Desert Heat

CHAPTER TWENTY: WORK BEGINS

King Aziz did not know what to make of Lily's action after she had flung his shirt at him and then exited their room. Never had he seen her that upset with him. He raised the shirt to his nose and inhaled the sweet fragrance.

Is she jealous? He thought to himself but quickly dismissed the idea of it; their marriage was only on paper, and there was no love involved. The thought of Lily being jealous over something as petty as that was unimaginable. He tried to seat himself properly on his bed, but his head hurt, forcing him to lay lower and stare at the ceiling.

"There's no way that she would be mad over this fragrance on my shirt, or could she?" King Aziz asked himself as he searched his mind for other reasons for his wife's recent behaviour, but he found none. With his head now lying on his pillow, he shut his eyes and allowed his mind to drift into the memories of three days ago.

King Aziz sat inside a tent as he tried to remove his dirty clothes. After delivering Salma's baby, he was extremely tired, coupled with days of restless sleeping.

"My king," King Aziz turned his attention to the entrance of the tent, specially reserved for him to change his attire, and there stood a maiden.

"How may I help you?" King Aziz asked the young woman, who smiled at him and walked towards him.

"I come bearing gifts," She replied. King Aziz looked at her hands, and surely she carried a tray with different glass bottles.

"What are these?" Aziz stood up from his mattress and walked towards the maiden. Now that he stood in front of her, he realized that she was a tiny woman.

"They are the finest fragrances of our tribe; this one in particular was made by Salma herself before she went to bed. She asked that this be given to you—your own signature scent," The maiden explained. This gesture surprised Aziz; he took the bottle of fragrance and took in its scent, and indeed, it was by far the best that he had smelt.

"Please try it." The maiden insisted, and Aziz applied the fragrance to his shirt and smiled at the maiden. He placed the bottle of fragrance back onto the plate.

"Please take this back to my guards; I am sure that my wife would appreciate this fragrance as a gift," King Aziz insisted, and with one last bow from the maiden, she exited.

Aziz could not help but smile at himself. Without even thinking, he had made up his mind to bestow a one-of-a kind fragrance on him; after all, his wife, Lily, was one of a kind.

Upon leaving the nomads, the Sheikh thanked the king once more, but Aziz was more pleased to hear that Salma and the baby were doing quite well.

"My king, I apologize that I could not make it to your wedding. I am sure you know why I could not attend."

"Yes, I am aware that the age-old war between my father and your people has caused a rift, but I promise you that I will make sure that there are no more wars between us." King Aziz gave the Sheikh his word.

"Agreed, you have a lovely wife, my king; perhaps that is why my daughter Salma named her daughter after your wife," The Sheikh informed King Aziz, who was more than pleased to hear such news.

"Well, thank you. I am sure that my wife would love to hear this news."

King Aziz laughed as he thought of the events of that day; unfortunately, he had not gotten the chance to tell his wife a thing all because he was tired and upset, and he took it all out on her. Seeing his wife in the passage talking to his elder brother Amaan made him furious, and he was not one to lose his mind over such petty matters.