Page 45 of Queen of Barrakesch
She held an electronic tablet in her hand and looked down at the screen. “A-according to the schedule, she had a meeting with Princess Yasmin this morning.”
“Where is she now?” Wasim asked, the frayed edges of his patience about to snap if she didn’t give him more information soon.
“I-I am not certain. There was nothing else on her schedule for today.”
Wasim walked over to Zariah. She visibly shook as he approached.
“Am I not king?” he asked, uncaring that he sounded like an imperial jackass.
She frowned and swallowed, confusion in her face. “I-yes, Your Excellency. You are king.”
“Then how is it that I am king and no one can tell me where my wife is? When I left this morning, she was here. Now she is not.”
She swallowed again.
“Where is my wife, Zariah?”
“I-I don’t know, Your Excellency,” she whispered.
Wasim leaned closer. “Thenfind her and bring herto me!”
Zariah closed her eyes, looking like she was about to burst into tears.
His manservant stepped into the room. “Your Excellency, we will work on this right away.” He bowed and without touching Zariah, guided the trembling woman back out the door.
* * *
The minute Wasimreceived word that Imani had arrived on the palace grounds, he went to her apartment. He turned one of her chairs toward the door, sat down, and waited.
She strolled into the bedroom like nothing was amiss and pulled up short when she saw him.
“Did Zariah tell you I wanted to see you?” he asked.
“Yes, but not only her. Seems you’ve been a complete ass to everyone. I could barely take a step without one of the servants telling me that you wanted to see me.”
“And yet you are here, in your apartment instead of mine. Like I knew you’d be.”
“I’ve been gone all day, Wasim. I wanted to clean up first. I told your manservant I would come see you shortly. You would have gotten the message if you were over there instead of here.” Her eyes challenged him with not a shred of remorse in their dark depths.
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you since I came back.”
“With Yasmin. We went into the countryside. She wanted me to see the work she was doing to combat illiteracy among the women. When we came back to Kabatra, we went to dinner together. Is that all right with you?”
“You could have called. You could have returned one of the many messages I left on all of your cell phones.”
“I haven’t checked my phones. I turned off my personal phone this morning, left one in the office, and the third one died while I was out.”
Wasim pushed to his feet. “I have been going out of my mind with worry. I even called your father.” He’d felt like an idiot, hinting around, trying to find out if she was in Zamibia without actually asking.
Imani’s eyes widened. “Why? I expected you back after tomorrow. Maybe you should’ve told me you planned to come back early. Then I could have been here patiently waiting for your return.”
“Do you think this is a joke? Someone should always know where you are. Anything could have happened to you.”
“Zariah knew where I was.”
“Hardly.”
She flung up her hands in exasperation. “I was with Yasmin. You’re obviously very angry, and I don’t know why. You couldn’t reach me for a few hours, that’s it. You’re overreacting.”
