It was not the first time Yara had witnessed other people try to take her cousin down through such means, but just like before...
Altair simply stared down the other officials, and since the sheikh happened to be half a foot taller, built like a fucking wall, and looked a thousand times meaner with his scowling and scarred face—-
The sheikh's message came across loud and clear: the officials better be prepared to fight him to the death for his position, and since these idiots were nothing but wealthy SOBs who had merely inherited their positions in court—-
Yara managed not to snort as the officials practically wilted on the spot, and all the others before them quickly scattered back to provide an unobstructed path for Altair. In moments, the sheikh had claimed his seat on the king's right, and Khalil's simple nod of acknowledgment was but icing on the cake. By not asking about Altair's well-being, Khalil had also effectively made his position known: he believed in Altair, and in the kingdom of Ramil, no one's opinion weighed heavier than that of the Emir Sheikh himself.
Altair gestured for Yara to step forward, and at his nod, his cousin began to summarize the events that had led to Mahmud's escape. With Yara doing the recap, Altair was thus free to study his audience, and what he saw...was something he did not like at all.
While he could not blame the majority for seeing Mahmud's actions as a virtual admission of his guilt, he did not like the way their gazes repeatedly darted towards his ex-girlfriend. She had obviously said a lot before his arrival, and he could literally feel the tide changing in 53's favor.
53 could not stop herself from shaking as she listened to Yara disclose the relationship between Mahmud and his right-hand man. She knew it. She knew it. They were all in it. Saul. Mahmud. Safiya. Traitors, all of them. Traitors!
She waited for the sheikh to condemn them as such, but when it was time for Altair to discuss the course of action he had taken—-
"You cannot be serious, alshaykh!"
A muscle ticked in Altair's jaw as 53 shot to her feet, dark eyes full of betrayal and rage.
"She is Saul's niece—-"
"I know."
53 let out a hysterical laugh at the quietly spoken words. "And that's it? That's really all you have to say?"
"Just as Mahmud's actions are his own, so are Saul's," Altair answered evenly. "None of it can be used to cast judgment on my betrothed—-"
"Fuck you."
Everyone in the room reacted, as such words, when uttered against a member of the royal family, were punishable by death.
And 53 knew this.
But she no longer cared.
She just didn't fucking care about anything anymore, with her sense of betrayal so deep it took everything in 53 to pull herself together.
Altair, seeing Yara glance at him as 53 started to walk away, simply shook his head, and his cousin reluctantly stepped back to let his ex-girlfriend through. He watched her go, and he did nothing to stop her. He watched her reach for the door, and a part of him was not surprised when she suddenly spun back—-
Her gaze crashed into his, and Altair saw some of the officials shift uneasily in their seats when they saw how 53 was now staring at him with eyes that openly begged.
Please reconsider.
Please stop me from leaving.
Please remember that you once promised to cherish me.
She was virtually on her knees, and everyone in the room knew it. He could see it in the way they were now turning to look at him. Waiting for him to do what he usually did.
She was in need. He was the only one who could save her, and therefore he must.
It was the honorable thing to do, and in the past, he would have done so without question.
But it was different now.
Even with the kingdom's highest officials watching and waiting for him to do what they believed was right—-
He could not and would not let their judgment sway him.
Even if it meant having everyone proclaim he had chosen a traitor's daughter over a woman who had laid everything on the line in service of the crown—-
Altair did not give a damn.
Because it was at that moment he remembered Hadwin's last words to him—-
Words that he had completely blocked out of his mind for years—-
One day, a woman will come into your life and make you feel weak. She'll turn your world upside down and make you want to run away like a coward. When that woman comes, son...love her.
The door slammed shut behind 53, and even as the sound made the people around the sheikh flinch and look at him with a mixture of condemnation and bewilderment—-
Altair didn't give a damn.
Because it was at that moment he knew.
His father's words had come true, and the woman who would make him weak and turn his world upside down—-
The woman who had made him want to run away like a fucking coward so many times—-
That woman was Safiya, and for her he would not merely lay his life on the line.
For his princess, it wasn't just his heart and soul that he offered to her.
For Safiya, even his honor was hers.
But by the time he sought to let her know this...she was already gone.
SAFIYA GAZED OUTSIDE the window in stunned dismay. She had pleaded with Altair not to take her to the palace. Had meant every word when she promised she would never hold it against the sheikh if he chose to maintain a distance between her and his family.
And yet—-
She shook her head as the military vehicle she was in slowed down in front of the palace steps. "I think there's been a mistake—-"
"Our commander's instructions were pretty clear, hamira," the soldier answered gruffly. "You are to be escorted straight to the palace for your safety."
She had no chance to reply, with the older man already stepping out to open the door for her.
"The media has already caught wind of Sheikh Mahmud's disappearance," Major Asad said gently. "While we would like to think that the public knows better than to hold you accountable for your father's actions, it is also best not to leave anything to chance."
Safiya swallowed back an instinctive protest and reminded herself that the older man was only doing his job. She forced a smile instead and bowed her head. "Khalis alshukr, Major Asad."
The words translated to 'my sincere thanks' and, the formal expression of gratitude had Major Asad grunting and coughing in an effort to hide his embarrassment. He was not used to having a princess thank him so, and to distract both of them, he gruffly suggested that he take Safiya to the sheikh. That was the plan at least, but both of them came to an awkward halt when a woman burst past the palace doors before crashing into a stop before them.
Safiya could only blink when the woman's gaze turned venomous at the sight of her. There was something...something about this woman that was vaguely and vividly familiar at the same time. She was absolutely certain she had seen this woman before, but when and where, she couldn't quite remember.
Major Asad, on the other hand, had no trouble recognizing the other woman. Agent 53 worked for the palace's secret service, and the only reason he knew this was because they had once been assigned to the same case.
It was, however, all he knew about her; everything else had been beyond his pay grade, and since Major Asad came from a strictly middle-class family, neither did he recognize 53 from her days as a private citizen. Oblivious as he was to the relationship between 53 and the sheikh, the older man did not see anything to worry about when the female agent volunteered to escort the princess to the war room.