Had he received any thanks? Only from her sister. From Safiyah—nothing at all. Not even a smile.
So much for gratitude.
But Karim shouldn’t have expected gratitude. The woman had abandoned him when she’d discovered the truth of his birth. She only accepted him now because he could salvage her royal position and protect her child.
Wrenching his thoughts away from Safiyah in beaded silk, he focused on the child in his arms. Tarek stared up at him with big brown eyes, his bottom lip quivering.
Maybe Karim shouldn’t have swooped in and grabbed the child, but it seemed better to head off a tantrum than have the boy yowling through the parade.
‘You want to meet a horse, Tarek?’ He smiled encouragingly at the child and felt inordinately pleased when he received a grave nod. ‘I’ll hold you up high so you can pat one. Would you like that?’
He read the boy’s excitement and for a second was wrenched back to those rare moments in his childhood when he’d managed to steal time out with his little brother. Ashraf’s eyes had glowed in just that way.
Karim walked up to the groom holding the reins of his mount and Safiyah’s.
Automatically he turned towards the mare, as the smaller and more docile. But Tarek shook his head. ‘This one.’ He looked up at the dancing grey stallion.
Karim shrugged. The boy had pluck, that was for sure, if this really was the first time he’d got close to a horse. He’d have thought a beginner would be drawn to the mare, standing sedately. But Karim would keep him safe.
‘This is Zephyr,’ he murmured, and the grey flicked his ears forward, then huffed out a breath through flared nostrils.
Tarek giggled as the horse’s warm breath brushed his face and hands. The horse’s head reared back and Karim spoke to it in an undertone, reassuring it as he reached up to scratch near its ear.
‘You can’t be scared of Tarek, surely now? A big strong fellow like you?’
Again Tarek giggled, suddenly lunging forward in Karim’s hold, trying to reach the horse.
‘Not like that.’ Karim hauled the child back. ‘Give Zephyr a chance to know you. You have to sit quietly so as not to scare him. Put out your hand like this and let him sniff you.’
‘It tickles!’
But to his credit the boy didn’t squirm, even when Zephyr, with a sideways look at Karim, pretended to nibble the little Prince’s sleeve.
The child gasped at the wet stain. Worried brown eyes met Karim’s and once more he was reminded of his kid brother, this time after he’d been summoned before their disapproving father.
‘I’m not supposed to get dirty. Papa says—’
‘I know, but the rules have changed,’ Karim said quickly, ignoring a moment’s discomfort.
The child’s dead father was beginning to remind him too much of the ever-demanding Sheikh who’d raised him. Karim recalled constant childhood lectures on his appearance, his manners, his attitude and even the way he walked. And that had been before the old man had got started on his studies.
‘Don’t worry, Tarek. It will dry quickly and no one will notice.’ He paused. ‘Do you want to know a secret?’
Solemnly the boy nodded.
‘It’s more important to be happy than to be clean.’ Deliberately he looked furtively over his shoulder and pressed his finger to his lips. ‘But don’t tell anyone I said that. It’s a royal secret.’
Tarek giggled, and Karim felt the strangest flutter in response. Even knowing it was the right thing to do, Karim had had qualms about adopting the boy. His experience of kids was limited. He was still learning how to interact with his little nephew on his rare visits to Za’daq. But Karim was determined to do right by Tarek—which meant taking time to build a relationship with the boy.
Finally Zephyr consented to be introduced, bending his head gracefully so the child could rub his palm over the grey’s long nose.
‘He smells funny.’
‘Notfunny,’ Karim amended, watching, bemused, as the most highly strung horse in the city consented to the child’s rough pats. Clearly the little Prince had his mother’s knack with animals. ‘That’s how horses smell.’
‘I like it.’
Tarek beamed up at him and Karim was surprised at how much he was enjoying the child’s pleasure.