Chapter 12 - The Last Lie
Amina sat down hard.
Maya stared at her.
“You lied.”
Amina’s lips trembled.
“Maya—”
“You lied again.”
“I was protecting—”
“No.”
Maya’s voice cracked through the council chamber.
“No more protection.”
Samir looked at Amina.
“Tell them.”
Khalid turned.
“You knew too?”
Samir closed his eyes.
“Tell them everything.”
Amina began crying.
“Mariam and Omar never stopped loving each other.”
Khalid said nothing.
“Sheikh Hassan knew.”
That surprised everyone.
Amina continued.
“The marriage between Hassan and Mariam was political at first. But Hassan was kind. He protected her. Protected Khalid.”
Maya whispered, “And years later?”
“Omar returned.”
“From where?”
“He wasn’t dead.”
Khalid stepped backward.
“What?”
Samir covered his face.
“My brother’s death was staged.”
“By whom?”
“Omar himself.”
Khalid looked furious.
“Why?”
“He had uncovered Kareem’s network. He disappeared to gather evidence.”
Amina continued.
“He returned secretly years later.”
“And Mariam became pregnant with Maya,” Khalid said.
“Yes.”
Maya struggled to process it.
“So Khalid and I really are…”
“Half brother and sister,” Amina whispered.
Khalid looked at Maya.
For the first time, something simple existed between all the lies.
Family.
Kareem suddenly laughed.
“Beautiful.”
Everyone turned.
“An illegitimate daughter. A secret lover. A fraudulent royal marriage.”
Khalid’s eyes narrowed.
“You sound nervous.”
“I sound amused.”
“No.”
Maya watched Kareem’s hand.
He was pressing something inside his pocket.
A button.
She remembered the garage jammer.
“His hand.”
Khalid reacted instantly.
“Don’t move.”
Kareem smiled.
“Too late.”
An alarm screamed throughout the palace.
General Fahad pulled a weapon.
Khalid’s guard fired first.
The bullet struck Fahad’s arm.
Council members dove under the table.
Doors burst open.
Armed soldiers rushed in.
Kareem shouted, “For the stability of the state, Sheikh Khalid is relieved of authority!”
Khalid overturned the table as bullets hit the wall.
“Maya, down!”
Noura screamed.
Samir dragged her behind a pillar.
Khalid’s guards fired toward the doors.
Laila grabbed Maya’s hand.
“Move!”
They crawled through a side passage behind the ceremonial curtains.
Amina followed.
Khalid stayed behind.
Maya looked back.
“Khalid!”
“GO!”
She hesitated.
He shouted, “That’s an order!”
Maya almost laughed.
“You’re not my boss anymore!”
“Bad timing!”
Laila dragged her away.
They reached the private library.
Amina opened a hidden door.
Maya stared.
“You know every secret passage in this place?”
“I lived here longer than you think.”
Behind them, gunfire grew louder.
Samir appeared moments later.
Blood on his sleeve.
“Noura?”
Laila asked.
Samir’s face hardened.
“She went with Kareem.”
Maya frowned.
“She chose him?”
“No.”
Samir shook his head.
“He called her a traitor.”
Everyone went still.
“What?”
“He threatened her.”
Maya remembered Noura’s strange behavior.
The fear.
The warnings.
The phrase: You should have destroyed everything.
“What if Noura wasn’t helping Kareem?” Maya whispered.
Laila stared.
“Then what was she doing?”
Amina answered.
“Surviving him.”
The hidden door opened again.
Everyone turned.
Princess Noura stumbled inside.
Blood covered her shoulder.
Maya rushed forward.
Noura collapsed into Samir’s arms.
“He knows about the recording.”
Khalid wasn’t there.
Samir knelt beside her.
“What recording?”
Noura gasped for breath.
“Hassan’s confession.”
Maya stared.
“Where?”
Noura grabbed her wrist.
“The old clock tower.”
“Why?”
“Your mother hid a recorder there the night she died.”
Samir looked stunned.
Noura continued.
“Hassan found it after the crash. He added his own testimony.”
“Why didn’t he release it?”
“Because Kareem had Khalid surrounded.”
Maya’s pulse quickened.
“Is it still there?”
Noura nodded.
“Kareem is going for it now.”
Samir stood.
“We need Khalid.”
Noura grabbed his sleeve.
“No time.”
Maya looked toward the narrow stairs leading upward.
Then at Laila.
“You know the clock tower?”
Laila nodded.
“Unfortunately.”
Maya lifted Noura’s pistol from the floor.
Samir stared.
“You’ve never fired one.”
Maya checked the magazine.
“No.”
She looked toward the stairs.
“But I’ve spent my entire life cleaning up messes made by powerful people.”
May you like
Her eyes hardened.
“Tonight I’m trying something different.”
