The Prince of Zammar

Slow Burn - Chapter Two

TWO

“So, captain—” Sadie cleared her throat, marshalling her courage. She was bored and going stir-crazy staring at the four walls of her bedroom, as beautiful as that room was. The captain’s presence did little to help her in that regard. He wasn’t the most talkative man. At least, now she knew his name. Kadar ‘Ibn Al-Amar.

“How do I get to those gardens?” she asked while pointing out the arched window.

Kadar glanced out. “Those are an extension of his highness’ personal courtyard. You wish to go there?”

Sadie swallowed hard. Prince Jalen had been avoiding her for the past week. At least, that’s what she assumed since he’d not spoken to her, nor summoned her during that intervening time.

“Is it not permitted?”

“It is permitted, but I must warn you,” Kadar responded, “if you go into that garden, he will know you are there.”

Sadie wondered at the implied threat. Had she angered the prince and that is why he had left her alone? She cocked an eyebrow and gave the captain a questioning glance. “Is that a bad thing? He knows I am in my chamber most of the time, in any case.”

Kadar opened his mouth, on the verge of saying more, but then shook his head and closed it again. In the end, he seemed to think better than to confide in her, which Sadie found passably annoying. He had been the only person to talk to her—aside from the tailor, that is—since the morning of the bath. She simply wished the gruff captain wasn’t so stoic most of the time. 

“No, you are right. Follow me, I’ll show you to the garden,” he finally said.

Not waiting for her answer, he led the way out of her room. Through arched corridors, they made their way to the prince’s chambers. Kadar pushed the door open, and bid her to step in. Sadie expected to see the doors guarded, but no one stood inside the anteroom.

“Shouldn’t this place be guarded? Where’s the prince?” Sadie asked, curious.

“His highness,” the captain answered, his voice clipped, “is presiding at court at the moment,”

“Oh.”

He next led Sadie through the door to the prince’s bedchamber. As soon as she entered the room, her eyes were drawn to the marble column and his bed platform. She felt blood rush to her cheeks, and she flushed at the memory of her night with the prince. Thinking about it again made her blood heat. She could almost feel his hands on her skin, so very warm. And when they’d caress, and dipped lower... She bit her lower lip. Although she was loath to admit it—even to herself—she’d been waiting for him to summon her again. Hoping.

“This way,” Kadar interrupted her reverie.

Sadie shook her head and glanced his way. He stared back at her with his clear blue eyes that were all too knowing, and she flushed an even deeper red.

“Er—yes, of course.”

They soon came to another carved sandalwood door, which he pushed open for Sadie. He let her precede him and fell into step behind her as she walked down the flight of white limestone stairs leading to the garden.

By now, Sadie was used to the constant company of a guard following her around—mostly the captain or a young lieutenant named Yusuf—so Kadar following at a discreet distance didn’t make her as uncomfortable as it had the first few days. She was determined to enjoy the gardens, and specifically wanted to find the artificial pond that her room overlooked.