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CHAPTER ONE

KING JAUL, WHO HAD recently acceded to the throne of Marwan on the death of his father, Lut, glanced across the date-palm-filled courtyard beyond his office A beautiful brunette was playing ball there with her niece and nephew Her naant and as sweet-natured as she ell-born, she would make a wonderful queen, he knew So why hadn’t he broached the subject yet? he asked hirimly

Maras a Gulf state, s was not expected to re Governerness for him to take a bride A royal dynasty was not seen as secure until there was another heir in the offing and Jaul was an only child, the son of a man who had been an only child

The newspapers were full of constant speculation He could not be seen even talking to a young wo suspicions His wide, sensualof the wilder andmale he had once been If he was honest with hietting h Zaliha was, there was not the smallest spark of chemistry between thee shorn of the wild attraction and excitement that had once led to his downfall?

Athe arrival of Bandar, who served as the royal faal adviser

‘My apologies if I’ head said earnestly, boith solenity

Jaul invited hiainst his desk, restless at the prospect of an in-depth discussion of some obscure piece of constitutional lahich fascinated Bandar much more than it fascinated anyone else

‘This is a very delicate matter,’ Bandar informed him uneasily ‘But it is my duty as your adviser to broach it with you’

Wondering what on earth the olderto, Jaul studied hi we cannot discuss—’

‘Yet this is a o with my predecessor, Yusuf, and he instructed ain lest I caused offence,’ Bandar told hiies in advance’

Yusuf had been his father’s adviser and had retired after King Lut’s passing, allowing Bandar to step into his place Jaul’s fine black broere noing together while a mixture of curiosity and dismay assailed him as he wondered what murky, dark secret of his father’s was about to be unleashed on him What else could this very delicate matter concern?

‘I aal issues,’ Jaul responded ‘Naturally I respect that responsibility’

‘Then I will begin,’ Bandar lishwoh that fact is known to very few people, it is surely past time that that situation is dealt with in the appropriate manner’

It took a lot to silence Jaul, whose stubborn, passionate and outspoken nature ell knoithin palace circles, but that little speech seriously shook hie,’ Jaul countered tautly ‘I was inforal because I did not obtain my father’s permission beforehand’

‘I’ on your father’s part He wished the e to tell hial’

Jaul had lost colour beneath his healthy olive-tinted co his astonishe?’ he repeated in disbelief

‘There is nothing in our constitutional lahich prohibits a Marwani Crown Prince fro his own choice of bride You were twenty-six years old, scarcely a teenager and thatsince to sever that tie’

Wide, strong shoulders now rigid beneath the long crea to calculate the sheer i ball that had suddenly crashed into his marital plans He was already a married man Indeed he was still a married man As he had only lived with his bride for a feeeks before parting fro hi to sever the tie because I was inforal and, therefore, void Like a bad contract,’ he admitted