The Sultan's Bride (22 page)

‘That makes you James’
grandfather,’ said Sarah slowly. 

‘Yes my Sarah, I’m sorry I
didn’t tell you earlier, it never seemed like the right time.  I could not
talk about in
Ajara
, if the Sultan had any hint of
what Irina and I had done then at the very least I would have been punished if
not killed and I do not know what he would have done to her.’

Catherine nodded. ‘He was so
angry when
Arif
and I tried to run away, I can’t even
imagine what he would have done to you.’

‘It was also best
Arif
not know, he would then no longer be heir and it was
vital
Ajara
had someone to inherit.’

‘Why today?’ Sarah asked,
‘why tell us now when it’s been a secret for so long?’

Omar moved to her side and
knelt, taking her hands in his. ‘Because my love, it is my biggest, my only
secret left to share with my family and on this day of all days we should be
honest with one another.’

She smiled, squeezing his
hands.  ‘I love you my Sarah,’ he said, ‘I have no other secrets from you
and never will.’

Catherine wiped a tear from
her eye. ‘I’m so glad you two found one another, today will be such a joyous
occasion.’   Then she laughed. ‘Now Omar, you must go.  Richard
is expecting you.  I’m sure by now he’ll appreciate your arrival as he’s
got both James and Irina to look after.’

Omar laughed and moved to
embrace her.  ‘I’m so happy you came here and so happy to know the
truth.  You are my son’s grandfather and more a part of this family than
we ever hoped you could be,’ she said, holding him tight.

He smiled and then left, with
one last look at his bride over his shoulder.  It did not take them long
to dress and ready themselves for the small service.  It was to be held in
a small church nearby and Catherine was going to give her mother away.

As they neared the church
hand in hand, Catherine turned to her mother. ‘Here we go Mama, a new start for
you and Omar.  I love you so much.’ 

Sarah smiled. ‘I love you too
Catherine, your father would be so proud of you.  I hope you know that.’

‘I hope so Mama,’ she
said. 

Sarah reached up and wiped
Catherine’s cheek with her hand.  ‘Don’t you cry my baby girl; everything
is good in our lives now.  I have Omar and you have Richard, James and
little Irina.  That’s all that matters.’

In the night when all the
celebrations were over and the children were asleep in their beds, Catherine
climbed into bed with her husband who was buried in a book.  ‘Richard,’
she said. 

‘Hmmm?’
came
the response. 

‘I’m worried about James’

He put down his book. ‘What’s
wrong love?  He had so much fun and too much food today but other than
that he seems to be doing fine.’

‘If anything happens to
Arif
before he has an heir with his Sultana then James is
the heir.  I had tried to push it to the back of my mind thinking that
Arif
would have had an heir by now but Omar says he has
not.’

‘We know he’s capable
sweetheart, don’t worry too much about it.  If anything ever comes of it
someone will come and talk to us about it but I sincerely think we don’t have
anything to worry about.’

‘What if they grab him like
they did me?’ she said.

‘Oh my love,’ he said,
realising just how distressed she really was. ‘He’s never far from either of us
now, when he’s older then we teach him how to defend himself.  It’s not
like when you were kidnapped, your parents had no idea where you could be, if
anything ever happened we’d handle things a lot better, stop anything before it
went too far.’

‘I still worry,’ she said,
putting her arms around him and nestling under the bedclothes. 

‘You’re a mother, you always
will,’ he said, affectionately rubbing her back. 

‘I love you Mr Black,’ she
said, ‘you’re so sensible.’

Richard laughed and kissed
her. ‘Show me how much you love me then Mrs Black.’

So she did.

When the messenger arrived
from England the message he carried was taken straight to the Sultan. 
Arif
had been waiting many months for his answer from
Catherine and finally it had arrived.  He was saddened she was not there
herself but hopeful that her response was that she was on her way.

In the time since his father
had died
Arif
had tried hard to be a good ruler but
being young and headstrong he had isolated his father’s advisors and no longer
looked to them to help him.  The only person he had retained the services
of was Amir, the man who had helped Omar get Catherine out of
Ajara
.  It had taken a while but he had eventually
been convinced that had been the best course of action, if any harm had
befallen her he would have only had himself to blame.

He missed Omar terribly. When
he’d asked to be released from service
Arif
knew he
had a duty to the man.  Omar had often been his male role model growing up
when his father was distant or unavailable to spend time with him and he had
been saddened when the man had wanted to leave
Ajara
.
Arif
hoped Omar had found happiness.

Tearing open the letter, his
hands shook as he read the words, words that were not what he wanted to see.

‘
My Darling
Arif
,

I hope this letter finds
you well. This will be the only time I will write to you.  It has been
some time since I was in
Ajara
and my life has changed
so much you would not believe it.  I am truly happy.

Returning to
Ajara
is not something I am planning to do.  I am
settled here and happily married to Richard whom you met when he negotiated my
settlement.  Our son James and I are so very happy with him and we have a
child of our own on the way.

You would be so proud of
our son
Arif
, he is handsome and so very clever, and
he will grow into a fine man.

I’m so sorry this news
will not be what you are wanting but I love Richard very much and he is mine
alone, there is no harem to share him with. 
No one to
compete with for his affections.
  What we had was wonderful but it
was the love and dreams that children share.  I cannot say I hate your
father for what he did as I did love him too.

I hope now you can find
your happiness.  Richard tells me you have a first wife, your
Sultana.  Be good to her and love her, it is a difficult thing to be
married to a Sultan and she needs you and all your love.

If you were interested in
what happened to Omar he is here and safe.  My mother who was widowed some
time ago married him, it appears they found each other when we first met and
have now rediscovered their love.  It is a joyous sight to see.

I often think of your
mother and father.  Irina was like a mother to me and I miss her advice
all the time.  If I have a girl I will name her Irina for her.

Have a good life
Arif
, I wish you all the good fortune in the world and I
hope you soon have an heir to follow you.

Goodbye,

Catherine’

Arif
sat and stared at the paper for a moment.  She
was passing up the chance to become his Sultana, of course he would have to
have a harem there was no doubting that but she could have been his first, it
was just a matter of setting aside the woman he had taken.  It seemed odd
a man restricting himself to only one wife but Richard Black would do it.
Arif
wondered if he could.

Folding the letter he put it
into a drawer in his desk and summoned his Sultana, the last sentence of
Catherine’s letter rang in his ears.  He knew he needed and heir and
quickly, dying without issue wouldn’t be the end of the world as there was
James to inherit if there was no one else but the boy was settled in England
with his mother and
Arif
knew he should stay there.

Summoning his Sultana was the
next
step,
she needed to give him an heir.  She
was young, as young as he was so he knew it was only a matter of time. 
Arif
resolved to try not to make the same mistakes his
father had, to love her for as long as he could. 

‘My love,’ he said as she
entered the room. 

She blushed and bowed. 
‘My Sultan,’ she said.

‘Come,’ he said, taking her
hand and leading her to the bed, ‘it is time we made our heir.’  She
smiled and followed him willingly, her heart full of love for the young Sultan.

‘May I always please you,’
she said.

‘I’m sure you will,’ he said
smiling.  He screwed up the letter and threw it on the table.  ‘I’m
sure you will.’