The Crown in the Storm ✔️

Let the sun shine

We ended up talking for a long time right until it was time for me to get ready and accompany Feroze to the rally. We were running slightly behind schedule. Danial was bouncing from wall to wall while Feroze's other secretary, he had two, arranged and controlled the staff on the site. People had been waiting in lines to get into the main stadium. Security was tight.

"So it's you, my bodyguard and I in the car" I looked at Feroze in disbelief.
"It's my bodyguard, me, your bodyguard and you in the car"
"We don't have enough space..."
"Yes we do"
"Who's your bodyguard anyway? And where will my bodyguard go?"
"In the front seat" typical that he hadn't noticed Zaroon. He would have thought of him to be Uncle EJ's secretary or something.

He gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine"

Rania walked into the room, her eyes widening at the number of people running around. She could have been organizing this. I felt bad about her having to pass this opportunity up. She came up to me placed a comforting hand on my arm.

"So... going over the final details. You and Uncle EJ are to only there for the support. No speeches, no nothing" she directed fixing my shawl. I nodded taking a deep breath. "I'll be here and in contact with Zaroon. I'll try to monitor the trends and see how well we do" I nodded along with her words. This was going to be easy. All I had to do was show up.

We headed to the cars that were lined in the driveway.

"So where is this bodyguard of yours?" Feroze asked stopping in front of a sleek black SUV.

"Right here," Zaroon said stepping out into the sun in full black attire, with a gun strapped to his waist and a bulletproof jacket.

"Okay...then, are we going to war?" Zaroon ignored Feroze's comment and walked to stand beside me. Feroze's eyebrows went up. Damn it, I was going to get a snide comment for this.

"Ready?" he asked smiling down at me. I smiled back and nodded. Uncle EJ walked out with Ammi Jaan and gave me a bright smile. Ammi Jaan came towards me her face concerned.

"Good luck darling..." she said and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck Zaroon" my eyebrows went up in surprise. Zaroon bowed his head in respect and I saw Uncle EJ wink at me. This castle was way too small.

Feroze's guard opened the door and we got into the car. Zaroon and I sat on one side, while Feroze sat on the other making sure to raise the screen divider between him and driver. He watched us like a hawk. I ignored him and focused on my breathing. We had 45 minutes until we got the site. Zaroon stared outside the window, his radio buzzing every now and then.

"You know if you weren't the heir to Gulzar Mahal, you would have made a great first lady" I scoffed.

"I was always going to be good at my job. Who's to say you'll make a good Prime Minister?"

"Where's the bite coming from? Don't you believe me?"

"You only make a mistake once. Besides you already have the first lady, remember the one who tried to poison you?" he glared at me. I didn't have to look at Zaroon to see the smirk on his face. "Why are you so hard-pressed to become the PM?"

"What does a third son do? Go into Politics" I laughed. "I do care about this country Elena. I'm not the monster you've made me" I stayed silent at that. "Besides, doesn't every great leader have a troublesome past?" I rolled my eyes at that.

"That's why they like you... you can twist anything to suit what the other person wants to hear"

"It's politics" I chewed on the chocolate bar Rania had snuck into my hand. "I didn't twist anything with you..."