UNDER THE HAZY SUN, Prince Cairo's eyes looked especially bright.

"Did you not sleep well, Aliya?" he asked, his thin lips pursed. "Did you dream something odd?"

"Oh, no," I said instinctively, trying to mask the way my eyes were whirling around my face. "I just thought I heard something last night?"

Prince Cairo frowned again, "Are you a light sleeper, Aliya?"

"Quite," I said, shrugging my shoulders, before cringing not even a moment later at that most horrid display of nonchalance. "I don't know, I just thought something... happened last night."

"You're probably overthinking it," Prince Cairo said. "I didn't hear anything last night."

No matter how good of an actor I was or wish I could be, his words still made me pause.

"Really? So you slept well, Shahzadeh?"

His lips quirked up. "Yes," he said. "Did you not?"

I felt my heart beat accelerate, thumping so wildly against my chest, it was incredible to think that he wouldn't be able to hear.

"It was fine," I said back.

Prince Cairo smiled gently, his grin just slightly crooked, much like the shape of his nose, and I had to bite my tongue just enough for me to taste blood and remember what happened last night, and the cold sweat that has dotted my back as I ran.

I'd grown up in the streets and alleys of Babylon, where the thieves and the merchants mingled together with no differences in statures, where the people smiled as they took bracelets and shook hands as they stole cash. It was unlike the pretty, elegant upbringing of the beautiful ladies with smooth, pale hands, without callouses on their knuckles from carrying nets and boxes around the port and tan lines around their shoulders from long hours in the sun, and so I'd always prided myself on the fact that, if my upbringing did not make me pretty, then it made me smart and astute and quick on my feet, hard to trick and witty.

But looking into Prince Cairo's eyes, I could see no trick at all.

There was no tick, no constant shifting, not even a dilation of a pupil or the bobbing of an Adam's apple — he was calm and relaxed, and with every passing second that he stared ya me, his brows furrowed closer together.

"Are you alright, Aliya?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," I said, clearing my throat. "Apologies."

"You're forgiven," he said, his forehead relaxing.

Prince Cairo opened his mouth again, as if wanting to say something, but before he could get a word out, a loud, shrill voice interrupted him—

"Shahzadeh Cairo, we're going to play a game! Are you joining us?

Prince Cairo's eyes turned cold.

I turned around to see a girl with extremely long, curly brown hair, her hands waving around the air excitedly. She was certainly dressed for the heat, and her clothes left little to the imagination, but it was enough to highlight her small, exotic face and voluptuous figure.

Inwardly, I wondered what kind of workout and life she must've been born into to grow up with a figure like that — it was certainly the model for every young lady, and certainly a nightmare to try and achieve.

Prince Cairo's jaw clenched, looking as if he might tear into the girl at any moment in time, but before he could, Prince Finn piped up, his eyes gleaming.

"Cairo, why don't you join us today?" he asked, his body bending down as he wrapped an arm around the curly-haired girl's waist, making her giggle ecstatically. Next to her small frame, he seemed to be even taller than what he looked like before. "You even specially invited another girl to have fun with us. At the very least, you could allow us to have a look and taste; don't brothers always share?"

There was something wrong with the words that he'd chosen, and the frown that had slipped on my mouth when he first started speaking deepened.

'Have a look and taste,' was that not making me sound out like a complete jende khiabooni? Did I really look like the type of person a prince could share?

And to say that in front of the other women he'd brought with him—

I snuck a glance to the group of women waiting by the side, and just as I'd expected, their expressions were ugly.

Of course; they're all fighting for his attention. To say that about me, whether he noticed or not, is just throwing me straight to the dress-wearing, jewelry-adorned wolves.

My eyes turned colder.

"Many thanks," I said, my voice quiet, "but I'm not very interested in these games, Shahzadeh Finn. I don't know how to play them, you see. Please go on ahead and play, and I will watch."

Prince Finn's eyes swept condescendingly over me, and then again in disgust over my face.

With a start, I realized that the disgust was especially prominent as he looked into my eyes, and a self-deprecating grin made its way onto my face.

Of course one of the princes would be discriminatory; it would simply not be in line with their upbringing if they weren't.

But why is the racist one the prince that I could barely care about or talk to?

Inwardly, I sighed.

Only you would have such terrible luck, Aliya.

Prince Cairo chose that time to speak up then, smiling. "How kind of you," he said, his voice warm. "Aliya and I will certainly join."

Taking a few steps forward, he turned around and beckoned for me to follow after him, his eyes soft and warm. "Come, Aliya."

I looked up at him, pursing my lips as I tried to spot even the slightest bit of ice left in his facade. But his smile seemed to be perfectly genuine, his hands clasped behind his back in picture-perfect etiquette form, and the niggling fear taking nest in my mind increased.

Did he not look like he wanted to kill both his brother and that girl not twenty seconds ago?

"Well, Aliya?" he said probingly. "Are you not coming?"

I took a deep breath, curling my lips up into a smile. "Coming."

I fell into step behind him, keeping the smile upright on my face as I tried to ignore the glares a group of girls sent my way.

After weeks of practice, it was much easier to do so; their stares, no matter how sharp, could never compare to the thickness of my own skin, hardened and shameless from years of haggling and negotiation, as well as the daily routine of the Palace — that is, to sleep, eat, wake up, and feed off of the gossip and drama that always seemed to come in waves with every passing day.

Unfortunately, the chill running down my back was a little harder to brush away.

If this man had lied when he told me he didn't remember anything last night, then he's truly too terrifying.

To be able to lie without a single tick or reflex, spout out falsities without batting an eye—

Don't you think only monsters would be able to do so so perfectly?

I spared another glance at his back.

I mean, to an extent, he might as well be.

Prince Finn smiled again, before leaning down to whisper in his partner's ear, her body still curled in an abnormally snake-like — although I'm sure she was trying to pass off as sensual, though she wasn't quite hitting the mark — position around his arm.

As he whispered, I could've bet my soul that his eyes flickered over to me for just a moment too long.

The girl smiled, before unwrapping herself from the prince much in the way you would unwrap a bandage and grabbing a bow and arrow from a nearby maid.

"Hello," she said, walking closer to me. "I'm Banu. The game we're going to play today is shooting; I hope you don't mind."

Even as she walking to me, it was easy to tell that Banu was a beautiful, beautiful girl, with thickly lined, deep-set chocolate eyes that didn't even recoil as they met my own.

Inwardly, I couldn't help but feel some sort of pity.

If she hadn't been invited into the palace, such a lovely girl would've led such a lovely wife, with one man that would've loved her so.

Sadly, Prince Finn was much too lusty for her own good.

I smiled back at Banu, taking the bow from her arms. "I have no idea how to shoot. I've never learnt."

Banu frowned, tilting her head as she passed me the clutch of arrows. "Oh? Why not?"

"Must I?" I asked back, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't have time; I had to work, you see."

From behind Banu came a snort and a chuckle.

Prince Raza raised an eyebrow, pursing his lips together. "You has work?"

"Yes, Shahzadeh. My parents died early, so I had to provide for myself," I said, biting down hard on the side of my cheek, praying that I wouldn't slip out and say something that would very much cost me my own head.

"And what did you work as?" Prince Raza continued to ask, his fingers slipping to play with his signet ring. Beside him, Prince Finn looked less disgusted and much more amused, although his smile did nothing to hide the plain mockery written on his face.

I bit the inside of my cheek again, so strong that I was sure that at any point then, I would start tasting blood.

But wouldn't it be better to taste blood in my mouth than to splatter it onto an execution ground?

Apparently, Prince Raza thought differently, because the curve of his mouth dropped into an even colder sneer than it had before — something I didn't even think was possible. "I asked you a question."

I bowed my head. "Apologies, Shahzadeh. I worked at the harbor—"

I had barely finished my reply when Prince Finn burst out into loud, boisterous laughter, his shoulders shaking as he leaned forward.

Even without looking, I could feel the increasing glare of the eyes turning my way, attracted by the prince's laughter, and though I wished for it to stop, it didn't take long for heat to start creeping up the side of my neck.

No matter how much I wished I remained unfazed, still and staring at the prince like he was a lunatic, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't incredibly, incredibly embarrassed.

"Ah, you worked at the harbor?" Prince Raza asked, a rhetorical question if I'd ever heard one, but still I found myself nodding. "How dirty."

Prince Finn, still laughing, nodded. "Banu was born from a good family, weren't you?" he said, grinning as he pulled the girl into his chest, his smile widening when he saw the way she blushed. "Disgusting, really."

Reflexively, I curled my fingers deep into my fist, hoping that the callouses and rope marks wouldn't be visible.

Why are you even embarrassed? This doesn't matter.

Perhaps because it's been such a long time since anyone had ever made fun of my job at the harbor, perhaps because almost three quarters of Babylon had the same rough, day-end job, perhaps because it all tied down to not having family — no matter the reason, I couldn't deny that I had never found the idea of my bedroom at the Palace to be so appealing before.

"That's enough."

Over the period of my time in the Palace, Prince Cairo's voice had never quite sounded so appealing.

"I thought we were here to play," Prince Cairo continued, calmly walking over and taking my arm. "Aren't we going to play?"

Prince Finn's smile died down then, along with the sneer on Prince Raza's face. "Yes, of course," the latter said, his face now just as stoic as it had been before, "if you'd please."

"If you can hit the target, that is," Prince Finn said, revealing another mocking smile, but significantly milder this time.

I blinked, frowning.

What are they so afraid of?

My eyes trailed to the prince standing beside me, his hand still gripping my arm, so tight that I was sure by the end of this it would hurt.

Or would the question be, do they already know what to be afraid of?

"Well? Go ahead and shoot," Prince Cairo said, turning to me now. "The target is over there. Have you ever shot before?"

He slipped his hand off of my forearm, and even with the glare and heat of the sun, I could still feel the uncomfortable warmth that accompanied his grip. "No."

His lips quirked. "That's fine. You don't have to shoot it right; it's just a game, anyway."

I nodded, turning to the target. The bow felt unnaturally heavy in my arms, and by the snort that came out of Prince Finn's lips as well as the giggles from a group of nearby girls I was sure that I had done something wrong, but Prince Cairo was kind enough not to point it out in front of the crowd and I was not confident enough to say it myself.

"Do I just let it go?"

"Yes, just let it go."

The arrow flew and landed a few feet in front of me.

Immediately, laughter erupted, so loud I could practically feel the ground beneath me shake.

I paused, lowering the bow. "It seems like I'm just not very good at this."

Prince Cairo paused, staring at me for just a moment too long before he nodded. "You held the bow wrong," he said quietly, and I nodded. "You can try again."

It was funny, because every comment or question that he made was not so much of a statement than it was an order; after all, he was a prince.

And so I found myself trying out again. For the second time. The third time. The fifth time.

By the eighth time, I'd not only exhausted the cluster of arrows Banu had given me, but also the laughter of the crowd behind me. Even when I missed a shot, it seemed that Prince Finn could no longer find it in his stomach to laugh, instead opting for an incredibly arrogant smirk.

I stopped, placing the bow near my feet. "Apologies, Shahzadeh, I seem to have disappointed you."

Prince Cairo shook his head, his lips still forming a shallow smile. "It does not matter. However, if it does bother you, there is a way to make it up to me."

Without reason, some kind of thick, bitter feeling climbed up my chest, choking my throat to the point that I had to cough before I could start speaking. "What is it?"

"Tonight, come have dinner with me once again. I'd enjoy the company."

surprise update for aliya! thank you so much for your patience; I've finally gotten back into the right headspace for writing, and I assure you that's the next few chapters will be quite the ride ;)

another thank you is needed for all the support you have given aliya during this hiatus; we even reached 10k reads the other day. i made this chapter is a little longer than usual as a celebration, and I do hope you enjoy it.

p.s. happy early birthday to -encouragehappy- . consider this part one of your birthday present.

KAY ©️ 2019.