Bound to the Ruthless Prince

Chapter 12 Desert

The desert was more beautiful than she had ever seen in pictures, and with the sun setting, it colored the rich sand in the most beautiful orange color that Lily had ever set her eyes on. Even though they had been in the middle of nowhere and there was nothing but sand, she felt at peace there.

The thought of her being murdered had gone away with the desert wind, and all that she could think of was the beauty of the desert.

"We have to walk up that hill; our tent is on the other side of that sand hill," Her husband informed her, and she turned to him, hoping that he was joking about walking up the sand hill to get to their tent.

"I hope you are joking with me." She told the prince, who simply raised an eyebrow, silently questioning his wife without really saying anything.

"I know that you are not familiar with me yet, but do I strike you as the kind of man that takes pleasure in joking about serious matters?" He asked her with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Lily turned her head and looked at the sand hill. She then turned to her husband, and this time she did not hide her concern.

"Why can't we take the Jeeps?"

"My queen, even though my Jeeps are the best, I have to admit that they are not fit to drive on such terrain. Shall we make our way to the tent now, the sun is almost down" Prince informed her and he walked away from her once more, Lily knew that there was no use in arguing with a man like Prince Aziz.

By the time she looked back at him, he was already making his way up the hill, and some of his guards were accompanying him while the remainder of the guards stayed with her at the base of the hill.

She rolled her eyes at the thought of walking up the hill. Lily pulled up her dress enough for her to walk up the sand hill. Her husband was far ahead of her, and he seemed not to bother that his wife was far behind as he continued his conversation with his men.

Lily had never claimed to be an active person all her life, but she knew she was quite capable of walking long distances, but walking up this hill drained her. Her husband was far up the hill, and he was nowhere in sight. As soon as she got to the top, she saw why. Her husband was descending from the hill to the most beautiful and colorful tent that she had ever seen. The tent was far from any camping tent that she had set her eyes on because this tent was the size of a house with beautiful colors all over.

The lights inside the tent illuminated through the fabric of the tent, making the entire tent look magical, as did the torched wood outside the tent. As always, servants lined the outside of the tent, awaiting both the prince and his bride.

"My princes, do you need help walking down the hill?" Lily turned her head, and it was one of the guards offering his hand to her. She smiled and placed her hand in his, and he helped her off the hill.

At the base of the hill, her husband awaited her with his hands behind his back, and as always, he did not smile. Lily did not know what to think about this other than that she should learn to live with it. As Lily arrived at the bottom of the hill, the guard let go of her hand, and Lily thanked him.

"Are you done with your appreciation speech?" Her husband questioned her, and this irritated her further as he said it in front of the female servants awaiting them.

"I patiently wait for the day when you will say something nice if that is even possible," Lily commented loud enough for all the servants to hear her, but it seemed as though it did nothing for her husband.

"I am not a monster; I have my days," He told her as he walked away, leaving her outside the tent. The sun was almost gone, the night slowly took over, and the cold desert wind came out in its full force.

"My princess, please come inside." One of the female servants offered, and all Lily could do was smile and follow them into the tent. To her surprise, the tent was not what she expected it to look like. The interior of the tent was unlike anything that she had ever seen before, mainly because it looked nothing like a tent at all. What Lily expected to be sand at her feet was replaced with a hard floor and fine carpet to cover the hard floor.

There was furniture everywhere, a room divider that separated the various rooms from each other, and they had somehow managed to generate electricity in the middle of nowhere. Further, into the room, the table was laid out for them, but there were no chairs, only a low table, and pillows for them to sit on.

Lily had not realized how hungry she was until the servants brought dishes upon dishes of food and placed them on the low table. Her mouth watered as she imagined each dish in her mouth.

"My princess, please come with me," a young female servant said, and she escorted Lily to a beautiful room with décor fit only for a queen. The young woman walked her into the room, and soon the other servants walked in as well. They walked behind the curtain into what seemed like a secret room.

They sat her down, and slowly removed her jewelry, and she could finally breathe properly. Lily had no idea that all that jewelry on her was the cause of her discomfort, and now that it was off, she was relieved. The smell of roses and other flowers warmed her room.

"What are they doing in the other room?" Lily asked the servants.

"They are preparing your bath for you; we use the best soaps and oil fragrances in the land," one of the servants responded. Lily did not protest, not even when she was asked to remove her clothes and cover herself with a towel. They walked her into the room where the other servants had disappeared, and she finally saw what they were preparing for her.

It was a bathroom closed off from her bedroom. At the center of the bathroom was a bathtub covered in gold, and inside the bath was steaming hot water with rose petals floating on top of the water.

Without being told, she removed her towel and got into the bathtub. The warm water hit her skin and softened her aching muscles. Each helper took her hand and applied scented oils as they massaged her. She shut her eyes as their hands moved along her skin, allowing her to let go of the stresses that she had to endure in the past few days.

Just when she thought the magic of it all had reached its peak, they further applied oiled fragrances to her head and massaged them into her scalp.

"Now this is life," Lily spoke to herself as she allowed herself to enjoy the pleasures of being spoiled.

Her session with the servants had ended and she moved to her room, where the servants further massaged her with oils. Without warning, all the servants left the room, leaving Lily baffled and still in her nightgown.

She turned around, and at the entrance of the room stood her husband with a wicked smile on his face, and she hated that.

**

Prince Aziz was never one to get jealous of things or people, but looking at one of his guards helping his wife down from the hill awoke something in him that even he did not like.

"I hope this is not what I am sensing," Fahd commented loud enough for only the Prince to hear; the last thing that he wanted was for the future king to be embarrassed in front of his employees.

"I don't know what it is that you are trying to say." Prince Aziz answered, playing dumb and trying to avoid the question as much as he could.

"You are jealous," Fahd told him. This reply only led Prince Aziz to turn and look at his personal bodyguard; if looks could kill, then Prince Aziz would have done the job.

"I do not get jealous; if I want something, then I buy that something," He replied, those words through gritted teeth. Fahd smiled at his boss, knowing deep down that the Prince could not fool him.

"Yes, my prince, indeed, you are rich, and you can buy anything that you please, but we both know that you cannot buy your wife."

"And what makes you think that I cannot? She is a woman, and I am quite sure that she can easily be persuaded by jewelry."

"Well, my prince, I think you are wrong about that."

"Why would you say that?"

"I have lived longer than you, my prince; looking at your wife, she does not seem like the type that would be easily persuaded by money," Fahd replied to the Prince. The Prince smiled at Fahd as he walked away to meet his wife.

Although his walk to his wife's side was short, he could not help but think that Fahd was right about his wife. He was no saint himself; from time to time, back in New York, he would sleep with a woman or two. The women he bedded liked money, jewelry, and power, but his wife seemed to want none of it, not even his prestigious family name.

As his wife walked towards him, the Prince tried to decode her, but all his efforts proved worthless. Lily was one of a kind, and he was in unfamiliar territory. As she walked closer to him, Prince Aziz could not help but stare at his wife in awe. She was beautiful.

This marriage was not one that he had wanted, and neither was Lily the bride that he would have picked for himself, but he had no choice and would have to make the best of what he had.

**

He had been in a meeting with Fahd and the elders, talking about his coronation for tomorrow, and through his knowledge, his bride was being prepared for him. Prince Aziz knew that his marriage was only one of paper and that there was no emotional or physical attachment, and it seemed as though the elders did not understand it.

Now he stood at the entrance of his room, staring into Lily's enlarged pupils. She clearly had no idea what was going on, and he took advantage of it. Prince Aziz smiled and focused his attention on the short, lace nightgown that his wife wore.

"I must say, my queen, you look even better with fewer clothes on," Prince Aziz teased, and Lily looked shocked that he could utter such words. She ran towards the bed and picked up bed covers to cover herself.

"What are you doing in my room?" She yelled at him, and Prince Aziz smiled.

"Well, my queen, the two of us are married; therefore, this room belongs to both you and me," Prince Aziz informed her, and Lily's jaw almost dropped to the ground. Prince Aziz almost laughed aloud, but he knew he could not show this side of himself to his wife; he knew that he had to keep her at arm's length all the time.

"No! I did not sign up for this mess. We agreed that all we would do is get married to each other," Lily reminded him, but to her surprise, Prince Aziz smiled at her.

"Yeah, I know, but you did make vows to me, and I hope you remember those vows," Prince Aziz asked her. Lily scratched her head and then met her husband's eyes.

"But those vows were in Arabic and I don't speak a word of Arabic"

"Exactly! The point of the matter is that you made them, and warming my bed might just have been one of them," Prince Aziz informed his wife.

"But that is unfair; there was no interpreter, and I simply repeated what I was told!" Lily yelled at her husband, hoping that it would make him understand.

"That has nothing to do with me, my queen," Prince Aziz replied, winking at his wife.