Zamir took the chair opposite. He was not nervous, but he was anxious to break the news to his father, so that he could go to Olivia and beg her to put him out of his misery.
“I have asked her to marry me. She is … considering it,” he said with a laugh.
Faisal supressed his smile. “She insists she does not love you.”
“With good reason; but she does.”
“I suspected as much. She was very careful not to tell me what a pig-headed bastard you’ve been to her.”
Zamir shook his head. “More consideration and courtesy than I deserve.”
“I believe so.”
“I wasn’t expecting to meet someone like her. She is … breathtaking.”
“Yes,” Faisal nodded. “She is quite impressive.”
“I am going to marry her, if she’ll have me.”
“Good.” The Sultan nodded. “A marriage to a princess from a neighbouring country would have been wiser. But it would not have made you so happy.”
Zamir frowned. “I thought you wouldn’t approve.”
“No, nor did I,” he said with a shrug. “Yet I do.”
“What changed?”
“I met her. And I remembered what it is like to love a woman you shouldn’t. Your mother was not the smart choice, Zamir. But she was the right choice. She made me happy.” A frown marred his features. “She gave me my sons. And then she left me; she left us all.”
He sighed heavily. “Losing her almost killed me, son. I had thought that in urging you to marry someone you do not know, I would be protecting you from the pain her death has filled me with. But that is both selfish and foolish. I would live with this pain for five lifetimes, for even a month of the happiness I felt with your mother.”
Zamir felt emotion swell in his chest.
“The future is a great unknown, but only a fool would close a door without walking through it.”
Zamir nodded. “I tried to walk away from her. I know that’s not what I’m meant to do.”
Faisal nodded sagely. “I expect you’ll want a wedding to be arranged quickly?”
“You’d better believe it.”
Having been given the glimmer of a second chance, Zamir immediately railed against the idea of waiting any longer.
He found Olivia in the same courtyard they’d met in the previous day. She had chosen a cream gown and had left her hair flowing loose. She looked like a princess already.
Zamir was almost breathless at the sight of her. Without a word, he crossed the ground and knelt before her. He had no need for long, flowery speeches. They both knew perfectly how the other felt. All that had to be ascertained was whether or not Olivia could forgive him. Whether she was brave enough to trust him with her happiness. “Olivia Henderson, will you marry me?”
Her eyes sparkled and her smile was glorious. “You bet I will.”
His fingers shook as he slid the ring onto her hand. It was a simple gold band, cast from some of the oldest gems in the land. It was the perfect size for Olivia; almost as if it had been waiting for her.
* * *
25 December, 7.13am
From: Olivia
To: Ava, Sophie