Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 51

was the entrance into my bedroom suite. I was forced to bite my lower lip to keep from laughing, although the marriage problem tormenting Dalal was no laughing matter. After successfully stifling my urge to laugh, I asked, ‘Little Sultana, when did you arrive?’

Zain had called me earlier in the day, alerting me that she was feeling unwell, and mentioned that her toddler Feisal would be staying the night with her mother. Zain wondered if I might enjoy having Little Sultana to spend the afternoon and night with me. There was never a time since my oldest grandchild was born that I did not relish every moment spent with her. Even had I been involved in the most urgent of business, I would have dropped everything to help my daughter-in-law Zain, who confirmed what I expected, that she was feeling miserable carrying twins. She was also feeling despondent because it had been necessary for Abdullah to leave the kingdom and travel to Japan for business. She did not like being without my son, even for only a few days at this particular time, and I fully understood her feelings. From what I knew of a pregnancy with twins, the mother was easily exhausted.

‘Nanny Edna, Chanel and I were delivered by the driver,’ Little Sultana told me in her very precious but serious voice. ‘Edna is putting Chanel down for her nap.’ Little Sultana explained to Sara, ‘Chanel is still a baby and must have three naps a day.’ She looked at her phone to check the time. ‘I believe that I am twenty minutes earlier than scheduled, Jaddati (my grandmother).’

My gaze met that of Sara. I knew from the expression in her eyes she was thinking my exact thoughts. Little Sultana’s maturity was remarkable.

Little Sultana puckered her brow in serious thought. ‘If I am annoying anyone, I can have an ice cream while I wait. I will invite Edna and Chanel to have one too, because sometimes I interrupt Chanel’s naps. Or I can read a book to Chanel while I am waiting.’ She smiled. ‘I have a number of options.’

Since she was a toddler, Little Sultana had been the biggest fan of the snazzy ice-cream parlour Kareem had built near to the indoor swimming pool. It was brightly coloured, with fun wall paintings of well-known children’s characters from books, and there were various video games installed around the room, as well as a corner bookstore stocked with picture books for the youngest of the grandchildren, with more suitable books for adolescents. There were endless possibilities for entertainment in the ice-cream parlour and, now, with Little Sultana’s visit, I knew Sara and I would have to continue our conversation later.

‘Darling, you will do no such thing! Whatever would make you think you could annoy anyone in this house? Never! Never! I will not hear of you having an ice cream without us. Your auntie Sara and I will enjoy an ice cream with you.’

Sara obviously felt the same as I did. ‘Indeed! An ice-cream treat sounds delicious!’

My granddaughter’s bright smile was worth any interruption. With Little Sultana walking along between us, we three made our way through the palace.

Little Sultana suddenly paused, telling us, ‘I am sorry that I listened to your conversation, Jadda, but I did not believe a child should interrupt what seemed to be a serious conversation. While I waited for you to finish, my ears could not avoid hearing what you said.’

I stooped to give my cherished granddaughter a quick kiss on her forehead. ‘Do not worry, precious, but try to forget what you heard. You know that your father will be unhappy with me if he knew you had overheard conversations that were meant for adults only.’

‘I will keep the secret, Jadda.’ She pondered for a moment before continuing in a very stern tone, ‘But if I were Queen Sultana, I would make it a law that all men who mistreat women would never be allowed to have contact with women again. Such mean men would live only with men and work only with men and play only with men. They would have to dream of women, for they could not see them.’

‘That would be called a prison, little one,’ Sara said with a smile. ‘But, truthfully, you are right. There are a lot of men who are walking freely who should be confined.’

I nodded. ‘A fine idea, indeed, Little Sultana. Perhaps that one law would solve a lot of problems. But do not forget your promise. You will keep this secret, that you accidentally listened in on our adult conversation, all right?’

I was stressing the point due to genuine concern for my son’s reaction. When Little Sultana was only six years old, she had accidentally overheard an adult conversation when I was discussing an upsetting problem regarding a male abuser. A large part of the conversation centred around sexual abuse. My normally mild-mannered son had reacted with anger when his daughter began asking him inappropriate questions about a subject she should have known nothing about. Abdullah, astute as always, traced the conversation back to me and, despite the fact he knew that nothing had been told to his daughter intentionally, he was adamant that I should carefully guard my tongue, and the tongues of my assistants, if there was any chance that his young daughter was on the premises. I had been warned!

Now, once again, fate had placed my granddaughter where she was privy to a conversation that was inappropriate for her age.

‘I already promised, Jadda. I will keep my promise.’

‘We could use such a queen as this little one,’ Sara said with a chuckle.

‘Who is queen of Saudi Arabia, Auntie Sara?’

‘Little Sultana, I am sorry to tell you that there is no queen in this country.’

My granddaughter abruptly stopped walking. ‘No queen?’

‘No queen, sweetheart. No. No. No. There is no queen in our kingdom.’

‘But we have a king. Do not all kings have queens to help them?’ She thought for a moment. ‘Like