The Sheik’s Captured Princess (The Samara Royal Family Series Book 4) (6 page)

“Oh, she’s sleeping.”

Ciala smiled.  “I can’t even imagine what it must be like to grow a child inside of my body,” she commented.  She and Shantra walked towards the other end of the family quarters, not really having a goal for the moment.  “It must be amazing,” Shantra thought out loud. 

Ciala was quiet for a moment, her mind conjuring up being pregnant.  And then her mind pictured how she got pregnant and gasped. 

“What’s wrong?” Shantra asked, stopping to look at her older sister. 

Ciala’s face felt warm and her cheeks flew to her face, trying to hide evidence of that heat.  “Oh, nothing,” she replied.  But it wasn’t ‘nothing’!  The instant she’d pictured the act of making a baby, that man, that horrible, rude, insulting and definitely-not-father-material man popped into her mind. 

Oh no!  The father of her children was definitely not going to be THAT man! 

Shantra moved on.  “Hey, have you seen the Sheik of Drakar?  I heard he was here in meetings with Ramzi, Turk and Rais.”

Ciala’s mouth snapped shut.  “I’ve heard that as well.  I organized lunch for them earlier today.”  She said the words but then knew that she’d have to distract her sister.  She couldn’t discuss that man!  She just couldn’t think about him.  Every time his face popped into her mind, she could feel those tingling sensations again. 

“Was he…?” Shantra started to ask.

But Ciala knew where her younger sister’s questions might lead and she had to get away.  She couldn’t think about him.  He confused her and made her crazy.  She didn’t want to think about him except to get her research back! 

“I just realized that I’ve forgotten something.  I’m sorry,” she said to Shantra but spun around before she could even finish her explanation.  Ciala almost ran away, needing to hide, to get her head back on straight.  That man…ugh!  He had to go!  He had to leave Kilar, stay away from the palace and, more importantly, get out of her head! 

Ciala stood in her brother’s office and the trembling increased exponentially as he she listened to his questions. 

“Do you know why Sheik Tinora would be requesting your help?” he asked her, laying the formal letter on his desk. 

Ciala knew exactly why the man would make the request but she definitely wasn’t going to admit that to her brother.  He would be furious with her!  It might have been one thing if she’d kept her security detail close by while she’d been doing the work, but for her to have snuck off, put herself in danger, and done it all under the radar…that was bad.  Very bad! 

She pulled at her ear then carefully unclasped her earring, giving herself a moment to think. 

If only she’d confessed the night of that conference!  Or even the day after!  But she’d been scared.  And confused at the way the man’s touch had made her feel, ashamed because she’d slapped the man, actually committing physical violence against another human being…she’d done everything wrong! 

Several days had gone by since that confrontation in the conference room.  She’d almost thought that he’d forgotten her demand for a return of her research but apparently, he’d only been waiting until she was about to jump out of her skin with worry.  He was good, she thought with increasing resentment.  The man really knew how to use psychological warfare on a person!

“I have no idea,” she lied and felt horrible about it once again. Tugging at her ear, she put her earring back in, twisting it carefully to make sure it was secure.  She really should just come clean with her brother.  He wasn’t an unreasonable man, she told herself.  He was a kind brother.  He would understand her desire for intellectual stimulation, wouldn’t he?  

Looking at Ramzi, she decided to test the waters. 

Taking a deep breath, she started off, trying to be vague about the whole issue.  “I was thinking that I’d like to get out into the field and do some more research.  I need to get some information on a project I’m considering.”

Ramzi looked at her across his desk, his dark eyebrows coming down over his dark eyes.  “No way, Ciala.  It isn’t safe right now.”

She bit her lip, frustrated with his answer and not really accepting it either.  “But you were gone just last week doing something in Germany.”

“And I had double the security team.”  He sighed and rubbed his forehead.  “Just stay here in the palace where you’re safe, Ciala.  Unless you need to go shopping or something, just stay here.”

Ciala’s hand clenched as her brother’s words hit her.  “Is that really what you think of me?” she asked, trying to control her temper.  “I’m just a stupid person who likes to shop?  I have no other brain in my head other than what shoes would go best with tomorrow’s outfit.”

Ramzi glanced up from his desk, startled by her anger.  “What’s going on, Ciala?” he asked, his dark eyebrows coming down as he stared at his sister.  “Where’s this coming from?”

She shook her head, frustrated and disappointed.  “You have no idea what I really want to do with my life, do you?”

He leaned back in his enormous leather chair, looking at her with more attention this time.  “I suspected you wanted to get married and have children.”

She couldn’t believe he’d said that!  “That would be fine if I’d been born in the 1950s.”

Ramzi sighed deeply.  “You’re starting to sound like Mia,” he replied, rubbing his forehead. 

Ciala’s whole body bristled with irritation at his patronizing tone and question.  “You don’t let her out enough either.  She’s feeling trapped.”

“Stay out of it, Ciala,” he warned with enough force to get her to back down.  “I don’t know what’s going on with you today, but this is not the sister I’ve known for so long.”

Ciala straightened up, irritated that he didn’t know who she really was.  They might have dined together for years, but her oldest brother still thought of her as a silly girl without any ambitions.  “You’re a dinosaur,” she said and spun on her heel, walking out the door. 

Unfortunately, she ran into Rais and Turk who were heading into Ramzi’s office right at that moment. 

“Hey, you okay?” Rais asked putting a hand on her arm to slow her down.

Ciala looked up at her brothers and tried to calm down.  “Would you ever let Raven or Joline have a job outside of the palace?”

“Not a chance,” Turk replied. “Her clinic is inside the palace security for a reason.”

She was surprised at his immediately reply.  “Even if it made her happy?”

His eyes hardened as he said, “I make her happy.”

Rais snorted and shook his head, agreeing with Turk.  “Joline and I had this conversation before we were married.  She knew from the outset that she wouldn’t be able to work just anywhere.”

Ciala turned to look up at both of them.  “But Raven works in the clinic right beside the palace.  That’s not inside the palace.  And Joline travels a great deal for Jesek Designs.”

Turk shrugged at her comment regarding the placement of his wife’s medical clinic.  “Might as well be.  I’ve created a way to ensure her safety while she’s helping her patients.  It’s as good as being inside the palace walls.”

Rais agreed.  “Joline knows the limits on her travel as well.  She can’t just pop out of the palace whenever she wants.  Normally, she arranges her travel so that it coincides with mine.”

Ciala didn’t like their answers since it still meant they wouldn’t support her going outside the palace alone to do her research.  “I still think it’s wrong.  We’re like prisoners!” and she stormed off, unconcerned that she’d left both of her brothers looking at her strangely. 

They walked into Ramzi’s office without knocking, ignoring the way he scowled at them.  “What did you do to Ciala?” Rais demanded before Ramzi could say a word. 

Ramzi ignored Rais’ question, crossing his arms over his chest.  “Do you know why Jurar would be asking her to come to Drakar for research?”

Neither Rais nor Turk liked that question.  “Why the hell would he ask for her?”

Rais leaned forward.  “That ridiculous history stuff she’s always reading.  There are a lot of sites in Drakar but it isn’t safe enough for her.  You’re not going to let her go, are you?” he demanded.  “I mean, what do we really know about this guy?”

Turk agreed with Rais and added in his opinion.  “He’s new to power and there are too many rebels fighting around the area that are unpredictable.  Ciala’s security team would have a hard time predicting any problems.  It is getting better in Drakar now that Jurar has taken over, but things still aren’t very secure.”

Rais scowled at Turk.  “Whose side are you on?”

Turk lifted his hands in the air, not denying that his sister needed protection.  “Oh, no question about it, Ciala can’t go.  But Jurar has been dealing with the rebels swiftly.  The country is getting under his control more quickly than anyone had thought possible.”

“He wants her to come tomorrow,” Ramzi stated, breaking through his brothers’ comments about the man’s military precision in dealing with the rebels. 

“No way,” Turk said. 

“I saw the way those two looked at each other the other day when we were getting lunch,” Rais commented, scowling at the memory.  “She can’t go.”

Ramzi sighed and walked over to the sitting area of his office, pouring each of them some scotch.  “If you’d said that he was looking at her in a strange way, then I’d have to agree with both of you.  But since you’d said they were both looking at each other in that way then…”

“She can’t go,” Turk repeated, taking the glass his brother offered and sitting down in one of the leather chairs.  “I’m not letting my sister go into some stranger’s place, even if he is a ruler.  Not happening.”

Ramzi sat down as well, putting his feet on top of the polished coffee table.  He always kept an ear out for sounds that his wife might be coming towards his office because if she found him like this, feet on the coffee table and a drink in his hand, she’d give him hell. 

Turk and Rais stretched their legs out as well, loosening their ties but still glaring at their older brother. 

“She’s twenty-five years old, guys.”

Turk shrugged as he took an appreciative sip of his scotch.  “What’s your point?”

“She’s got to get married someday.”

Turk and Rais both stared back at him.  Ramzi laughed.  “What?  Did you think she was going to stay here in the palace for the rest of her life?”

Turk and Rais shrugged again, silently saying that yes, that’s exactly what they’d thought. 

“You’re both idiots,” he said and slammed back the scotch, wanting to drink it before his wife discovered his betrayal.  She didn’t mind him drinking scotch.  She minded when she couldn’t drink it with him.  Her pregnancy meant she was scotch-free for a long time, something she really resented. 

Ramzi would have thought the same way as his brothers a couple of years ago.  Now, he wasn’t so sure.  “If Ciala was looking at him with any sort of interest, then we should let her go to see the man.”

Both Rais and Turk were uncomfortable with that idea.  “Why should we?  She’s fine as she is.”

Ramzi thought about the woman who had just stormed out of his office.  “Is she?”

Turk and Rais looked at each other, then back at their oldest brother.  “She’s fine,” they both said at the same time.

Ramzi grimaced.  “I don’t think she is.  She was asking me if she could go out into the field to do some sort of research.  She’s never asked for anything like that before.”

“She doesn’t need to go out,” Turk argued. 

Ramzi agreed.  “But she does need to find a man to love.  Have a family.  All women do.”

“She’s too young.”

“She’s twenty-five.  How old are Raven and Joline?” he pointed out. 

Turk and Rais glowered at Ramzi who held up his hands.  “I’m just saying that women want to fall in love.  And I suspect that Jurar is a pretty good man.  She could do a lot worse.”

“I don’t like him,” Turk said. 

Rais and Ramzi both looked at their brother.  “You just said how much you respected the guy.”

Turk shifted slightly.  “That was before I knew that he was after my sister.”

Ramzi chuckled.  “Fair point.  But we need to be prepared for this kind of thing. Ciala and Shantra will eventually want to be married.  I don’t know if Ciala is interested in this man, but we promised our parents that they would be able to choose their husbands.  We wouldn’t use them as others in our positions would use them to reinforce our power.”

Turk and Rais were silent for a long moment.  Rais finally stated what all three of them were thinking.  “If she married Jurar, it would definitely help the treaty though.”

Ramzi laughed softly.  “She’d hurt you if she ever heard you saying something like that.”

Rais and Turk clinked glasses together.  “Thankfully, she’s not here to hear me,” they laughed.

Ramzi actually looked over his shoulder, worried because Mia showed up at the oddest times lately.  It was like the woman had an innate sense of when he was being an ass.  When he noticed that he was in the clear, he lifted his glass.  “So we’re agreed?  She’ll go and if things turn out, all for the better.”

“And if they don’t,” Rais said, lifting his glass as well, “we can always lock her in her room.” 

Ramzi had heard the door to his office open and close, cringing when his brother said those words.  He couldn’t see who was coming into his office yet, but some instinct told him that it wasn’t going to be good.

Sure enough, Mia, Raven and Joline came around the corner.  Joline’s eyes were narrowed as she glared at her husband.  “Exactly who were you going to lock away?” she asked softly. 

Rais stood up, almost spilling the last bit of his drink.  “It wasn’t you, love,” he said and came over to her. 

Ramzi had already hidden his glass and tried to look innocent.  But his little wife knew him too well.  “I didn’t…”

“Don’t even try it,” Mia said, muttering something in French as she walked over to his lap.  Sitting down, she smiled as her husband’s hands automatically came to her waist, giving her ample time to reach down beside the leather couch and find the empty glass of liquor. 

She stood up, ignoring his hands when he tried to grab her and keep her where she was. 

“We only came by to find out who had hurt Ciala’s feelings.”

Rais and Turk both were standing now, coming towards their wives.  “No one hurt her feelings.  Why do you think any of us would do that?” Turk finally asked.  He tried to put his arms around Raven’s waist but she backed up, obviously irritated with him.

Ramzi knew that his brother was in the doghouse and smothered his chuckle.  Not soon enough though because Mia caught his look and told him silently that he was in trouble as well. 

“Hell,” he grumbled.  “Get out,” he told Turk and Rais.

Mia lifted her hand.  “No need to leave now, gentlemen.  The ladies are leaving.  We have our answer and we’re going to go find out what we can do to help Ciala.  We’ll see you all later.”

Raven smacked her husband’s hands away and followed Mia out of Ramzi’s office, wiggling her fingers in goodbye.