Golden Chains (The Colorblind Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  Silence filled the air for a few minutes, and then I spoke again, trying to break it.

  “I always feel like Mazen considers you his best friend, not only his prime royal guard.”

  “That’s an incredible honor, Your Majesty. Thank you.”

  “I’m serious. You never leave his side. I don’t think you’ve taken a day off since the day I met you in London.”

  “Well, no, Your Majesty. Not even years before that.”

  “Really?” I asked with wide eyes.

  “Yes.”

  “Is it Mazen who refuses to give you breaks?” I wondered, even though I doubted that was the case. Mazen was much more considerate than that.

  “No. He’s asked me many times to take a break, but I’m not interested in taking any days off. His Majesty’s safety is all that matters to me.”

  My heart warmed at his loyalty to Mazen. “Well, that’s very noble of you. But don’t you have a family?”

  “Not really, Your Majesty. Only a fiancé.” He smiled widely.

  “Oh, wow!” I gushed. “I didn’t know you were getting married!”

  “I’m not, at least not anytime soon.” He shrugged.

  “What? Why not?” I was confused. “I’m sorry if I’m asking personal questions.”

  “It’s all right, Your Majesty. You can ask me anything,” he said. “It’s for the same reason we were just discussing: no breaks.”

  “I see. You’re sure you’re not interested in taking a few days off?” I tried one more time.

  Fawaz smiled. “I’m sure.”

  Silence filled the air again as I thought of what he’d said, then I spoke again. “Is she someone I know?”

  “No, she’s not someone that Your Majesty know. She’s British, actually.” He reached into the chest pocket of his military uniform and took a photo out, handing it to me. The stunning brunette had hazelnut eyes, her pink hijab making her pale skin almost shine.

  “Wow! She’s really beautiful.”

  “She is.” He smiled, his eyes holding something I’d never seen in them before. It was as if I was seeing a completely different person, not the Fawaz I’d known since I stepped foot in London.

  “What’s her name?”

  “Sofia.” Even the way he said her name spoke of love and longing.

  “Pretty name,” I commented, giving him the photo back. “I guess you met in London?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty. Over three years ago. She was attending some of His Majesty’s classes. We met one day as I was waiting for him and she was attending the next class.” His face was bright as he recalled the memory.

  “That long? And you’re still waiting for a break so you can marry her, but still won’t take a day off?”

  “Something like that.”

  A thought crossed my mind. “If it’s a financial matter, I’m sure His Majesty would love to help. So would I.”

  “That’s very generous of you, Your Majesty. But it’s really not that. We already have everything prepared, even our firstborn’s name.”

  “Really? And what’s that?”

  “If it’s a girl – Shaza.”

  “That’s a beautiful name.”

  “If it’s a boy – Faris.”

  “A knight! I really like that name.”

  “It was Sofia’s choice,” he said, a bit of shyness mixed with pride written on his face. “It’s my first name, actually. But I’m more known by my last name since I joined the army. Fawaz.”

  Most Arabs called each other by their first names; hardly anyone used the last name when calling others. It was a bit confusing at first, but I’d gotten used to it with time.

  “Both are beautiful names, Fawaz,” I smiled. “Or would you prefer if I call you Faris?”

  “Whatever you’d like, Your Majesty. It’s an honor to be called by you in any case.” His smile was big.

  “Well, my majesty would like to ask you to accept a month off from your duties, so you can get married and have a nice honeymoon with Sofia. I’ll arrange it with the King and the second of his royal guards.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty. But I can’t accept.” He shook his head, pressing his lips into a tight line.

  “How about two weeks?”

  He shook his head again. “Not even for a day. I can’t trust anyone with His Majesty’s safety. I will protect him until my last breath.”

  His loyalty to Mazen was heartwarming. He was willing to sacrifice his happiness and life – obviously – if it meant that Mazen would stay safe.

  “You’re one of a kind, Officer Faris Fawaz, do you know that?”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” he said. “I’m only doing my job.”

  I knew it was beyond just doing a job, but I didn’t say anything else. He put his hand to his ear, listening to some orders or updates, who knew? And then he spoke into the mic clipped to his sleeve before informing me that we had reached our destination.

  Mazen was waiting for me right where the car stopped. He took my hand and helped me out, the broadest of smiles planted on his lips.

  “Hey.” I smiled.

  “My! How’s it even possible that you get prettier every second, princess?”

  “Did you bring me all the way here just to figure that out?” I teased, feeling the blush already heating my face.

  “Come with me,” Mazen said, tangling our fingers together then walking us to the terraces in the same spot where we watched the military parade on the day of the coronation.

  “What is it? Are we going to watch the army practicing?”

  “You’ll see, impatient princess.” There was a strange glee in Mazen’s eyes. He couldn’t wait to tell me something.

  The dark spot in my mind that was almost depressed all the time and produced only negative thoughts tried to have me thinking about how Mazen was only trying to cheer me up because of the negative test, that he was hiding his disappointment and just trying to be nice. But I refused to think that way.

  We remained standing as Mazen nodded to one of the guards standing far away from us, before telling me to wait.

  Thirty seconds passed before I saw the military aircraft flying in the sky in a beautiful formation. Mazen pulled me close to him as they flew overhead. A grin was plastered on my face as I rested my head on his chest and watched the aerial acrobatics that the jets were performing.

  There was no possible reason that would explain why Mazen was doing this, other than to cheer me up, but I really didn’t mind. It was absolutely lovely of him to do.

  “Look closely, Marie,” Mazen said quietly, pointing at the sky. There were only six military aircraft left. They flew in an amazing way, then I saw the tail end of the planes release red smoke as they moved around, making three heart shapes in different sizes – the first was the largest, the second was a little smaller, and the third was the smallest.

  I gasped at the breathtaking sight. “That’s really beautiful. Thank you.”

  “No, thank you,” Mazen said. “You’re making me happier day by day, Marie.”

  “Same here, angel,” I told him. “But you really didn’t have to do all this.”

  “Marie, today I’m the happiest I’ve ever been my whole life.”

  I couldn’t help but frown. How could he be the happiest he’d ever been today? I knew he wanted to make me feel better, but saying he was the happiest he has ever been? That was a hard thing to believe.

  I had to ask, “Are you sure?”

  “Very,” he grinned, touching my face with the tips of his fingers. “Look up there, my princess.” He pointed to the hearts in the sky. “That is my heart, and that is yours.”

  I smiled. “And the third?” I didn’t really think there would be an answer for that – I thought it might be just a cute thing to draw in the air to finish the beautiful picture, but I was mistaken.

  Of course, nothing with Mazen was meaningless, everything was well-thought out.

  “Look down there, beautiful princess.”

 
I looked to where Mazen pointed, and I saw hundreds of soldiers gathered there, forming and spelling out the word, “Congratulations!”

  My eyebrows creased. What was that all about?

  The guards released tens of dozens of white doves and another aircraft dropped thousands of red rosebuds that filled the area. The roses and the doves made an amazing mix – a stunning sight that was more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen.

  “Wow, Mazen! This is beautiful.” I was stunned. “But I don’t understand why they are saying congratulations.”

  “It’s to congratulate you, Your Majesty,” he said, and I turned my head to look at him.

  “What for?” I asked. Mazen’s eyes were even more delighted than before.

  “We looked at the test too soon, Marie. The instructions said three to five minutes. After you went into the bathroom, I took a look at it again and found two crossed lines – it’s positive, princess. Positive!” Mazen shouted excitedly.

  “What? Mazen, what are you saying?” I was beyond shocked. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was it even possible? Was I dreaming? Probably dreaming …

  Mazen laughed. “You’re pregnant, Marie. We’re having a baby!”

  “Pregnant?” I choked out. “Mazen, you can’t joke about this!”

  Mazen cupped my face, wiping my tears away with his thumbs as tears glistened in his eyes. “I swear to God I’m telling the truth, princess.”

  “Oh, my God!” I gushed loudly. “Oh, my God!”

  “I know, beautiful. I know.” He kissed my lips lightly.

  “I’m pregnant!” I sounded hysterical, but I had to hear myself saying it aloud – maybe then I would be able to believe it. “We’re going to have a baby!”

  The whole universe couldn’t fit the amount of happiness I was feeling at that beautiful moment. It was so hard to believe that something I’d longed for since forever was finally happening. I couldn’t believe that I was having a baby with the man I loved more than life and love itself.

  The doves flew through the air, and rosebuds were all over the place. Red hearts were filling the sky, and cheers could be heard from the soldiers down there.

  It was a perfect moment. Beyond perfect. I had so much love for the baby inside me already. So much love to the point that nothing could have prepared me for the time when I realized that danger was surrounding this baby from every direction.

  My tears mixed with laughter and Mazen’s light chuckles. He was trying his best to stay composed and did very well in holding his tears, but I could see it all – Mazen was beyond delighted.

  Nothing in the world could describe how that made me feel. It was the best feeling in the world to make Mazen happy. Ironic, when it was him who made me – and us – this ecstatic in the first place.

  It was unreal. Everything was so perfect and amazingly good. I felt as if nothing could upset me ever again. My happiness with the man I loved and the family we were starting was enough for two lifetimes, and maybe more.

  I wished I could speed up time, and make the next several months go by in the matter of a few seconds, so I’d finally meet this baby of whom I had dreamed of for what seemed like an eternity. But since that wasn’t possible, I decided to enjoy each and every minute of my pregnancy until I could meet the new love of my life.

  “You jerk!” I punched his chest playfully. “How could you wait so long to tell me?”

  Mazen laughed, “I did try to tell you, princess, but you wouldn’t open the bathroom door. So, I thought, ‘What are the odds of Daddy knowing before Mommy that they are having a baby?’ And I decided to abuse the heck out of this knowledge and, well – do this!” He waved his hand around us, where I could still see some of the doves flying and the fading shapes of the hearts in the sky.

  “My God!” I said for the millionth time. “This is crazy! I’m the last one to learn that I’m pregnant?” I laughed, wondering if I was dreaming.

  “Not the last one, but you might be number one thousand and three on the list of people who know.” He kissed my nose, smiling.

  “Not even Fawaz gave anything away!”

  “Are you kidding? He’s a royal guard. The Prime Royal Guard that is. If he can’t keep a secret, who can?”

  “I guess,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe it myself.”

  “Believe it, Marie. Believe it. It’s so good to believe.” Mazen hugged me tightly.

  “It does feel great,” I sighed into his chest. “But you know I still need to take five or ten more tests to believe it, right?”

  “Only ten?”

  “You know what? I don’t think I will believe it until I see my baby’s ID or maybe even driver’s license,” I said, backing away a little to look at his face. “Wait, will we teach our baby how to drive at sixteen? Or eighteen?”

  “Sixteen is not a baby, anymore, I believe.”

  “No! No driving before thirty. Actually, no driving at all. It’s not safe.”

  “I think we need to discuss names first, crazy princess.”

  “Um … I guess so,” I said in a low voice, looking at Mazen for a second before we both burst out laughing hysterically. We were the happiest people on Earth, I swear.

  “You drive me crazy, you know that, right?” Mazen moved my hair off my face.

  “I know, and I love it.”

  My sweet, caring husband was trying to keep up with how my insane mind worked, and it was one of the many, many reasons why I was madly in love with him.

  Today, he’d given me one more reason to love him even more.

  We decided to announce my pregnancy the next day, it was the norm in the Middle East, anyway. I thought that with everything he’d done, the whole Kingdom would have known by then, but that wasn’t the case.

  The soldiers who were part of the announcement would never tell anyone, according to Mazen. The sky art the pilots made in the sky was too far away for most people to see. However, it was a matter of hours before we would announce it to everyone, anyway.

  Mazen wished to tell his mother first, and personally. I happily agreed.

  The joy in my mother-in-law’s eyes was exceptional; I had never seen her so delighted. She started crying hysterically the second we confirmed that we weren’t joking.

  She hugged Mazen really hard, and I didn’t want to dampen her happiness by refusing to embrace her, so I did. It didn’t feel bad at all, on the contrary.

  She took me by the hand to her room and through secret doors that led to a relatively small room. Once the lights were on, I couldn’t help but gasp.

  “Oh, my God!” I gushed.

  Set against the walls, were display cases where there were rows and rows of sparkling jewelry made of diamond and gold, maybe even some other rare stones. It was unbelievable.

  “Anything you pick is yours,” she said with joy dripping from her voice.

  “For me?” I asked with wide eyes, and she nodded. “You already sent me so many boxes of tiaras and jewelry. I don’t think I’ll ever wear the same thing twice if I wear a new piece every day of my life.”

  On the day of the coronation, she’d sent me three boxes of jewelry. They were so big that each had to be carried to our residence by two female guards. It was insane that she still had so much more.

  “No, no! Those pieces were things we inherit as queens. But this collection is my own. I want to give you a gift. I’ve hardly worn any of this myself.”

  “Uh … but …”

  “Please, benty, accept my present. Choose anything you’d like.”

  I wasn’t sure if I should; everything looked much too expensive to be casually given away. When I turned to glance at Mazen, he nodded in encouragement, and I knew I had to pick something – it seemed like it would mean a lot to the Queen Mother.

  There were hundreds of necklaces, rings, bracelets, hair jewelry, and earrings. There were also many other things where I had no idea which part of the body you put them on, but every piece was absolutely remarkable.


  After looking at everything, I picked a simple white gold necklace with a small heart-shaped diamond charm. The diamond was pink and very pretty.

  “I like this one,” I said pointing at the necklace.

  The Queen Mother smiled as she lifted it from the pillow that cradled it. “May I put it on you?”

  With a nervous smile, I nodded. She was delighted as she put the necklace around my neck. “It suits you beautifully, Your Majesty.”

  “It looks lovely,” Mazen agreed.

  A moment later, she started randomly picking other jewelry – eight pieces, which may have been the heaviest of all of her jewelry – then called for her maid.

  “Jamila!”

  “Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

  “Box these up and send them with two guards to Her Majesty’s residence.”

  “Yes, Your Royal Highness,” Jamila said again, leaving me speechless for a minute.

  “But, I already picked my gift,” I said.

  “You picked one of your gifts, Your Majesty. I picked the rest. Nine gifts, one for each month of your blessed pregnancy with the mercy of God,” she said with a smile.

  “Thank you. Really.” It was all I could say.

  I decided to tell Rosanna of the pregnancy myself. I went to her wing directly after I left the Queen Mother.

  I had mixed feelings while waiting for Rosanna as I sat in her living room. It was hard to stay composed; I was nervous about telling my best friend.

  Rosanna looked as stunning as always as she entered the living room. Her broad smile disappeared once she saw me struggling to keep the smile on my face.

  “You okay, sister?” she asked.

  I got up and took a few steps towards her. “Yes. I’m okay,” I smiled. “There’s something that I want to tell you, personally, before you hear it from someone else.”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “Uh … I’m pregnant,” I said, then swallowed thickly.

  For the first time ever, Rosanna paused before replying. She always knew the right thing to say, and she was very witty and quick about choosing her words and when to speak. But this time, she couldn’t talk for a second.

  “Congratulations! May you have a blessed pregnancy,” she said with a smile, but she choked on the last word, and all of a sudden, tears streamed down her cheeks.