Chapter 13
The number of guests invited to the king’s birthday celebration was small, but Amir kept himself focused on his father, who seemed alert enough. Alexandra stood next to him, and he wondered how she did it. It was obvious to anyone who knew her that she was distraught. Her face was pale, her eyes vacant, her whole aspect subdued. He knew she was suffering because of the way he was treating her, but it hurt him to know that she would deceive him. Of course, the fact that he was hurting the woman he was growing to love more every day did not make him feel any better than she probably felt, and in the end, who was benefited? He knew he would forgive her. What she had done had been foolish, but she had paid for her mistake, and the beautiful child that she had been blessed with made the punishment bearable.
She was not, as he knew well, a woman who gave herself freely to any man, nor did she flaunt herself to tease and entrap men. She was a woman of honor, hardworking, sincere, and proud, and someone he needed to convince that no matter what she thought of herself, she was the one he wanted, needed, had to have in his life permanently, even if he had punished her for her deceit with his cold withdrawal. He refocused on the room. The guests had all paid their respects to the king, and they were now milling about, reconnecting with each other, eating and drinking. The only dancing would be done by the troupe he had hired, one whose work he knew his father had enjoyed in his younger days. They were about to begin, and the lights were dimmed, except for the staging area.
Malik came to stand next to him, and he knew, by the way his assistant held his body, that he had something on his mind.
“What is it, Malik?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”
Malik cleared his throat. “That is what I am trying to ascertain,” he said, and looked over at Alexandra. “Miss Downing will not tell me, but I know that something is amiss. She has lost
her color, and barely speaks to anyone, including her daughter. Would you, perhaps, know why she is so upset, my lord?”
Amir sighed. Malik never questioned him, or tried to interfere in his life outside of his duties as personal assistant. But he was his friend, and had been for more than half his life. And Amir knew that he valued Malik’s companionship as more than that of employer and employee. He was the big brother Amir did not have, the confidante.
“Alexandra was forced to tell me a secret she had kept hidden from me, a secret she knew would displease me, and I reacted with anger.”
“Will you forgive her, or is it unpardonable?”
“Is anything unpardonable when you love someone, my friend?”
Malik turned to look at him, neither of them attending to the first dance which had begun. “I am not the one who needs to hear those words, my lord,” he finally said, and then he walked away.
Before he could focus on the dancing, Amina sidled up to him and touched his arm, letting her hand rest there. He had avoided her all evening, but she had managed to catch him unawares, and he ground his teeth in frustration. The last person he wanted to have to deal with at the moment was Amina. Removing himself from her touch, he asked, keeping his eyes on the dancers,
“What can I do for you, Princess?”
“Your father seems happy tonight,” she replied. “You are a kind and thoughtful son, my prince.”
She purred over the last words, and Amir cringed, but managed a strained smile. “I could not refuse his request.”
She hummed gently, and put a hand on his elbow. “I said as much to his caregiver. She agrees with me that you are a kind and generous employer.”
Amir saw red. Whatever Alex was to him was none of Amina’s business, and that she should have come to his house to try to interfere was inexcusable. He turned to berate her, but Malik caught his eye. He excused himself and went to where his assistant stood.
“Thank you for that,” he said to the man. “I was just about to speak my mind.”
Malik smiled. “I read the signs, my lord, and thought it best to effect a rescue.” He turned his eyes to the king, and added, “And perhaps you need to effect a rescue for your poor sire.”
Amir followed his eyes and saw Amina bending to the king’s ear. Whatever she was saying seemed to distress his father, and Amir went immediately to his side. He had no idea where Alexandra had gone to, and he hoped there was a good reason for her absence from her post or there would be hell to pay. Amina must have sensed his approach, because she straightened, shot him a predatory smile, and walked away. Amir did not spare her a glance, watching as his father’s eyes rolled back in his head.
Alexandra appeared at his elbow as if by magic, and said to him imperiously,
“Call 911…or whatever you do when there’s an emergency! And clear the room! People need to leave. Now!”
Shelving the questions and the fear that gripped him, Amir did as she ordered, shielding his father from the gaze of the crowd while he got Malik to help him usher people out. Amina cast a smug glance his way, but when she saw the fury blazing in his eyes, her smile faltered and she lowered her eyes, making her way out of the reception hall.
“What is happening?” Amir asked Alexandra, turning back to see her working on his father.
“I think he may be having a heart attack,” she said, not bothering to look at him as she tried to do CPR without moving her charge.
The ambulance arrived, and Alexandra went with the king, because she was his caregiver and would know how to answer the questions they asked better than he could. His security chief brought round the SUV and he jumped in with Malik, before they rushed off behind the ambulance. All the way to the hospital, Amir worried that he would arrive to find that his father had passed away without him there. There were so many things he wanted to tell him, not the least of which was that he would soon be a father-in-law, if Alexandra agreed to be his wife. And he wanted to tell his father that he had never stopped being the son who loved him, even when he had retreated into teenage hostility and depression after his mother’s death. He wanted to tell him thanks for the gift that was Malik, a gift that was still giving all these years later.
They arrived ten minutes after the ambulance, and were told to wait, as the king was still in the Emergency Room being worked on. Amir paced, remaining as calm as he could, not wanting to get in the way of the people who were tending to his father. It was the hardest thing he had ever done, next to not taking Alexandra when they had been in the desert. Eventually, his father’s personal physician, who had serendipitously been in the hospital and was tending him, came out to speak with Amir, before escorting him to the private room they had put him in.
“Your Highness,” he began, “your father has had a heart attack. He is resting comfortably for now, but he will need to be carefully monitored for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. At his age and with the advanced condition of his disease, any operation to correct the problems we found would only be debilitating, and possibly hasten his demise. However, if you should wish to consider that option, we can speak of it further, once he is awake again and can participate in the conversation.”
The doctor led him to the other wing of the hospital, on the topmost floor, which was the section dedicated to the treatment of VIPs such as the king, and stopped outside the room where his father lay. The security detail stood at attention just outside the door, and Alexandra sat huddled on a chair as well, across the hall. Amir frowned.
“Why aren’t you inside with my father?” he demanded, striding over to her and trying to rein in his temper.
In the past two months, she had never shown any of the unreliability that she had shown twice tonight…first in leaving his side at the party, and now, in being outside his room instead of inside at his side. Something was amiss, but he had no idea what it was. The doctor answered for her.
“Your father seemed very agitated when he regained consciousness and saw her, and told us to make sure she was not allowed near him.” The obvious curiosity on his face was not something Amir could answer.
“She is his caregiver, and has been these last two months,” he said, as puzzled as the doctor was.
“Still, Your Highness, if His Majesty refuses to have her, we must accede to his wishes, in the interests of his health.”
Amir sighed. He would get to the bottom of this, but first he needed to see his father. He thanked the doctor and dismissed him.
Going to Alexandra, he crouched beside her for a moment and spoke quietly to her, not wanting the security detail to hear him.
“I will find out what is going on, Alexandra. In the meantime, I need you to get yourself something to eat. I noticed that you didn’t eat much tonight, And I have a feeling that you will need to keep your strength up now more than ever. Take a break, and go to the hospital cafeteria. I’ll call down so they will know to expect you. I will stay with him until you return.” He rested his hands over her clasped ones for a moment, relishing the contact, and then removed them, saying as he stood up, “And Alexandra? Thank you for saving my father’s life.”
He watched her as she stood and walked away, and then he entered his father’s room and looked at the frail man lying against the white pillows. The machines blipped and pinged around him, and though his breathing was shallow, he was thankfully breathing on his own. He went and sat beside him, and Malik appeared after an hour with coffee and a sandwich which he consumed absently. He had his assistant cancel all his meetings for the next few days, and asked him to make sure that Simone was taken care of until Alexandra could get home to her. Then he waited for his father to wake up. Amir dozed in the armchair provided for his use while his father slept, and once, when he went to see where Alexandra was, he found her sitting with her head back against the wall, also dozing but still waiting.
His heart ached for her. He wanted her, and the anger he had let control him for a few hours seemed a distant memory now as he watched her sleep. She must be exhausted, and he knew she needed to see to her daughter. He walked over and shook her gently. She opened her eyes instantly and asked,
“Is he all right? Is everything all right?”
Amir smiled. “He is still asleep. Go back to the palace, sleep, and deal with Simone. Then you can come back in the afternoon. I will be here with him.” When she opened her mouth to argue, as he knew she would, he said, “That’s an order, Alexandra. Simone needs her mother, and you need to sleep in a bed, not propped up in a chair against a wall.”
He motioned to one of the men standing outside the door and spoke quietly to him. The man escorted Alexandra down, and Amir went back to his father. The old king was stirring, and Amir went to sit on the edge of his bed.
“Father,” he said, brushing gentle fingers over his father’s hand where it lay against the coverlet. “I am here.”
The old man’s hand trembled as he turned it to grasp his son’s fingers almost desperately. Amir had to bend to hear his father’s whispered words.
“When were you going to tell me of your plans, my son?” He turned watery eyes to Amir’s face before closing them. “Why did I have to hear from a stranger that you plan to bring a whore into the family? Do you wish to send me to an early grave?”
Amir raised a puzzled brow. “I am not marrying a whore, Father. Where did you get such a story?”
There was no answer for a moment, just the trembling fingers around his own. And then his father whispered, tears streaming from his eyes,
“Do you know about that woman you have hired to watch over me? I cannot have her attend me in her fallen state!”
He was getting agitated again, and Amir hastened to soothe him. “I promise you I will not do anything you don’t wish me to do, Father.”
The trembling eventually calmed, and his father fell asleep again. Neither he nor his father had noticed Alexandra’s arrival in the room, not her abrupt departure. When he left the room, she was not there, but he did not remark it because he had told her to go back to the palace and return later. However, when she hadn’t returned four hours later, he called Malik and asked after her.
“She has become very erratic, and I am concerned.”
Malik did not answer, and something in his silence warned Amir that what he was about to hear would displease him.
“What has happened?” He squared his shoulders, preparing for bad news.
“My lord,” Malik said hesitantly, “Ms. Downing has left.”
Cold dread washed over Amir, followed by even colder fury. She had deserted her post? And him? And without a word? He suppressed the urge to roar in rage, and asked in a tight voice,
“What do you mean she has left?”
“Ms. Downing returned from the hospital almost as soon as she had gone back, and packed her things and those of her child. She called for a taxi and was taken to the airport. Even now, I imagine she is in the air, my Lord.”
“How would she have gotten a flight so quickly?” he demanded.
“I don’t think she took a direct flight, my lord,” Malik informed him. He paused, and then added, “She left you a note.”
“Bring it to me.”
Malik appeared half an hour later and handed Amir a pink envelope. He sniffed it, hoping to get a whiff of her, but there was no scent. Stepping out of his father’s room, he opened it impatiently, ripping the envelope as he did so, and withdrew the single sheet of paper. Alexandra’s strong handwriting appeared.
Your Highness, (Amir ground his teeth at the formal address)
As you are already angry with me for not having told you about the true nature of my relationship with Simone’s father, Simon Parker, and you are now laboring under the impression that I am, in fact, a whore, come to contaminate your sacred palace, I will remove myself from your home, and from your employ. Your father has no need to fear for his family’s reputation any longer. I relinquish the rest of my salary, and of course will not expect a reference from you.
Be happy with the woman you chose. You and Princess Amina deserve each other.
Alexandra Downing
He knew he had to find her. Alexandra was hurting, and it appeared that not only had she overheard part of his conversation with his father, but that Amina had something to do with it. He could not leave his father’s side until he was out of danger, and in any event, by the time he managed to find out where she had gone, she would have left already. His only recourse was to have her tracked, and when he was able, to go and find her and bring her home. In the meantime, he needed to find out what was Amina’s involvement in this debacle. He had not chosen her, no matter what Alexandra thought, or what she had been told.
As if he had conjured her by thinking about her, Princess Amina appeared, escorted by one of the staff. She approached Amir cautiously, no doubt sensing the fury he was holding in check.
“How is the king?” she asked when she stood before him.
“He is resting,” he said. “What did you say to Ms. Downing?”
It was clear that she had not been prepared for that question, and Amir watched as she floundered, struggling to find an acceptable answer.
“I told her that you were a kind man and that she ought not to take your kindness for interest beyond what it was.”
“Who are you to speak for me?” he demanded angrily. She flinched, and he continued, ignoring her discomfort at having the conversation in front of his security detail. “Why was she not at my father’s side when you spoke with him?”
“She said she needed to visit the ladies room, so I told her I would stay until she returned.”
He supposed it was plausible. “And what did you say to my father, Amina? He became ill almost as soon as you left his side.”
The accusation in Amir’s voice turned it into a growl, and she flinched again. When she did not respond immediately, he barked, “What did you say to upset him?”
“I was just complimenting him on his caregiver, and on how she had overcome her situation to become a nurse.”
Amir became deadly still. “What situation?”
She looked at him with patently false innocence and said, “Well, she was not a married woman when she had her daughter, was she? It must have taken a great deal of courage for her to dig herself out of that hole, don’t you think?”
Amir was almost speechless with rage. “Leave me!” he commanded her, and turned his back on her to say to his detail, “See to it that she is not allowed back on this floor!”
He stalked into his father’s room and shut the door. Now his father’s words made sense to him, and the fullness of Amina’s perfidy became evident. Because of her spiteful, jealous spirit, his father lay closer to death, and the woman he loved thought the worst of him and had left him in anger. He clenched his fists as he paced, wishing there was more he could do to fix both situations, and feeling impotent because he knew he couldn’t. He took deep calming breaths, reining in his anger and frustration. Then he sat in the armchair and considered what he would do. Whatever it took, he would bring his Alexandra back to him.