Desert Heat

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: MEET

One of the maidens had come into King Aziz's chambers to inform him of his wife's arrival, and even though he did not show his excitement immediately, he was beyond thrilled that finally his queen had arrived.

Going against the doctor's orders, King Aziz got off his bed and made his way to the throne room, where she was supposed to be, but there was no one there. He searched for his wife only to see his brother, Amaan, standing there waiting for him.

"Greetings, my king," Amaan greeted him. King Aziz could not help but show his disappointment; not a second had gone by without him dreaming of what he would do when he saw his wife. Their passionate lovemaking replayed in his mind, and her response to his touch was by far the best.

"You seem concerned, my king; is anything the matter?"

You are the matter, dear brother. King Aziz thought to himself as he paced the throne room.

"Where is my queen?"

"No need to worry about her." King Aziz stared at him with a glare that would scare even the bravest of men.

"I asked you where my wife was," King Aziz repeated himself, his tone filled with the raw sounds of a beast.

"She is outside, talking to the queen about her disgraceful behavior," Prince Amaan commented, and this had King Aziz raise his eyebrow.

"What did my wife do?" King Aziz asked his brother, who looked at the floor of the throne room rather than at his brother the King.

"I think it is better that you ask your wife herself," Prince Amaan responded.

"You may leave." King Aziz dismissed his brother, who obeyed and left the throne room. King Aziz awaited his wife's arrival into the throne room, but still she did not come. Anger filled him as he wondered what his wife could have possibly done to bring the Hassan family name to the ground.

He walked out of the throne and made his way to his chambers, and to his surprise, Lily was there with her back to him. King Aziz entered the room and shut the door behind him. Lily turned and faced her husband. Her smile was as radiant as ever, and King Aziz wished he could lift her off her feet and place her on his bed, but he had to stop himself.

"My brother complained about you," King Aziz informed his wife with a straight face. Lily's smile disappeared from her face.

"What did you do?" King Aziz asked her, and Lily knew that it was best that she answered him; otherwise, all the progress that they had made would have gone to waste.

"I played with the children at the orphanage and interacted with some of the staff; your stepmother and stepbrother did not agree with that, I presume," Lily answered plainly. King Aziz raised a questionable eyebrow, wondering if this was all there was to the matter.

"Are you sure that was all you did?"

"Yes, that was all that I did, and your stepmother warned me about it," Lily responded, irritated that the King would think badly of her intentions. She walked away from him and entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

King Aziz tried to catch up to his wife, but he was too late; she had already locked herself in the bathroom. Regret filled him, and regret was one thing that he never liked lingering in, but today it was different because it lingered. He pressed his head onto the bathroom door and slammed it lightly against it.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked from within the bathroom.

"I am punishing myself for thinking the worst of my wife when I could have simply asked her what had happened." With every word that came from his mouth, King Aziz meant it as he continued to bang his head against the door.