* * *
‘But, Father…’
They were waiting for Mikael to arrive back at the palace—not that Layla was allowed to see him till their wedding day. She was more excited than she had ever thought possible about her wedding, and yet it was dawning on her that she was moving far, far away.
‘Jamila will be so bored without me, and she will fret and worry. I think it would be good for her if she came to live in Australia with me.’
‘Jamila deserves to retire!’ the King snapped.
‘The car has just arrived!’ Trinity walked in, smiling, and Layla started hopping on both legs.
‘Five minutes?’ she pleaded with her father. ‘Please, can I just have five minutes alone with Mikael?’
‘You will see him on your wedding day.’
‘Please…’ Layla begged. ‘To know he is in the palace and not be allowed to see him is very cruel to me. Please…’
‘Five minutes.’ Her father gave a weary sigh. ‘You,’ he said to Trinity, ‘go with her. And…’ But then Fahid rolled his eyes What was the point? Trinity’s chaperoning skills had got them to this place. ‘Five minutes.’
Four were spent kissing, which left one minute to quickly take her contraband from Mikael’s toiletries bag.
‘You have no idea how hard it was to get these…’
Mikael rolled his eyes because, just as Layla had on her way to Australia, Mikael had had a little flutter of anxiety at Customs, wondering how he’d explain what he had in his bag.
Yes, he had packed it himself?
‘I had to ask Alina to get them for you…’
‘Are she and Demyan here.’
‘Yes, and baby Annika. You will see them all at the wedding.’
He felt more than a touch uncomfortable, handing the packet of pills over, but Layla had insisted she wanted a perfect wedding night and had started retching when Mikael had tried to explain condoms. And she didn’t want a baby just yet.
‘You get twelve repeats.’
‘Repeats?’
‘Twelve months before you go to the doctor. Layla, I am fine if you decide that you do want a baby…’
‘I don’t want one yet.’ She popped the shiny packet in her bra. ‘So, a year of taking this every day and there’ll be no baby—it’s like magic…’ She was ecstatic! ‘We can party, we can swim, we can dance.’ But then her face was serious. ‘Thank you. This means a lot to me.’
Mikael knew she was scared about having a baby, and was just so grateful that he would be there for her if she ever wanted to address those fears.
Now, though, wasn’t the time.
There was a wedding to get ready for.
* * *
Layla was far from the blushing bride.
She was glowing and smiling as she walked through the scented gardens on the arm of Fahid towards Mikael, who was dressed in gold robes and a headdress with Demyan and Zahid in silver beside him.
Trinity was in silver too, and Zahid remembered the last time she had been a bridesmaid as she walked towards him.
Demyan tried not to catch Alina’s eye, because she kept laughing at the sight of him in robes and head-gear.
Mikael saw no one except Layla.
Her dress was gold, and she had on a gold veil, and as she stood beside him Mikael saw that her eyelids had been painted gold too.
The first time he had seen Layla he had been reminded of the beauty of a new moon.
Now it felt as if the sun was stepping into his life.
It was a very short ceremony and there was no kissing the bride! The formal service was followed by a long meal, with laughter and love at the top of the menu and all the promise of the desert for the night.
As darkness descended Jamila handed Layla a goblet of liquid that should ensure their wedding night was a fertile one, and for the first time Layla’s smile faltered.