One Night

Chapter Six

Zayen

I just wanted a damn break from the world. A second of silence and darkness. Nawaz took that, too.

Her breath hitches as soon as I light the lantern on the wall beside me. The thief. The liar. The last girl in this place that I should be aiding.

Ali heaves out a sigh and drops his cigarette beside me, most likely thinking the same thing that I am: we are going to get into so much khara for helping this girl.

But it would be much more painful to stand in the dark and watch her give in to something she clearly doesn't want. The way many others have, desperate for the cruel prince's affection.

"Do you do this to all your conquests, prince?" I say the word with as much contempt as I can. This is what leadership looks like these days. "Lead them into a dark room and take advantage of the fact that you have power."

His nostrils flare, and he lets go of her. He steps towards Ali and I as if he is ready to pummel our heads into the wall. "We flirted. I offered to show her more of my tattoos and she accepted. That is more than enough consent for me."

My eyes shift to hers, but she's staring at the floor. What he said before must be true—she doesn't know what it is like to be touched, or kissed. She most definitely does not know how to flirt, but Nawaz will take anything as flirtation.

Ali throws his hands up. "Listen, bro, just leave her alone and we can all just—"

"Don't call me bro. What were you two doing in here? Watching in the darkness, like perverts."

I step on Ali's cigarette, concealing it. Nawaz does not need to know. Although he can probably smell it. "We were ensuring that there are no threats in every corner of the palace. But clearly the only threat here is you."

Insulting him is going to get us nothing, but it sure is satisfying. Almost as satisfying as it would be for him to swing at me, so I can knock him down to the ground.

His silence spurs me on. "Not only a threat to women, but to the entire kingdom. Idiocracy—"

"Don't you dare call your prince an idiot!" Rage fills the veins in his arms, the fissures in his green eyes. His fists clench.

"Anger is weakness. It shows insecurity. Clearly you don't want to be called an idiot because deep down you know you are—"

There. Suddenly he is closer, swinging his ink-coated fist towards me. Does he not know that I'm a royal guard? That I have spent my entire life being trained to kill.

Before he can regain his stability, I swing a foot forward and knock him off his feet. His grunt fills the silence as he lands on his ass.

"Stop," a soft voice calls.

I lean down and grab his collar, ready to make up for every punch his guards were ordered to give me. I finally have a justified reason to.

"Stop! I did flirt with him. He's right." The thief. The liar. The damn gold digger.

There are enough bad people in this world. For some reason, I kept hoping she wasn't one of them; that I gave her that ruby bracelet for a reason.

The door swings open, the loud bang of it making us all pause. "What is going on here?" The stern voice of the Hakeem overpowers every other sound. His eyes reflect the fire in the lanterns.

I wonder what he thinks, seeing me standing over his beloved son. If he will kill more for it. "Come with me. Now." His eyes find the thief. "You too. Yalla." He turns and walks away, expecting us to follow.