Black Keys Read online

  When the girl left, Huda informed me that she should go get ready for the wedding and see if Janna needed her to do anything.

  “Sure,” I nodded. “Wait, I wanted to ask,” I paused and Huda smiled, “Is your name really Huda?”

  “Yes, of course, Miss Marie,” she replied. “But, if I may ask, why are you asking that?”

  “Well, nothing. It’s just that I heard that girl calling you ‘Ameera’ more than once, so I thought it was your name. I think I was mistaken.”

  “Oh, it’s all right. Ameera is my title, though.”

  Title?

  I think Huda was able to see the confusion on my face because she explained, “Ameera means princess, Miss Marie.”

  My eyes widened at her words. Princess? Huda was a princess? She just helped me dress, for God’s sake! I thought she was, er, the help or something.

  “Uh…You’re a princess?” I asked in a low voice.

  “Yes.” She smiled.

  “Wow!”

  “Uh, why is that so hard to believe?”

  “Um, I’m sorry, it’s just that-” what to say? “I thought that I still hadn’t met any of the royal family yet, is all.” Good escape, Marie.

  Confusion appeared on Huda’s face as she frowned. “No one met you at the airport?” she asked in a shock.

  “No, there were about ten or fifteen guys there waiting for us,” I told her.

  “Oh, you scared me for a second,” she sighed a sigh of relief, and I frowned. “All of those were princes, Miss Marie, so you’ve already met a lot of the royal family.”

  My eyes widened even more and my eyebrows shot up. All of those men were princes? And they were waiting for us? The beautiful guy is a prince? Of course he is. He’s too handsome not to be.

  And he gave me roses…

  I blushed at the memory, and I think I was dazed as well for a moment, but another question came to my mind that I had to ask.

  “All of those men were your brothers?”

  There were over ten!

  “Oh, no, they were my cousins. I only have three brothers and they are studying abroad.”

  “They won’t attend their sister’s wedding?”

  “Janna? Janna is not our sister, she’s our cousin.”

  “But I thought you said you’re a princess, and so are they!”

  “Anyone in the whole kingdom with my last name is a prince or a princess, Miss Marie. That is, if they are not the king or his wife,” she explained.

  “Oh!” I went silent as it registered in my mind what she’d just said. “It was – nice of them. And you too, Huda, helping me and all,” I said awkwardly.

  “It’s our pleasure, Miss Marie.”

  “Please, call me Marie.”

  “Sure,” she smiled. “I’ll be calling you Ameera soon anyway.” With a wink and her confusing words, Huda left me before I could ask what she’d meant by that.

  More princesses came to entertain me before the ceremony started. They were as nice as Huda, and tried so hard to make small talk, which I tried to keep going so as not to be rude. But I would never forget the looks on their faces when they saw the dress I was wearing. They tried to hide it, but I was always able to read people, and those weren’t so hard to read.

  They made me feel as if my dress wasn’t good enough just by their confused and disapproving looks.

  Their dresses were really pretty and I was sure they were very expensive, but mine was no less pretty – or cheap; I’d paid over twelve grand for the thing. But honestly, I didn’t care; they just had to live with it, like Huda did. They were wearing colored dresses, not wedding dresses like they wanted me to wear – why should I be any different?

  When it was time to start the ceremony, I was sent to a different room with the girls. They then put some kind of robe over me that was white and covered with pearls and golden decorations. There was a hood attached to it that they put on my head as well. I was worried about it messing up my hair but they assured me it wouldn’t. I was convinced when they put on robes as well, but theirs were black with no decorations on them, and completely covered them – their faces as well.

  I hated that I didn’t know what was going to happen after that, as we waited for what, I didn’t know, while hearing the sound of drums and other musical instruments coming from outside.

  Why didn’t I Google this before we came?

  The doors were opened and I was met by a room that was being opened at the same time. Standing in it was a group of women that mirrored the group I was standing with, other than the first one was wearing a white wedding dress with a robe on top of it just like the one I was wearing. I immediately knew she was my brother’s bride. I wished I could see her face, but it was completely covered just like the rest of the women.

  Weirdly, it made me feel exposed for some reason.

  From our side, and as the music got louder, another door was opened, revealing a huge number of men. In front of them was my brother, dressed in one of those white thawb all of the guys were wearing, along with the white and red thing over his head.

  I bit my lip not to laugh because he looked so funny, and the thought ‘the things we do for love’ came once more into my head. When his eyes met mine, I mouthed, ‘What on earth are you wearing?’ and he mouthed back, ‘Shut up!’ trying to stifle his own laughs. I guess he had caved to their traditions, but he was the groom, so he should; I was merely the soon-to-be-sister-in-law. No big deal.

  My eyes drifted to the man standing beside him. My breath was caught in my throat when I realized he was the green-eyed prince. He was even more handsome than yesterday, if that was possible. So very handsome, it hurt. A smile was decorating his face as he gazed at me with so many things I wasn’t able to read, emotions that I had a strong feeling were directed at me.

  For a moment or two, and as I looked at him, I think I forgot what he was. But it wasn’t long before I remembered exactly what he represented, and looked away.

  The wedding started as we were standing there with a team of male dancers that were wearing thawb as well, only in gray and a bit different from the rest of the men. They were really good at what they did, and their voices were nice as they sang together while they moved around in a fascinating way, even if I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

  Whenever my eyes caught the green-eyed prince I found his on me. He’d smile and I’d look away, but not long after I’d look again, and find him with the same smile and warm look.

  When the dancers retreated, I watched as Joseph went to where Janna was standing and stood beside her. She hooked her arm with his when he offered it, and I smiled as I saw the adoration in my brother’s eyes as he looked at her hidden form.

  When my eyes went back to glance at him on their own, he wasn’t there. I found him standing right beside me, offering me his arm just like Joseph had done with his bride. I stared at it for a few moments before I hooked my arm with his, a strange feeling consuming me–a feeling I couldn’t put my finger on.

  I thought that maybe it was fear. I had feared his kind most of my life, so it was only believable that I’d feel fear being so close to one of them.

  He directed me to walk to the other side, opposite from where the men had come, and from there we entered a bigger hall. It was obvious that it was where we would sit since it was full of fancy tables with fancy chairs around them. Two nice sets of chairs dominated a higher area in the corner. They looked more like thrones rather than just fancy chairs, and I thought for sure that they were to be where the king and queen would sit.

  My thoughts were proved wrong right away when the prince directed me, as well as Joseph and Janna to them. We turned to face everyone after we stood by the thrones, and the women stood by the tables, whereas the men had stayed behind by the huge door we’d come from.

  Music with drums and other instruments filled the place around us as we stood there, arms still linked and smiles filling Joseph’s and the prince’s faces, as well as mine. If Janna wa
s smiling too I couldn’t see it, but I had a feeling she was.

  When that song ended, Green Eyes smiled before letting me go and walking away with Joseph. Once they left, the door was closed and more lights filled the room as well as more music.

  Suddenly, there was no hint of a single man, they just disappeared, all of them – along with every black robe in sight.

  It seemed that I was standing in a very different place from the one I was just in not two minutes ago. The women that filled the hall could be easily mistaken for models and celebrities. Well, I know they could really be celebrities, given this was a royal wedding after all, but I was talking about their clothes. Their dresses belonged in a fashion magazine; they were perfect. Their makeup, their hair and accessories – everything was just perfect.

  I found hands on my collar, unbuttoning the only button that held my robe together, and helping me out of it. I realized it was Huda and, as weird as it was, I felt a sense of longing when I saw her. It was just so nice to see a familiar face.

  I smiled as I thanked her, my eyes traveling right away to the form beside me. A smile formed on my lips when I saw a girl taking off Janna’s robe, revealing a lovely dark-haired and pale-skinned beautiful girl.

  Her robe was off almost the same second mine was, too. And, at this moment, I heard the strangest noises coming from in front of me – the women.

  My hand caught my cross right away as fear crept into my heart at the sound that seemed like screams. I looked at them with wide eyes and a shocked expression, as those noises they were making went on for what seemed like ages. As much as it frightened me, I couldn’t deny that it sounded somehow musical.

  “Marie.” Hands held my own, and immediately I was soothed by the nice grip they had on mine. I looked at the owner to find the beautiful thief who’d stolen my brother’s heart smiling brightly at me. I was easily able to see her brown eyes dancing with the happiness filing them. “I’ve heard so much about you.” She pulled me into her body and hugged me tightly; you could never imagine someone as petite as her could have such strength to hug this hard.

  “Janna, I’m so happy to finally meet you,” I said once we pulled back.

  If you only knew what I’d told my brother when I heard about you …

  “Me, too. You have no idea.” Her smile was brilliant. “But before anything else, we need to work on how you pronounce my name, because the way you’re saying it means ‘The one who has gone insane’ – I haven’t, yet,” she chuckled, “I’m just kidding, you can call me whatever, I don’t mind.”

  Her words made me blush and giggle at the same time, and right then I believed Joseph’s words when he told me that I, too, would fall in love with her. She was already making her way into my heart. It was crazy.

  “I’ll try my best,” I told her, and suddenly found myself in her arms as she hugged me one more time.

  “Thank you, Marie, for doing this,” she whispered. “I can never thank you enough. I’ll always owe you my life.”

  The distance between my eyebrows shrunk as I frowned. I thought she was making a huge deal of me coming to the wedding. It was my brother’s wedding after all; I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

  When she pulled away again, she spoke before I could reply to her. “I’m sorry you didn’t like the dress I picked out for you. It was really the best of the best, and I wish I’d known more about what you’d prefer.” She seemed genuine about her apology, and it made me feel like poop.

  I noticed that Janna was full of energy and had a very light spirit, because again before I could reply, she spoke again, “Oh, my God! Mazen looked so precious as he stood beside you. I think it’s the very first time I’ve ever seen shyness in my brother’s eyes,” she giggled.

  Mazen?

  Green-eyed prince?

  Shyness?

  Not able to reply once more, this time I was cut off by Huda whispering to us that we needed to sit down.

  I can’t lie, I had no idea that something as simple as a chair could make you feel the way this throne was making me feel. It was really nice that the groom’s sister was so important like that for them.

  My thoughts kept drifting to her brother and the way I felt with his closeness. I thought I was able to understand all the fuss about me then. Since they treated the bride’s brother that way, they surely treated the groom’s sister the same–that was why I was so important, right?

  Women started dancing in groups as a small stage across from us was filled by no more than five women singing together in the sweetest voices. It was amazing, and I was once more disappointed I couldn’t understand any of it.

  Janna took me to some of the tables and introduced me to princess after a princess, and a former queen as well. I learned it was Huda’s mother who’d given her title to her sister who was married to her brother-in-law when her husband died, the sister that was now my brother’s mother-in-law. I was confused as heck, but still made it look like as if I was getting something from what they were saying.

  The queen gave me a polite smile, but didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to think of it as if she didn’t like me, but because maybe she didn’t speak English, is all.

  It was confusing as to why I was to sit on a throne, while the queen sat just like anyone else at one of the tables. I didn’t think much of it; their traditions were giving me a painful headache.

  After we ate wonderful food and drank amazing drinks, I noticed the women putting on their robes. I knew then that the wedding party was coming to an end. It just felt so weird that my brother had spent so little time with his bride, and seriously, it was kind of unfair.

  Talking with Janna was so easy. She made it feel like it was the easiest thing in the world, by telling me that we were going to be best friends. I really liked the sound of that. I was never able to feel that pull toward some girl to become my best friend; Joseph was my best friend and all I needed. However, I knew that it was just a matter of days before I’d leave and if it wasn’t for the fact that Joseph might bring her to the US, I might not see her again at all.

  I had to ask her if she was annoyed by the fact that she’d celebrated her wedding alone. She told me that she was celebrating it with every important person in her family and her friends, and later she’d have Joseph to celebrate their union for the rest of their lives.

  I thought it was sweet.

  I was surprised to see the doors being opened before Janna or I had a chance to put on our robes. I mean, weren’t we supposed to wear them when men were around? Wasn’t that the tradition? Everyone else was wearing one!

  My surprise turned into confusion when I saw that only Joseph and Green Eyes had entered the hall, and the doors were immediately closed behind them.

  They stood in the same place they had before they’d left, and then two women holding small boxes that seemed like the kind you’d put jewelry into stood beside them.

  Green Eyes offered me his hand and I took it. He pulled me up so I was standing, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that Joseph did the same with Janna.

  One box after another was opened, holding so much jewelry – as I’d expected – inside of them. All of it was placed on my fingers, wrists, neck, and even waist.

  I felt as if the blood was going to burst out of my cheeks as my blush deepened more and more with every piece of jewelry Green Eyes put on me. I was almost covered with gold and diamonds when he was finished. Only my ring finger had yet to be filled. I appreciated the fact that he hadn’t put anything on it; it would be beyond inappropriate and just weirder than anything else. This was already weird enough.

  When he was finished, one woman after another came to us and pinned my dress with a small bow that was attached to no less than a diamond.

  A real diamond.

  It wasn’t like I had never worn diamonds before, but I’d never even seen this amount of diamonds before in my life. They were all on me, pinned to my dress, making it so heavy that I was sure it’d be hard to walk.

>   I couldn’t deny that this was the most generous act I’d ever received in my whole life. I couldn’t stop smiling.

  Soon, we were covered with our robes again, but this time when we left the room, it was my arm hooked with Joseph’s, not Green Eyes.

  We walked a little ways, followed by Huda, who was holding the empty boxes in her hands, then we entered an elevator that carried us up two floors. Huda guided us to a door and we followed her when she entered.

  We were in a foyer and then were led to huge bedroom that was open to what seemed like a living room, and in the corner was a door that I assumed led to the bathroom. All of the furniture looked magical, just like the kind you’d see in movies that were filmed in mansions or castles. Wait …

  “Is this a mansion?” I asked Joseph, once Huda put the boxes on the dresser and left.

  Joseph offered me a small smile, “I thought you knew, Marie; we’ve been in the king’s palace since we arrived.”

  “No way!” I said. “I thought we were in a hotel or something.”

  “Well, we used the back gates since the ones in the front were busy.”

  I didn’t know what he meant by busy and I wasn’t going to ask. I had a more important question to ask. “Why are you with me and not with your wife?”

  He sighed, “She’s not my wife yet. Soon.” He nodded. “Do you need help with those?” he asked, pointing at the diamonds around my dress.

  “I’m to sleep in here?”

  “Yes, Sweetie.”

  I smiled, “Please.”

  I went to stand by the dresser and opened one of the boxes. Joseph stood beside me and started helping me with unpinning the bows.

  “You know that I love you, Marie, don’t you?” he asked when we were almost done.

  I looked at his reflection in the mirror and replied, “I do.” I smiled.

  “Do you love me, too?” he asked.

  “Of course I do!”

  Why was he asking me that?

  “Marie – I, uh…”

  “What is it?” Worry touched my heart at the expression on his face.