29 Zayed

29

Zayed

“Ah, so glad to see you are okay.”

Riaz stayed in the tent when Rahim stood up from the chair and smiled at me. He wasn’t present when I had run away from the Maahnoor palace.

“What are you doing here?”

“Here?” He looked around the tent, the table strewn with papers and maps and blueprints of Maahnoor palace. “You mean, in the middle of the desert, Sheikh Zayed?”

“Where were you?” I poured a glass of water for him and handed it to him, leaning on the table, looking at him. He was dressed in his usual white clothes, his grey hair untousled with a warm look on his face.

“I was trying to find the place where they took Nasir.”

I frowned at him and he continued, “Nasir, the tiger? Unfortunately, I couldn’t find him and headed back. Before I reached the Maahnoor palace, I heard a commotion and saw you leaving the palace on a horse with Elena. At first, I thought you went out… for privacy, but news about Prince Imran travelled fast and I stayed hidden until this kid approached me.