The Sheik’s Temptation-Introduction

Zhara’s story…

“What do you think?” her father’s gruff voice asked, then stood waiting expectantly.

Zhara poked her head into the room, not sure what it was for.  Her beautiful piano was in the plain, undecorated room, but nothing else.  The walls were white and the floors a plain, honey-colored wood. 

“Is this…for me?” she asked, looking up at her father. 

He nodded, rocking back on his heels as if he’d done something magnificent. 

“It’s special, just for you and your music.”  He laughed, brushing his hand over Zhara’s skinny shoulders before pulling back again.  “I know that you love practicing.  I built this room just for you so that you can play as loudly as you want without worrying that the sounds will disturb anyone else.” 

Zhara swallowed, feeling…something strange.  But it wasn’t an emotion her young mind could translate.  She only knew that she felt hollow and a deep sadness struck her. 

Still, she tried to perk up, to feel some sort of…joy…in this strange gift from her father. 

“How will I know that the sounds won’t travel too far?”  She looked up at him, trying to understand.  The room was on the other side of the palace.  This was the wing where special guests would stay during important events. 

He chuckled at her question, although Zhara didn’t understand the humor.  He waved his arm through the air as if encompassing the desolate looking space.  “This room is sound proofed, my dear,” her father explained.  “I know you love your hobby and, in here, you can clang about all you want!”

Zhara nodded, not sure how she felt about this.  He seemed so proud of this “present” but Zhara wasn’t sure how she felt.  On the one hand, he’d built her a special room.  On the other hand, the room was pretty far from everyone else. 

“Why don’t you play something?  I’d love to hear your latest song.”

Zhara’s eyes lit up at his question, thrilled that he wanted to hear her play something.  “Okay!” she replied and hurried over to the large piano.  The bench was a bit higher than she was used to, but she took a moment to adjust it, then laid her fingers over the keys.  It took her a moment, then she smiled and started playing.  It was just an Irish folk song that she’d heard yesterday.  Zhara didn’t have the sheet music for it yet, but she remembered the melody and her mind filled in the details.

When she looked up, her father was clapping.  “That’s wonderful, dear!  You’re an excellent student!”

Zhara’s heart soared with his praise.  “Would you like to hear another?”

Her father laughed softly and came over to her.  “I will have to listen another time, Zhara.  I have to go back to some boring meetings.  But will you pick out a special song?”

“Yes!” she promised, then watched as he bustled out of her new music room.  For a moment, Zhara stared at the whiteness surrounding her.  It was…sterile, she thought.  But then she let her fingers smooth over the black and white keys.  Her mind instantly raced, thinking up another song to practice. And then another. 

“Your Highness!”

Zhara’s head lifted as her nanny raced into the room, carrying a pink dress.  “What’s wrong?”

“You’re late, Your highness!” she gasped, rushing to Zhara and holding the dress up.  “Dinner is in five minutes.  You’re going to have to hurry or your mother will be very cross with you.”

Zhara was stunned that she’d spent the last several hours playing on her piano.  She supposed that was one of the benefits of being here in her special room.  No one heard her, so no one yelled at her to stop playing!  Nice bonus!

Drago’s story….

“No,” Prince Drago replied, adjusting the tie around his neck.  “No concerts.  No opera, no piano performances, no orchestra music,” he explained emphatically. 

His new assistant nodded, then crossed off several lines on his notebook.  “Ambassador Klingen from Hirandi has requested five minutes of your time, Your Highness.”  He looked down at his notes.  “And the professors from the northern region representing four of the largest universities would like to discuss new curriculum.”

Drago turned and looked down at his assistant.  The man wasn’t short.  He was most likely average in height.  But Drago was several inches over six feet in his bare feet.  Most men, and women, for that matter, felt short to him. 

“Yes to Ambassador Klingen but bring him to the party tomorrow night.  My niece’s birthday will have to become both social as well as business.”  He moved towards the exit.  “Why do I need to hear about new curriculum from a group of professors?”

His assistant hurried to keep up with Drago.  He was walking, but because of his height, his long legs ate up the distance more quickly.  Unfortunately, Drago didn’t have time to slow down.  In the next hour, there were twenty-one people who needed “just five minutes” of his time.  Often, those five minutes turned into ten or twenty minutes, which meant that he needed to slice off several minutes from the other people who needed to speak with him. 

It felt as if every moment of his waking hours were spent listening to people and making decisions.  His father had the same kind of schedule and Drago had been born into this life, so he considered his daily schedule to be the norm. 

He wondered if everyone had a schedule as packed as his.  He remembered reading a book about a family that sat down to dinner together and talked.  They relaxed and played board games after dinner too.  What would it be like to just…relax?

Before that thought could fully form in his mind, he walked into his office and his father was there, already surrounded by several people.  And so the day began.