The Sheik and the Bought Bride (15 page)

“How can you help?” Zayd asked.

“By offering myself as Kateb’s sacrifice.”

The men all looked at each other, then stared at her.

“Impossible,” one of them said forcefully.

“Not really.” She did her best to smile. “Look, we all know this is about revenge. I have a bad feeling about this kid. He wants to win in a big way, in front of a lot of people. What if he cheats or something? Do you really want him as your leader? Do you want him in charge? Kateb is the best man for the job and while I think we should have a serious discussion about women and leadership, this isn’t the time or place.”

The men started speaking with each other. Zayd held up his hand for silence. “Go on.”

“So if Fuad tries something, Kateb could be hurt. If he is, I rush onto the field as the sacrifice, Kateb is saved and we all go home.”

Zayd stared at her. “The fight is to the death.”

She didn’t actually want to think about that. “Okay. Everyone goes home but me.” She cleared her throat. The death part wasn’t her favorite.

“You’re a woman,” one of the elders said.

“Why does everyone keep saying that, like I don’t already know?” She turned to Yusra. “This is your part.”

The older woman motioned for the guard to bring her the book. She flipped through it and began to read. It wasn’t in English, so Victoria pretended interest until Yusra pointed at her, indicating she’d reached the relevant part.

“As you just heard, there’s no requirement for the sacrifice to be a man,” Victoria said. “You can’t refuse me. It’s my choice. I will be Kateb’s sacrifice.”

“Do you know how to use a broadsword?” one of the elders asked.

“No, and I’m not going to try.”

Her plan was simple. If Kateb got into trouble, she would run out and throw herself on top of him. She just hoped Fuad was really good and made the ending quick.

“I’m not going into the arena to defeat him,” she said. “I’m going to die.”

Conversation exploded. Yusra closed the book, then moved close and took her hand.

“You are very brave.”

“I’m a lot of things, but brave isn’t one of them.” She didn’t want to do this, but it was the only way she could think to keep Kateb alive.

“Kateb will never allow this,” Zayd said.

“He’s not going to know. The only way I get involved is if something happens to him. If he’s injured, he won’t be in a position to stop me. Between now and then, none of you are to tell him.”

A very old man stood and pointed his finger at her. “Why would you do this?”

Talk about a stupid question,
she thought. “I love him. I don’t want him to die.”

Zayd nodded slowly. “As you wish, Victoria. You may be Kateb’s sacrifice. Yusra will bring you to the arena and keep you from him. We will say nothing.”

“Thank you,” she said, both relieved and terrified.

“I hope Kateb knows the treasure he has in you,” Zayd told her.

“Me, too.” The problem was he didn’t—and by the time he figured it out, she would probably be dead.

K
ateb walked to the harem. No matter how he busied himself with broadsword practice, with matters of government, he couldn’t forget Victoria’s words. Her claims to love him, her telling him that he was afraid to try again. Afraid to lose.

She was wrong, of course. He was Prince Kateb of El Deharia and he feared nothing. But he would miss her.

It had taken him most of the night to see that. Victoria was different from any woman he’d ever met. Cantara had been…comfortable. They had understood each other. She had been the love of his youth. What was Victoria?

Still unsure of the answer, he walked into the harem and called her name.

“Back here,” she yelled.

He followed the sound of her voice to the bedroom. As he entered, his gaze settled on the bed where they had made love the previous afternoon. Where she had offered
him her heart. Where he hadn’t know if he should take it or not. Could he trust her?

All her suitcases stood closed and ready to go. She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, obviously prepared to leave.

“I got my period,” she told him with a shrug. “I’m leaving after the challenge.”

She had warned him, but he hadn’t listened. Now, disappointment coursed through him, making him want to demand she be wrong. If she
had
been pregnant, it would have been so easy. He could have forced her to stay. He would have had more time to determine what was real and what was only as he wished it to be.

“You have no interest in the challenge,” he said.

“I want to see you win.”

“There is no victory today,” he told her. “Not with Fuad. I have no desire to kill him.”

“Do you have to?”

“If he begs for mercy, I can release him.”

“He’s here for revenge. He’s not going to beg.”

“I know.”

Kateb walked to the doors leading out to the garden. “There are times when the old ways weigh on me. When they feel like chains dragging me down.”

“When you’re the leader, you can break the chains.”

“When,” he echoed, then turned to look at her.

Sunlight touched her face, as if it, too, would miss her presence here in the village. His gaze dropped to her feet, where she wore high-heeled boots that had no place in anyone’s wardrobe.

“Stay,” he said without thinking. “Stay here with me. You love me, so marry me.”

She pressed her lips together, then swallowed. “Why?”

He had hoped for a happy response, for her to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him until he had no
choice but to take her to bed. But Victoria was never easy…or predictable.

“Because you want to. Because I enjoy your company. Because I will take a wife and you are the one I choose. You will pass your intelligence and determination on to our sons. Our daughters will share in your beauty and wit.”

“Sometimes you’re a serious sexist pig,” she said with a sigh. “You’d think that would bug me.” She looked at him. “Do you love me?”

“No.”

“Do you believe I love you?”

Did he? To believe would be to trust. And trust was the first step in wanting more. To give his heart again? Losing Cantara had devastated him. What would happen if he lost Victoria?

“I’ll take that as a no,” she murmured. “I’m leaving after the challenge.”

“If I forbid it?”

“You’re not the boss of me. Not anymore. It’s better, Kateb. You know that. Staying here, loving you knowing you didn’t trust me or love me would only make me miserable. I’m not the type to suffer in silence. We’d fight all the time and neither of us wants that.”

Emotions rushed through him. He grabbed anger because it was familiar. “I will lock you in the harem.”

“No, you won’t. You’re not that guy.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“I know everything.” She moved toward him and raised herself up on tiptoe, then kissed him. “That’s why I love you. Now go fulfill my warrior-prince fantasies. Yusra says it’s quite the outfit.”

He ignored her humor. “I am not finished with the conversation.”

“Sorry, your time is up. You have to be at the arena.”

She was right and that irritated him. “We will discuss this later.”

“I hope so,” she whispered. “I really hope so.”

Victoria waited until she was sure Kateb was gone before leaving the harem and going to Yusra.

“That is what you are wearing?” the older woman asked when they met up by the kitchen door.

“Yes. Why?”

“I had thought something more traditional.”

“If I’m going to die today, I’m going to be comfortable. And you have to admit, the boots are spectacular.”

Yusra hugged her. “I have been praying for your safety.”

Victoria hugged her back. “Good. I’ve been doing a little quality time with God myself. I really hope this works out.”

“You can change your mind. The elders will understand.”

“I can’t,” Victoria said, even though she was starting to feel sick to her stomach. “I have a bad feeling about this whole thing. I need to make sure Kateb is all right. I can’t explain it.”

“You love him. There’s nothing to explain.”

They started for the arena. “If this goes badly and I don’t make it,” Victoria said, “feel free to spend the next fifty years making him feel guilty.”

Yusra’s laughter turned into a hiccup-sob. “I will. I promise.”

“Good. I mean, I want him alive, but there’s no reason he can’t be suffering at the same time.”

They moved into the main road leading to the arena. It was a hot, sunny day and everyone in the village had come to see the challenge. There was a festive air to the afternoon. Carts stood along the side of the road selling everything from frozen treats to bottled water.

When they reached the main entrance to the arena, she
and Yusra turned left and went toward the doors leading under the seating. The guards there let them in at once. They were led to the elders’ chambers, where Zayd greeted them.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” he asked Victoria.

“Get off of me. Yes. I’m wearing jeans.”

“But you’re a woman.”

She looked at the kindly older man and knew it would be rude to wrestle him to the ground in front of all his friends.

Zayd seemed to sense her impatience. “It is of no matter,” he said. “You are here as the sacrifice?”

“Yes, on behalf of Prince Kateb.” This was the official part of the event. Yusra had told her what to say. “I don’t want him to know,” she added. “Not unless I’m needed. If everything goes great and he defeats Fuad, then no one tells him, ever. Right?”

Zayd nodded. “As you have requested. We honor the wish of the sacrifice.”

“Then I’d really like a donut.”

“What?”

“Never mind.” It wasn’t as if she could eat. Nerves danced in her stomach. She was terrified and not just for herself. What if something happened to Kateb?

Kateb waited by the field. The broadsword felt good in his hand, heavy and powerful. It wasn’t pretty to look at. No jewels adorned the handle and the blade itself showed marks from battle. But he had trained with this sword while growing up, learning the art of battle, as dictated by tradition. He and the sword were old friends. There was trust between them.

The sun was bright, the arena full, but he ignored everything around him. There was only himself and Fuad and the possibility of death.

He did not want to kill the son. The death of the father had been bad enough and that man had been a criminal. To end a young man’s life for no reason save revenge was a waste he couldn’t stomach.

Sometimes tradition sucked
, he thought, smiling as he heard Victoria’s voice in his head. She was right. He would change the law, but it would be too late for Fuad.

Tonight there would be great celebrating. Kateb would be named leader and stories would be told about his victory. How many would see the falseness of the moment? How many would mourn Fuad?

Victoria would understand. She would know he would sleep uneasily for some time, hating what tradition forced him to do. She would chase away the ghosts.

Except she would be gone. She was leaving after the challenge. Forbidding her from leaving would change nothing. She wouldn’t listen. He could hold her prisoner, but to cage her was to cage something wild and beautiful. In time she would wither and he couldn’t bear to see that.

“Impossible woman,” he growled.

She would agree to that, too, and point out the solution was simple. All he had to do was love her. Admit what he felt in his heart. Give her all that he was, and she would be his.

To risk himself again that way? To believe in her, in them, and know that at any second, she could be gone? It was too much.

But to live without her? What was that, but years of emptiness?

“It is time,” the master of the arena told him.

Kateb cleared his mind of everything but the battle to come and stepped onto the field. A cheer shook the arena. The very ground seemed to shake from the sound. He ignored it all, looking at the young man approaching.

“You have grown tall,” he told Fuad when they were only a few feet apart.

The boy was now near twenty, muscled and determined. His dark eyes promised death, but Kateb saw past them to a lonely child who had grown up in the shadow of his father’s shame. Was this Sa’id in ten years if Victoria had not intervened? Was Fuad what his people had made?

“Prepare to die, old man,” Fuad said with a sneer. “Today I will spill your blood and avenge my father.”

Old man? Kateb supposed that thirty did seem old to the boy. “Your father kidnapped me and was prepared to kill me. His death was my right.”

“I am his son.
Your
death is
my
right.”

Victoria would not approve of this circle of violence. She would say that it was stupid and a waste of resources and that if he was really good at his job, he would find a way around it.

“You’re not going to listen to reason, are you?” Kateb asked.

Fuad turned his back and walked away.

“I don’t want to kill you,” Kateb called after him. “Ask for mercy and I will grant it.”

Fuad spun and raised his sword. “It is not yours to give, old man. I will kill you slowly. You will watch your lifeblood spill on the dirt and have time to know why you die.”

Victoria couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she didn’t like Fuad’s body language. He wanted Kateb to suffer. That much was clear. Fuad rushed at the prince, his sword raised. She winced and tried to look away, but couldn’t. The sound of metal on metal echoed in the afternoon. Kateb deflected the blow and turned.

Over the next few minutes, she managed to relax. Fuad fought with anger and it made him clumsy. Kateb was the
more rational opponent. He moved with a grace that was almost a dance. She quickly realized his goal was to tire Fuad, rather than hurt him.

“He can grant Fuad his life, can’t he?” she asked Yusra.

“If the boy begs for mercy.” She sounded doubtful. “Fuad is determined.”

“He’s not hurt yet. Kateb will wound him. I’m sure of it. He doesn’t want Fuad dead.”

“How can you know that?”

“I just know.”

The fight continued. While Victoria didn’t enjoy watching Kateb being attacked by a broadsword, she knew that he was by far the better fighter. Fuad didn’t have a chance. She was even able to appreciate the sleeveless karate-type shirt he wore that left his impressive arms bare. Later, she would have to ask him to model it for her. Then she would take it off and…

No. That wasn’t going to happen. She was leaving after the challenge. She couldn’t stay. While his proposal had been tempting, she wouldn’t trap herself in a half life where she almost had her heart’s desire. In the short term, it would be fine, but eventually her heart would wither and die. There were—

Fuad dropped his broadsword. The crowd was instantly on its feet. Yusra crowed with delight, but Victoria knew something was terribly wrong. She felt it in her gut and cried out to Kateb to be careful.

Not that he could hear her over the thousands of screaming voices.

Being honorable, he lowered his sword to give Fuad time to retrieve his weapon. The teen bent down but instead of picking up the broadsword, he pulled a knife from his boot and stabbed it into Kateb’s leg.

“Is that allowed?” she screamed.

“No, but not to worry. It’s a small cut. Of no consequence. It will barely bleed.”

“That’s not the point,” Victoria told her, not sure how she knew, but so very sure. A voice in her head screamed this is bad. Fuad had planned the moment. “It’s not the cut, it’s what’s on the blade.”

Even as she lunged for the half door that would open onto the field, Kateb dropped his sword and fell to his knees. Fuad grabbed his sword and lifted it above his head, obviously prepared to end his opponent’s life.

“No!” she yelled as she ran. “No! You can’t. You can’t. I am the sacrifice.”

Fuad stared at her. He was wild-eyed, his face pale. “Go away, woman. You have no place here.”

Victoria heard other people running behind her. She nearly tripped on her stupid heels, but caught herself and raced up to thrust herself between Fuad and Kateb.

“I’m the sacrifice,” she yelled in his face. “Me. You have to kill me. It’s the law.” She turned and saw several men bent over Kateb. “It’s poison,” she told them, frantic that he be saved in time. “I believe there’s something on the knife blade.”

Zayd hurried toward them, breathing heavily. He bent down and grabbed the knife, then sniffed the blade. Then he looked at Fuad.

“False revenge is meaningless, boy.”

“Dead is dead,” Fuad said angrily.

Victoria slapped him across the face. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “Your father’s shame continues in you.”

Fuad looked stunned and pointed the sword at her chest. “You want to die in his place, I will kill you.”

“Fine,” she yelled at him. “Do it, if you can. Kill me. Run me through. And then what? Your father is still dead.
Killed by a boy he kidnapped. A boy much younger than you, Fuad. Did you ever think about that? Kateb was just a kid. Do you think he wanted to hurt your father? He didn’t have a choice—you do. At least you had the chance of a fair fight. That’s more than your father gave Kateb. It’s more than
you
gave him, too.”