Chapter 26

Ah, but my brother is King there now,’ he said, his voice hardening as he acknowledged the capricious law of succession and how it altered the lives of those who were affected by it. ‘And Zamorah became King very unexpectedly, which changed my place in the natural order of things.’

Pamela looked at him. ‘How come?’

‘Up until that moment I was just another desert Prince with the freedom to do pretty much as I wanted—but when our uncle died suddenly I became second in line to the throne. The spare.’

‘And is that so bad?’ she prompted gently.

‘Try living in a goldfish bowl and see how you like it,’ he said. ‘It means you have all the strictures of being the heir, but none of the power. My freedom was something I cherished above everything else …’ Hadn’t it been the one compensation for his lonely and isolated childhood? The fact that he hadn’t really had to account for himself? ‘And suddenly it was taken away from me. It made me want to stay away from Khoshorbhan, where I felt the people