‘Then don’t make changes,’ Fatiq said, and turned to leave.
‘Father...’ Zahir called him back, not as a king but as a father. ‘Please go gently on my mother. She is recovering from surgery...’
‘She is recovering from an unnecessary procedure. She left the palace laughing and smiling, yet she has returned unable to climb the stairs unaided and she weeps each night. Now, with the help of the attar and the healing baths, she is slowly starting to recover. It does little to enamour me to your modern ways. However, I do think, on my return, we could consider plans for a birthing suite at the hospital.’
It was the tiniest concession but a possible step forward.
Zahir didn’t trust that it would transpire.
‘As well as that,’ the King said, ‘I think we should hold the selection ceremony soon. I was going to invite Princess Kumu...’
‘Don’t extend any invitations,’ Zahir said. ‘Not without my consent, for it would not look good if Princess Kumu and her family came to the palace and I was not here.’
Zahir had fired a warning shot and he watched the clench of his father’s jaw.
Yes, he was warning that he might leave.
The King did not respond to the threat from his son, just walked out of the office, and Zahir followed him.
They bade farewell and Zahir stood there as his parents were driven to the airstrip.
He watched them take off.
Zahir was now the ruler.
There was no point working on the hospital in his father’s absence, he knew that.
Yet change would be implemented.
‘Ask Adele to come and speak with me in my office,’ Zahir said to Bashir, a royal aide.
His office looked out over the desert and he put his hand deep in his pocket and felt the sand he had taken from his brother’s grave.
‘You asked to see me?’ Adele said, and the sound of her voice lifted his soul and he knew he was right to do what he was about to.
He nodded and turned.
‘How about I show you the desert?’
‘Is it allowed?’
‘I am the ruler,’ Zahir said. It didn’t fully answer the question. ‘If you want to call the nursing home and enquire about your mother, you should do so now, because there will be no reception out in the desert.’
‘How long will we be there?’
Zahir didn’t answer.
‘Should I bring anything?’
‘No.’
She called the nursing home and spoke to Annie. ‘How is she?’
‘She’s the same. When are you back?’
‘On Monday.’ Adele hesitated. ‘Annie, I’m going into the desert, I’m going to be out of range...’
And she thought of Zahir’s words and she told herself that she was simply moving forward, not pulling away.
‘We’ll take care of her, Adele,’ Annie said. ‘You go and have a wonderful trip. Time in the desert, out of range, sounds magical to me.’
It was the most exciting adventure of her life.
Adele sat next to Zahir in the helicopter and they put on headphones; she was lifted into the sky and for a moment felt as free as a bird.
The palace was on the edge of the desert and soon all that was beneath them were golden sands.
‘It’s amazing,’ Adele said into her mouthpiece. ‘Just miles and miles of nothing.’
‘No,’ Zahir said, ‘there is so much more to see.’
She just drank it in but Zahir was right—there was more.
The helicopter hovered and descended and she looked down at the sand dunes and saw a caravan of camels and their long shadows. It was truly mind-blowing to think that in this huge expanse there were people surviving and going about their business.
They flew over vast canyons and then the helicopter hovered as Adele took in a sight she had never thought she would—a desert oasis.
It was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen.
‘There is a hot spring there.’ Zahir’s voice came through the headphones. ‘Birds gather and drop seeds...’
It was magical.
Adele was starting to believe in magic again.
‘And people live there?’ she asked, because there was an array of white tents set beside the hot springs lake.
‘That is the royal desert abode. Would you like to see it from the ground?’
She nodded.
The closer they got the more Adele’s excitement grew.
The helicopter landed and they ran under the rotors but soon the sand gave way to a rich lush moss that surrounded the water.
It was nothing like she had ever seen or imagined.
She had thought the desert abode was a tent in the middle of nowhere; instead there were trees, delicate flowers and the lake was a dazzling azure.
It was paradise.
‘Do you miss coming here when you’re away?’
‘I do,’ Zahir admitted. ‘I miss home all the time, but not the politics.’
There was a herd of white Arab horses and they were magnificent.
‘Do you ride?’ Zahir asked.
‘Very well,’ Adele said, and then laughed at her own joke. ‘That’s a lie. I’ve never even been on a horse.’
He pointed to a large tent by the lake and told her it was the royal one.
‘So who lives in the other tents?’
‘There are maids and the horsemen and a falconer.’
‘Where’s your harem?’ Adele teased.
‘Over there.’ Zahir pointed as they walked towards the main tent. ‘There is a tunnel from their tent that leads to the royal suite.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes?’
‘And do you...?’
‘I came of age in the desert, Adele.’
She was sulking as they reached the royal abode. Or she was trying to, but it was so beautiful that she forgot to be cross as she removed her shoes. The floors were covered with Arabian rugs and the walls and ceilings were lined with cascading white silk.
She took out her phone and Zahir smiled.
‘Are you so bored on our date that you are checking your phone? I don’t think that’s a good sign.’
‘Did your mother tell you about my date with Paul?’ Adele laughed. ‘Well, I’m actually checking for reception.’
There was none.
And her phone didn’t tell her the time either.
‘There are no clocks...’
‘We go by the sun and the stars,’ Zahir explained. ‘The main reason for coming here is to get away from all things modern. I agree with my father on that point. Here is for introspection and to seek guidance. It is a haven from the modern world.’
‘It’s actually quite freeing,’ Adele