Till Fate Tie Us Together...

Chapter 16 : His Heaven

       Salim looked the lavish tent in which the princess of The Isles stayed. She had invited him on a diplomatic dinner when she heard that he was arriving. He entered the tent to find her dressed in some kind of contraption, God, how did she wrap herself in that clothing? He thought. The princess looked at him with a sly smile on her lips.

"Welcome Emperor Salim." Her deeply tinted lips moved and Salim couldn't take his eyes off it. What was that? How did it make it so red? How would it look on Ada? He snapped his eyes back to the princess'.

"Please, have a seat." She pointed to the chair beside her.

Salim reluctantly sat down, looking everywhere but her. The tent itself was a fascination, it had so many artworks made of shells. He had never seen such a bright blue dye as the curtains. Marvellous! He thought.

        "Emperor Salim, would you like some wine? It's from my home."

         He just nodded. Accepting the glass chalice he dunked down the wine in one go. Salim was taken aback by the sweet tingy taste. He had never tasted a wine so sweet. "See? Isn't it the best? The secret is adding the elixir of..."

       "I'm sorry Princess if I come off as rude. But I'd like to get to the point. I want you to retreat and go back to The Isles or stay peacefully if you wish."

       The princess cackled like a couple of symbals banging against each other. Rest assured, he hated the sound of them.

        "But Prince Salim, the losers don't get to choose, you get to comply. My demands are such...."

        "No. I refuse to partake in this agreement." He said standing up and head felt dizzy.

        "Why not? You never know what you're in for?"

      "Okay, do you have a sibling?" Salim asked and watched her face contort in confusion.

        "Yes. I have a brother. Why do you ask?"

Salim leaned down closer to her and she peered at him closely.

      "That explains why you're here. Let me guess it for you, your brother is in line for the throne but you constantly face threat from The Great Empire and The Desert Lands so your father sent you here to make a deal. Either it is to marry me by coercion or making me fall for you. Being the very intelligent princess you're, you chose coercion. But one thing you don't know about me is that I'm not afraid of anything. Not an army of fifty some men lead by a woman."

       She pulled his tunic down so that his face was an mere inch from hers. Her mouth curved in a smile, "You underestimate me, Emperor Salim. Whatever I want, I get."

     Salim couldn't help but gulp. Damn it! He cursed as he felt a strange stir inside him. "I'm already promised to someone else." He pointed out as she let go of him and he stood up straight.

      "Break it off then." She said in a bored tone. "Or marry her after the said five years."

       "What five years?" He barked.

    "It's in the agreement. You need not worry about it now."

          Salim was genuinely scared of the princess in front of him, "Cease playing, princess. I'm a terrible man when I lost patience."

           "Want to walk with me, your majesty?"

          Before he could deny, she already walked out of her tent. She stood on the coast, her feet digging in the sands, the waves were touching her feet and her long dress flowed in the wind. Reluctantly, he walked and stood beside her. She pointed her hand to the sea.