SEDUCING HIS PRINCESS by Olivia Gates

masters of art and architecture, had put this place together. And from what she’d seen of its interior, modern magicians of technology had imbued it with the ultimate in luxury and functionality, too.
    Approaching the palace from its shore-facing side took her through street-wide paths paved in earth-colored cobblestones and lined by soaring palm trees and flower beds. She strode through gates, courtyards, pavilions, everything bearing the intricacies and influences of the cultures that had melded together to form Judar. If she’d been in anything approaching a normal frame of mind, she would have savored the magnificence of this place. But now the majesty that surrounded her—and what it signified of her royal connections and their current implications for her life—oppressed her.
    Scaling the convex stone steps that converged like a fan from a hundred feet at the bottom to thirty at the top, she gazed up at the massive palace that soared on four levels, echoing every hue of the desert, topped by a complex system of domes covered in mosaics and gold finials.
    As she approached the entrance, two footmen in ornate uniforms seemed to materialize out of nowhere to open the twenty-foot mahogany double doors inlaid with gold and silver.
    Smiling at them or offering thanks was useless, since they looked firmly ahead, avoiding eye contact. She crossed into the circular columned hall that had to be at least two hundred feet in diameter with a ceiling dome at least half that.
    Her gaze swam around the superbly lit sweeping spaces, getting only impressions of neutral color schemes and sumptuous decor and furnishings. Again it felt deserted. Or everyone was giving her space. Which was very welcome. She didn’t want to meet anyone right now, even in passing.
    At the end of the hall, she entered an elevator that transported her in seconds to her fourth-floor quarters.
    As she entered the expansive three-chambered wing and crossed to the bedroom, the sensory overload of sweet incense and opulence hit her. Yearning for her simple, cozy, two-room American abode twisted inside her like a tornado.
    “Oh, you’re here!”
    The bright exclamation had her swinging around, almost severing her already compromised balance.
    Aliyah. Kamal’s wife and her queen. And a more fitting queen she’d never seen. As a former model, Aliyah was even taller than Jala, but now boasted the lush curves of a woman who’d ripened with the passion of a virile man, and with bearing his son and daughter. Her mahogany hair was in a thick braid over her shoulder, and she was swathed in a floor-length dress the color of her chocolate eyes.
    She had Carmen with her. As Farooq’s wife, Carmen was the crown prince’s consort and yet another specimen of feminine gorgeousness, looking like a statuesque Rita Hayworth in her garnet-haired period but with turquoise eyes. Farah, the wife of her second-oldest brother, Shehab, was the only one missing. Shehab called her his Emerald Fairy for her eyes, and in Jala’s opinion he was right all around, and Farah was the most ethereally stunning of the three.
    If she’d cared about her looks, Jala would have suffered serious insecurity in the presence of those three visions. As it was, she was delighted her brothers had found women who were as beautiful on the outside as they were on the inside and who adored them. It was always such a pleasure to see them. Even though their relationship consisted mostly of video chatting, since the three couples seldom left Judar due to their growing families and responsibilities.
    “We did knock.” Carmen grinned at her apologetically as she beckoned the four women who accompanied her and Aliyah, no doubt their ladies-in-waiting. All were laden with packages. “We assumed you weren’t here when you didn’t answer, and thought to leave you the stuff with a note.”
    “We brought you everything we could think of to see what you need and what fits,” Aliyah explained.
    Carmen smiled at