The day came too fast and Omar was up and ready even before his father was but he remained in his room. Today he would be going to the palace with his father, to be introduced to his bride to be. He was to behave sensibly and maturely to get the approval of the king to be his daughter's groom. He could not help but feel like a ram being led into the market to be sold, and honestly that was what it was. He was literally being sold off and this marriage was the payment.
The only person gaining from this was his father, the Sheikh and Omar couldn't help but feel that there was more to this. He knew that his father was a greedy person and his greed had always been for power and he was hard to satisfy. The man always craved for more and his marriage to the princess was that more that the Sheikh had been yearning for.
Omar wondered for how long his father had nursed this in his heart, for how long he had planned for him to get married to the princess. The plan was strategic and his father had been patient. If he had planned and waited for this long then Omar was afraid that he would under no circumstances, not let anything get in his way.
A knock came on his door twice before it was pushed open and Taheem stepped in. Omar lifted his head from the bed and glanced at the man before relaxing back.
"I don't remember saying you could come in."
"I'm here to get you. The Sheikh is waiting downstairs for you."
Omar sat up and eyed Taheem. "How would you like to be married off against your will?"
"The marriage between you and the princess Mariam should be taken as a rare opportunity. Your father wanted this, I do not think you should make it any more difficult Omar."
"But you..." Omar paused, wondering why he was asking Taheem such questions. The man was just as adamant and would follow the Sheikh's orders down to the last, his mind worked just like his father's own so it was pointless trying to make him see from his point of view. He got up and follow Taheem downstairs to the waiting car.
Sheikh Khalid stood patiently beside the car, today was the day his long wait would finally pay off. Today, the King would meet with and approve of his son Omar for his daughter. Daughters were easier to handle, Mariam would agree to her father's wishes. Khalid smiled a bit when he saw Omar following closely behind Taheem, he was dressed formally in suit and Khalid couldn't help but feel proud of the man his son had grown up to become.
They left the house that afternoon driving through the city and heading towards the south of Jeddah, to His Royal Highness King Jaan's palace which lay just beyond the pool of Al Lith. The ride was long due to the tension in the car and the silence that circulated was thick.
Khalid, having no intention of breaking the silence, kept his eyes fixed to his phone and quietly scrolled through it. Omar watched his father for a while before turning his head to look out the window, letting his mind wander back home, in the room where Megan was being held prisoner.
Her room was in the East wing of the mansion and his was on the West wing, leaving his father's room somewhere in between. Her window over looked the court yard which was almost never empty even at night so he couldn't take her out through the window, moreover it was on the third floor.
He moved that aside.
The vents. They were all connected on each floor, so his vent would connect to hers meaning it also connected to his father's. If he would be using the vents it had to be when his father wasn't in the room, better still when his father wasn't at home but crawling through the vents? He couldn't stress that much, no that wouldn't do at all.
If he was to escape Megan from the house it would have to be when his father was out, but then what would make him leave the house. It seemed getting her out of the city was the easy part, getting her out of the house was more challenging. He sighed. He had to come up with a plan C. Seven days from now he would be getting married to Mariam if he couldn't do anything to change it.
"Father." Omar breathed, bringing his mind back to his body.
"Hmm.." Khalid answered without looking at him.
"Why do you want me to marry Mariam so much?"
"She's a princess, she wields power she cannot control. Having her would be a much better asset." He answered quickly.
"That's what all this is to you? Power?"
"Power makes the world go round Omar, even at your age and diversity, you are still inexperienced." He looked at his son.
"Power for me or power for you?" Omar asked despite knowing the answer. His father was always in need of more. But the Sheikh didn't answer him directly.
"What I do, I do it to secure your future."
"And that is all you always say but my future is mine and I should at least decide how I want it to be. You're not helping me, you're using me for your greedy gain. Myself and the princess, you are just using us!"
"I'm time you will understand my reasons." Khalid smiled and said no more but continued scrolling through his phone and stroking his chin.
Mariam was a powerful personality, she was the princess, the only princess to His Royal Highness King Jaan. He knew of how many suitors had come, even non Arabs but the King had been firm, his daughter would not get married until after she had turned twenty.
Getting the King's consent for the union of the princess with his son hadn't been much of a dilemma. The Sheikh was powerful and rich and had royal blood flowing through his veins, moreover he was the child of the fifth daughter of the Rais, the doors were already opened for him. Now he just needed his son to not ruin the chances.
"I can't believe you would do anything for power, even going as far as selling me! Your own son!" Omar continued.
"Selling you say?"
"That's what you're doing, causing me to marry someone I don't love."
"Love will come when it will come. For now you don't need love, you need the power."
Omar was speechless, this marriage wasn't in his interest at all, it was in his father's interest. His greed for power was overwhelming. Omar, furious as he was, tried to calm down the only way he could right now, so he looked out the window thinking of Megan.
The palace was Grand and befitting of a powerful royalty like His Royal Highness King Jaan. Everything spoke of his immerse wealth, from the expensive finishings to the fleet of classic cars which lined one side of the compound.
The structure stood gigantic and powerful and of all the palaces he owned, this was the grandest. It was where he chose to live, mostly because it was almost secluded, it was here he had his meetings and important gatherings and the only other royal family with him was his daughter whom he doted on extravagantly.
She was his only daughter and he had grown quite attached to her, letting her have anything and everything money could possibly buy but the girl was not much of a spender and he sometimes had to bribe her into going shopping with her friends, the few friends he allowed full access into the palace at any time.
Today they would make her up for her groom to be, His Highness King Jaan had not left anything out. His daughter was beautiful he knew, exceptionally, he had received praises and proposals for her hand in marriage but he would never let his daughter get married at an age too young. He knew what they faced, he had married his third wife when she was fifteen and she and died at childbirth, after giving birth to the only girl child he had. Mariam, he had named her after her mother.
Now the girl was turning twenty in a few days and he couldn't have been more proud of the way he raised her. Except for the incident with Aadil and their secret love affair, he felt she was perfect.
Mariam was dressed exceptionally heavy in anticipation of her would be groom and father in law. She knew nothing about them asides from the fact that the man she was to marry was Omar bin Khalid, the only son of the Sheikh, his father Khalid bin Aaban. Omar, as she was told by Parvina who had gathered information from the rumors circulating, had lived most of his life abroad, getting his Masters degree, bachelor's degree and Ph.D, but the rumors that went round boasted more of his fine looks and physique than of his intelligence.She scoffed, such people were bound to be proud and arrogant. She knew that because he would not be the first of his kind to come for her hand in marriage, each one was prouder than the last man before him and absolutely none of them had impressed the King. Absolutely none of them had impressed her.Being the only Saudi princess to His Highness King Jaan, it was of utmost importance that the man impressed the King and not just by the amoun
Omar had been to the palace on several occasions and mostly in the company of his father but this was just the second time he would be seeing the King. He sat on the soft cushioned sofa, leaning on an elbow which dug into the arm rest and with his legs crossed. Khalid sat upright with his back straight, his focus towards the stair way which the King with emerge from."Omar, sit properly!" Khalid cautioned."I am sitting comfortably."Khalid turned to his son. "I've gone this far for you, it's up to you to...""I do not know why you bother when the marriage has already been finalized, or hasn't it?" Omar cut him off.Khalid frowned and he glared at Omar. This boy. "Omar, you will need the...""Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Royal Highness King Jaan bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia." The messenger's announcement interrupted Khalid's talk. The two men rose to greet the King."Assalaam 'alaikum your highness." Kh
It had not been long since Mariam had been excused from the discussion between her father the King, Omar and the Sheikh, she had returned back to her room in anger and just plopped herself down on the bed. The men would still be downstairs talking of the marriage and what not, she didn't want to be stuck in a marriage with the proud and pompous Omar bin Khalid bin Aaban, only son of the Sheikh.She laid down on her bed staring up at the ceiling and not paying any attention to the chattering of Saadiya and Parvina. They had been talking non stop of Omar, most especially Parvina who had made her intentions crystal clear about him; if the marriage didn't work out between him and Mariam, she would convince her mother to talk to her father about the matter. She was after all the daughter of the Queen's step brother, so she stood with just enough chance of getting him as Mariam."So Mariam, what happened? How did it go?" Parvina asked excitedly."Went well." Mariam kept
Megan paced the room, she had been in here for two days without stepping out and was bored already, she really just wanted to leave not just this room but the house as well and possibly leave Saudi Arabia. Was she really going to be locked in here until after Omar's marriage to the princess was completed? The wedding was now only seven days away. She wondered if Omar was really going to marry her? What if he refused and didn't go through with it, what would the Sheikh do to him? More still, what would he do to her?What could he do anyway, being an American citizen had its perks, but she still could not help the fear that claimed her heart whenever the Sheikh was near. She held her chest to feel her heart beat and knew that just by thinking of the Sheikh, it had accelerated a bit. She managed to smile weakly and crashed on the bed tiredly.She just wished Omar would come and assure her that all was well and that he would never leave her. Call her clingy or whatever
Sheikh Khalid bin Aaban was a man of relatively calm nature, and being a Sheikh wasn't a position for the weak. He wasn't weak, he knew that. He was like the calm just before the storm. He was patient and he was understanding, but only when he needed to be and at the same time he was strict and he was brutal but still he believed in tampering justice with mercy until mercy was exhausted. And his mercies didn't usually last long, he never let them to. He relished the fear in people's eyes for him when he was around or when his name was mentioned, it made him feel powerful and powerful was all he wanted to feel.This time, his mercy towards the simple American was wearing thin but still he was calm, having not done anything drastic towards her. At some point he began to wonder if he was softening up. He felt he was giving her and most especially his son too much freedom that they did as they pleased and he knew he had to do something about it. He would do something about it.
Since her last meeting with Omar, Mariam had been unable to keep him out of her thoughts. And she hated it. She hated thinking about him, she hated the sound of his voice revibrating in her thoughts, she hated his image constantly flashing in her memories whenever she closed her eyes. And right now, she hated the fact that she wished to see him. Yes she hated him, at least that was what she told herself and she wanted to believe that. She chose to.The man was witful, handsome and his sense of pride was not actually all that annoying now that she thought of it. It was kind of impressive to have someone praise himself so daringly and without fear. Some of the other suitors before him had either been quite timid before her or they boasted of what they had, what they could acquire and the number of women they had or could get, but Omar hadn't.With his looks and intelligence, Mariam knew for a definite fact that he was well sorted after, she knew that he was aware of that f
Samir Watr-il-Dharah stood on the balcony of the second floor, leaning over the railing and gazing out over the perfectly mowed garden with both hands shoved deep into his pockets. He listened though a pair of bluetooth earpiece to the person on the other end of the line and he smiled a little."I wouldn't want to stress you so much Mr. Hung." He began to pace. "You only entered the country yesterday."As much as Samir wanted to get this project finalized and kicked off soonest, he really didn't want to put others in a position where they felt pressured. Pressure was not exactly good for business, pressure made it easy to make mistakes and he didn't want any mistakes with this project."If you are fully rested then it is no problem, where is your hotel? I will come meet you at the restaurant there so it will be easier for you and we can talk."If he could wrap this up within the week, it would get the burden off him for a while. The funding Mr. Hung would be
Omar wasn't home, Sheikh Khalid knew. So this would be the best time to move the American away, he would take her to another house and deal with Omar's questions later when he returned. Nothing could go wrong with the wedding plans. He would allow absolutely nothing to disrupt his long term plan."You have be summoned by the Sheikh." Megan trembled when Taheem came into the room to call her and she wondered if she had done something which she shouldn't."Can I know why?" She asked, shaken with fear."Only The Sheikh knows why, you would know soon.""Is Omar home?"The rigid man paused then shook his head negatively. Megan swallowed, she feared the Sheikh, which was a wise decision on her part. The man had threatened her life, something she still loved to hold on to. Gathering herself together she left the room and allowed Taheem lead the way.He sat calmly downstairs, his eyes to the front door until he noticed her presence, he smiled at her