The Sultan's Daughter (Princesses Uncovered #5)

Chapter 7: Guards and Invites

Fath stared at the guard, butterflies fluttering in his stomach and an incredulous look pasted onto his face. “The Sultan wants… wants to… to see… me?” He stammered. “Wh…wha…what d..did I d…do?” He mentally cursed himself for sounding like a fool with all the stuttering.

If only he wasn’t so abominably nervous and keyed up.

The guard raised an eyebrow, and Fath turned beet red. “I mean… He wants to see me? Why?” This time, he managed to hold his voice steady and strong.

His mother stood silently behind him, glancing between the guard and Fath, her eyes filling with tears and uncertainty.

The guard shrugged. “I don’t know, boy. He just said for me to fetch you. He wants to meet you, I guess.”

Fath gave a tight smile. “I’m honored.”

He wants to see me. Why? Did he find out about what happened between me and his daughter? You fool! Of course he did! This is Sultan Imaran we’re talking about. Intelligent, crafty, dangerous. He’s probably trying to put you off guard so that you walk into a trap unsuspecting.

He looked at his mother then back at the guard, biting his lip. “Can I go change and get ready?”

The guard nodded. “Fifteen minutes. You better be back here by then.”

Fath nodded, giving the guard a weak smile. I have absolutely no intention of being back here in fifteen minutes, but you don’t need to know that little tidbit. He thought at the guard, wanting to laugh at his good fortune to have a window with a cloth canopy beneath it right in his room.

The guard didn’t bother trying to follow him. Fath wondered about that for a moment, but just brushed it off. Probably, the guard had no clue about his meeting with the Princess, and more than likely, he figured that Fath was so awestruck by the Sultan’s supposed graciousness towards him that he wouldn’t consider running.

Well, if that’s what he thinks, so much the better for me. He felt a twinge of guilt about leaving his mother behind as he began to climb out of the window and drop onto the cloth canopy as he’d done many times as a boy. She’ll be fine. Sultan Imaran won’t kill her or hurt her. She wasn’t the one who broke the law and touched the Princess. I was. She’ll be alright here. He told himself as he landed lightly on the blue and white striped canopy.

***

“You invited him to dinner?” Yazmina screeched at her father.

He winced, trying to soften the blow of her voice on his ears by holding up a hand to stop her. “Yes, Yaz. I invited him to dinner. I wanted to meet the young man you won’t stop talking about.”

Yaz was practically ignoring him. She twirled in giddy circles, her gauzy skirt flowing around her legs, the high slit fluttering open to reveal the silky, baggy black pants she favored wearing.

He smiled at her enthusiasm. “Yaz, calm down…”

Gafar walked into the room just then.

Imaran didn’t like the look he got in his eyes when he looked at Yaz, who was still spinning in a giddy dance and grinning. Gafar’s eyes got a little darker, and he had this sly half-smile on his face. He stared at Yaz’s spinning form, watching her slender, bare arms ripple along with the rest of her body in the brilliant lamplight.

Finally, Yaz stopped spinning and flung her arms around Imaran. “Thank you, Father!”

Gafar frowned, but didn’t move.

“What did you need, Gafar?” Imaran asked cordially.

Gafar bowed. “Sire, I had simply come to find out if the young man you were waiting for had arrived. I’m sure that Fath would be quite anxious to meet with you.” He sent another glance at Yaz, who noticed and moved back to stand behind Imaran.