her subsequent arrival in Dar-Aman two days ago. The Marriage and Coronation Council, as they’d called themselves, had flown to New York when Allegra had told them there was no way she could drop everything and return to Dar-Aman on one day’s notice. They’d invaded her office, throwing a normally calm and efficient Zara into bewildered chaos, until Allegra had had no choice but to send her assistant home.
With Di Sione Foundation matters temporarily passed to her second-in-command, Allegra had been whisked back to Dar-Aman and thrown into a protocol initiation that had made her head spin.
But even mentally exhausted, Allegra had been able to see the further changes which had occurred since her visit two months ago. More building works had sprung up in Shar-el-Aman. The squares were less crowded with disgruntled citizens who now had jobs to fulfil them. And when the motorcade carrying Allegra to and from her whirlwind appointments with women’s organisations went past, both young and old cheered, despite not knowing who rode within the blacked-out confines of the limo.
The further extensive changes Rahim had made in the short time since she’d mistakenly condemned him were truly impressive.
But there was one matter she wasn’t pleased about. One thing that needed addressing before she married the ruler of Dar-Aman. And with her sister lingering she couldn’t make the call.
‘This is my decision, Bianca. I’m at peace with it. That’s all you need to know, okay?’ The gravity of her reply had the effect she wanted.
Bianca exhaled and nodded. ‘I’ll see you at the ceremony, then.’
Allegra kept the smile on her face until Bianca shut the door behind her. Then she lifted her gaze to the mirror once more.
She barely recognised herself beneath the heavy make-up and the royal gold-and-blue headdress pinned into place by the dozen women who’d dressed her an hour ago. Her blue eyes shone wide and exotic, rimmed with delicate kohl and gold eyeshadow. Her mouth was painted with a special lip balm said to have been harvested from a sacred tree that bloomed once a year in the Dar-Aman desert. Carefully licking her lower lip, Allegra tasted the exotic spice of the balm. The same precious leaves had been crushed into a pulp and used to henna her hands and feet.
In fact, from head to toe, she’d been transformed into a bejewelled creature she didn’t recognise. No wonder Bianca was concerned.
But while Allegra was uncertain about what the future held, she knew one thing she absolutely couldn’t tolerate. Lifting the phone on the dresser, she dialled.
‘The office of Sheikh Al-Hadi. How many I help you?’ came a voice quite different from her future husband’s.
The depth of her disappointment was keen and sharp. ‘Hi...’ She floundered. ‘This is Allegra... Di Sione. Can I speak to Rahim?’ she asked of Rahim’s personal aide.
‘Excuse me one moment, please.’
Her hand tightened on the phone as voices murmured in the background. A full minute passed before the personal aide self-consciously cleared his throat. ‘I’m very sorry, Miss Di Sione, but His Highness is indisposed at present. He expresses his apologies.’
Pain lanced her, along with jagged anger. ‘Are you sure he expresses his apologies, or are you expressing it on his behalf?’ she shot back, very much aware she was shooting the messenger, but unable to stem the dread and bewilderment tightening into a hard knot in her chest.
‘I... Yes...of course...’
‘Oh, never mind.’ She hung up before she could make a further fool of herself.
She wished she could get up and walk out of the palatial suite that was every princess’s dream come true. Out of this fairy-tale palace. Out of Dar-Aman. But Allegra knew she wouldn’t. For the sake of her baby, she had to do this.
She had to marry a man who kept a harem right under her very nose!
A sob caught in her throat, but she swallowed it quickly as a soft knock sounded on the door and jerked her further into a reality filled with trepidation.
‘Mistress, the procession is ready for you,’ Nura announced, her smile stretched wide as she hurried to Allegra.
‘Thank you, Nura,’ she struggled to reply.
Allegra rose from the centuries-old ‘betrothal stool’ she’d been placed on and waited quietly as Nura arranged the heavy fall of the blue silk behind her, before slipping her feet into flat, ruby-encrusted golden slippers. The royal-blue gown threaded with gold matched her headdress. With wide sleeves and a fitted bodice, it flared in a stiff skirt to stop a few inches above the floor, so the jewels adorning her ankles and feet could be seen when she moved.
The double doors to her suite opened when she neared, and half a dozen women who’d been with her since sunrise curtsied deep, then began chanting the pre-wedding incantations.
Allegra had wondered why the women who’d dressed her had insisted on giving her the customary hour on her own before the ceremony began. Now she knew. Only her mind wasn’t at ease at all. The mental nail-biting and butterflies-battling had increased a hundredfold.
She hadn’t been able to help her mother or her siblings when they’d needed her. But with the different perspective provided ironically by Rahim, she could begin to forgive herself for her failure in that regard. As for helping the women in Dar-Aman, she was also confident her help would be welcome, even valuable.
And as Rahim had pointed out, as queen, she would be even more influential in helping to bring about change. Perhaps she’d been wrong to condemn herself so soon. Perhaps she’d needed Rahim to show her that this was her time to make a true difference.
It was the role of wife she feared most. She had no idea how she could be Rahim’s wife when she didn’t know what he expected of her. And she certainly wasn’t about to share his bed when he planned to share himself with others!
In less than an hour, she would no longer be Allegra Di Sione, but Her Royal Highness, Allegra Al-Hadi, Queen of Dar-Aman.
And she was already failing at that! Because she knew she would never be the kind of wife who would blithely look the other way while her husband lay with other women.
She wanted to be the only woman he took to his bed. His only wife. And she wanted Rahim as her husband. Her true husband. The admission shook her to the core, even as the cruel reminder that Rahim’s sole reason for marrying her had been to secure legitimacy for his heir and to please his people struck deep.
Anguish slashing through her, Allegra’s steps faltered as they reached the edge of the western wing. Through a large Moorish archway, a gold carpeted walkway led to the palace’s private beach. Rose and jasmine petals had been strewn along the way. The part of her that wasn’t reeling with deep apprehension took in the sheer beauty of the ceremony and logged it away in her memory banks.
Beyond the boundaries of the no-fly zone Nura had excitedly pointed out to her, news helicopters from around the globe hovered.
She was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other when a tall shadow detached from the VIP guests lining the walkway to follow her down to the beach. Her breath caught as Alessandro stopped in front of her.
‘Allegra.’ His voice was firm, but his eyes bore into hers with brusque concern which warmed her.
