The Sultan's Daughter (Princesses Uncovered #5)

Chapter 40: Engagement - Not How She Pictured It

Yaz sat in silence on the platform, her eyes flicking over the crowd that had gathered to hear the announcement.

It had been a week since Hashim had made the deal with her. His soldiers – they were surprisingly more numerous than she’d first thought – had subdued the people near the capitol and convinced the nobles – convinced including manhandling and persuasion using force, no doubt – that it was in their best interest to follow Hashim as their new Sultan.

She suspected they’d been threatened with death if they didn’t cooperate.

Either way, she stared out across the sea of undulating, blurring faces. She had a smile pasted onto her face, but inside, she was raging, screaming, and weeping all at the same time. There was no true joy anywhere within her. All light had been stolen from her.

But for Cemal’s sake, she had to be convincing. She had to make Hashim and Gafar both believe that she had moved on and was in love with Gafar. Only she wasn’t.

And every minute she pretended she was, she was dying a little inside.

With every step, it took her closer to the brink of insanity.

And once she stepped off the brink, there was no coming back.

Ever.

So she tried to beat it back, keep it at bay while continuing to smile at the crowd before her and shake hands as people congratulated her.

A hush fell over the room as Hashim stood to make his announcement before the engagement feast commenced.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today is a very special day. My adopted son, Gafar, is celebrating his engagement to our late ruler’s only daughter, the Princess Yazmina. This will be the first step towards a new age of glory for Syrinia as the previous heir to the throne unites her life with that of the future heir.” He took a bow, presenting Yaz and Gafar to the public.

Gafar smiled and bowed as well, waving to the cheering onlookers.

He was actually happy.

But Yaz?

Yaz was dying every second of it.

Tears welled at the back of her throat, and she almost burst out in a hysterical fit of sobs then and there, but she didn’t. Couldn’t. Cemal’s life relied upon her convincing act, both for Gafar and for the crowd.

So she stood there and waved, smiling at the cheering onlookers and curtsying to them in place of Gafar’s bow.

Hashim’s narrowed look told her that it wasn’t enough to convince the crowd or his “adopted son” that she was truly in love. So she pressed against Gafar’s side, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing a kiss against his lips, taking him off guard.

The crowd let out a round of applause and laughter, and when her gaze darted back to Hashim, she could see his terse nod. It was enough.

It was enough… To make her sick.

She had vowed to herself once she announced her engagement to Cemal that she would never let Gafar kiss her again no matter what. She had actually vowed it before she even decided that she would publicly announce her engagement to Cemal.

Now the vow was broken.

And vows – in her culture – were sacred things. They were not to be broken.

But she had broken her sacred oath. She had broken the vow she had solemnly sworn. And she had been the one to initiate that breaking point.

Her stomach curled, and she wanted to retch on the polished marble floor of the platform. How dare she stand here and declare her marriage to Gafar when she was supposed to have wed Cemal in another month or so?