Innocent in the Sheikh's Harem Read Online Free PDF

Highness?’ Celia asked when they had finished their food. ‘How did you come to be there?’
    ‘Ramiz. You may call me Ramiz while we are in private. I was following you. I wanted to see what kind of man your government had sent to talk to me. I wanted to run the rule over him before our official meeting. I had not anticipated him bringing his wife. If I had known you were coming I would certainly have made alternative arrangements for your journey to my citadel.’
    ‘Just because I am a woman it does not mean I need to be wrapped in cotton wool. I am perfectly capable of dealing with the hardships of a trip across the desert.’
    ‘From what I saw, you are far more capable than your husband was,’ Ramiz said dryly, ‘but that is beside the point. In my country we take care of our women. We cherish them, and we put their comfort before our own. Their lives before our own. Unlike your husband.’
    Celia shifted uncomfortably on the carpet. The narrow skirts of her robe made kneeling difficult. ‘George was just—George was not—he was…’
    ‘Running away,’ Ramiz said contemptuously. ‘Was he armed?’
    ‘He had a gun,’ Celia admitted reluctantly.
    ‘He could have saved himself and the life of my honoured servant.’
    ‘Your Highness—Ramiz—my husband was a good man. It is just that this was all—and the attack—it was terrifying. He acted on—on instinct.’
    ‘A man whose instincts are to abandon his wife in order to save his own skin is not worth saving. Nature has bestowed upon women their beauty for man to appreciate. To man has been granted the strength to provide and protect them. To break such rules is to go against the natural way of things, the formula civilisations such as mine have been following very successfully for many thousands of years. Your husband was a coward and therefore not, in my eyes, worthy to be called a man. I am sorry to be so harsh, but I speak only the truth.’
    Though all her instincts told her to defend George, Celia found she could not. To a man like Ramiz, what George had done was indefensible. And in a small corner of her own mind she agreed. She turned her attention to obtaining answers to the rest of the questions she knew would be asked of her when she returned to Cairo. Nothing could bring George back, but she could brief the Consul General, provide at least some information about this principality of which they knew next to nothing. In a tiny way it would mean that George had not died in vain. ‘You knew the men who attacked us today, didn’t you?’ she asked. ‘Who were they?’
    Ramiz threw his head back to look up at the stars, suspended like lanterns so close above them. ‘Until two years ago my elder brother Asad was the ruler of A’Qadiz. This kingdom and those surrounding it are lands of many tribes, many factions, and my brother embroiled us in many battles. He believed that the sword was mightier than the tongue. It was to cost him his life.’
    ‘What happened to him?’
    Ramiz shook his head slowly. ‘He was killed in a pointless, ultimately futile skirmish. I don’t share his philosophy. I believe most men are reasonable, and reasonable men want peace. Peace is what I have been working tirelessly to achieve, but not all my neighbours agree with me. Nor do all accept my strategy of negotiating with foreign powers such as the British. Today was a warning, and I must act swiftly or everything I have begun to achieve will crumble into dust. It is unfortunate that you have been caught up in this, but there is nothing I can do about it for now. It is another two days’ journey to Balyrma. We must start at first light.’
    ‘Balyrma!’ Celia exclaimed. ‘But surely—I mean, I had assumed you would take me back to Cairo.’
    ‘There can be no question of that. I must return home urgently.’
    ‘Can you not provide me with another escort?’
    Ramiz indicated with two spread arms the vast empty expanse of the desert night. ‘You think I