Peka laid in bed, unable to sleep. The images of Razan and Prem eating, talking, laughing and dancing together continuously haunted the corridors of her mind.
Razan was no saint, Peka knew he slept with other women besides her, but they were merely distractions of the flesh which he discarded of in days. He would always return to her bearing gifts and take her again on a wonderful, passionate adventure. It fueled her confidence that she could never be replaced, that he would one day elevate her status from mistress to princess but seeing him last night with Prem dampened that hope. He only ever looked at one person the way he looked at Prem last night and that was Laite.
When Laite was alive, she and Peka were cousins who grew up together but were as different as fire and ice but still did everything together. When word came that the crown prince Razan wanted to take a wife, every single, eligible girl from all the noble houses in Cudan were in called and were expected to attend and live in the palace for a year to be taught the ways of the court and be observed by the royals on who was best suited to be by the kings side. It was decided that Peka and Laite would represent their family.
Upon arrival however, the palace life made them grow distant from each other. Whereas Peka basked in the affluence and grandeur of the palace life, Leita detested it and would sometimes deliberately break the rules by questioning their teachers on the logic of certain palace laws or doing things differently from how they were instructed and argue with the teachers on why it was better. It made her unpopular with the other contestants and no one wanted to be associated with her. For Peka, who had learnt the internal poltics of the courts, it was an advantage because the earlier Leita was sent back home, the less contestants she would need to worry about. Then the time came to meet the prince, and each girl was scheduled to be with him for a full day. By this time, of the eighty girls that arrived in the palace eleven months before only seven remained.
On Peka's scheduled day, she was dressed to meet with Razan at one of the palace pavilion's but he did not come, and for the full day no one could find him. She was asked to return to her room and she left both embarrassed and sad. The following morning, she woke up to the frenzy of news that Razan had picked his bride and who was the woman- Leita. Apparently he found her fishing two nights before in one of the palace lakes, which was odd for a woman of the court. Curious, we met with her and they began to talk. They talked the entire night into the morning sceduled for Peka, but he refused to leave Leitas side and followed her to the kitchen which he had never seen before, where they cooked the fishes they caught together. They were joined by the king and queen, who heard of the strange girl who had broken all palace protocols and was cooking with their only son in the kitchen. Upon arrival, they witnessed their son dressed in an apron listening to a dainty girl teach him how to cook fish. It was clear he was smitten, and by the end of the night, after so many failures, he finally cooked food, manageable enough to eat. It seemed mundane but it was evident that he was proud.
After that day no other woman existed for Razan. He refused see anyone else, refused to have concubines and mistresses; he only wanted Laite and Peka watched with jealousy as her childhood friend enjoyed the luxuries of the palace and love of her husband, a husband that should have been hers by right, which was why Laite had to die. Not only did she betray Peka but she destroyed Pekas chances of becoming a part of Razans life. Not only did she steal Razan but she closed the door and stood in Pekas way and anyone who stands in Peka's way, is removed permanently.
Peka smiled, remembering how delightful it was to hear of Laites death after carefully orchestrating it for more than a year. The undetectable poison which Laite took acted as both an abortion drug and a blood thinner so that while it forcefully induced Laite to push, it would also cause her to bleed. Both mother and child were meant to die, but the brat survived because Laite sacrificed herself and had the baby cut out of her, causing her to bleed uncontrollably and eventually die. With Laite out of the way, the rest was easy to do and it was only matter of time before Razan became hers, though it was never truly him. The real Razan was buried with Leita, her death changed him. It him hard hearted, aggressive and merciless, even when with Peka in the bedroom. Razan hardly ever smiled except with his daughter, never laughed, he was never faithful to her and he never complimented or said kind words to anyone. Peka believed that Laite had taken the princes heart with her to the grave and learned to accept the new him like everyone else. Seeing him with that ravian girl however, she caught a glimpse of that part of him again, everyone saw it, he was heard laughing, he even danced with her publicly, something he had never done since Laite died.
'What do I lack, Razan? What must I do to make you mine alone?' she whispered with tears filled eyes.
She heard a knock on the door and asked who it was. Razan answered and she rushed to open it. He had to bend slightly to come in because of his towering height.
'Were you sleeping?' he asked her looking at the tousled bed
'No, I couldn't sleep.' she responded
'Were you crying?' he asks again seeing streaks of tears on her face
'It is nothing your highness.'
He caresses her beautiful face with the back of his hand, looking at her for a few minutes before he sits on her bed and looks out of the window, staring at the slowly rising sun.
'Your highness, is everything all right?', she says
'Peka are you happy with me?' he responds looking at her.
'Why would you ask me that your highness, of course.', she responds fiddling with her fingers.
'Are you truly?' he asked again
'I am content your highness, what we share may not be love but it is enough' she responds looking at him.
'Then why do you stay with me Peka? Knowing I do not love you, knowing that the odds are against you, what is it that makes you stay? What you want?'
'What do you mean my love?'
'Do not play coy with me Peka, you know exactly what I mean. My family distrusts you, my mother has made it her personal duty to ensure that you never get pregnant for me, yet still you stay. Why?'
'To please you my prince, to give you what you desire', Peka responds kneeling before him and touching his knee.
'In return for what Peka? What do you want for yourself?''
Peka looks down upon hearing the question, but he raises her face by the chin gently to look at him, 'What do you want from me Peka?'
'You know what I want your highness, you have always known. All I have ever desired is your love, but I understand how painful the thought of love must be for you and that is why I wait.'
'But how long are you willing to wait for me Peka? Do you not desire for more than what I give you? A husband, a family, a home?'
'Of course I do your majesty, but yet no other man will do for me. I yearn for you, the way you yearn for Laite. I know I will never take her place in your heart, no woman will, but I am willing to wait until you learn to love me in a different way.'
'What if I never love you Peka?'
'Do you feel nothing for me, your highness?' Peka replied
Razan breathed out heavily closing his eyes and slowly gets up and walks to the door. Peka hugs him from behind and whispers softly, 'Please don't leave me, please stay with me.'
'I need to return to Cidara, lock the door and try to get some sleep,' he responds and leaves.
Peka locks her door and slowly returns to her bed crying.
'Is this how it ends Razan? You would give me up again for a stranger you met in the night? How many people must die before you realise that we belong together Razan?' she asks in her head
'I just want to be yours.I never cared how many women you slept with as long as you returned to me, isn't that enough?'
After a few minutes she starts mumbling to herself in anger, 'Its all her fault, that green eyed witch! She wants to steal you from me, like Laite did; but I won't let her. She will see, I will make them all see that only I deserve to be by your side.I will destroy her and anyone else that tries to come between us, I will kill them all. You'll see, you'll see', and starts giggling while hugging her knees to her chest.