Page 1 of Between Two Barbarians

CHAPTER ONE

JAMAL

“Jamal Farid Al-Masari!”

I loathed whenever my father used my full name. It usually meant I had screwed up in some way. I wasn’t sure how though. I was asleep in bed. How could I get into trouble while asleep?

The arm that had been around my waist yanked away abruptly, and my companion sat up. It took work not to wince.

Oh. That was likely why.

Feigning sleep only lasted so long before my father was looming above me, his fury beating against me like heat waves without me even opening my eyes. I peeked one eye open, then slammed it shut again when I saw the wide eyed horror and anger carved into his face. If he didn’t learn to relax, he was going to get sick. It’d happened before.

“Get up this instant!”

My companion had already scrambled out of bed and was rushing to pull his clothes on. I didn’t move quite so hastily, sitting up and stretching my arms above my head. When I let them drop with a sigh, I swore the vein on my father’s forehead became more pronounced.

“Am I late for something, Father?” I asked around a yawn. It wasn’t the first time Father found me in bed with someone. It likely wouldn’t be the last unless he learned to knock. I wasn’t overly concerned with it.

Incensed, Father glared at me. “What were you thinking? He is a prince of Shari! He is meant to be here to meet with Princess Nadia!”

Frowning, I glanced at my companion again, who was blushing brightly and hopping on one foot as he tried to pull his boots on. “You said you were unattached,” I said accusingly.

He hadn’t expected to be drawn into the conversation and froze, wide-eyed, as the attention landed on him. He swallowed hard. “I-I’m not. Not yet, anyway. This was only our first meeting.”

I shrugged and turned, raising my eyebrows at my father. “What’s the problem, then? It was just a bit of fun.”

Father had been angry with me before. Many times. His reaction now seemed unjustified. It wasn’t as though I forced the man into my bed. He came willingly. Even if he did say he wasn’t interested in males the first time I flirted with him. I enjoyed proving him wrong.

“The problem?!” Father squawked. “The problem is that he is promised to Nadia! You have done many shameful things, but this is a scandal! What will the king say?”

My companion blanched, his swarthy skin turning almost grey. “You don’t need to tell him, do you? I can just say Princess Nadia and I aren’t compatible…”

That confused me. Princess Nadia was great. “You’re not compatible? Why not?”

The prince, whose name escaped me at the moment, gave me a significant look, but I didn't understand why. It wasn’t as though spending the night with me bound him to me in any way. It was just a bit of fun. All men did it. Didn’t they?

“Get dressed,” Father hissed when the silence went on too long. “You’d best hope the king doesn’t take this as an insult. I’ve protected you from your foolish mistakes in the past but this? I’m not sure I can protect you from the consequences of this.”

Wrinkling my nose, I looked up at my father in confusion. I still didn’t understand what the big deal was.

“I deeply apologize for my son’s actions, Sulvani. I beg your forgiveness.”

My father’s hand pressed down on the back of my neck, keeping me bent in half in front of the king. If he thought he could get away with it, I had no doubt he’d have me on my knees with my forehead pressed to the floor. Thankfully for me, the king didn’t like that kind of posturing. I wouldn’t have responded well to being forced to act that way. Especially when I didn’t do anything wrong.

“This is a grave situation, Hakim,” the king said, his warm voice firm and unyielding. I did my best not to shiver. The king was my very first crush and had he not been married already when I became of age, it was him who I would have preferred to chase. The man was hot as sin. If he asked me to kneel, I’d gladly get on my knees for him. “Prince Caesar is now unsure of the match. When his father finds out, it could be a problem.”

I wanted to ask why it would be a problem, I knew many princes who bedded others while they were unbound, including the king’s own sons, but my father’s hand pressed harder on my neck when I tried to straighten, keeping me bent over awkwardly.

“Whatever we can do to make it right, Sulvani, you need only ask it of me. I am appalled that my son put you in this position.”

“Hakim…” the queen protested, her voice softer and more kind than the others in the room. “I doubt he meant any harm.”

“Whether or not he meant harm, this incident cannot go ignored, Raiza,” the king chided. “Our relationship with Shari is tenuous at best. This marriage was meant to solidify our alliance. It’s strange; no one had mentioned Prince Caesar was interested in men. I wouldn’t have suggested a marriage contract if I’d suspected as much.”

“He wasn’t,” I supplied helpfully, a smirk pulling at my lips.

Father’s hand tightened roughly enough to make me wince.