No matter how hard I tried, I always came back to square one. No, scratch that – I always came back to square zero.
It was difficult and challenging to figure out how a law could be changed, but I wasn’t going to bail. I was determined to find a way to make things better for the victims of rape in the Kingdom of Alfaidya. After all, it was my responsibility.
Bugging Mazen with every small detail about the Kingdom wasn’t something that I liked to do. I only went to him when I needed something to be finalized. As for advice and opinions, I always found the best came from Prince Fahd and Rosanna. They knew the right answer to almost everything, and when they didn’t, they would guide me to where I could find the best solution, regardless of whatever matter I had in my hands.
This time, however, Rosanna couldn’t offer much help. She had no idea how I could change the law. She did tell me where to look for the best advice, though. But I saved that option for last. Surely, I would find a way soon without going there.
Mazen had a lot to deal with on a daily basis, and I wasn’t willing to put more weight on his shoulders by discussing my plans with him. At least, not until I had everything figured out.
The huge difference between ruling as a president in a democracy and ruling a monarchy, it’s that you couldn’t discuss many topics with just anyone – some topics had to be consulted with a family member, a royal.
That was why the princes and princesses would study management or business, and absolutely every one of the princes had served in the army at some point. It was one of the reasons why all of them had frowned upon Mazen’s choice to study medicine.
As the days passed, I ran out of options; I knew I had no way to get the advice I needed but from the best source – my mother-in-law.
The Queen Mother studied law for almost ten years; she wasn’t the only one in the family to do so, but I had no doubt she was the best. After all, she was the oldest among those of the royals who’d studied law, and she also had decades of experience.
I wasn’t above learning new things, not at all. I wasn’t ashamed of asking for advice, not even close. I just wasn’t comfortable meeting with Queen Mother Shams, which was why I had been looking for alternate sources to get the information. However, my duty and my stubbornness to get things fixed found me asking my private secretary to set up a meeting with Queen Mother Shams. I hoped I would get all of the answers I needed from that meeting.
My mother-in-law was genuinely thrilled to see me in her quarters. She listened carefully to everything I said, and I could tell that she was truly interested in what I was trying to do. Her eyes held no judgment and her words were wise, which made me more open to sharing most of my thoughts.
“My point is, a man can commit such an awful crime and at the end he gets rewarded by marrying the victim, instead of prison, or even execution.”
“I do understand what you mean, Your Majesty,” the Queen Mother said, “but I’m not sure what it is exactly that you want to do.”
“I want to change the law, and I need you to, kindly, tell me where I should start.”
My mother-in-law paused for a second before replying. “You’ll find changing laws a bit tricky, Your Majesty, but it’s not impossible.”
I had to smile, thinking I’d finally get to do everything I needed.
“The thing is, there’s already a law in place.”
My smile dropped. “What do you mean?”
“The law in Alfaidya does judge the rapist with jail time or execution, that’s nothing new.”
I frowned. “Then how come all of the reported cases that I looked at ended up with the charges being dropped, and then the victim marrying the rapist?” I asked, because through all of my research, I found that none of the men accused went on trial, not one.
“Because just as you said, the charges are dropped before the case goes to trial.”
I blinked a few times as I started to understand what she was getting at – the cases didn’t get past a report to the police. “Why?”
“As you found out, Your Majesty, a deal is made when the criminal is caught, to save the family’s honor. Without that deal, the case would continue and he would be found guilty, but it never happens.”
“Because he marries her,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Exactly. You have to keep in mind that all Arabs put honor before anything else. Even before survival,” she said. I already knew that; I just had no idea to what extent.
“But how could any female feel safe when it’s always this way?”
“The same thing I just told you, Your Majesty – honor is more important than lives. In most cases, the rapist ends up being killed by one of the victim’s family members.”
“Most cases?” I asked in shock.
“Yes. Almost ninety percent.”
“And then the family member ends up in jail.”
“True, because it would be pre-meditated murder. It’s a sad fact, but there’s nothing we can actually do,” The Queen Mother said.
“There’s got to be something,” I said in frustration – it was like a never-ending cycle. “We could create a new law that prevents a rapist from marrying his victim.”
“Yes, that could happen. But then again, after the charges are dropped, there will be no rapist and no victim in the eyes of the law,” she explained, and my shoulders hunched forward in disappointment.
“There’s got to be something that I can do,” I said again, my voice low. “I can’t sit back and let this injustice go on in my Kingdom.”
I heard Queen Mother Shams sigh. “Laws can be changed, but traditions are impossible to break,” she said.
I guess my eyes lit up with the hope that I could somehow stop that tradition from happening, because the next thing I knew my mother-in-law was replying to my unspoken thought. “Traditions are the most respected thing in this Kingdom. Trust me, my child; blood will be shed if we go against them. Not only that of one person – it could actually start wars.”
The disappointment I felt was immeasurable. I really wanted to help. So badly. But I couldn’t. It wasn’t easy to accept that; I failed the women in my kingdom. My heart was sore.
As the days passed, I concluded that if there was something that could be done, Mazen would have done it already. He cared about everyone, and being a king enabled him to act on it.
I had to move on. I felt like a failure, but I moved on. Traditions in the Kingdom were sacred, and unfortunately, even those who claimed to be the most religious people you could ever meet often put tradition, no matter how barbaric, before the tenets of Islam.
Breaking a tradition or changing it would take years and years – it would take ages. Who knew if I could ever find a way to make things better? I just had to pray I would.
Donia’s wedding day was finally here, and I was almost as excited as she was. I was sure I’d see many interesting and entertaining things that Bedouins do to celebrate weddings.
I’d only realized how much Donia meant to me when she was suddenly gone. It would be another month before I’d get to see her again. She was too important to me. We didn’t talk all the time, or as closely as I could with Mona, but I always felt protective of her. I missed her and couldn’t wait to see her tonight.
Mazen’s and my schedules were cleared for the day, and we took the chance to just chill out a bit in our sunroom before we left. I had my nightgown and a silky robe on, while Mazen didn’t bother with more than his sweatpants. It was a sight that I would never get bored looking at.
We had breakfast and I was pretending to be a good girl to please Mazen, and asked for orange juice instead of coffee. My drinking coffee in the morning was equivalent to hitting him in the head. He hated it, and always went on and on about how it was bad for my health and sensitive stomach.
Oh, the joys of having a doctor for a husband.
“We really need a break,” Mazen said as he leaned his head back on the armchair where he sat across from me.
“We had one last month for your birthday. Already sporting a bad memory, old man?” I teased.
“Not that, chubby-cheeks pumpkin,” he said and I glared at him playfully. “It’s just that there is never enough time in the whole world when I’m with you.”
I couldn’t maintain my pout after those sweet words. I got up and walked straight to him, sat on his lap and laid my head on his shoulder. “You know I feel exactly the same way, angel.”
Mazen kissed my hair. “I know, princess.” He rested his chin right where his lips just had been, his hand rubbing up and down my arm in the sweetest way.
“Did I tell you how excited I am about the wedding?”
He chuckled. “About ten times since we woke up.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but don’t worry about it, princess. I understand. I’m excited to attend it, as well,” he said, squeezing my arm softly.
“How many Bedouin weddings have you attended?”
Mazen raised his left hand and I thought he meant five, but then he closed it to form a fist. I frowned as if to ask what he meant, and he replied, “Zero!”
My eyes widened. “Seriously?” I had no idea.
“It’s actually never happened before that royals have attended a commoners’ wedding, let alone Bedouins.”
“Never?” I asked in shock, and Mazen nodded in response. “But what’s the difference?” It was times like these that I felt so small and not worthy of being Queen. I didn’t always know everything about the Kingdom and its people. I would learn something new every day, but it seemed as though it was never enough.
I shrugged the feeling away – at least I was determined to learn – and listened to Mazen as he answered my question.
“Bedouins are the part of the Kingdom that rarely agrees with what my family does.”
“Oh! How come?”
“You see, a few hundred years ago, the Kingdom wasn’t ruled by my family. My great-great-grandfather was very wealthy, though. He married four women, each spouse came from one of the four largest tribes in the country. He had many sons from each of them. In a matter of ten years, he had helped almost everyone in the area, and had purchased land, countless miles. Eventually, the territory consolidated but needed a leader. He was crowned as the first king of this Kingdom, and named it after my family, Alfaidya.”
“Wow!” I had no idea about half of that stuff.
“Yes. The remaining tribes that my great-grandfather didn’t marry into were the ones that didn’t want to be ruled by a king. They objected, but they were the minority and their objections didn’t last long. Or at least they didn’t show it as much as they did earlier.” Mazen shrugged one shoulder.
“So, I guess they are the Bedouins?”
“Yes. They’re a pretty closed community. They live under the Kingdom and my family’s rules and laws, but also have their own rules and laws which they’re more likely to follow, laws that we don’t get involved in, you know what I mean?”
“I guess,” I said, suddenly wondering if attending the wedding was a misstep on my part. I’d noticed the surprise in everyone’s eyes whenever it was mentioned, and the media was talking about it non-stop. I’d only thought it was because the King and Queen were attending a non-family wedding in the desert.
Mazen hadn’t objected when I’d talked to him about the whole thing, but I was starting to think that he was only doing it for me.
“Mazen, if it’s something you don’t want to do …” I trailed off.
“What? The wedding? Of course, I want to go. I already told you I’m excited about it,” Mazen said. “Why would you think I wouldn’t want to?”
“I mean, I didn’t know the history between the family and Bedouins. I don’t want to cause trouble by interacting with them.”
“Oh, please. I think it’s a great idea. We’re not at war with them or anything, that’s for sure. But you can feel the tension any time the two groups have to meet up. I believe the wedding will be a great opportunity to lighten that tension. I should be thanking you, princess.” Mazen smiled.
“Are you sure?”
Mazen chuckled. “Positive.” He pinched my cheek lightly.
“You’re welcome … I guess.”
You could feel the tension that Mazen had talked about from a mile away. It made me a bit nervous, but the feeling couldn’t persist when I had my loving husband right beside me
The weather was beautiful, just beautiful. The thing I loved most about the Kingdom’s weather was that it was always amazing in winter. A bit chilly since it was night time, with a slight wind, but that’s what made it utterly perfect.
Torches burned everywhere. Our designated spot was on a large carpet on the ground. It was more festively decorated than the other carpets around us. To my surprise we were sharing it with the man who Mazen introduced to me as the leader of the Bedouin tribe.
His clothes were very different from those of the other men in the Kingdom – still a thawb and ghutra, with several different layers added to it. Many other men wore the same thing but with fewer layers. I guess that was what made him stand out.
I could barely see any women, though, and I wondered where the bride was. I decided to be patient and enjoy everything I was watching play out in front of me.
Goats were being barbecued all around us, while males danced beautifully in groups. It surely had taken many weeks of training to perform those specific dances. It was amazing.
It wasn’t hard to see that Fawaz and Mo’taz were sticking very close to us, seemingly on alert and closely observing each and every thing. I hadn’t seen the need to bring Brad with us, since Mazen’s personal guards were with us, with a couple hundred more as back-up.
Fawaz had told me earlier that guns were banned from Donia’s wedding. I could tell that the Bedouins weren’t happy about this. Shooting off their guns was how people in the Kingdom showed joy or announced war, as I had come to learn. Surely, it was a huge deal to omit that for our benefit, but they seemed to be understanding. I think.
Minutes later, the women started to emerge from tents at the back of the sitting area. Dressed in black from head to toe, I was sure that they were in very nice dresses underneath, and wondered when they would get to show them off.
It was easy to spot Donia among them since she was standing in the middle of the crowd, and the edges of her huge, sparkling blue dress were showing from underneath her cloak. I waved at her and she waved back. I could almost see her blush from behind the black face cover.
Mazen stood up and I gave him a confused look when I saw one of the guards helping him take off his black bisht – a light layer that he wore on different occasions in different colors – but he just smiled at me.
My confusion grew even more when I saw Thunder being led to the area in front of us. Mazen bent down and whispered in my ear, “This is for you only, my princess.”
The next thing I knew, Mazen was getting up on Thunder’s back. The music started getting very loud and the women started making those noises that they always did at weddings or any kind of celebration. I saw Mazen make Thunder stand on his hind legs and let out a strong neigh that had everyone gushing.
I had been with Mazen for almost a year and a half. This was the first time I learned that he could make Thunder dance this way. It was such an amazing thing to watch. I was enthusiastically applauding with every new move the two did together, just like everyone else, and I could tell that it was such a great honor for the tribe to have the King celebrate with them this way. The fact that he whispered that this was for me only made my heart fill with joy.
If it wasn’t for the fact that we were in public – in the middle of the desert and surrounded by Bedouins, no less – I would’ve jumped Mazen right then and there. Watching him on Thunder’s back, doing those dangerous moves with so much confidence was a huge turn-on for me. I wasn’t ashamed to admit it to Mazen once he hopped off and sat beside me again.
“When we get home, I want a ride too,” I whispered in his ear. “A very special ride, just me and you.”
Mazen’s eyes tightened a bit and then he came closer to whisper, “We won’t be going home soon, princess, at least not until I can get rid of the problem you just created.”
My eyes went straight to his lap, and though he was looking forward, he knew exactly what I was doing, because he continued, “It’s not very decent of you to look there, Marie. All eyes are on us.”
I bit my bottom lip and giggled, feeling the blush as it crept to my cheeks. I knew very well that Mazen would make me pay for that later – in the most delicious way.
Minutes later, a huge scale was brought out and Donia stood on one end. I didn’t understand what was going on or why everyone was cheering until I saw Donia’s groom – who was a nice-looking young man – piling jewelry on the other side of the scale.
Not long after, I figured out he was putting her weight in gold as her dowry. I had a gaping mouth all the while I watched him put on jewels and gold that weighed nearly 120 pounds before the scale finally lifted and everyone cheered crazily. The groom did a small victory dance.
Later, the women got to have a private setting where I was able to give my very best wishes to a very nervous, but happy Donia. She looked so beautiful, but I could sense something was troubling her. I decided it could only be some stress due to her thoughts of the new life that she was about to start.
We got to eat together, which I loved more than anything. Everything was so simple. It was exactly what I’d wanted to witness – a genuine wedding and not a fancy one distorted to benefit my husband’s and my honor instead of the bride and groom’s.
Mazen and I reunited right after eating, back to the same area we were in before. We watched more dances as women escorted Donia to what I figured was her new place. She entered a simple tent and I prayed with my whole heart that she would find happiness and a great married life.
I noticed that Sheikh Omran, the leader of the Bedouins, was pointing to me and to Donia’s tent while talking to Mazen. I couldn’t hear them because of the loud beats of the drummers.
Mazen’s eyes flared in shock all of a sudden, and all color drained from his face as he looked at me.
‘What?’ I mouthed, suddenly terrified from the look on his face.
“We need to get out of here,” he said in a low but rushed voice, and my blood ran cold.
“What’s happening?” I asked in horror as Mazen got up and pulled me to a standing position. “Are we in danger?”
“No. Yes. You need to go,” he said through clenched teeth, still whispering. “Fawaz, take Her Majesty out of here. Quickly!” he said to our royal guard, who was by our side the second we stood up.
“What about you? I won’t leave without you.” Tears started to sting my eyes. Everyone around us looked the same; nobody else was alert and nothing seemed out of the normal.
“You need to go. Now, Marie. Now! Please, just go, and don’t look back.”