Acting Royal #Wattys2017

16

ZAYN

He'd woken up with a spring in his step that morning. He hadn't felt this good, and this energized in a long time. Usually he crawled out of bed with a hangover from the night before, some strange naked woman lying in his bed and the debris of the party scattered at his feet.

But this morning he felt like a new man. She was fast asleep next to him, and she was perfect. Her hair spread out across the pillow and she was curled up in a ball on her side. He watched her sleep for a while, listened to her breathing and at one stage, even ran his hand over her back. He guessed she must have felt something, because she rolled over to face the other side, in a movement that exposed her breasts.

He was excited to buy her lingerie– her birthday gift to him. In fact, it was the only thing running through his mind as he rushed to get ready and get to the mainland. The sooner he finished shopping, the sooner he could spend time with her. He was dying to show her his favorite place in the world.

He had a desire to take her places, show her things and spend as much time getting to know her as he could. This filled him with excitement, but was also a strange concept to him. Usually he wanted to get rid of the woman sleeping in his bed as soon as possible. He dreaded it when they suggested movies or dinner or even a cup of coffee in the morning. They were all boring- but she wasn't. She was exciting, smart, funny, and she was beautiful. No, exquisite. And he wanted more of her. So much more. He looked at her once more before climbing out of bed, he wanted to remember her today. He wanted to drink her in, like a man who hadn't had water in days. Then he sprung out of bed and left as fast as possible.

**

Once Zayn had finished shopping and returned to the palace- with the major added bonus of having bumped into her- he went down to the kitchen and instructed the cook to prepare a picnic basket for lunch. He got a blanket and grabbed a bottle of champagne and was ready almost two hours before lunchtime. He didn't know what to do with himself though and feeling like a caged animal at the zoo, he began to walk up and down the palace, waiting for her to come back. He regretted this, because soon he was face to face with Amir.

"Nervous?" Amir asked with a sly and dangerous tone, topping it off with a cold, icy smile.

"No, just waiting for Jenny to come back from the mainland." Zayn's tone was harsh. He hoped it would send him a message; that he had no desire to talk with him, ever.

"How sweet." Amir's icy grin faltered.

"That sounds condescending." Zayn's eyes narrowed in response to him.

"Not at all. Young love is a beautiful thing." Amir looked like a lion circling his prey. "I must say, I'm impressed, though."

"By what?" Zayn watched him as he circled.

"Well, last time I saw you, you were indisposed with, how many women was it... two, three, maybe four? And now you seem to be a changed man. Like magic. It's all so convenient, isn't it? What with you birthday coming up." Amir's tone was dangerous.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You may be able to fool the others, but your father and I are watching you." Amir was smirking now as his thin lips and face contorted into something hideous.

"And what exactly are you looking for?" Zayn clenched his fists until they hurt. It was all he could do to stop himself from hitting him.

"I'm going to catch you out. I know this whole thing is a farce, I just can't prove it... yet. But I will." Amir was studying him closely to see if his face would betray the secret. "This Jenny is probably just some poor working girl you scooped up off the street and paid a lot of money to to pretend to be your fiancé."

"That's not true." Indignation flamed in him now. How dare he mention Jenny and talk about her like that? How dare he even utter her name?

"You're right. I can see she's not a common working girl from a street corner. Perhaps something a little more high-class? Maybe you have an account at one of those exclusive escort agencies I've heard all about."

"Stop it. It's not like that. I love her." He spat the words out without thinking about them. Rage boiled inside him and then, without fully realizing what he was doing, he grabbed Amir by the collar and shoved him against the wall. He was spitting with rage, "Jenny is not a prostitute. And if I ever hear you say that again, I'll kill you."

Zayn immediately knew he'd overstepped a line, and he also knew he better get away before he did actually kill him. He couldn't remember feeling rage like this since the day of the fire and Rana's accident.

He walked off. He hated Amir. He hated the thought of Amir becoming king and he vowed he would never let that happen. Amir was evil, he would rape and pillage and use the country. He would usher in an age of corruption and unhappiness. He could see it. He would use the country for his own personal gain, turn it into a dictatorship and destroy it and it's people.

And now he hated him even more for suggesting that Jenny, sweet, innocent Jenny, could be a prostitute. It sickened him. Amir sickened him. But Amir was also onto him, and he needed to keep that in mind.