Bismah barely made it into the elevator before the doors shut closed. From the glare Leila bestowed upon him, he realised that it was best to keep silent and wait for her to reveal all. 

It was difficult for Bismah to be patient but he did not want to cross paths with Leila now. She seemed thunderously angry. When they finally got into the suite, Leila stormed into her room, slamming yet another door. 

Bismah could hear her pacing to and fro. Whatever Mr Vincenzi suggested, it had put Leila in the worst mood he had ever seen her. A minute later she stormed out of the room again.

“Can you believe the nerve of that man?” Her hands slashed the air. Her words spat out in a wicked fury. “He thinks he can get whatever he wants, whatever the price?”

Before Bismah could get a word in, she continued. 

“Marriage!” Her eyes settled on him. There was more than a touch of crazy there, he noted. So, here was some of the famous Jodhi temper she’d kept hidden. He knew it would surface at some stage.

“Of all the crazy, mad, idiotic things—he thinks that us getting married is a solution?”

She did not acknowledge Bismah’s incredulous surprise but continued with her tirade. “I don’t even know that man except that he is arrogant, selfish, self-centered and oh! — just beastly! And he expects me to marry him!” 

With that, she took hold of one of the ostentatious crystal vases containing an arrangement of lilies and flung it with all the force she could muster against the wall. Bismah jumped in shock, his feet danced about as he avoided shards of glass and a shower of water and petals. 

When Leila realised what she had done, all her anger dissipated leaving her extremely weak and weary. 

“Oh, Bismah. I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t mean to...” her voice trailed off.  Leila plonked herself on one of the brocade sofas. The tears were threatening to erupt in floods but Leila swallowed hard to keep them in check. She was always doing that these days. Swallowing back tears and being overwhelmed by just about everything. With each passing day, instead of things getting easier, they were becoming more complicated. And the biggest challenge she had ever had to face was Marco Vincenzi. 

Marry Marco and regain the ruby for Oudh and her sweet grandmother—or refuse and watch all that she has recently grown to love, be destroyed. Was it even a choice?  

“Mr. Vincenzi…he has asked you to marry him?” Bismah’s small voice penetrated her heavy thoughts.

“If I marry him, he will relinquish part rights of the ruby to me and to Oudh. He claims that the prophecy states that the ruby needs to be in the possession of the royal family – therefore, by us marrying he still has a claim on the ruby but as his wife the prophecy will also be fulfilled,” Leila explained.

“That is quite a proposal. It is not an easy choice, is it?” 

Leila looked up. She did not expect to find compassion, especially from Bismah. But there it was. 

“I did not expect it to be that kind of proposal,” he continued.

“I don’t know what to do. Things like this only happen in books or movies, don’t they? But then again, my entire world has been turned upside down since my parents...” Leila slowly stood up and wandered toward one of the surviving vases. Her fingers traced the luxurious velvet of a rose petal. “To an outsider my life would seem unreal.” She sighed.

“You have been the answer to many prayers. When the Queen announced that you were the long lost princess returned, everyone felt that you were like a breath of hope in our hopelessness.” 

Leila was briefly comforted by Bismah’s kind words but also weighed down by its meaning. 

After a while she said, “I always thought I would marry the man I would fall desperately in love with? My parents had been in love.”

“Were they happy?” Bismah asked. He seemed a little embarrassed when he realised what he had asked.

“Most of the time—but not always. I suppose love isn’t always enough.”

“You know, Princess, my mother did not love my father at first. Apparently she thought he was a pompous fool.” 

Leila could not hide the smile on her face. Hadn’t she called Bismah pompous many times? 

“She grew to love him eventually. But they never did get married because my mother was considered unsuitable for my father. However; they were together for a while. And they were happy. When my father died, my mother got very ill and she died a few months later. She died of a broken heart.”

Leila was taken aback by Bismah’s revelation. She had become used to his emotional stiffness. From the time she was introduced to him three months ago, she had tried many times to speak to him as a friend rather than a servant. Of course she knew that tradition dictated that the formal relationship between princess and servant, however; Leila was not brought up according to any of the Oudhian traditions. And with so few friends in her new life, every one counted. Oh, he did annoy her at times with his ineptitude, but he was at her side, constantly, more than anyone else. She looked over at Bismah and saw that he was humbled by emotion. 

“You should think really hard as to your decision, Princess,” Bismah said. 

Suddenly Leila knew exactly what she needed to do. She had known all along in fact.