The Sheik’s Expecting Bride by Erin Snihur

17

Just think, this time in forty-eight hours, you will be a married woman,Hasna inwardly croons with excitement as her gaze scans the beautiful waterfall oasis.

Their vacation was coming to a close and Hasna was feeling so much happier then when she and Kamran arrived here a few days ago. Since the night of the celebration, the sheet dividing Hasna and Kamran’s tent was permanently removed and they hadn’t been able to get enough of one another.

Blushing at the reminder of how thoughtful Kamran had been when he’d begun teaching her the basics of swimming and how to conquer her fear, Hasna sighs as her heart warms over the beautiful memories.

Calming her breathing, Hasna kicks a stone into the water and tilts her face upwards to take in the shining sun. She smiles brightly at the small rainbow that cascades out of the waterfall.

Placing a hand on her stomach, Hasna whispers, “Your papa will be very unhappy that I left him to deal with the packing all alone. Perhaps we should head back.”

“Too late for that now,” a surprising voice pipes up behind her, startling Hasna as she spins around to gape at the sight of Uncle Bandar.

“Uncle, what are you doing here?” she asks as her eyes search the barren landscape for Mahdi, but her guard is nowhere to be found.

“I came to find you.”

“But, why? We will be returning to Nilan’s capital later today,” Hasna mutters in confusion, her hand covering her stomach as dread fills her mind.

“It was most urgent that we speak before the wedding. I discovered that the sheik is planning on exploiting you for your inheritance.”

“What are you talking about?” Hasna gasps, her mind racing in confusion.

“By marrying you, Kamran will gain full control of the Jazah Mountains, which are chalk full of minerals that are vastly sought after around the world. Once he has access, he will mine them dry.”

Hasna glances about the mountainous range behind her before she shakes her head. “That doesn’t sound right at all. Kamran never mentioned anything like that.”

Uncle Bandar pulls a few pieces of paper out of his jacket pocket and hands them to her. “This is a marriage contract that he wants me to sign. I’ve modified it so that your inheritance in these lands will fall to me. That way, they remain in the al-Noor family.”

Hasna shakes her head as she picks up the papers from her uncle’s hands and scans them briefly until she comes to the paragraph stating that all of her inheritances and trust funds will be placed in her uncle’s possession and name. Shaking her head, Hasna glares at her uncle.

“I can’t sign this, Uncle.”

Uncle Bandar scoffs, “You will not be the one signing it. As your guardian, I will be signing it, but I do need you to convince that fiancée of yours to sign it as well.”

Uncle Bandar raises his chin and runs a hand over his beard. For the first time since his surprise appearance, Hasna takes in her uncle’s rumpled suit and the crazed look in his eyes.

“If he will not sign it due to my revisions, then the wedding is off.”

“Uncle, Kamran doesn’t want the Jazah Mountains, and I had hoped to leave these lands to my child.”

Uncle Bandar’s face turns bright red as he screeches, “No bastard child of an American diplomat will own my lands.” Throwing up his hands, Uncle Bandar glares at her. “Besides, how can you trust anything that man says to you? From what I’ve seen in the newspapers and magazine articles, he intends to keep a model as his mistress. Why are you trying to protect him?”

Hasna shakes her head. “That’s not true. All of those articles are false. He told me everything.”

“I doubt he told you everything, you foolish girl. He is simply biding his time until he has everything you can possible give him,” Uncle Bandar growls and then takes a step towards her. “I have a car waiting which will take you far from here and you won’t have to deal with his manipulative ways.”

Hasna shakes her head, completely confused by the entire situation. She scans for Mahdi once more, trying to find a way out of this conversation. As she backs up a step, Hasna freezes when the sand begins to sink at her close approach to the waters.

“But, Uncle…”

Uncle Bandar’s fist quickly grabs the papers back and he growls, “You either agree to this marriage contract and convince your fiancé to sign it or there will be no marriage at all.”

Backing away from him, Hasna freezes when her simple sandals brush against lapping water. Tensing at the feeling of the water behind her, Hasna stammers, “Uncle, I thought you agreed that this marriage is what you wanted.”

“Not if it means losing everything I have been working towards since my brother’s death. What I wanted was what was rightfully mine all those years ago,” Uncle Bandar screeches. “I was the second son and I should have been given those lands. Instead of having your father sell them off like they were nothing but a couple of trinkets he found in his stocking.”

“But Uncle Bandar, Jazah is not yours to give away.”

“But it could have been, if your father had just listened to me when I said he should step down from the Crown.”

“Father did the right thing. Our people were starving. They needed financial security and Nilan was able to take over and feed them and care for them.”

Uncle Bandar scoffs, “The minerals and jewels in the Jazah Mountain would’ve kept those foolish people fed well for years to come.”

Hasna gasps and looks over her shoulder at the careening mountains. “Those stories were just fairy tales.”

Bandar chuckles darkly. “Of course they aren’t, foolish girl. Why do you think your father refused to add it into his contract when he sold the lands and our people off?”

Hasna shakes her head. “But my mother is from these lands, and he loved her. He wanted her to live in the place that she had grown up. He wanted me to grow up here, and you denied me of his last wish.”

Shocking her uncle, Hasna raises her chin. “I will not sign any contract that gives you the right to take what my parents have always wanted me to have. Something I have always wanted to have and what my child will always have.”

Uncle Bandar growls and leans forward, his putrid breath startling her into a grimace as he snarls, “I have told the sheik about your treacherous, whorish ways, girl. He knows the child’s father is an American diplomat. He will leave you.”

Hasna scoffs and shakes her head, finally proud of herself for getting one up on her conniving Uncle. “Ah, Uncle. I have lied to you about many things. One of them being the true parentage of my child’s father.”

Uncle Bandar’s face reddens more as he sends a glance of confusion as he appraises her. “What are you talking about?”

“The father of my child is Sheik Kamran. There never was an American diplomat.”

Hands clutching the paper tightly, Uncle Bandar begins ripping it to shreds as he lets out a snarl and a few curses. Uncle Bandar cries out, startling Hasna as she stumbles back, the water going up to her ankles.

Tensing at the feeling of the cool liquid, Hasna’s throat catches. She gasps and a look of fear falls over her as Uncle Bandar catches her from stumbling backwards. Being caught by her uncle as he cruelly glares at her, Hasna pales.

“You have cost me too much, my dear niece, but not for much longer,” Bandar begins, stepping towards, pushing her backwards.

Before she can cry out, his hands are shoving her until she flails backwards, falling into the deep pool.

Hitting the water at the same time as a voice calls her name, Hasna’s ears are muffled as the sound of the crashing water fills her ears. Holding her breath, Hasna prays for her life and the life of her child.

Struggling to remember what Kamran had taught her throughout the week that they had been here, Hasna forces her body not to spasm and wave her arms about like a mad person trying to break to the surface of the deep hole.

Instead, Hasna allows her body to freeze in place in order to float to the surface, though she doesn’t float up as quickly as she would’ve liked. Below the surface, she can make out the muffled sounds of screaming and yelling. The rocking of waves as something else plunges into the water shocks her.

When she reaches the surface to gasp for her first breath, a voice calls out to her.

“Hasna, are you alright?” the shadow above her cries out, startling her eyes open as the shadow’s figure drags her against his chest.

Hasna’s eye lashes flutter for a few moments to keep the water out of her eyes as she stares up into the blurry visage of Kamran’s handsome and unmistakable face. Still not answering him, Hasna gasps when Kamran’s hand runs over her face and over her stomach.

“I cannot lose you again,” he whispers. “It is a good thing Mahdi was able to break from your uncle’s goons or he would have escaped.”

Behind him, Hasna’s hearing can make out the screeching of her uncle and the colorful fabrics the local tribesmen wear as they bring him to the ground in a headlock. Shuddering at the site, Hasna shifts her gaze back to Kamran.

“Marry me,” she whispers.

Kamran chuckles and brushes his nose against hers. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”