Desert Heat

CHAPTER NINE: PRINCE

Lily had to blink twice to make sure that this was all not a dream; she also had to rub her eyes and make sure that she was really sitting in Prince Aziz's car. The looks that she had received were less than welcoming, both from the wardens and Prince Aziz's bodyguards.

She hated being in this car, and worst of all, she hated making the deal that would enslave her for the rest of her life. She hated the man sitting next to her, but he, on the other hand, did not seem bothered by this; he was too busy speaking to his bodyguard in Arabic.

Lily could remember how it all started and how she had come to make the most ridiculous decision of her life.

FLASHBACK

"So you are confessing to being a spy?" Prince Aziz asked Lily, and this only made her mad. For the past two days, she had repeated the same thing to the guards, and no one seemed to believe a single word that she said.

"I am not a spy!" Lily yelled at Prince Aziz; she refused to accept blame for something she knew nothing about.

"Then what were you doing?" Prince Aziz asked Lily, this time looking into her eyes, and he knew that this was not the look of a killer, but he could not place his finger on it.

"I just thought the palace looked beautiful; I swear. Think of it: why would I want to kill you?" She asked him, but she shut her eyes because she knew what was about to come next.

"Both you and I had a disagreement at the airport, and I think that—"

"I would try to kill you over a disagreement? I am not that shallow and vengeful, and I did not even know that you were the next king," Lily tried to explain, and even she had Prince Aziz convinced.

"What about the drugs?" He asked her, and Lily rolled her eyes. She had explained herself more times than she herself could remember.

"I do not know; I left my handbag in the driver's car; he ran after me to hand it to me, and the next thing I know is that I am being arrested for drug charges," she explained, summarizing the story and refusing to relive the horror of that day.

"Do you know that you are being charged for bringing illegal substances into my country, and that is equal to a sentence of twenty years in prison?" He informed her, and a look of horror appeared on her face.

"But I would be going to court to defend myself?" Lily asked him, but even he looked as though he did not know if that would help her.

"You are also going to be tried for the attempted assassination of the future king; that would get you nothing less than a death sentence." Prince Aziz told her. He was aware of this law; countless times people had tried to assassinate his late father, and all of them were hanged to death.

Prince Aziz wished he could help her more. He did not know her, and he could not rely on his gut feelings alone.

"I suggest you call your husband and inform him of your sentence", Prince Aziz told her, no emotion in both his tone and his face.

"I don't have a husband, nor do I have a boyfriend! I literally live for my job!" Lily yelled out, hoping that this would help her case. Prince Aziz paused, and he turned around to face her, surprised that such a beautiful woman would not have been married.

"I do not believe you."

"I am telling the truth; I live with my mother. You know my mother."

"I am sorry, but how would I know your mother?" Prince Aziz questioned Lily, and this had her mind racing.

"You met my mother at the airport; she is the woman who paid for your coffee when you had no money," Lily explained to him. Prince Aziz thought about it, and then he remembered the older woman and smiled.