Desert Heat

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: DANGER

Two weeks later,

The events of their second honeymoon lingered throughout the palace two weeks after their second honeymoon. For the last two weeks, King Aziz had spent less time at home and more time in meetings dealing with matters concerning the kingdom, while Lily stayed in the palace bored and out of her mind.

When she got married into the royal family, she expected a close-knit family that loved and cared for one another, but all she saw was greed and hatred. Each queen of the royal family cared only for her children, whom she kept to herself at all times.

Lily could not remember the number of times that she sat on the balcony and looked beyond the palace walls. Ironically, before her marriage, all she wanted was to get into the palace, and now all she wanted was to get out.

She craved some social interaction, and sadly, speaking to her mother over the phone was not enough to satisfy her need for social interaction. The maidens at the palace had tried keeping her company, but that did not work; all Lily craved for was adventure.

She had to admit that she even missed her husband, an admission that she would never admit aloud. The door to her room swung wide open, and Aziz walked in. Lily was happy—so happy that she wanted to run from the balcony and hug him, but she stopped herself. She had to keep in mind that their marriage was not one that involved affection for one another.

King Aziz did not even look at his wife; he simply threw himself onto the bed. Lily had built immunity against seeing her husband in such a state; for the last two weeks, that was all that she saw. King Aziz had come home day after day and night after night, tired, and there were days when he would forget to eat.

The one thing that Lily admired about her husband was that throughout this entire time, he never complained and simply did what was required of him.

"Glass of water, please," King Aziz asked Lily, and without thinking about it, she rushed to the bedside table and poured a glass of water.

"Here you go, drink up." She handed him his glass of water, and he took it. With one gulp, he was done drinking. Lily placed the glass of water back onto the bedside table, and when she turned back to face Aziz, he was already sleeping.

**

The next morning's breakfast was the same as every other breakfast, with each family having their breakfast in their own wing and King Aziz and Lily at the main dinner table. Between the two of them, neither uttered a word to one another, and that was normal for their standard.

"Thank you." Lily stopped eating her food because that sounded like Aziz's voice. It had to be him because there was no one in the room except the two of them. She looked up from her plate, and King Aziz was staring back at her.

"I am sorry, but what did you say?" she genuinely asked him. Lily was not used to behavior such as this from King Aziz; according to his people, the king was never wrong, and he never needed to apologise to anyone.

"I said thank you; I was tired yesterday, and you gave me water."

"Oh, that is nothing; I just did what I thought was right."

I also did what a wife is supposed to do for her husband. She mentally told herself, but she was too afraid to tell him the truth.

"You might think that what you did was small, but it was actually a big deal, and if you did not give me that water then, I might have died of dehydration." Lily felt proud to hear King Aziz say these words to her. For some reason, she held out the hope that someday they might overcome their differences and be a real couple.

"Well, then it's my pleasure." Lily went back to eating her food, mentally patting herself on the back for her good deed.

"What is it that you want me to gift you with?" The King asked her, and this made Lily remove her attention from her plate of food.