Eternal Love (MewGulf AU)

🌞Chapter 23🌻

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The old woman gazed at him expressionlessly and he wondered how much she knew about the situation.

"What are you saying? I can't be here!" he cried out.

The women's quarters were the home of the king's wives and children, and the servants who helped them. No man other than the king could even come close to it, let alone go inside.

Gulf had asked before if Mew intended to put him into his harem, but the man had denied it, saying he had meant it as a joke.

"I have special permission to enter the women's quarters, so I can tell the king's wives news about his condition and cheer them up while he's gone," Mew explained further. "We can see each other anytime here, and it's safer than anywhere else."

Gulf found it difficult to believe the things Mew was telling him so calmly.

"But what about---" he started to protest, but he was so disturbed that he couldn't find the next words.

Mew gazed at him, looking at him appraisingly. "Saria is no longer safe. That's because it's a special place for me, and I never bring guests there. AA knows that, but he and Kadim both know about you. Word is sure to get out that I invited you there. People will start showing up, hoping to see you."

Mew's voice echoed deliriously in his head. Even though Gulf heard the words, he couldn't figure out what they could possibly mean. He couldn't take what was said as rational.

"If you just said that you were sheltering a woman who needed your help," he tried to reason out, "I don't think anyone would show up to try anything blatantly, even if there were rumors."

He understood that Saria was special. Mew had confessed that he wished he could live like the ancient nomad tribes of the desert. Saria, relatively isolated from the rest of Madina, was probably one of the few places where he could feel as if he was touching and dreaming.

"But really...this?" Gulf asked helplessly.

"No one will be able to get near you in the women's quarters," Mew answered.

Gulf was positive that the only person other than Aisha who knew he was there was the guard, and the man wasn't likely to say anything about the woman the prince had brought into the palace.

But Gulf couldn't accept this.

"Wouldn't it better to just send me home?" he asked.

The question of why Mew had acted now, after six years apart, still nagged at him. If it was discovered that he'd hidden Gulf in the women's quarter, Mew would probably be facing quite a dilemma himself.

"I've had enough of this charade," Gulf snapped, taking a step forward toward the door.

But he couldn't take another because Mew grabbed his arm and glared at him. "I thought I told you that I wouldn't tolerance your defiance. You will not speak a single word against me."

The blood surged into Gulf's head at the icy command. He couldn't stand it anymore. He tore the hijab from his head and threw it to the floor. "I'm not your wife or your slave!" he yelled.

How selfish could Mew be? The fact that this man had appeared out of nowhere and bundled him away to Madina by force, and then completely forbidden any questions was proof that Mew didn't see him as a human being. Even if that was the norm in Madina, as a Thai citizen, Gulf didn't have to obey him.

"Where are you going?" Mew asked.

"Let go of me," Gulf screamed. "Who cares where I'm going? I'd rather sleep in the desert than stay here."

"You're being ridiculous," Mew growled.

His grip loosened and Gulf shook his arm free.

"Just leave me alone!" Gulf yelled.

He was getting worked up, forgetting the fact that Aisha was still there. It was all Mew's fault. The man was being so arrogant.

But when Aisha imperiously interrupted his tirade, Gulf's words caught in his throat.

"How dare you speak that way!" The old woman glared at Gulf with a stern expression. "You will remember your place and speak to his majesty with more respect. Prince Mew is worried for you, yet you do nothing but abuse him. Do you expect us to allow such rudeness?"

"I---I---" Gulf stammered.

He felt like he had been slapped. His anger disappeared. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong, but his defiant feelings withered in the face of this impassioned denunciation.

"But I was brought here against my will!" he finally managed to say.

Aisha squared her shoulders at his whining, "I see. And what does complaining about that now accomplish? You heard what his majesty said. I don't know the details of your situation, but I can tell you this much---as long as you're in Madina, you'll do things our way. Your selfish whining won't work here."

Gulf said nothing, though he did wonder which of them was the one being slefish. He had no allies in Madina. His resistance would accomplish nothing.

"Now, sit down. I'll make some coffee," Aisha said, disappearing into the next room.

Mew sat down on a carved wooden chair with a bitter look on his face and Gulf had no choice but to do the same. A single white flower was set on top of a magnificently embroidered tablecloth. Gulf stared at its petals as he chewed on his lips.

He was torn between the things he wanted to tell Mew and the things he wanted to ask him, and on deciding which he should do first. He could have just started at the beginning, but he didn't want to talk about the past. And anyway, no matter what he said, he knew he would be worse off than when he started, and so he wound up with a doomed feeling.

Mew said nothing to Gulf either.

TBC