The Crown Prince's Bellydancer

Chapter 21: Lies Beneath the Truth

Faint voices, sounding miles away, echoed in her head. She strained her ears so she could decipher the words, but to no avail.

She felt a cold rushing her body when the past thoughts ran her mind. Strongly gripping the warm comforter, she opened her eyes, her pupils adjusted easily to the dim light lit in the room, and she let her gaze wander around the unfamiliar place.

A set of velvet sofas was nicely arranged few meters from the bed she slept on. To her right she could see a hallway leading to another corner.

She recalled the events of the day. It was early morning when they had landed in Shakhghar. After a few hours, Kiara's funeral had taken place outside of the Shakhghar Royal Palace. No other Royals knew about what happened except for Princess Huma, Prince Raed and Prince Sa'eem.

Huma and Raed took care of everything to arrange what was needed. They decided to keep everything under the rug, refraining from spilling to the other Royals, especially to the King. They knew there was a threat to their Kingdom and Raed figured that the less people would know about it, the better it would be. Sa'eem stayed back in Dasht to arrange matters there. He and Prince Noman dealt with everything. They were trying hard to get some information about the person Jalal were working for.

Kiara was buried in a graveyard near the desert, far away from the Royal Palace. Her brother had travelled from Mumbai to Shakhghar, his journey arranged by Raed. Eira had no idea how Karan didn't flare up with anger on the murder of his sister.

Even during the burial, he had remained so composed, albeit his eyes were blank. Eira still wondered why he didn't ask for Kiara's body to be brought back to India. And what about their parents? Wouldn't they want to see their dead daughter for the last time?

So many questions paraded her mind but before she could ask anyone there, she had collapsed on the sand before Kiara's grave. The last word she had heard was her own name which Nimrah had cried when Eira felt her legs giving her away.

"You're awake," Raed's voice was heard from the door.

She only stared at him silently, noticing the food tray in his hand as he walked towards her. She abruptly sat up and moved a little back on mattress.

"You must eat," Raed spoke in an ordering tone.

"Where am I?" Eira inquired.

"We're in the Palace," Raed said as he sat on the edge of the bed, placing the food tray on the bedside table.

"Don't lie to me," Eira threw him a small glare.

"Why would you think I'm lying?" Raed asked in disbelief.

Then his demeanor changed into annoyance when he realized that she had accused him of lying.

He turned his face away from her, as he stirred what looked like pumpkin soup. The delicious smell that rose from it made Eira's stomach roar.

She nudged it away and said, "This isn't my room,"

"It is now," He said curtly.

She rapidly got up, jumped from the bed and hastened towards the long draping, dark olive-colored curtains. Quickly opening them, she noticed the beautiful garden view below. Judging from the water's reflection on the bushes in the garden, she hinted that a swimming pool was just across.