The day came too fast and Omar was up and ready even before his father was but he remained in his room. Today he would be going to the palace with his father, to be introduced to his bride to be. He was to behave sensibly and maturely to get the approval of the king to be his daughter's groom. He could not help but feel like a ram being led into the market to be sold, and honestly that was what it was. He was literally being sold off and this marriage was the payment.
The only person gaining from this was his father, the Sheikh and Omar couldn't help but feel that there was more to this. He knew that his father was a greedy person and his greed had always been for power and he was hard to satisfy. The man always craved for more and his marriage to the princess was that more that the Sheikh had been yearning for.
Omar wondered for how long his father had nursed this in his heart, for how long he had planned for him to get married to the princess. The plan was strategic and his father had been patient. If he had planned and waited for this long then Omar was afraid that he would under no circumstances, not let anything get in his way.
A knock came on his door twice before it was pushed open and Taheem stepped in. Omar lifted his head from the bed and glanced at the man before relaxing back.
"I don't remember saying you could come in."
"I'm here to get you. The Sheikh is waiting downstairs for you."
Omar sat up and eyed Taheem. "How would you like to be married off against your will?"
"The marriage between you and the princess Mariam should be taken as a rare opportunity. Your father wanted this, I do not think you should make it any more difficult Omar."
"But you..." Omar paused, wondering why he was asking Taheem such questions. The man was just as adamant and would follow the Sheikh's orders down to the last, his mind worked just like his father's own so it was pointless trying to make him see from his point of view. He got up and follow Taheem downstairs to the waiting car.
Sheikh Khalid stood patiently beside the car, today was the day his long wait would finally pay off. Today, the King would meet with and approve of his son Omar for his daughter. Daughters were easier to handle, Mariam would agree to her father's wishes. Khalid smiled a bit when he saw Omar following closely behind Taheem, he was dressed formally in suit and Khalid couldn't help but feel proud of the man his son had grown up to become.
They left the house that afternoon driving through the city and heading towards the south of Jeddah, to His Royal Highness King Jaan's palace which lay just beyond the pool of Al Lith. The ride was long due to the tension in the car and the silence that circulated was thick.
Khalid, having no intention of breaking the silence, kept his eyes fixed to his phone and quietly scrolled through it. Omar watched his father for a while before turning his head to look out the window, letting his mind wander back home, in the room where Megan was being held prisoner.
Her room was in the East wing of the mansion and his was on the West wing, leaving his father's room somewhere in between. Her window over looked the court yard which was almost never empty even at night so he couldn't take her out through the window, moreover it was on the third floor.
He moved that aside.
The vents. They were all connected on each floor, so his vent would connect to hers meaning it also connected to his father's. If he would be using the vents it had to be when his father wasn't in the room, better still when his father wasn't at home but crawling through the vents? He couldn't stress that much, no that wouldn't do at all.
If he was to escape Megan from the house it would have to be when his father was out, but then what would make him leave the house. It seemed getting her out of the city was the easy part, getting her out of the house was more challenging. He sighed. He had to come up with a plan C. Seven days from now he would be getting married to Mariam if he couldn't do anything to change it.
"Father." Omar breathed, bringing his mind back to his body.
"Hmm.." Khalid answered without looking at him.
"Why do you want me to marry Mariam so much?"
"She's a princess, she wields power she cannot control. Having her would be a much better asset." He answered quickly.
"That's what all this is to you? Power?"
"Power makes the world go round Omar, even at your age and diversity, you are still inexperienced." He looked at his son.
"Power for me or power for you?" Omar asked despite knowing the answer. His father was always in need of more. But the Sheikh didn't answer him directly.
"What I do, I do it to secure your future."
"And that is all you always say but my future is mine and I should at least decide how I want it to be. You're not helping me, you're using me for your greedy gain. Myself and the princess, you are just using us!"
"I'm time you will understand my reasons." Khalid smiled and said no more but continued scrolling through his phone and stroking his chin.
Mariam was a powerful personality, she was the princess, the only princess to His Royal Highness King Jaan. He knew of how many suitors had come, even non Arabs but the King had been firm, his daughter would not get married until after she had turned twenty.
Getting the King's consent for the union of the princess with his son hadn't been much of a dilemma. The Sheikh was powerful and rich and had royal blood flowing through his veins, moreover he was the child of the fifth daughter of the Rais, the doors were already opened for him. Now he just needed his son to not ruin the chances.
"I can't believe you would do anything for power, even going as far as selling me! Your own son!" Omar continued.
"Selling you say?"
"That's what you're doing, causing me to marry someone I don't love."
"Love will come when it will come. For now you don't need love, you need the power."
Omar was speechless, this marriage wasn't in his interest at all, it was in his father's interest. His greed for power was overwhelming. Omar, furious as he was, tried to calm down the only way he could right now, so he looked out the window thinking of Megan.
The palace was Grand and befitting of a powerful royalty like His Royal Highness King Jaan. Everything spoke of his immerse wealth, from the expensive finishings to the fleet of classic cars which lined one side of the compound.
The structure stood gigantic and powerful and of all the palaces he owned, this was the grandest. It was where he chose to live, mostly because it was almost secluded, it was here he had his meetings and important gatherings and the only other royal family with him was his daughter whom he doted on extravagantly.
She was his only daughter and he had grown quite attached to her, letting her have anything and everything money could possibly buy but the girl was not much of a spender and he sometimes had to bribe her into going shopping with her friends, the few friends he allowed full access into the palace at any time.
Today they would make her up for her groom to be, His Highness King Jaan had not left anything out. His daughter was beautiful he knew, exceptionally, he had received praises and proposals for her hand in marriage but he would never let his daughter get married at an age too young. He knew what they faced, he had married his third wife when she was fifteen and she and died at childbirth, after giving birth to the only girl child he had. Mariam, he had named her after her mother.
Now the girl was turning twenty in a few days and he couldn't have been more proud of the way he raised her. Except for the incident with Aadil and their secret love affair, he felt she was perfect.
