Page 18 of Tall, Royal Hater
It wasn’t my kind of scene. Parties weren’t in general, but parties that included mingling with royalty especially. I much preferred sticking to the walls as a guard than being an active participant. Yet, my mother had me standing right next to one of the tables of food in the middle of the whole event.
“Oh, and has Jude been keeping an eye on the separation of white sheets and coloured? There hasn’t been another laundry mishap since, has there?” she asked me.
I sighed up at the golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling before dropping my head back down. “Mum. Do we really have to do this right now?”
Katiya Timur, my mother, bunched her softly curved brows together like my question was absurd, the pale-green eyes I’d inherited from her crinkling at the outer corners. “Of course. I need to know that my staff are doing well under Mona and are not giving her any unnecessary trouble.”
I hadn’t seen my mum since September, almost two months ago, but of course, she was more curious about how “her staff” at Jahmal Palace were getting on without her than she was about me. They weren’t even her staff anymore. They hadn’t been for five months.
It wasn’t because she didn’t love me. She was just a workaholic and a mother hen who needed to know everything and everyone she cared about were well and looked after. Considering she’d spent nearly all her life working in the palace, it was understandable she was concerned so much.
My mother had been hired as a nanny to the then newborn Esmeralda when she was just twenty-four years old, but quickly became a confidant to the late Queen Amara too. At the time, I’d only been four, so I’d spent most of my day in the nursery with them. Growing up beside her, Esmeralda had never simplybeen a princess. She was the little sister I vowed to protect and support from the beginning.
More than twenty-three years later, I’d made good on that vow, but Mum was struggling to accept the fact that she no longer had to worry about anyone but herself anymore. That was Mona’s job now—the woman Mum had hired herself as her replacement.
“Mona has everything under control,” I assured her. “They all work hard, and they respect her. But I’ll give you a full update on everyone when we’re not standing in a room full of people supposed to be celebrating Prince Kai’s birthday. Also, you haven’t told me how you’ve been doing.”
Her expression melted from concern to soft motherly love as she smiled. “I’ve been wonderful, Sher. But gosh, have I missed you, and Esmeralda, and everyone at Jahmal.”
I curled my arms around her shoulders, and she met me halfway. With her being a tall woman, it was easy to rest my jaw against the top of her head as she squeezed my waist in a tight hug. “I’ve missed you too, Mum. We all have.”
I hadn’t been a lost puppy without my mum around in Jahandar. But I was my mother’s son. Excluding my two and a half years of training in the Special Operations Brigade in the Armed Forces, I’d never really been without her. Even then, she’d always been close enough that I could make sure she was safe and happy and healthy. Not being able to do that with her so far away had taken some getting used to. It still did.
“I know.” She sighed as she pulled away. “But how have you been, really? Anything I should know about?” Her eyes glittered hopefully. “A girlfriend? Or boyfriend? Someone you like even?”
My smile dropped. “No, Mum. And you don’t have to ask me every single time. If I meet someone, I will tell you myself. But now isn’t the right time for me to date, so it won’t be for a while.”
She absently picked a bit of fluff off my black jumper over my chest. “There’s no right time to date, Shehryar. When it happens, you care enough to try and make it work. But I understand.” She patted my chest, and I reeled a little, because it kind of felt like she was dismissing me. A big grin took over her expression as she pivoted. “Isn’t it lovely that Mariyah is here with us?”
My brain stuttered from the sudden whiplash in conversation. It took a couple of blinks for me to recover and feel the usual irritation at the mention of the menace coat the inside of my mouth.
“It’s lovely for Esmeralda,” I said, trying to keep my tone neutral.
Mum narrowed her eyes. “What does that mean?”
Someone cleared their throat. “May I join the conversation?”
Mother smiled in delight, but I didn’t feel her joy. Not even close.
Distrust formed a rumbling cloud over my chest as I spread to my full height and breadth. The protective urge to step in front of her and keep the threat away was there and strong, but I held myself still as Prince Arsh Touma, King Rami’s younger brother, stepped into my mother’s open arms.
“Of course,” she said, gleaming at him as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Right, Sher?”
They both looked at me. Mum with an exaggerated, warning smile. And Prince Arsh with a twinkle of cautious hope in his gaze. It made me feel the tiniest bit guilty for immediately experiencing distrust around him.
I shifted my weight from foot to foot as I tried to offer him a smile. It came out as more of a tight lip-press instead. “Yes. Sure.”
Between avoiding Mum’s scolding laser beams and Prince Arsh’s small smiles, I ended up looking from the glass in my hand to the food on the closest table. And fuck, was it awkward.
“What were you talking about?” Prince Arsh said after what felt like a painfully long minute.
“I was telling Sher how lovely it is to have Mariyah here too,” Mum said.
“It is.” The man grinned. “Everyone’s already in love with her. Especially Mother.”
I scratched a finger by my temple to stop myself from rolling my eyes. The only sense of humour thatGigi, the retired Dowager Queen of Touma, King Rami and Prince Arsh’s mother, had was insulting people. So, I wasn’t surprised to hear she liked Mariyah’s equally bad wit.
Mum gleamed. “I don’t doubt that. Mariyah has a rather roguish streak that Gigi will admire. But Esmeralda and her combined? Gosh, you’d never guess the things those girls had me doing and saying the few times I visited them at uni.” Prince Arsh’s brow shot up before he chuckled. Mum smiled sheepishly and leaned closer into his side. “But she’s also such a sweet girl.”
