The Sheikh's Secret Princess (The Quabeca Sheiks 3)

“I get it, you love her. Just say that. I don’t need a list of her attributes.” The King narrowed his gaze. His mother was always straight to the point. She took Zara's hand. “I will accept her if it's what you truly want,” she said. The King gasped.

“Mother, you are accepting her this easily? Old age has softened you.”

His mother stretched her arm and whacked him on the head. “Never call a woman old!” she scolded. “Besides, Basil and Saja have already spoken to me about her. Apparently, she made quite the impression on Saja. And it will make all this much easier for others to acce

pt knowing that she’s a princess.” She gave Zara a warm smile. Zara smiled back. She was glad to see that his mother was playful and that she was willing to accept her. The last thing she needed was for his family not to like her.

“I appreciate you giving me a chance. I will not let you down,” Zara said. The King sat there rubbing his head where his mother hit him. He watched the two conversing with each other. It made him smile and feel at ease.

After breakfast, the King had to go to a meeting. The queen's family and other sheiks had come for an explanation. They did not understand why the King wanted to divorce her. Lucky for the King, his brother had come to support him. The meeting lasted for hours. The queen's family along with other sheiks protested the dethronement. They agreed with him about removing Tiana but not the queen.

“Up until now, she has not even provided the King with an heir,” Basil interjected.

“That was because his majesty found more comfort in the bed of another,” the queen's brother said.

“She no longer carried herself like a queen, she disobeyed me and she was full of greed,” the King said. “Surely those aren't qualities of a queen.”

“But your Majesty, you must forgive,” a sheik said.

“You do not have all the information nor do I plan to share it. Understand that all this is for the best. I will not remain married to her and that is my final answer. Now if you will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.” The queen's followers tried to fight for her case long after the King had adjourned the meeting.

Oo00oO

The King had arranged to meet with both Amira and Tiana at the same time. He had arranged for the women and their personal staff to meet him in the ballroom. When he arrived, everyone was already present. Both Tiana and Amira jumped up to come to him, but he stayed them with his hand.

“Sit down, both of you,” he ordered. As both women attempted to speak, “Be silent,” he ordered. “There are things that I must tell you.” As he waited, both women sat back down. “As you are aware, some weeks ago, I collapsed while in my suite. If it was not for the quick thinking of Zara, I would not be alive.”

“What happened,” Amira asked with a gasp, as Tiana remained silent.

“I’m getting to that,” the King responded. “It seems that someone laced our dessert with poppy and since I am allergic, I went into anaphylaxis. Luckily, Zara was with me, she figured it out and was quick to take the necessary action. I am alive because of her.”

“But, but, who would do such a thing?” asked Amira.

“After the incident, James and a small group of trusted security thoroughly searched the palace as well as conducted background checks on everyone here. We found a small mortar and pestle with poppy residue in your quarters, Tiana.” As Amira started to speak, the King stopped her. “I’m not done. During the search of the palace, a bottle of Rohypnol was found in your quarters, Amira.”

As both Tiana and Amira began to protest their innocence, the King held up his hand to silence the women. “While I will readily admit that I contributed to many of our problems, you both understood that our unions were for political purposes only. I have never once expressed love for either of you. I realize that to some, that may be viewed as heartless, but you were aware of the nature of the relationship prior to agreeing. Yet, you both persisted in trying to make more out of our unions than existed, and while I cannot fault you for that, I will not stand by while you both resort to drugs simply to outdo one another. Did I even matter to you or were you both more concerned about procuring an heir ahead of the other?”

As Tiana and Amira looked at each other, both finally realized that they had the same agreement with the King. All this time, their own jealousies and insecurities over being left behind had clouded their judgment and both behaved irrationally.

“Now, do either of you have anything to say?”

As Tiana looked down, “It was supposed to be the queen’s night for dinner with you, your Majesty, I had no idea you were allergic to poppy, I merely wanted to make you both sleepy so nothing would happen after dinner and the queen would not have opportunity to get pregnant,” said Tiana tearfully. “I crushed up some of the poppy and Miriam added it into the dessert ingredients while your maids were busy.”

“We had no idea this would happen, your Majesty. Please believe us. We merely wanted you both to sleep,” added Miriam.

“And you?” the King asked Amira.

Amira shrugged, “Did you really think that I would continue the way things were? I had no idea that you were not sexually active with Tiana and she was undermining me every chance she had. I would not…I could not simply sit by and allow that woman to become the mother of the next king. I had to do something. The Rohypnol would have made things easier had they worked.”

“Penalty for attempted regicide is death. You do understand this? And while there is no direct proof of your actions, your confessions here now would implicate all of you. If word got out, this could cause massive uprisings in Quabeca as well as calls for all your deaths.” At the women’s collective gasps, the King continued. “In order to avoid further controversy and your deaths, you are all ordered to leave the palace. Amira, you and I will divorce. Quietly and amicably. You will not contest anything and I will be more than fair despite your poor behaviour. Tiana, you will be given money to start elsewhere, but once that is gone, you will be on your own. Your behaviours have all been deplorable. What has taken place is completely unacceptable and I will not tolerate your presence any longer.”

As Tiana finally found her voice, she couldn’t resist asking. “And Zara? The laundry maid? She gets to stay?”

Turning on her, the King stared down at Tiana. “Princess Zara will remain here in the palace with me. Once all this-” But the queen interrupted him.

“Princess? What nonsense do you speak?”

“When James was conducting the background checks, he discovered that Zara is none other than the lost princess of el-Quadeem. Thought to have been killed long ago with her mother during a coup in her country, she has been living here in Quabeca all this time.”