to the people of Qajaran. For better or worse, they are part of their heritage. Even if they could be sold, nobody would pay what Malik spent on them. The country would lose a fortune.’

‘So you have six white elephants costing a fortune to upkeep?’

‘That’s the problem.’

‘Could they be turned into boutique hotels? So many bedrooms already with en-suites—surely it couldn’t be too hard.’

He looked at her. Really looked at her. ‘Did someone tell you that? Did Kareem mention it while we were looking around the palaces?’ Kareem had mooted it as a possibility with him just yesterday when he was going over the final details for the inspection.

She shrugged and shook her head. ‘No. But what else could you do with them? You could hardly turn them all into museums—that would never pull as many tourists from overseas or earn you as much money. But think of the tourists who would flock here, wanting to tick off staying at Qajaran’s quirky hotels one by one, or get married alongside a Venetian canal in the desert. And think of the employment that could be generated in servicing busy hotels rather than in maintaining six empty palaces waiting for their next visit from their Emir.’

He rubbed his chin between his thumb and his fingers, the gravel of his whiskers like a rasp against his skin. The tour had taken the better part of the day and he had a five o’clock shadow to show for it. ‘Maybe it’s possible.’ The palaces couldn’t be sold, but they could be leased to a luxury hotel chain to manage...

‘Yes!’ she said, cutting into his thoughts, ‘but not the Fun Palace. That one would be different. You should open that one up to the people of Qajaran. The palace can still be a hotel, but the park should be free for all citizens who just want to visit with their families, not to stay in the rooms.’

‘And for those that do,’ he said, intrigued, ‘they would have to fight the crowds to access the rides that others get free?’

‘So give them two hours’ exclusive use in the evening or morning. I don’t know. It’s not exactly my line of expertise. I’m just offering a suggestion. And while you’d probably make money if you converted them all to boutique hotels, it would just be a shame if the Qajarese people couldn’t enjoy something that is their own heritage, especially when it’s already a fun park.’

Not her line of expertise. So why did what she said make so much sense? Even down to offering the Qajarese people an opportunity to sample the luxury and indulgences they had so unwittingly paid for.

‘How did you come to work at Flight Nanny?’ he said, wondering about this woman who looked after babies and children and who came up with solutions to problems way outside her apparent field of expertise.

‘Simple,’ she said. ‘Sally and I went through school together and then university. When she and Steve started Flight Nanny, I jumped at the opportunity to join them.’

‘They sound like good friends.’

‘The best. Sally is like my sister. When my parents died, I was devastated. She kept me going. And then, when I poured my grief into a love affair with Mr Wrong that ended spectacularly badly, she was there to pick up the pieces. I owe her my sanity.’