Inscribed In The Stars

Chapter 1

Dalia's eyes flitted to her father's Visier and the guests behind him and she couldn't help her lips part in shock as she took in his appearance.

The rumours of the scarred Prince were true.

The fledgling commander had really caused this damage.

If not for the rough line that sliced through the left cheek of the Prince's face, he would have been considered a potential match for her standards. The Princess could not stop her eyes from roaming over the stark contrast of a ghostly line against the dark of his stubble. And despite it, she found an alluring attractiveness to his features.

And yet, he did not so much as glance her way. Her father's vizier, on the hand, was directing a slimy smile her way.

"With all members of my family present, I may admit how surprised we are to see that you have graced us with your presence, Prince Abbas. Never would we have imagined our rivals requesting our audience,"

The scarred Prince lifted his eyes and respectively nodded in the direction of her father and brother, intentionally missing her.

Dalia narrowed her eyes. In all the times she had been greeted by foreign bureaucracy, he was the first to blatantly ignore her.

"Your Majesty," croaked Visier Shams, struggling to lower himself into a bow over his protruded stomach. "Prince Abbas insisted on coming back with me to speak to you directly. I humbly apologise for not being able to stop him."

"You are dismissed, Visier." The King said, and his Visier complied, retreating to the side.

"Your Highness, I am humbled that you agreed to meet me." Said the Prince, with a firm and confident tone.

"I didn't see any reason to decline your invitation, considering the fact that you travelled such a distance and risked your life by standing on enemy soil."

Behind the Prince, his guards began to bristle nervously.

"I risked my safety for the safety of my nation and its people,"

The King grunts.

"My brother and I were alarmed to discover the nullification of the marriage alliance with the return of your Visier. We had actually hoped that this would be a chance for peace,"

The Princess' perfectly shaped brows furrowed together.

A marriage alliance? This was the first time she was hearing about it.

"And with good reason. You have something I want,"

This time Dalia glanced at her father. Something he wanted?

"Or rather someone."

The Princess' curious and confused gaze travelled to her brother who only fed the same expression back to her.

Was her father still looking for her? For the mysterious woman named Salma? Both she and her brother had come across the name one day when they happened to be competing for their father's audience a few months back. The woman who had escaped her father's Harem. But her father had plenty of women there, what difference did one runaway make?

If she was not mistaken, the woman was only a few years older than her, and the thought of it made her stomach churn. She always hated her father's Harem.

"I have come to liaise. I'm afraid we cannot return her so easily. Following the laws of my state, she is under the protection of the King of Balqaas."

An icy silence glazed over the hall. Dalia's eyes stuttered between her father's disappearing smile and the scarred Prince's undeterred expression.