We both fell asleep.’
‘I can finish it later.’ Without meeting his eyes, Layla slid out of the bed.
He saw her hesitate before allowing her feet to touch the ground and saw her hold her breath as she stepped carefully over the dog blocking her path, as if doing so required nerves of steel.
Oblivious to the atmosphere, Zahra smiled at her. ‘When you’ve finished talking, can we play in the sand like yesterday?’
The news that she’d been spending her days with his daughter was the final straw. ‘No, you cannot, because we are going riding.’
‘Together?’
‘Together.’ Touched by her expression of delight, he put her down gently. ‘Play with Isis and Horus for a moment.’
She needed no encouragement to play with the dogs, and they in turn fussed around the child, proving themselves better guards than the people he’d paid to stand over her and keep watch in his absence.
Keeping his anger in check, he left the tent, noticing that one of the guards assigned to watch over his daughter was now standing outside, having no doubt taken a badly timed bathroom break.
Deciding to deal with him later, Raz followed Layla to the edge of the oasis, noticing that she stopped a safe distance from the water’s edge.
‘You deliberately went against my orders.’
‘Yes, I did.’
She turned to face him, her expression calm. She made no excuses. Nor did she apologise and that surprised him.
‘I thought I’d made my wishes clear on this matter.’
‘Would you rather I’d left your daughter to scream, Your Highness?’
The news that Zahra had been screaming again sent ice down the rigid length of his spine. ‘If she was screaming then it would have been better for someone familiar to comfort her. That was your advice.’
‘And I stand by it. But there was no one familiar. She was alone.’
‘My daughter is never alone. She is under twenty-four-hour guard and Nadia is with her at all times.’ Even as he said it he remembered that the guard had not been present when he’d arrived, and her next words confirmed that.
‘She was alone last night. And the night before. And the night before that. There was no guard and there was no Nadia.’ She seemed more annoyed than intimidated. ‘You weren’t here. I made the decision I thought was best, Your Highness.’
‘My name is Raz,’ he said tightly. ‘I think we are now sufficiently well acquainted for you to use it.’
‘Evidently not, since you don’t see me as fit company for your daughter.’
Raz breathed deeply. ‘Nadia is supposed to stay with her at night.’
‘Then no doubt that is something you will wish to explore with her.’
Listening to that calm appraisal, Raz realised just how much he’d underestimated her. He’d mistaken silence for a lack of opinion, and shyness for a lack of forcefulness, but it seemed his new wife had a layer of steel, visible only if someone pressed hard enough. On this she wasn’t budging.
‘Nadia would not have left her alone.’
‘Are you accusing me of lying?’
‘Perhaps it was a simple misunderstanding. Perhaps she went to fetch Zahra a drink or something to eat.’
‘There was no sign of her at any point during the night, nor of the guard. I understand that as her nanny you believe Nadia to be the best person to care for her, but I’m providing you with evidence that she left the child alone. Why would you doubt me?’
‘Because Nadia isn’t Zahra’s nanny. She is her aunt.’ That confession was met by a tense silence.
For a moment she said nothing and simply stared at him. Then her mouth moved and finally words emerged.
‘Her aunt?’
Raz stayed perfectly still. ‘Nadia is my late wife’s sister.’
‘S-sister?’ She stammered the word, visibly shocked. Again she said nothing, and then she shook her head briefly. ‘And you didn’t think that was worth mentioning? You let me turn up here in my wedding dress and you didn’t even warn her or tell me who she was?’
‘When would I have had the opportunity to warn her? We were married only hours after you appeared unannounced at my desert camp. Then we arrived here and she came out of the tent before I had a chance to speak to her privately.’
‘It is no wonder she can barely look at me.’ Her words were barely audible. ‘It explains so much.’
‘It does not explain why she would leave Zahra unattended.’
‘Maybe it does. Maybe...’ She frowned slightly and then stared at the still surface of the oasis. ‘You should have told me. There is so much you should have told me.’
‘Why would I tell you?’
‘You really have to ask me that?’ Her head was turned towards him, pain and accusation in her eyes. ‘Because keeping secrets is doing nothing but harm. I understand that this is hard for you, I understand that you have to make love to me in the dark because touching me makes you think of your wife and that makes you feel guilty, and I understand that you don’t want to be here during the day because it’s like a slap every time you look at me. I understand that, given the way you feel about my family, you are reluctant to trust me with your child. I don’t blame you for that. But it wasn’t Nadia who comforted Zahra in the night, Your Highness. It wasn’t Nadia who read to her and played with her. For the past two days it hasn’t been Nadia who has cared for your daughter. It has been me.’
Raz was stunned into silence by her interpretation of the facts, but before he could respond she took a step closer to him.
‘Do you think I’m not a caring person? Is that what you think?’ Her voice vibrated with tension. ‘Do you think I would have crossed a desert I didn’t know, on a horse I had no idea how to ride, to find a man who hates me, if I weren’t a caring person? Just in case the facts don’t speak for themselves, let me tell you I’m a very caring person—and if you looked at the facts you’d be able to see that. And, yes, I was thinking of my sister and my future, but I also care about the people of Tazkhan. And before you dismiss that, based only on my bloodline, let me remind you that we can choose many things in life, but whom we are related to isn’t one of them. I chose to go to your daughter in the night because I couldn’t sit there and listen to her distress. And I chose to step over those horrible, scary dogs in order to comfort her. So never imply I’m not trustworthy enough to care for you daughter.’
The stillness of the baking desert heat intensified the silence.
Raz stood still, her words stinging as they sank into his flesh. ‘Why do you find the dogs scary?’
‘After everything I just said to you, that is the question you choose to ask?’ She gave
