Once Deneve left the Castle, she headed to Barhan’s villa. She would have preferred to go back there on better terms. But that was now water under the bridge. Just as she started to care for Barhan, his real intentions came through. He cared for her, but that seemed to stop when it came to his brother. It hurt to know that was true, but there couldn’t be any other reason.

Kayal had said much the same as Barhan had purposefully taken him out of the Castle and showed him another way of life agitating the King. Barhan’s intentions may have been good for Kayal because that allowed the young prince to see how other people lived. Deneve was sure that Barhan hadn’t wanted Kayal to be exiled. But that didn’t excuse his behavior toward her. He had sent her to die, and she was alive and pissed. 

The guards let her in without incident, and she went directly to Barhan’s room. Barhan slept lightly and moved to a sitting position, and lit the lamp before she crossed the room’s threshold. “Deneve, do you have the key? Where have you been?”

Deneve gave him a glacial stare. “Is that how you want to do this? Alright then. No, I don’t have your bloody key. Even if I did, I wouldn’t give it to you. Did you even care that you sent me to die?”

Barhan’s face fell. “I  was under the impression that the jinx only affected those of the royal bloodline. Where have you been?”

“I fell sick and was transported into the southern desert. Thankfully there were people there who nursed me back to health.” Deneve said.

“What people?” Barhan asked. 

Deneve huffed but was unsure if she should Kayal’s name slip, but if it came out she was his concubine… the thought filled her with a bit of selfish glee. “Fine, you really want to know so badly. Kayal found me. He made me his concubine to protect me while I recovered.”

Barhan gave her a sideways look, “I see. Kayal’s reputation isn’t good with the people right now.”

“Perhaps not, but he is a good person,” Deneve said, “I saw that much for the week I stayed with him. You know it too.”

Barhan nodded, “My nephew isn’t Sahazad.”

“Now back to the point at hand,” Deneve said, crisply changing the subject. “You sent your fiancée into the Cokro chamber, which no one has ever returned from, and hide behind the flimsy excuse of royal blood. Not to mention the fact that I am a member of the royal family of Mediah. Why would you want to cause an international incident?”

Barhan dropped his head, “I didn’t want to cause an incident. I don’t blame Kayal. My brother has been acting more controlling than he was before Kayal left. I was hoping if you got the key, I could overthrow him.”

“Yea, the king is awful worried about keeping his power which is funny when the entire royal family put their power in my little hands,” Deneve opened her hands, and sparks flew from them. “As you well know, I’m not a person chasing power. I have better things to spend my time doing.” 

“You saw Sahazad?” Barhan asked curiously.

“Yes, can you believe he thought I was there for sex?” Deneve laughed, “I think the better question would be to figure out where our relationship stands. I’m marginally less angry at you than I am the King right now, and I threatened to choke him with his sheets.” 

Barhan’s surprise at the statement might have been comical if Deneve wasn’t so angry, and he knew she could make good on it. “I cared about you, and I thought you cared for me, but the reality is that you will always care about being a royal family member more than me. That was made clear to me when you asked about the key instead of my welfare.”

“What do you want?” Barhan asked quietly. 

“I am still a Princess of Mediah, and our engagement won’t change. If the time comes and we are pushed to marry, I will do so.” Deneve said. “It’s one of the few things stabilizing to the people of both Valencia and Mediah.  Bareeds is just coming into his own, and Kayal’s exile, along with Sahazad’s behavior, has made the situation here unstable.”

Barhan gave a wry smile. “You’re right and deserve much more than that.”

“If we marry Barhan, you will make concessions,” Deneve continued, “We will never share a bed.  There will be no prodigy children. It will be a political marriage only.”

Barhan sighed, “I understand.” Deneve turned to leave. “Deneve, while you were gone, I checked in at the Villa, and Lord Red was there.”

Relief flooded Deneve’s features, “So he made it out. I was worried about that. Thank you for letting me know. I had planned on searching for him next.”

Deneve put her hand on the door to open it. “I also paid the next month of the Villa’s rent,” Barhan stated.

“I’m glad to know you didn’t think I was dead yet,” Deneve said as she pulled the door open and walked out.