Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Black Keys Chapter 25


Chapter 25

Isabella Marie


The hurt in my chest, the pain inside of me, and the heartache started burning again at the mention of his name. Though I doubted that any of those feelings had stopped for one second since the minute I left the wing – or even before that. I was trying to ignore it for just a few minutes until I could get on that planeو لاعفntil I get on that plane. ust for a few until I get on that plane. ven before that. e mention of his name. thoug, but sadly, I didn't even get near the airport – not near enough, anyway.


"And there won't be anything discussed without his presence," the man whom I knew to be Prince Emmad continued.


"Fine," the Queen said, even though there was venom lacing her voice, as if it was not very likeable to her to do so. "And where is he?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.


"He's busy right now, but he will be with us shortly when he takes care of the matter at hand," he replied sternly, without missing a beat. Though there were no orders in his words, they still sounded commanding, just like his brother when speaking to someone who … wasn't me.


The ache. That ache in my heart … it burned even more. He was always so nice and very kind to me. No matter what happened, he was always so caring and very understanding. He was always so patient with me, and took everything I gave him with arms wide open. But now … now I doubted he would still be the Prince Charming he’d been since the day I met him. After all, I just broke a huge rule and – I lied to him. Big time. He wouldn't be very tender anymore, I just knew it.


God! What did I do?


A tear fell down my face when I fully realized what my life would be like now. I was okay. Not very okay, but still. At least I could've lived the time I was supposed to stay here peacefully. Now? I blew it up on myself. They might kill me.


"He will be busy doing something else. I'll make sure that he will be kept busy for enough time to get you home."


Alice's words rang in my ears, the same words that I'd wondered about when she first spoke them just a little more than an hour ago but didn't question what they meant. And now Prince Emmad was saying that he was busy taking care of something? What could it be?


Oh, my God! What if he was punishing Alice for helping me escape? Oh, God! It couldn't be. It'd kill me if I was the reason for her punishment. And I didn't even know what kind of punishment that would be.


But would he really punish his sister? He loved her so much. I really didn't know if he would; I only knew that their rules were so important to them that they do kill for them.


Kill! No! Please, not that. Anything but that!Lord! Have mercy on us. Please!


"Now if you'll excuse us," Prince Emmad said, "I'll be taking Princess Marie to a more decent room, if you'd allow me, your majesty."


The Queen still didn't look very pleased, but the king nodded, waving us away.


To be honest, I didn't know how I felt about leaving with Prince Emmad. I didn't know him, and I started thinking that maybe he would take me somewhere I didn't like. But then I thought that anywhere far from the queen or that monster called Jasem wouldn't be as bad, not at all. So, I just followed him when he motioned with his hand, "This way, Princess."Prince Emmad took me back through the door where I’d first entered the room and then to yet another long lobby, then opened a door that lead to a great living room.


"Prince Mazen will come to escort you back to where things will be discussed, Princess. You can wait in here, no one is going to bother you, you have my word," he assured me with a kind voice, but avoiding eye contact with me – I had no idea why.


I only nodded, not even knowing if he could see it or not, but when he turned to move, I knew he had. I wanted to thank him, but 'Thank you for saving me from the monster, also for Hope and Faith – my wedding gift – as well' didn't sound like something I should say right now, so I didn't.


When he was about to close the door behind him after stepping out of the room, I found my voice, "Wait, please." It was low, shaking and choking, but audible enough for him to hear it, since he stopped. "I, uh … I don't want to stay alone," I told him, because though I wasn't in a prison cell, I still felt like it. I wanted some company, even if it was him – I didn't mind. At least, he could keep the monster away.


Prince Emmad paused for a moment before he asked, "What's your servant's name?" his hand still on the doorknob.


"Mona," I replied, doubting she'd want anything to do with me anymore after all that had happened.It was the first time his eyes met mine, and they were full of surprise and kind of shocked. "Mona is your servant?" he asked again, then averted his eyes away before I could reply."Yes,"


"I'm afraid she's busy, as well. I'll request that one of the princesses accompany you until Prince Mazen gets here," he said, nodding his head once, then left the room, closing the door.


She is busy, as well, he said. My throat closed just thinking of the possibility that she was being punished too for what I’d done. She didn't want to leave me, and I told her to – ordered her even, and now … Dear God!

I stood unmoving for a while, watching the closed door with tears rolling down my cheeks, hugging my arms to myself tightly, in fear maybe, or was it in defense – I couldn't tell. I waited, pacing a certain area of the room back and forth. My tears died, but fear and anxiety stayed pretty much alive. The wait become long enough that my legs started to ache from standing for so long. I had to sit down, and wait some more.After what felt like ages, I heard the doorknob turning and I got up, moving my hair out of my face for it had gotten all messy when I took off the scarf earlier. The moments it took the person to come inside felt more like years. I didn't know who it would be, and I was so scared it would be Jasem. And I didn't even know how I felt at the thought that it could be the prince.


It wasn't either of them. It was the one I’d thought looked like an angel on earth. I could tell from her dress, though only the edges showed from underneath a black cloth that surrounded the whole of her body.


When she closed the door, she let loose of her cover and pulled it away in her hands, then she threw it onto one of the armchairs near the door, all the while looking at me with a smile on her face. A wary smile.


She moved her dark bangs out of her eyes with her fingertips. She had very long hair, a lot like Alice's only much longer and straight, reaching her backside or even farther. Her green eyes stared at mine for so long that it started to become uncomfortable. I waited for her to speak, but she didn't. She just moved her eyes to look me up and down, coming closer and then circling me. It didn't feel nice.


Finally, I heard her as she snorted, and I frowned at the sound. Who was this girl and why was she looking at me that way?


"Your marriage to Prince Mazen was nothing but a compromise for both of the countries’ sake, no more," she said. Her accent was French and her tone told of a disgust at what she was saying as she kept circling me. "So don't you even dream that he could fall for someone like you." Her hand shrugged a lock of my hair that was on the side of my face to the back and my eyes widened. What was her problem? "It's just that my fiancé would do anything for our kingdom."


I inhaled sharply and held my breath at the sound of her words, almost choking up with it.


Fiancé!His cousin!


Explains the familiar shade of green in her eyes, I thought.
And she didn't even say ex-fiancé. What did that even mean? And why was it bothering me so much?


She stopped when she was to my right, brought her head closer to mine and then whispered, "And you should be aware that when he needs an heir, it's my stomach that will bear his child, not yours. His seed will only get someone royal-born like me pregnant, not a commoner like you who only got the title four days ago."


I swallowed thickly, my chest swelling and my heart hurting even greater than at any time before. The tears were stinging in my eyes and threatening to fall, but I wasn't going to let them; I wasn't going to give her that satisfaction. I tried my very best to appear whole and not like the pang of jealousy that was burning my insides was affecting me whatsoever – no idea if I was successful, though. And it was like the situation I was in and the fact that I most likely would be facing a very horrible time to come was just lost on me. All I could think of was what that girl who looked like an angel but spoke with a voice that could only belong to a demon was saying to me.


I wanted to say something back to her, to claim what was mine, but then remembered that he didn't belong to me. I didn't even love him, nor did he love me back. I didn't know what the heck I was thinking, or why on earth I was feeling this way. I was confused as heck by how much her words hurt, and why I felt the strong need to tell her how wrong she was. Eventually, I did what I'd mostly been doing since I left the palace not two hours ago – I chose to stay silent, hating that it might make me appear weaker than I was, but then I thought that if she heard the shaking in my voice, it would be worse.


She was about to say something else, who knows how hurtful it would've been this time, but she was cut off by the sound of the door being opened.It was him.


The prince.


My throat tightened and my chest swelled at the sight of him in general, but the look in his eyes? – it made my heart bleed. Yeah, I'd hurt him more this time than any other time before. And it looked like the wound was so bad that I had no idea if it'd ever heal, and – it killed me.


His eyes. Just the look in his eyes was enough to bring new tears to my own. I wished I'd seen him angry or mad; I wished the look in his eyes was disgust or even hatred. But it wasn't. He wasn't mad. He was pained. The look in his eyes was pure hurt. Hurt that I had caused with my own hands. I just had no clue that seeing him hurt would hurt me this much. Yeah, I'd been upset before for upsetting him, but not that much. I felt his pain. It went right through me. Straight forward. And it was an ugly feeling.


He held my gaze for what felt like a long time, his eyes saying nothing and so much at the same time. Only one question was I able to hear so loudly: "Why?" and I just couldn't keep looking in those green gardens of his; I had to look down in shame and hug my arms tighter to my body.


When my eyes rose to his again just a moment later, they weren't looking at me anymore, but to the girl standing beside me. same one who took her sweet time covering up again with her black clothes, not as fast as the rest of the women had earlier in the king's room or even as fast as she had when Prince Emmad entered. The Prince, too, took his own sweet time before he averted his eyes away, and that alone was enough to make the pang of jealousy inside me rise even bigger.


"I wasn't aware anyone else was here," was the first thing he said while still looking away from her as she put her scarf on as a veil. I noticed that this was all he was going to say for an apology for entering so abruptly, and realized that he really hardly ever apologized to anyone, just like he'd told me. Yet, he had apologized to me so many times in the past few days, even when it wasn't his mistake.


What did I do?!


"It's fine," she told him in the most tender voice you could hear – it was disgusting. "I'll leave now, I was just keeping Princess Marie company."
"Thank you, Princess," he smiled a very small and one-sided smile, glancing at her for the briefest moment then away again.


Hurt! Hurt! Hurt!


The word 'Princess' from his mouth, so tender and gentle, coming out and addressing someone who wasn't me – hurt. Hurt so badly that my tears did fall right then and there."It was my pleasure, your highness." She nodded her head once and then left, but not before turning her head to look at me when she was behind him. I knew if I were able to see the look in her eyes, I would've seen more of the smugness she’d just shown me, or maybe even a warning. I was glad for the layers covering her face.


When we heard the door closing, the prince's eyes found mine again, and I didn't know if I imagined the softness I saw in them or not, for it disappeared the very same moment it appeared and changed to a serious, blank look that I knew so well was hiding pain he didn't want to show.


"I need to know everything that happened from the minute you left the wing until you were brought here to this room," he said sternly, the same tone he’d never used while talking to me before, "In detail."


I guess the nice Prince Charming is gone.


~BK~








44 comments:

  1. Ouch, she knew it was going to hurt him.. Even herself. He should have realized that she would try an flee if ever given the chance.

    Looking forward to more :D

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  2. I would have loved if she would have succeeded escaping and the Prince would have gone after her. I guess it was easier this way though. But the regret thing might be a little too much, okay they both hurt each other, but when you gotta be a big girl, you have to. At the end, she knew her attempted escape was wrong from the start, maybe she should have assumed her choice. I guess I was expected her to be a little bit stronger as you seemed to have constructed as a fierce and independent person since the start of the story. The Prince probably had had his share of hurt and I don't think he will become a monster. More like a resigned man, maybe even passive and emotionless towards her future actions.

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  3. I hope he gives her another chance and really gets yo know her including her feelings.

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  4. I hope this can be fixed. I don't know how, but I want them to work this out! Thanks for the notice of a new chapter on FFn. I tried to sign up for this blog but it wouldn't let me.

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    1. Just put your email address in the page right where it says "Follow by email", which is below "check out my book," then go to your email and confirm your registration and you are done. When you have an update you will receive a statement of blog. Angelik Angel

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  5. Okay, the Prince should realize that keeping someone against their will is not acceptable, and that is why she was running. Making her feel needlessly guilty about it just won't do. It is looking as if everything is Bella's fault. Ugh.

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    1. Here here!
      Being kept in a gilded cage by a good looking man, does not make you any less the prisoner.

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  6. Oh, ouch........ and, as for the nasty fiancée........ hope she gets a swift kick up the bum from Mazen......!

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  7. Thank you! More please!

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    1. By the way, if its not too much trouble, could you make the next chapter left-aligned instead of centered?

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    2. You have no idea how much i adore this story!!! Maria,Greece

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  8. Ouch but shesshouldhave seen this ccomingher mind wwon'tlet her see past the stereo type but will she ever open her heart to him will he forgive her update soon please

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  9. I know that bella is silly but I hope that the prince will not marry another bitch

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  10. Another amazing chapter as always. I love Em and can't get to know him better.

    That skank has to go. I hate that she planted things in Maries head, and I can't wait to hear what Masen has to say xx

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  11. Oh NOoooo! The Princess Bitch has planted the seed in Marie's head. I hope Marie get to tell the Prince what she said.

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  12. Wow! The fiancée is a nasty piece of work! I don't get the impression that she feels any love for the prince - she just wants to be queen, and she must know that the prince has fallen in love with Marie.
    The poor prince! He has been so sweet to Marie, and she pays him back with running away. He is not only hurt and angry, but he may well be fighting to keep her alive. I have a feeling that some in the palace are asking for Marie to be executed.
    And Marie...what a mess she has made!

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  13. Great chapter, can't wait to see what happens next!!

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  14. Will Marie tell the prince the nasty things she said? I hope so-he did say to tell him EVERYTHING.

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  15. Extremely talented, I love to read
    ERIKA SHOVAL

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  16. this is wonderful, please do not delay the update! =)

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  17. Angelik Angel
    Hi
    I have the impression that this princess, who verbally assaulted Marie, she has no feelings for Mazen,, it seems to me to be focused on being the queen and to this position she is willing to do anything.
    What will Alica made ready as a distraction to occupy Mazen? Does she tried to kill herself? And your baby? And the servant, I wonder what happened to her? Only one thing I am sure, that Marie should really tell you all the details with Mazen, including that the princess spoke to her every word, because her life, the servant and perhaps Alica depends on it.
    PS: Dear writer, already put my email and when you upgrade I should receive a statement.
    PS2: I wish you could update at least once a week, I'm dreaming of your next update whenever I have just read the latest chapter, lol. Hugs.

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  18. Here is the deal. He knows she never wanted to be here. She is an intruder in his country only here to save his sister and her brother. A Pawn. He does not love her, he loves that chick that just told her about who would carry his children. She is not staying so it does not matter. Best thing is decide what she wants to do, stay there? If not she needs to commit Suicide. That is the Only way she can leave. Too bad she can not shoot Jasper.

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  19. Noooooo! I hope the Prince will not hurt Princess Marie even more... even with mere words. I hope his sister will tell him the truth...

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  20. Who the hell is that woman.i hate her.she is going to cause problems. Hope Mazen forgives Maria. Thanks for the update.

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  21. TillitryillneverknowJanuary 15, 2015 at 11:18 AM

    I feel for them both here! Marie feels so-o trapped and alone! Mazen is both hurt and protecting her. He needs to know everything so he can protect her from just that - everything and anything! Unfortunately, I think for now Marie's spirit has been broken and she may just bend to whatever he wants. Under the circumstances, watching her waste away would not be unusual. She has been abandoned, betrayed, confused, and isolated. Very much imprisoned. I adore this fiction!! You write from the heart!

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  22. I am so obsessed. I can't wait for the next chapter! I hope mazen and Marie forgive each other fast!

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  23. I dont like that chapters are do short. Also whrn posting can you make sue the textis left aligned. That makes it easier to read.

    Aldo Talia is a bitch. I hope that Mazen isnt too angry eith Mafie, dhe was forced into this and he knows that. And if he is still engaged to Talia he should have told Marie.

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  24. Can not wait!!!!!!!
    I have read this chapter thrice now, first time was real quick because I was so eexcited!! I wanted to know the events !
    Then I read it slowly before I slept
    then now 4 days later and I can NOT wait for the next chapter!!
    Great job! I love it
    I am already imagining what would happen next
    So, what I understood
    Jasem is the son of the King's brother (which is why Talia did not cover up upon his entry), he was supposed to marry Alica and became angry because he did not, he wanted revenge

    Another thing: you have done an amazing job so far, concerning Islamic and Arabian rules!! Bravo
    I can not wait!!!! :D
    ~Nouran

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  25. really good chapter and bella did hurt prince really bad and that is worst that been angry but what is done is done now cant wait to read what will the prince do with her

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  26. Hello. You've done an amazing job so far with your story. I think we, as readers should keep in mind a few things. First, Marie has been held against her will. We know the prince isn't responsible and he is also a victim in this, but she still has no control and she is basically helpless with no power. She has received at least 2 deaths threats, one from her own brother and the other from her mother in law. She also just found out the prince might have a 2nd wife who also threatened her in a way. This is after he assured her he doesn't have a harem. If this is true and he never told her, shame on him. But I am withholding judgement on the prince just yet. She is a strict catholic who practices monogamy. The prince, so far, presents as very open minded and empathetic with Marie, based on what is written so far, he should have some understanding as far as Marie attempting to escape. He presents as a very caring man with a warm heart. Also, she has only been in the kingdom for 4 days. 2 death threats and being held against her will is a lot to handle in only 4 days time. Perhaps if the prince had addressed more directly with Marie the above challenges the she might have more of a sense of control in this foreign environment. I know he wants to be her protector and that is very sweet, but she still has no control. Also, since Marie is 22, runs a company, and she isnt' a teenager, I am hoping their communication in the next chapter reflects her age as well as his. I can definitely see a person developing Stockholm syndrome in a situation like this. I can see this happening to Marie. Thank you for sharing with us.

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  27. ive been following this story for a while. I realize that there are many sides to a life and story. Some may enjoy it, other may be offended. and still most of us are hooked and researching everything on their own. What jasper did was wrong,,, But he had his reasons for doing so I'm sure they will be revealed at some time ... The same with Alice .... The Prince Mazen and Princess Marie.... as well as everyone else... Like i said I will continue to follow this story,,, it touches many lifestyles and.........................

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  28. Wait a minute. Is everyone forgetting how she was tricked into this by her own brother? Also, if Mazen is an educated doctor & studied abroad, shouldn't he realize how wrong this is? I understand he's bound to his beliefs but what about hers? She's an American citizen & has rights, which should be respected. It like everything lays on her shoulders.
    I love this & I'm enjoying the differences in beliefs & cultures.

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  29. He sound so hurt and cold and distance. I hope he still can forgive her.

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  30. Love this story!!!!! I just atarted reading it today and can't put it down!!!

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  31. Marie is really starting to piss me off, I'm getting to the point where I think mazen should just be done with her. He has been nothing but kind and understanding from the get go but she's just stuck with this stupid view of muslims that's not even justified. Plain and simple she's a racist and she keeps trying to say she isnt but keeps insulting his religion it's ridiculous. At this point in the book id probably kill marie myself because she so selfish and does nothing but hurt mazen, if only they weren't fictional. Still enjoying the story though, just wanting to slit her throat.

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