Maria sniffed into the rose-scented silk pillow. She’d wept until her throat had dried and her tear-stained cheeks tingled. She wiped her nose against the pillow, picked it up and tossed it into the pool with a flick of her hand. It had been hours since Zain imprisoned her in the room. Night-time had already fallen. Her father had to be worried sick by now.

The first thing she’d done immediately after hearing the lock turn was to search for a way to escape. She’d raced to the windows, sliding on the carpet in the process and nearly falling on her bottom. Each and every one of them was barred. She’d let out a furious, bloodcurdling scream out the window, feeling herself sink deeper into despair. Startled birds had shot off out of the palm trees and taken wing. She had stared after them, envying them their freedom. Spying another door next to the chest, she`d rushed to it and flung it open to find the latrine containing a squat toilet. Then, she’d collapsed on the bed and had immediately felt all her energy drain away. And then the tears had come.

She rose from the bed and went to the door. She pounded twice on it with her fisted hand, tried the handle, and then pounded again.

“Hey! Let me out! You have no right to keep me in here! I refuse to stay! Hey! Is anybody listening?

No answer.

She hadn’t really expected a reply. Still, she raved on and on like a mad woman, “You disgusting, perverted criminal! If you think you are going to keep me here forever, then you are out of your mind. You hear me? I’m not your property!”

Zain couldn’t help but smile to himself. She had no qualms about saying whatever came to mind, that much was certain. He liked that about her. Unlike most of the circle of people surrounding him, she did not seem like the type to bootlick and fawn all over him. She wasn’t trying to earn his favour through flirtatious glances and inviting smiles.

“You’re a plague upon this town! I despise you! I loathe you! May you drop dead this very instant!”

He pushed away from the door and headed down the corridor to his own room. Her voice grew distant as he walked. There was still the mystery of why she’d been disguising herself as a male. He had a guess, a rather unnerving one, so he preferred to have her explain it to him instead. Lovely dinner in the garden may loosen —and hopefully sweeten—her tongue.

Someone knocked on the door. Maria quickly sat up on the bed. For a moment, crippling fear consumed her. What if it was Zain coming to do something to her? The sound of the door unlocking drifted to her ears. She tensed.

The man that appeared completely filled out the door frame. She had never seen such a freakishly large man before. He was well over seven feet tall! His bare muscled arms were practically tree branches.

In a deep voice that rumbled, he said to her, “The boss wants you to change clothing and to come down for dinner.” At the mention of food, her stomach growled in response. “There are more suitable clothes in the chest. I’ll be waiting outside to escort you.” As soon as he was done delivering his message, he closed the door.

Dinner? With Zain? And he wanted her to change?

Maria stomped to the chest. Inside was an array of neatly-folded women’s clothing, from nightgowns to daily-wears to beautiful occasions dresses.

So ‘suitable’ would be women’s clothing.

She slammed the chest shut with all her might, breaking a hinge.

****

A peacock screamed, startling Zain. The loud sound reverberated off the courtyard’s walls. Zain wanted to cook the damned bird. The first time he’d regretted getting those noisy chickens was in their first summer, as it was their mating season. Sleep had been semi-impossible; they wouldn’t cease their horrid screaming all night long.

He caught movement in the corner of his eye. He turned his head just as she was stepping out into the garden, Amjad following close behind. As she marched toward the table, it became painfully clear to him that she’d opted to ignore one of his ‘requests’. She hadn’t changed. Zain struggled to contain his amused grin.

He admired her spirit; he personally knew men that had less guts. He liked it when she defied him and sought to anger him rather than please him.

Bold and beautiful, she would be a pleasure to court.

She spotted him sitting at the far end of the front yard the moment Silent the Giant led her out of the mansion. She’d come to call him that because every time she had tried to get any useful information out of him on the way here, his only response was a series of unfathomable grunts or simple silence.

Her temper rising, she started toward Zain, stomping the grass beneath her feet as she went.

“If you think that I’m going to-” She started to say with fire shooting out her eyes, but was abruptly cut off by a scream. She jumped and halted in her steps.

Maria frantically searched for the source of that horrifying sound, heart thumping. Had it been a child’s scream? She wasn’t sure. It was dark, but for a few lit lamps placed on the table, Zain was sitting at. She barely spotted the dark figure moving on the grass.

“It’s a peacock,” Zain informed her.

“Ah.” She relaxed as soon as he did. It was one of the peafowls she’d seen earlier that day. She hadn’t known they cried so incredibly loudly.

She finally looked at the table. Every dish she could think of was sitting on top of it, and every one of them looked mouth-wateringly delicious. There was so much food that Maria couldn’t believe it was cooked for two people. Were there others joining them? The wonderful aromas that wafted to her nostrils made her stomach growl again. Zain, having no doubt heard the humiliating roar, smiled.

“Come, sit down, Peahen.”

“I already told you to not call me that!”

“Then give me a name to call you by, Peahen.”

“Fatima.”

Zain paused as he reached for the grapes. He popped one into his mouth, then pinned her with a serious look that practically warned her not to deceive him. “Is that your real name?”

“Yes,” she lied.

“I don’t believe you. There has been no news of a missing ‘Fatima’ in town. Now, come, sit; the food is getting cold.”

A chill ran down Maria’s spine. He was investigating her! He beckoned for her again, and she half-heartedly plopped her bottom on the cushioned chair. She watched him pluck another grape from the vine. The gold, diamond-encrusted rings on his fingers reflected the firelight.

She sensed her stomach about to embarrass her again, so she quickly grabbed an apple and bit into it, then drank water right after because she’d swallowed too quickly. Never in her wildest dreams would Maria have thought that she’d be having dinner sitting opposite her worst enemy.

They ate in silence, for which she was relieved. She could sense Zain’s piercing gaze on her the whole time, watching her the way a predator eyed its prey. She was greatly unnerved by it, and even though the food was the finest she’d ever tasted, she couldn’t quite enjoy it because of the awareness that he was watching.

Finally, he broke the silence and said, “Why have you been disguising yourself as a boy?”