Kálid ibn ar-Rasíd személy

“I love you,” Shahrzad breathed. “You are all that I am.”
“And you are all that I will be.”

176. oldal

– Apa leszek, Kálid dzsán.
Kálid hirtelen megtorpant. Egy helyben megfordult, sarka mély árkot vájt a homokba.
Dzsalál megrándította a vállát, szája sarkában szomorú mosoly bujkált.
– Te… lelkiismeretlen, ostoba bolond.
– Milyen kedves tőled!
– Engedélyt kérsz tőlem, hogy feleségül vehesd?
– Nem hajlandó hozzám jönni. – Dzsalál még egyszer végigszántott a haján. – Nem csupán neked tűnt fel az ajtóm előtt tolongó hárem.
– Máris megkedveltem a lányt. Legalább kész tanulni a hibáiból. […]

“I didn’t like it when you called me your friend,” he said, a light in his amber eyes.
He raised both palms to either side of her face, angling her chin upward.
“Do you prefer ‘my king’ or ‘sayyidi’?” she choked in dry disgust.
He leaned forward, his brow almost brushing against hers.
“I prefer Khalid.”

“I’m my father’s son—a monster by blood and by right.”

The handmaiden’s voice rose above his cousin’s directives, bright and clear as a bell. “You will not tell me where to go or what to do, Captain al-Khoury. If there is anything this chaos has taught me, it is to know my place. Better than anyone.”
Her words mirrored the storm of Khalid’s thoughts.
He knew his place now. Better than anyone.
It was here. In his city. With his people.
And he would not rest until he made amends.

“How dare I imply you caused this mess?”
“Me? This is not my fault! This is your fault!”
“Mine?”
“You and your temper, Khalid!”
“No. You and your mouth, Shazi.”
“Wrong, you wretched lout!”
“See? That mouth.” He reached up and grazed his thumb across her lips. “That—magnificent mouth.”

161. oldal

“I didn’t like it when you called me your friend,” he said, a light in his amber eyes.
He raised both palms to either side of her face, angling her chin upward.
“Do you prefer ‘my king’ or ‘sayyidi’?” she choked in dry disgust.
He leaned forward, his brow almost brushing against hers.
“I prefer Khalid.”
Shahrzad swallowed.
“What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?” he whispered.
“If I’m a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed.” The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.
“No.” His hands dropped to her waist. “Destroy me.”

166-167. oldal

When she wound her fingers in his hair to draw her body against his, he stilled for breath, and she knew, as he knew, that they were lost. Lost forever.
In this kiss.
This kiss that would change everything.

167. oldal

Tariq swiveled back toward the boy-king, a series of lines creasing his sun-drenched forehead. “He seems very quiet.”
“He is quiet. But a man much wiser than I once said that the smartest men are the silent ones . . .”
Tariq waited, barely managing to conceal his growing contempt.
Captain al-Khoury leaned closer. “Because they hear everything.”
“It’s an interesting notion,” Tariq mused. “Who said it?”
Captain al-Khoury smirked with cool deliberation. “Khalid.” Then he strode to the boy-king’s side.

272. oldal