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Chapter 25 The Wedding
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DUBAI THE CITY OF DREAMS Chapter 26 Queen Amira Farouq
Queen Amira POVAmira Farouq, Queen of Muscat, Oman had barely registered the voice of the royal steward behind her when a man in a dark suit, his face harsh-looking and his expression inscrutable, met her at the bottom of the steps that led from the royal jet to this bleak stretch of desert.'Queen Amira. Welcome to Jumeirah, Dubai.''Thank you.'He bowed and then indicated one of three armored SUVs waiting by the airstrip. 'Please accompany us to our destination,' he said, his voice clipped yet courteous. He stepped aside so she could move forward, and Amira threw back her shoulders and lifted her chin as she walked towards the waiting cars.She hadn't expected fanfare upon her arrival to marry Sheikh Omer al Ibrahim, but she supposed she'd thought she'd have a little more than a few security guards and blacked-out cars.Then she reminded herself that Sheikh Omer wanted to keep her arrival quiet, because of the instability within Al Jumeirah. Ever since he'd taken the throne just ov
DUBAI THE CITY OF DREAMS Chapter 27 The Captor - Abdullah
Abdullah Abu Bakir Ibrahim glanced again at the woman by his side. She sat straight and tall, her chin lifted proudly, her pupils dilated with fear.Admiration for the young queen flickered reluctantly through him. Her escape attempt had been reckless and laughable, but also brave, and he felt an unexpected sympathy for her. He knew what it was like to feel both trapped and defiant. Hadn't he, as a boy, tried to escape from his captor, Abdul-Karim, as often as he could, even though he'd known how fruitless such attempts would be? Deep in the desert, there had been no place for a young boy to run or hide. Yet still he'd tried, because to try was to fight, and to fight was to remind yourself you were alive and had something to fight for. The scars on his back were a testament to his many failed attempts.Queen Amira would have no such scars. He would not be accused of ill-treating his guest, no matter what the frightened monarch might think. He intended to keep her for only four days un
DUBAI THE CITY OF DREAMS Chapter 28 Why Sheikh Omer Ibrahim?
'So you are one of the rebel insurgents Omer Ibrahim mentioned.'For a second Abdullah's gaze blazed fury but then he merely inclined his head. 'So it would seem.''Why should you be on the throne?''Why should Omer Ibrahim?''Because he is the heir.'Abdullah glanced away, his expression veiled once more. 'Do you know the history of Jumeirah, Your Highness? Why Ali Ahmed was crowned? And, suddenly he had a son from a Filipina woman?''I've read something of it,' she answered, although the truth was her knowledge of Jumeirah, history was sketchy at best. There hadn't been time for more than a crash course in the heritage of the country of her future husband.'Did you know it was a peaceful, prosperous nation for many years—independent, even, when other countries buckled under a wider regime?''Yes, I did know that.' Omer Ibrahim had mentioned it, because his own country was the same as in the Territory of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and had enjoyed nearly a thousand years of peaceful
DUBAI THE CITY OF DREAMS Chapter 29 Abdullah - The First Prince
Abdullah felt Amira's body tense beneath his touch and wondered why he had chosen to clean the cut himself. The answer, of course, was irritatingly obvious: because he'd wanted to touch her. Because, for a moment, desire had overridden sense.Her skin, Abdullah thought, was as soft as silk. When had he last touched a woman's skin? Seven years in the French Foreign Legion had given him more than a taste of abstinence.Of course, the last woman he should ever think about as a lover was Queen Amira, Omer Ibrahim's intended bride. He had no intention of complicating what was already a very delicate diplomatic maneuver.Kidnapping a head of state was a calculated risk and one he'd had to take. The only way to force Omer Ibrahim to call a national referendum was for him to lose his right to the throne, and the only way for that to happen was to prevent his marriage.His father's will, Abdullah mused, had been a ridiculous piece of legal architecture that showed him the brutal dictator he tr
DUBAI THE CITY OF DREAMS Chapter 30 The Wedding Arrangement
Amira paced the quarters of the elegant tent Fahad had escorted her to an hour ago. Abdullah had been right when he'd said he'd give her every possible comfort: the spacious tent had a wide double bed on its own wooden dais, the soft mattress piled high with silk and satin covers and pillows. There were also several teak chairs and a bureau for clothes she didn't even have.Had they brought her luggage from the jet? She doubted it. Not that she'd even brought much from Muscat. She'd only been intending to stay for three days: a quiet ceremony, a quick honeymoon, and then a return to Muscat, Sultanate of Oman to introduce Sheikh Omer Ibrahim to her people.Abdullah stepped inside the tent. Amira had already retreated to the far side, the copper tub between them like a barrier, her slight body swallowed up by the robe.'I'm sorry,' Abdullah said. 'I didn't know you were in the bath.''So you said.''You don't believe me?''Why should I believe anything you say?' she retorted. 'You haven
DUBAI THE CITY OF DREAMS Chapter 31 Her Strategy
Amira opened her eyes slowly, blinking in the bright sunlight that filtered through the small gap in the tent's flaps. Her body ached with tiredness; her mind had spun and seethed all night and she hadn't fallen asleep until sometime near dawn.Now she stretched and stared up at the rippling canvas of the tent, wondering what this day would bring.She'd spent hours last night considering her options. She'd wondered if she could steal someone's mobile phone, and make contact. Yet who would she call—the operator, to connect her to the Muscat palace? Her Head of Council, who would probably be delighted by the news of her capture? In any case, she most likely couldn't get a signal out here.Then she'd wondered if she could make a friend of one of the guards, and get him to help her. That seemed even less likely; both of the guards she'd met had appeared utterly unmoved by her predicament.Could she cause a fire, so its smoke might be caught by a satellite, a passing helicopter, or a plane
DUBAI THE CITY OF DREAMS Chapter 32 A Book
After Abdullah had left, riding off into the desert with several of his men, great clouds of dust and sand billowing behind them, Amira went back to her tent. To her surprise, she saw a book—The Making of Modern United Arab Emirates—had been placed on her bedside table. Was Abdullah being thoughtful, she wondered, or mocking?Curious, she flipped through the book. She already knew the basics of UAE's history: its many years of peace, isolated as it was on a remote peninsula, jutting out into the Arabian Sea. While war had passed it by, so had technology, and for centuries it had remained as it had always been, a cluster of tribal communities with little interest beyond their nomadic life of shepherding. Then, in the early 1800s, Sheikh Ahmad al Bakir Ibrahim, the great-great-grandfather of Hashem Abu Bakir Ibrahim, had united the tribes and created a monarchy. He'd ruled the Arab States for nearly fifty years, and since then there had only been peace and prosperity.None of it told he
DUBAI THE CITY OF DREAMS Chapter 33 Her Feelings
The sound of the pistol firing echoed through the still air, bounced off the boulders, and rippled the still waters of the oasis.Dispassionately Abdullah watched as the snake leapt and twisted in the air before falling a few feet away, dead.He turned back to look at Amira and swore softly when he saw her sway, her face drained of color, her pupils dilated with terror. Without even considering what he was doing, or why, he strode forward, caught her in his arms, and drew her shuddering body to his chest.‘I killed it, Amira,’ he said as he stroked her dark hair. ‘It’s dead. You don’t need to be afraid now.’She pushed away from him, her whole body still trembling. ‘What’s dead?’Abdullah stared at her for several seconds as the meaning of her question penetrated. He swore again. ‘I shot the snake! Did you not see it, but three feet from you, and ready to strike?’She just stared at him with wide, blank eyes, and forcibly he took her jaw in his hand and turned her head so she could se
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