Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) (12 page)

It’s human nature. When you’re starving: you eat. When you’re thirsty: you drink. When you find something really beautiful: you like to own…you touch.

It’s human nature.
That was my answer, my excuse to myself when my hand moved of its own accord to touch the prince’s face—his cheek. It was the spot right under his left eye, an inch above the hairline of his stubbly beard—his cheekbone. It looked so soft, so tender, but not in an out-of-place kind of way, no, it looked perfect, even on such a strong, powerful man.

‘It’s human nature’
was the lie I told myself to avoid freaking out by admitting that I was feeling something wrong, something I shouldn’t be feeling, something that wasn’t just right. I knew I was falling into a trap that was set for me to fall in, but I was stronger than that, I shouldn’t fall, I
wouldn’t
fall.

‘It’s human nature’
I believed.

‘It’s nothing,’
I convinced myself.

‘Just curiosity,’
I promised.

‘Nothing is wrong,’
I lied.

There was just something about finding him sleeping so peacefully beside me that made my heart swell, a feeling of something strange snapped inside of me, and I couldn’t deny I enjoyed the sight, nor that I questioned my sanity for enjoying it. I mean, the guy was dangerous, I just
knew
he was. If we looked at it from a different side, it’d look like I was kidnapped, and even though he wasn’t the one to kidnap me, he still kept me trapped in here even after he knew I didn’t like it. I should fear him more, try to escape faster, not try to touch and wonder about my feelings while looking at the beauty of his features!

I was losing my mind, and I needed to get it together.

When I was pulling my hand back to where it was, I noticed something that I wasn’t aware of before: my arm was bare, and after a quick glance under the covers, I realized that I wasn’t in the clothes I was wearing earlier. I was in a night gown.

My breaths hitched, and my chest raised and fell rapidly with it. My heart beat so fast, it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. My throat went so dry, as I was breathing mostly through my mouth and not my nose. My head was spinning, playing scenarios of the prince and what he did, along with how I was put on that gown, that were too racy for my liking, all of the scenes in my head were bad, ugly, and it made the tears tingle in my eyes.

I sat up quickly, my head spinning even more at my sudden movement, holding the thin cover that was already over my body up to my neck, fear consuming my every thought.

The mattress shifting underneath me must’ve woken the prince up, because at the very next second he sat up on the bed, too, and faced me. When my panicked eyes moved to meet his, I saw relief filling them.

“You’re awake! Alhamdulilah! Alhamdulilah!” he said.

I gripped the cover tighter to my chest, “What did you do to me?” I choked out, tears streaming down my cheeks, terror filling my heart.

Did he drug me?

Did he undress me?

Did he rape me?

God! Oh, God!

I felt dizzy, sick to my stomach, aching in my chest. I was so scared, so, so scared.

“What?”

“What did you do to me?” My voice was broken, heart bleeding.

He just stared at me, confusion covering his features, and a frown deepened on his forehead.

“Did you drug me? Was it in the food? Of course, it was. That’s why you didn’t eat!”

His features changed from confusion, to shock, and then it was anger, the same shade of fury I saw in the morning following the wedding.

After few moments of staring, his eyes mad and mine terrified, he shouted, “Mona!” startling me. In seconds, she was knocking and opening the door right after.

“See if the princess needs anything,” he said as he got up and disappeared inside of the sunroom, closing the glass-doors behind him, anger seeping out of him in waves.

“I’m glad to see you awake, Princess.”
Did she know I was drugged, too?
“How do you feel?” she asked.

“W-what happened to me?” I asked, maybe she knew the answer to that, as well.

“You were really sick, you scared us,” was her answer.

Us?

“Sick?”

“Yes, Princess. You had a fever. It’s because you slept for hours in the sunroom, your body was warm still from the shower, I guess. The sunroom gets really chilly every now and then, when the windows open automatically to let the plants breathe,” she explained.

Oh!

Oohh!

Fever? I wasn’t drugged? Wasn’t the food poisoned? The queen could’ve poisoned it. But, no, I was really sleepy, I was tired. She also wouldn’t risk her son eating from it.

“Who put me in this?” I pointed to the gown.

Mona frowned, “You did, Princess. Yesterday, after the bath.”

“No, I didn’t. I only wore the dress you gave me!”
Does she think I’m a fool?

“Yes, but the gown is attached to it, you wore them together. The dress is designed to be taken off easily without the gown if needed,” she said, and it was my turn to frown. “Here, let me show you.” She went to where the dress was placed on a clothes hanger that was in the corner next to the window. She showed me how the dress had hidden buttons in the middle of it between all of the decorations, from the top all the way down. It opened like a rope if you unbuttoned them all, and the gown was attached to it from the strips to the insides of the shoulders of the dress.

I assumed it was only a layer of cloth when I wore it
, I thought.

“Who undressed me?”

“I did. It wasn’t comfortable to sleep in the dress,”

It wasn’t the prince! He didn’t do anything wrong
. The thought made me hang my head in shame for what I accused him of.

Mona must’ve taken my reaction to be shyness or embarrassment because she continued: “Don’t worry, Princess. It was only me and the prince in the room, no strangers,” she assured me.

I just nodded, then touched my forehead with my hand and rubbed it, feeling the pounding in my head getting stronger, I had no idea if it was caused by the fever or the shame I felt for my actions towards the prince.

“What do you say about preparing a bath for you?” she suggested.

“What time is it anyway?”

“It’s about four-thirty AM,”

Whoa! I slept for almost twenty hours?

“I hope we didn’t disturb you,” I apologized, sure that she had been sleeping.

“Not at all, it’s my job. I was already awake since prayer time should be soon,”

“All right, but I’m just going to take a shower, no need to fill the tub.”

“As you wish,” she said with a smile, then disappeared into the bathroom.

I got up slowly, taking the dress and putting it loosely over my shoulders and gazing out the window absently for the few moments Mona took doing whatever in the bathroom.

I felt so bad for what I said to the prince, but then I thought I shouldn’t be so down. He knew I was sick and didn’t even bother to call a doctor for me. He even laid in the bed beside me–without my permission. I would’ve never agreed if I was conscious.

“Call me if you need anything,” Mona said her familiar words, leaving me to shower.

“How did you guys know what size I wear?” I asked as Mona handed me yet another dress to wear: this one was dark blue, but very similar to the red one because of the golden decorations and the chiffon layers and all.

“Mr. Yoseph told Princess Janna that you were almost the same size; she did all of the shopping. As for the underwear and lingerie, she brought different sizes, and I choose the ones that I thought would fit. Are they all right?”

“Yeah, they’re perfect. Thank you,” I replied, trying to hide the sorrow that I felt in my heart at the mention of my brother’s name, even if she couldn’t say it right.

It hurt so badly, knowing how much he had planned this: how easy it had been for him to get me here, how he told others about my size and tastes, knowing that I’d be staying here until I die.

I felt the tears welling in my eyes, but I shrugged them away. He wasn’t worthy of my tears, but it just saddened me beyond words every time I learned more about how far he had gone with his betrayal.

When I was finished dressing, I let Mona do her thing with my hair without objecting. It seemed to please her to be able to do her
‘job’
, and to be honest, I was feeling so tired, and it was such a nice treat to have someone else hot-drying my hair and then brushing it for me.

In the reflection of the mirror that was attached to the dresser I was sitting in front of, I saw Mona smiling–but to herself, not to me–as she brushed my hair. I smiled politely when her eyes caught mine, but we didn’t say anything.

“We were so worried about you, Princess,” she said as she ran the brush through my blond locks.

“We?” I asked, even though I knew who she meant, but still needed confirmation–no idea why.

“The prince and I,” she told me, and when I didn’t reply, she went on. “You were unconscious, and I was barely able to feed you the drink I made of the heeling herbs, but given your fever broke within the hour, I can say you had enough to make it work,”

He was worried about me?

“Uh, thank you,”

“Not at all, Princess.” She smiled that smile she had before again. “Prince Mazen was so worried, he stayed up all night, replacing the towels we put over your head, he wouldn’t allow me to do it.”

He stayed up all night?

“Seeing how you were affected by his closeness and how it comforted you–even when you were passed out–was such a sight to hold, I’m so glad you grew so fond of each other so fast,”

Oh!

Was he the one who brushed my tears away?

Was the hand that soothed me his own?

I was comforted by his closeness?
The thought startled me. But, soon, I was sighing at the realization that I knew that I was pleased with his closeness the second I woke up to his face.

What’s going on with me?

What’s happening inside my heart?

What’s going on inside my head?

“Here, all set,” Mona smiled. “You look so beautiful,”

“Thank you, Mona,” I smiled back.

She touched my forehead with her hand and her smile grew, “The fever is all gone, Alhamdulilah,”

“Yeah.”

“Do you need anything?” she asked.

“No, thank you,” I replied, then stopped her when she was about to turn around. “Wait! Uh, what does that word mean?”

“Which word? Alhamdulilah?”

I nodded.

“It means ‘Praise the Lord’ or ‘Thanks to Allah’,” she told me.

“Allah?”

“It’s God’s name.”

“You’re awake! Alhamdulilah! Alhamdulilah!”
The prince’s words rang in my ears.

He thanked his God that I was well!

Did he care for me?

Why the heck did
I
care?

I was roused from my thoughts at the sound of knocking on glass. I looked to see Mona knocking on the mirror that separated the sunroom from the bedroom. I didn’t even realize she had walked away, too caught up with my thoughts. She then opened the door and looked inside, saying something in Arabic that sounded like a question. She nodded after a moment, then went and opened another hidden door–that I thought was part of the wall–and went inside, coming out after a few with folded clothes in her hands then disappearing into the bathroom once more.