Acting Royal #Wattys2017

Chapter 32

JENNY

Jenny's bag was packed and she sat on the couch wringing her hands. She had never felt more sick and nervous in her entire life. Rafiq had left to find out what was happening and she'd been all alone in this room with nothing but her torturous thoughts to keep her company. A loud knock on the door suddenly startled her and she almost jumped out of her skin.

"Rafiq?'" She got up and ran to the door, swinging it open. But it was not Rafiq, instead standing in front of her when three guards.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Come with us please." One of them spoke.

"Where? Why? Where's Zayn?" She stumbled over her words feeling very confused and fearful. What the hell was going on here?

"Come with us." The man said again in a voice that frightened her even more.

"No." She said firmly trying hard to stand her ground.

The one stepped forward and reached out as if he was about to take her by the arm forcefully. "Do not make this any harder than it needs to be. Come with us." At that, one of the guards walked into her room and grabbed her bag. Jenny froze in terror and all she wanted right now was Zayn or Rafiq to tell her what was happening.

"Now!" the man said again even firmer than before.

Jenny nodded and followed them. She walked in absolute terror as they lead her through the palace. She had no idea where she was going, and suddenly she thought of Amir and what he was capable of and wondered if she was even going to be coming back from this. A sudden bolt of panic gripped her and she turned and made a run for it. But within seconds the guards had grabbed her by the arms and were now dragging her through the palace forcefully.

"Zayn!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Rafiq! Help!" She continued to scream but all she heard answering her was the echo of her own voice.

ZAYN

Zayn was all alone in his father's study now. His father had exited with two sentences that had left Zayn reeling. "Do the right thing." He'd said and then placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Make me proud before I die."

Despite the fact that a part of his heart felt like it was breaking, another part had swelled. His father hadn't touched him like that is years, or spoken to him like that either. And he so badly wanted to make his father proud. This was also his father's dying wish now. How could he betray this, and betray his country, and just for his own happiness?

Zayn was alone with his thoughts and feelings. His mind repeated something over and over again. His father was dying... Amir would be king... his father was dying... if he did not get married to the right person... Amir would become king.

He could not let Amir become King. It would certainly spell disaster for his country, and how could he let his father down now. How could he not do what had been asked of him? It was his duty, wasn't it?

He dropped his head and held it in his hands as an image of Jenny came flooding in. Jenny... he'd fallen in love with her. He'd never been in love before and she was the best person he'd ever met. She brought out the best in him like no one had ever done before. He would never be able to love Sophia. Never. And he would also no longer be able to have sex for sport.

Just as he thought he was about to throw something across the room in total mad frustration, Rafiq walked in. He looked up as Rafiq walked across the room and sat opposite him. They said nothing to each other for a while and then Rafiq spoke.

"I heard what your father said. Amir was only too happy to tell me. You cannot let Amir become King." Rafiq whispered.

Zayn nodded slowly. He knew he couldn't let him become king. If anything bad happened to his people and his country under Amir's rule, he would never be able to forgive himself. It broke his heart to think about it, but he knew it was true.

"I know." he said. "Maybe if I go in there and appeal to him one more time, maybe he will let me marry Jenny and maybe..." Zayn stopped talking as Rafiq started shaking his head.

"You know that isn't going to happen, don't you?" He asked in a small voice.

Zayn nodded. He did know that. It was either marry Sophia, or let Amir become king. That was the decision laid out in front of him and he knew what he needed to do. It wasn't actually a decision, he didn't have a choice.

"My father thinks he's dying." Zayn choked on his words.

"I know."

"You do?" Zayn's eyes flicked up to meet his.

"Your mother told me. She made me promise not to tell you before your birthday, she didn't want to ruin it."

Zayn managed a tiny smile. Rafiq was such an honest man. He knew he could trust him, and Rafiq had always been right about absolutely everything in Zayn's life. He'd predicted that this was going to backfire, and he'd been right. Rafiq had recognized every bad choice he had ever made and if anyone knew what he had to do, it would be him.

"What should I do?" Zayn asked, even though deep down inside, he knew the answer.

"You know what you need to do."

"I know. But how... how... I love her, I..." And then a tear escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek.

"I know." Rafiq said gently. "And she loves you. But I see no other option. You will never forgive yourself if you let Amir become king, and you will never forgive yourself for not carrying out your father's final wish."

Zayn nodded. "But how, how do I do this?"

Rafiq kept quiet for the longest time. "It's better to hate someone that hurts you, than to love someone that breaks your heart and that you pine for every day. Anger is a much easier emotion to deal with that the pain of heartbreak."

Zayn's heart felt like it fell into his stomach at Rafiq's words. "You mean, I must make her hate me?"

"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind."

Zayn lost his breath for a second before he could speak again. "But I love her. I don't want her to hate me, I want to marry her and -"

Rafiq cut him off. "That is not an option. You do not have a choice, but you do have a choice in how you end things with her. Do not break-up with her in a way that leaves her with hope. That would be cruel. Do not leave her in a place where you are the person she pines for and wishes  for the rest of her life. Do not make it so she cannot move on and get the love she deserves from someone else. Put an end to this in a way that she never wants to see you, think about you, or speak your name again for the rest of her life. Do this in a way that she only wants to forget you and destroy your memory and all the memories that you shared."

Zayn grabbed his chest when he felt a stabbing pain. "Oh God." He said as another stabbing pain made him double over. And again. Again. And then his breath quickened and his heart felt like it would race out of his chest. Nausea rose up in him and suddenly he felt dizzy.

"I'm having a heart attack, I'm..."

Rafiq rushed over to the other side of the room and placed a hand on his back. "You're not having a heart attack Zayn, your heart is just breaking."

Zayn looked up at Rafiq. "But it feels, it feels so physical so...." he could barely finish his sentence.

"I know. I know." Rafiq pulled him into a hug and Zayn rested his head on his shoulder. "In time it will become better."

Zayn tasted salt in his mouth and he realized that he was crying.

"It's okay. It's okay." Rafiq said softly. "You know what you need to do though."

Zayn nodded into his shoulder.

He did know what he needed to do and it would be the hardest thing he had ever done before.