Chapter 431

• As Ahsan had predicted, his team of advisors was waiting for him when they arrived back at the palace. Even on the journey across the desert, he’d had his mobile phone clamped to his ear, and Kate had sat silently beside him, lost in her thoughts. The honeymoon was over, and he had made it abundantly clear that he now saw her role as his wife as a walk-on part—or perhaps a lie-down part, she thought bitterly. But what had she expected? She had married him for Hazem, and he had married her for sex, and they had each gotten what they wanted.
• At least she had Hazem, she told herself later that evening, when she tucked the toddler into bed. She had missed him desperately, and his evident delight that she was back was a comforting balm to her raw emotions. She was Ahsan’s wife, a member of the Royal Family of Qubbah, and no one could ever take him away from her now.
• But as she prepared for the state banquet, her insecurities returned, and she felt sick with nerves. She had been horrified when first Jamila and then her two maids addressed her as "Your Royal Highness," and even though she was wearing a stunning couture gown—a floor-length cream silk sheath with long sleeves and a decorous neckline—she didn’t feel in the least "royal." She was a fraud, she thought dismally, and even the fabulous and no doubt priceless pearl and diamond necklace that Ahsan had given her on their wedding day, which complemented her breathtaking diamond solitaire engagement ring, could not magically transform her into a princess.