Black Keys Chapter 24

(SM) owns Twilight.

(CozItRunsInMyBlood) owns the plot.

(RobzBeanie) is a lifesaver and she beta this.

(janosch73) is my amazingly wonderful per-reader.

Chapter 24

Isabella Marie

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The driver hopped out of the car, and fear made a home of my heart, growing even bigger when the door to my right was opened by the very same guy who’d stopped the car.

I gripped my cross with both of my hands from above my clothes, holding it even tighter than just a moment ago, my prayers ringing in the back of my head, and panic throbbing inside of my heart. My tears were choking me and burning my eyes, but the fright that was consuming me was too big to allow them to really fall to my cheeks. The anxiety of not knowing what would happen was almost enough to knock me out cold. Almost enough. But not really.

My first thought after seeing that he wasn't the prince was imagining that Alice had set me up. I couldn't think of any other way someone could follow me or know of my escape so fast, but the smile I saw on his devilish features, followed by 'Alica' while he looked at my frightened and hidden form told me that that wasn't the case.

He thought I was Alice.

And for the fact that he didn't use her 'Ameera' title before her name added to the fact that he’d ordered the driver who was also a guard to stop then leave the Limousine told me that he was royal. My thoughts turned to think that he might be her other brother wanting to say a final 'Goodbye' to his sister before she left the kingdom for God only knows how long. Just because I was the luckiest girl on earth.

Oh, God! What do I do?

But then I remembered that her other brother was just a few months younger than the prince, which made him only twenty-three, and the bearded guy looked much older than thirty – it couldn't be him.

Wondering who that guy was drove me so crazy that I wanted to scream. I was so scared, confused and plain terrified.

He spoke to me. A lot. And I knew that if he paid just the tiniest bit of attention, he'd know I was shaking with fear. His words sounded like questions, but I didn't understand more than that, and of course I couldn't speak, couldn't utter a word. And that made the situation even worse.

It was only when he got a foot inside the car that I couldn't take it anymore. I knew there was no way out of this for me, but I wasn't going down without a fight. I opened the door to my left and hopped out of the car.

He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

I thought that maybe I'd find a car passing by that I could get in, or maybe even find the BMW with the keys inside. Maybe I could drive it and flee, or even the stupid driver might take me away from that guy. I didn't know. I just wanted to be away from that guy and that was it.

Four steps. Only four steps were all I managed to take before I felt a hand gripping my arm tightly and pulling me to a stop. More words in Arabic, some yelled, some questioning, and when I saw his eyes narrowing, I knew he’d gotten the idea of me not being Alice.

The bearded guy's head tilted to the side, his hand still gripping my arm and his eyes still narrowed, looking at me closely as if trying to figure out the mystery of who I was. I watched with terror as his eyes wandered my body, from my head to my hand that was still pressed tightly to my chest and over my cross, and down to my feet. There, his eyes lit up, and the frown on his forehead cleared and the devilish smile returned to his lips when his eyes found mine, and I wondered for a moment if the blue of them was showing through the material that was hiding them.

His grip on my arm grew tighter and I almost winced in pain. Though I knew there was a huge chance that I was already busted, I still wouldn't dare to utter a thing, not even a loud breath; my gasps though, were out of my hands, I couldn't control that.

He mumbled a few more words in Arabic, and I could've sworn that my blood froze, not only ran cold, when he came even closer to me so that our faces were almost touching, despite my efforts to move mine away from him, and then voiced the word, "Speak!" in the most terrifying voice I've ever heard.

My tears found that moment to come loose. I cried, scared and horrified, now knowing that I was truly busted, because that guy had just spoken in English – meaning he knew who I was, though I had no idea how he was able to tell it was me.

The next thing I knew, my face cover was being yanked away from my face and the air hit my flushed cheeks, where the tears had wet enough to tell exactly how terrified I was.

"Well, well, well!" he said, and my throat closed, making it harder to breathe. "What do we have here?" His accent was thicker than a drunken alien just visiting earth for the first time. "Isn't this the bride of Prince Mazen?!" It wasn't actually a question; he already knew the answer, there was no doubt of that.

I only stared at him with my frightened eyes, even now knowing my cover was blown and I could finally speak – I didn't know what to say.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, and I still didn't know what to say, because seriously? What was there to say?

Apparently, my silence didn't please him all that much, because his grip on my arm tightened and I did wince this time. With his mouth almost pressed to my ear he spoke aloud, "Speak, woman!" The disgusting smell of his breath was bad enough to make me gag, and that was met by him shoving my arm a bit so that I almost lost my balance and fell, but his grip on my arm prevented that from happening.

Why he was treating me this way was beyond me. I couldn't understand his reasoning, even after he realized I was the prince's bride. But I thought that he might have figured out that I was escaping; this was the way that led to the airport anyway, and it'd only been four days since the wedding – of course he could smell that something big was off. If he could smell anything through the nasty smell of his breath, that is.

I was brought back from my thoughts to what was going on by the guy gripping me as he walked me toward that BMW of his, saying, "You shouldn't be here, don't you think? I'm taking you back to the palace. I believe the king would like to know why you were here and not there." It was only then that I found my voice and the courage to let it be heard, or maybe it was fear speaking – either way, I just spoke frantically.

"No, no, no! Please, don't take me back to the palace. Please, Don't!" I tried pulling my arm away from the deathly grip he had on it, but it was no use. He was really strong and I had no power over him. However, my words made him stop dragging me and turn to look at me with questioning eyes.

"And why is that?"

I swallowed thickly. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him everything about how I’d come here and what had happened next, but something stopped me. I guess it was my fear that it might cause some harm to Alice. I didn't know who that guy was still or if information like that could put Alice in danger, so I didn't tell him. I just used the only way I could think of so fast.

"Listen, I have money. Lots of it. I'll give you anything you wish for, any amount. Just please don't take me there, please!"

It was the first time I ever got to hear what Satan's laugh would sound like, because it couldn't be any more evil-sounding than that guy's laugh. His laugh that sounded as if it came straight from his heart – if he had one – was the response to my offer.

"I'm not interested in your money, you witch," he said, and my eyes widened. "I'm only interested in knowing what you are doing here with those last year’s Jimmy Choo of yours, and why you don't want to go back!"

A new round of tears made it out of my eyes at the sound of his words, now knowing that money wouldn't help, and that this guy would drag me back to the palace no matter what.

Lord, give me the strength.

The next minute, I was sitting in his car, knowing full well that trying to run one more time wouldn't do me any good, other than more gripping and shoving around.

The fear of the unknown and my mind that was wondering what would happen to me now, or what would happen to Alice, were so much that all I wanted to do was to scream my head off. The idea of throwing myself out of the car sounded so nice compared to the thoughts and the pictures I imagined of what was to come my way when I got there.

When I was able to see the sight of the palace again from the passenger seat I was sitting on, my knees started shaking and my lips started trembling to the point I thought I wouldn't be able to walk one step or voice one word if I had to.

I couldn't believe that I was already back to the palace when the car stopped right outside one of the doors that lead inside. I had only been gone no longer than half an hour, if not far less. I couldn't believe it was that easy that I was brought back. Very easy and too fast.

Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Arabic. Arabic. Arabic everywhere around me. I couldn't understand anything. It wasn't as frustrating as it was scary. The fact that I didn't know what the guy was saying to the others was very scary. They were giving me strange looks, shocked and disbelieving ones. It was too scary –  I was scared out of my skin.

Give me, give me the strength.

The familiar smell of the palace, the heavy scent of Ambries and Sandalwood reminded me of all of the nice times I’d had inside this place rather than the terrifying moments, and I found myself regretting what had happened. My regret caused more confusion between me and myself; I couldn't even understand what I was thinking now or what I’d been thinking then. I just thought that maybe if I hadn't gone along with Alice's plan, things wouldn't have been this way, that I wouldn't be this terrified, breaking into a cold sweat, shaking and being gripped, pulled and shoved constantly while getting odd looks from all of the guards around me – the same ones who were ordered not to look at women or whatever. But something in me told me they wanted to help, as if they wanted to stop him, but couldn't. I felt as if they were scared of him, and to be honest, I didn't blame them. He was pure evil to me, and I didn't even know his name or know him longer than a very few minutes.

A great wooden door was at the end of a huge lobby that I was dragged to, and there were even more guards on both sides than any other spot I'd seen in the palace. It lead me to think that true to his words, he was taking me to the king.

He didn't wait for permission to open that great door. He just shoved one of the guards away with his free hand then kicked the door wide open.

Inside, it was a great room, a wing maybe or something bigger. The way it was decorated and the free and huge spaces told me that I was indeed in the king's area, whether it was his wing or whatever they called where he lived inside the palace. Another long lobby led to another door that the guy kicked open yet again, and I found myself standing inside a bedroom.

There were lots of women or maybe just girls who ran away from their spots the second they saw us entering, and then they took the scarves that were on their shoulders and put them above their heads and faces like a huge veil. You couldn't see any part of them anymore other than their hands, and their dresses similar to the ones I’d worn around the wing the past few days. They moved to stand on the side once they were covered.

The huge bed that dominated a big part of the room had a half-seated man on it, and beside him was one of only two women who didn't move an inch when we entered the room. It was a girl no older than twenty, or maybe she was my age, I couldn't tell. She had pitch black long hair that sat behind her on the bed and covered all of her back like a thick curtain. Her eyes were a light green that looked oddly familiar, and her beauty was mesmerizing to the point I wondered if she could be an angel and not a human, especially with how bright her skin seemed to be, almost glowing.

Standing beside the bed was a woman I knew so well and yet knew nothing about – the queen. The look in her eyes was so intense I felt as if it was going to knock me onto my back. I couldn't read her all that well, but it was easy to see she was shocked at the sight in front of her.

Arabic, Arabic, and more Arabic. The need to scream was too much. I didn't know what they were saying. Was it good? Of course not. Was it bad? Seemed more like it. Were they discussing how to kill me? Or were they talking about ways to torture me first? I couldn't stop wondering. Alice told me that she didn't even want to think about what would happen if the plan didn't work, and I cursed myself for not asking her what would happen. For then I would've at least known my destiny or what was to happen with me. But no, I didn't know anything, I just stood there, waiting, listening, shaking.

The man on the bed, whom I knew to be the king, gripped his chest hard at the words from the guy gripping my arm, and it seemed like he was struggling with his breaths. The queen ran beside him and the girl started patting his back tenderly. When she looked at the guy beside me, I swear I saw the grin filling his eyes rather than his lips, as if he was pleased with the fact that his words had affected the king that way.

As they got busy with the king, the guy got busy giving me a look that clearly said, "Gotcha!" Simply something disgusting and evil just like him; I had no idea if that creature could be considered human being at all. The look the queen gave me though, was even sharper, and this time it spoke only of one thing: "You'll pay."

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup runneth over.

Our gaze was broken the second I heard the voice coming from behind me, "Get your hands off her. Now!" The voice didn't belong to anyone I knew and I didn't know if I should look behind me or not, I was too scared to even do that. For some reason, I noticed the girl getting out of bed and moving to the side with the rest of women after she put her scarf that was around her shoulders above her head to cover her face like the others.

"Jasem! Get your hands off her!" His voice was so stern, so strong and powerful that I couldn't imagine anyone saying no to that voice, for fear rather than anything else.

He did let go of my arm and I winced as the blood started to flow back to where he’d been blocking it with his tight grip. The guy – Jasem, as he was called – spoke in Arabic for a second but he was silenced by the other man right away.  He was standing between Jasem and me and kind of shielding me protectively with his body though not even touching me. It was only then that I got to see his face, a younger version of the king with the short black beard and dark brown eyes, his hair hidden by the white thing men wore around here, his features telling me who he was right away without 

anyone addressing him by name.

"We only speak in English in the presence of Princess Marie – the future 

Queen. Those are Prince Mazen – the future King's orders."

Mazen!

Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

~BK~

Happy new year, Everyone. <3