Chapter 404

• Her feeling of unease had grown from the moment Ahsan’s jet had landed in Qubbah and she’d seen the fleet of vehicles lined up on the runway, flags fluttering on their bonnets. Ahsan had said that his family was influential in Qubbah, but she’d been startled when they had descended the plane’s steps and several Arab men, whom she’d guessed were members of his staff, had immediately leapt from the cars and bowed to him. Anyone would think he was royalty, given the way people seemed to worship the ground he walked on.
• With a heavy sigh, she resumed her contemplation of the barren landscape, relief flooding through her when she spotted the distant outline of walls and high towers. But her relief gave way to sheer astonishment ten minutes later, when they drove through the huge arched gateway of what was clearly an ancient fortress and then down a mile-long, sweeping driveway, lined on either side by palm trees, before halting outside the most amazing building she had ever seen.
• She turned her shocked gaze on Ahsan. "You’re not seriously telling me you live here?" She croaked, staring, awestruck, at the countless marble steps gleaming beneath the brilliant glare of the sun, leading up to a vast white stone residence that resembled a fantasy Arabian palace, with gold-topped turrets and tall, graceful pillars lining the entrance.