‘That traitorous wretch. I should have had him imprisoned for life instead of being so lenient with him.’ The Ruler snorted.
‘El Khalid has never forgiven you for depriving him of his lands and assets when you discovered his fraudulent activities. I suspect that Nazir has promised him that if he succeeds in overthrowing you he will reinstate him. I also suspect that Nazir is intending that it is El Khalid who will be seen as the one to strike against you. Of course, he himself cannot afford to be seen to be connected in any way to your assassination.’ He frowned. ‘You must be on your guard—’
‘I am well protected, never fear, and as you say, for all that he hates me and always has done ever since we were boys, Nazir will not dare to strike openly against me.’
‘It is a great pity that you cannot have him deported and banished.’
The Ruler laughed. ‘No, we cannot do anything without concrete evidence, my brother. We are a democracy now, thanks in part to your own mother, but we must do everything according to the law of this land.’
His half-brother’s reference to his own mother made Xander frown slightly. His mother had originally been employed as the Ruler’s own governess. A passionate liberal thinker, she had taught her young pupil, and at the same time she had fallen in love with his father—a love that he had returned.
Xander himself was the result of that love, but he had never known his mother. She had died of a fever a month after his birth, having first made his father promise that he would respect her own cultural heritage in bringing up their son.
As a result of that deathbed promise, Xander had been educated in Europe and America, before being appointed as a roving Ambassador for Zuran.
‘It is you who faces the greater danger, Xander,’ the Ruler said warningly now. ‘And, as both your brother and your ruler, I am not happy that you should be taking such a risk.’
Xander gave a small, dismissive shrug. ‘We have already agreed there is no one else who we can trust implicitly and, besides, the danger is not that great. El Khalid has already accepted me in my role as a disaffected Tuareg tribesman, ostracised by his tribe for criminal activities. Indeed I have already proved my worth to him. We stopped a caravan of merchants last week and relieved them of their merchandise—’
The Ruler frowned. ‘Who were they? I must see that they are recompensed, although no one has made any complaint to me of such an attack.’
‘Nor will they do, I fancy,’ Xander told him dryly. ‘For one thing the attack took place in the empty quarter beyond Zuran’s border, which is where El Khalid has his base and, for another, the merchandise we relieved them of was counterfeit currency.’
‘Ah. No wonder they haven’t lodged a complaint!’
‘Although there have been hints and boasts from El Khalid of his involvement with some very important person, I have not as yet seen Nazir or any of his men making contact with him.
‘However, if, as I suspect, Nazir plans to have you assassinated during one of your public appearances on our National Day, he will have to meet up with El Khalid soon. Coincidentally, El Khalid has let it be known that he intends to hold an important meeting which we are all to attend, but as yet he has not said either when or where this is to be.’
‘And you think that Nazir will be at this meeting?’
‘Probably. I suspect his hand will be the one that guides its agenda, yes. He will want to ensure that the men chosen to accompany Khalid on an assassination mission can be relied on. Nazir won’t want to risk using any of his own men, of course, so, yes, I believe he will be there. And so shall I.’
The Ruler frowned. ‘You aren’t concerned that Nazir may recognise you?’
‘Disguised as a Tuareg?’ Xander shook his head. ‘I doubt it. It is after all their custom to cover their faces.’
The Ruler was still looking concerned.
‘So, Highness, you are pleased then, with the progress of the new hotel complex development? I heard much praise of our country’s existing tourism facilities whilst I was visiting our embassies,’ Xander announced smoothly, looking warningly at his half-brother as he caught the soft sound of someone walking quietly towards them.
The greenery parted to reveal the small but powerfully stocky figure of the man they had just been discussing coming towards them, his fingers covered in heavy jewel-encrusted rings, his venomous glance resting resentfully first on Xander and then on the Ruler himself. Ignoring Xander completely, he bowed stiffly to the Ruler.
‘Nazir.’ The Ruler greeted him coolly. ‘What brings you here? It’s not often you can spare the time from your duties as our Minister of Internal Affairs to visit us socially.’
‘I am extremely busy, it is true!’ Nazir responded self-importantly.
‘I hear there was some trouble earlier in the souk,’ Xander murmured.
Immediately Nazir shot him a suspicious look. ‘It was nothing…A petty thief was causing some disruption, that is all.’
‘A petty thief? But you were there yourself!’
‘I happened to be in the area. Besides, what business is it of yours how I conduct my duties?’
‘None, other than that of a concerned citizen,’ Xander answered him blandly.
His mouth compressing, Nazir turned away from him, deliberately keeping his back to him as he addressed the Sheikh. ‘I understand, Your Highness, that you have ignored my advice and that you are choosing not to have the armed escort of my personal guard to ensure your safety during the National Day celebrations.’
‘I am most grateful to you for your concern, cousin, but we must remember at all times our duty to the people. Our guests from other nations—especially those we hope will support our growing tourist industry—will not be reassured as to the stability of our country if they think that its ruler cannot go amongst his own people on such a joyful occasion without a phalanx of armed guards.’
‘And then, of course,’ Xander drawled sotto voce into the tension-filled silence that followed the Ruler’s gentle words, ‘one must always wonder who guards the guards…?’
A murderous look of hatred crossed Nazir’s face. ‘If you are suggesting—’ he began savagely.
‘I am suggesting nothing.’ Xander stopped him coldly. ‘I am merely stating fact.’
‘Fact?’
‘It is already proven that the presence of heavily armed personnel can lead to relatively small incidents getting completely out of hand.
‘I’m sure that none of us wants to have to explain to the ambassador from another nation that one of their nationals has been shot to death by an overenthusiastic and under-trained guard.’
‘We will talk of this again, cousin, in private,’ Nazir informed the Ruler grimly, pointedly ignoring Xander as he bowed briefly and left.
The Sheikh frowned as he exchanged looks with his younger half-brother.
‘Our cousin forgets what is due to you, Xander,’ he said angrily.
Xander gave a dismissive shrug. ‘He has never hidden the fact that he has no liking for me, or my mother.’
‘And your father? Our father was the greatest ruler this country has ever had! Nazir would do well to remember that! Nazir was unkind to you when you were a small child, I know, Xander, and neither I nor my father knew of his cruelty towards you then.’
‘I learned to deal with it and with him.’
‘Both he and his father hated your mother. They resented the influence she had over my father. And then when