As he shut the cabin back down, leaving it ready to winter in solitude, Lilah freshened up and dressed quickly, back into one of the dresses she’d stuffed into his bag. It was more stitches, more sewing, more erasing of the woman she’d morphed into.
Will had his Ray Bans down when she stepped out of the cabin, so she couldn’t make out his expression. He watched her though, as she picked her way gingerly down the steps and across the uneven ground in her sky high heels and simple, yet undoubtedly expensive, gray knit dress.
“Your Highness,” he murmured, opening the passenger side door for her.
She paused in the gap created and went to lift his glasses from his face. She saw only ice in his stare. It chilled her heart. “What did you expect me to say?” She whispered, her heart breaking.
“That you will fight for what we have.”
She swallowed and turned away. “It has been an enlightening and unique experience, but –,”
“Enlightening and unique?” He spat the words like epithets for the undeserving. “My God, Lilah. Don’t be too generous in your summation, will you?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I’m not ... I cannot… I’m simply not at liberty to say what you want me to say.”
His eyes narrowed, pin-pointing her phrasing with precision. “But you feel it?”
She was dangerously close to revealing too much! She closed her eyes and shook her head. If she was going to lie to him, she couldn’t – wouldn’t – do it while meeting his eyes.
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “I’m giving you a chance to fight for what matters to you. If you want this, if you want me, then you just have to tell me one time – here, now – and we will make it work together.”
And perhaps he was right. Perhaps there was a way for them to be together. To have a life together, like an actual fairytale. But the risk was too great.
“Lilah, you can serve your people and still be with me.”
That would never work. Kiral was doing as his duty bade him, and marrying a princess for honour, prosperity and for the sake of the kingdom. He expected the very same of her. When the time was right, Lilah would be expected to marry someone suitable. It would not be a man like Will. It would be someone from the same background as her; someone who understood that marriage had nothing to do with lust and affection in their case.
Romance, love, destiny and, most importantly desire, were for commoners. Not Royals.
She shook her head once more, though with every toss of her dark hair she felt a part of her wither. “This has to be over, Will. It has been wonderful, but now we put it where it belongs: in the past.”
Part Two
THE PRINCIPAL PALACE, DELANI
A LITTLE OVER A WEEK BEFORE THE ROYAL WEDDING
CHAPTER NINE
In Delani, the sun set late, and that evening was no exception. From one of the largest ceremonial ballrooms of the entire palace, Jalilah admired the hues that sparkled on the horizon. Peach, purple, pink, mauve and leaden grey spread long fingers, casting the sky in the kind of palette an impressionist would have coveted. The sun was low, dipping towards the ocean, making webs of light shimmer across the sands.
She sighed softly.
Behind her, a magnificent party was swirling and pulsing. It was the kind of party Jalilah had, at one time, lived for. A chance to meet so many people outside of her usual, very limited, circle of acquaintances was a highlight of her calendar.
The hospitality of the Delani palace was legendary. For generations her family had entertained with the kind of glamour and luxury that made invitations to events such as this highly coveted. The crème de la crème of society had arrived in their expensive cars and couture gowns, dripping jewels and wrapped in a palpable cloak of excitement, to mark the beginning of the Sheikh’s wedding celebrations.
“You are lost in thought, sister.” Lilah turned, fixing a smile onto her face for her brother’s benefit.
“I was. I was thinking about the wedding,” she dissembled.
“Were you?” He studied her. “I was thinking about us. About our family. Our legacy.”
“Our legacy?” Her heart turned over painfully. “To which legacy are you referring?”
He leaned closer. “Look around. We are surrounded by a tonne of diamonds in the middle of the palace. Does this give you a clue?”
Her smile was lopsided.