She could understand that. Isla wanted a sweet love story for herself but knew she probably wouldn’t find it. As the sister to a very powerful sheik, her husband would be chosen for her, she just hoped Rashid would take her feelings into consideration since she was beyond the age when she must be married off. Surely she could find someone that wouldn’t be so overbearing and would give her the space she desired. She refused to give up her secret work simply because she married.
Maybe if Rashid chose someone who wasn’t a ruler of a country to marry her to, she could be more open about her work. She loved helping people and she was good at it. Being the sister to a sheik meant she had to be more….surreptitious about her activities.
“I’m off to discuss the menu with the chef for tomorrow’s festivities,” Zarah mentioned.
Isla sighed and turned in the opposite direction. “Rashid has asked me to personally phone several people to request their presence for tomorrow’s ceremony.”
Zarah laughed. “I think I have the better task.”
“You do,” Isla grumbled and headed off to Rashid’s office to pick up the list of names he wanted her to call. She was jealous of her sister’s task but knew that Zarah was too young to be making these phone calls. And some of them really did need to be made by a family member to soothe the ruffled diplomatic feathers caused by the last minute invitation. It was all about perception, she knew. Many of the world rulers wanted to be perceived as important and being called by a member of Rashid’s family would give them that impression.
Isla spent the rest of the day making the phone calls, pretending to care if one or another of the rulers of various countries showed up at her brother’s wedding. As far as she was concerned, the only two people who needed to attend were the bride and groom. A large wedding wasn’t really her style. She actually would choose to have only her family and her groom’s family in attendance for her wedding. She liked it simple with little fanfare, something romantic and intimate. But she knew she’d have to have a large, extravagant affair. Rashid would demand it.
Zarah was still too young to be worrying about her wedding, but she was thinking about it and dreaming about the day she’d become engaged to some man who would carry her off into the sunset where they would live happily ever after. Isla knew that wasn’t going to happen in her life. She would find contentment somehow in her marriage, but happiness was not in the cards. Not with an arranged marriage for political reasons.
She worked hard all day, helping the staff prepare the palace for the numerous visitors. Security was painfully tight since so many people would be staying within the palace walls. She couldn’t go anywhere without her assigned body guard following her. The wedding wasn’t even going to be very large, but the risk was there regardless of the number of people.
That night, she was restless for some reason. She wanted desperately to sleep, but she stared up at the ceiling, wondering what it would be like to be in love, to be excited about one’s wedding. She was actually jealous of Sidra, she realized in the early hours of the morning. The woman had fallen in love with her future husband and she was ecstatically happy about tomorrow’s events.
Isla rolled over and pulled her pillow closer. Tomorrow was going to be a tough day, watching her older brother get married, seeing the love both of them couldn’t hide for each other. They’d known each other for such a short time, but they knew how they felt.
She finally fell asleep just as the sun was rising over the horizon. Unfortunately, that meant that she overslept and by the time her maid was finally able to rouse her, she had to rush through the final preparations for the wedding. Her maid did her hair, then she quickly pulled on her dress and slid her feet into shoes. She was out the door less than an hour after she’d woken up. Forgetting breakfast and only taking a moment to grab a cup of coffee in the now deserted dining room, she got her jolt of caffeine and hurried down the hallway to the elaborately decorated receiving room filled with flowers for the wedding.
She glanced at her watch, trying to orient herself for the day’s events. Less than two hours until the ceremony, she thought with resignation. She would have loved to see Sidra before the ceremony, wishing her luck, but that was not going to happen because she’d woken up so late. Dratted hopes and dreams! Why couldn’t she just accept her fate? She’d had a wonderful childhood and shouldn’t complain. So many people had it much worse.
The palace was already filling up with guests and she would need to hurry to the receiving line to greet the incoming dignitaries, there were flowers everywhere and so many jewels on various hands and necks she couldn’t imagine the sum total of wealth being worn right now.
Isla slipped into the receiving line, pretending as if it had been planned to happen like this. “Where have you been?” Zarah whispered furiously, but keeping the gracious smile on her face since too many important people were milling about. “Half the people are already here.”
Isla smoothed her dress down and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself so that she could appear dignified. “I overslept.”
She felt her sister stiffen beside her a moment before she whispered, “You didn’t go out last night, did you?” They both smiled and greeted the British Ambassador and his wife.
“No!” she came back, then smiled as the French Prime Minister and his wife presented themselves to her. When that couple moved off towards the ceremonial room, she whispered back, “I wouldn’t go out the night before Rashid’s wedding. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Zarah instantly relaxed with the reassurance. “Good. You should stop doing that. One day you’re either going to get caught or your you’re going to get hurt and you know it’s just a matter of time before one of those things happens,” she replied, then they both smiled as the United States Secretary of State approached.
Her sister was right, but she couldn’t stop. She wouldn’t stop. Her work was just too important. Besides, it made her feel as if she were contributing to the world as more than just another pretty face in a sea of millions of beautiful women. She wanted to make a difference in this world.
One after another, the heads of various countries, or their representatives, filed into the palace. For a small wedding, this seemed ridiculously large, Isla thought as the five hundredth guest finally came through security.