I am astounded knowing my father has the power to save or destroy my happiness and there was absolutely nothing I can do to influence him now. I lifted my hand in appeal but my father was and is a hard man and my fear was like a hot coal in my mouth as my soul tried to jump right out of my body in total fear. I was going to lose the man I love. My eyes went over to him hungry to feast on his face, I wanted to drink in his essence as my heart was being ripped apart by the very notion Jason could die. "No, no he cannot die, please father punish me, me , here father please look I ask you for a transference of punishment to be me according to our law I can be punished for his sake
" I shouted loud enough my father has to be able to hear me.
"You insolent woman so disobedient and full of yourself, you are both guilty and both of you will be severely punished, be patient and wait your turn will come", my father says surprisingly calmly. The grand vizier who is sitting next to my father looking for all the world like a ruler himself is whispering something into my father's ear and I cannot for the life of me think what he could be saying to him apart from the method he thinks we should die by. I have not prayed to a benevolent God as much as now I think in my mind I wish I had never been born .
What my father says next is so strange I wondered if I had gone to another world and been reborn. He says "You Antineba will be sentenced to marry your accomplice Jason Masters we need you to run the desert Kingdom of Kalabash. It is next to Persia and it is maybe the driest place on earth ." After my father pronounced our wedding everything went in clockwork as a speedy wedding took place. I should have known something was wrong the minute the meddling Grand vizier spoke in whispers to my father. I should have known he was behind this wedding and I will be punished as his smirking smile and evil glint in his eyes showed me his sinister plan was in motion.
Jason was saying no he will not marry me even if I was the last person on earth but the grand vizier tells him his family will all be exterminated immediately if he does not comply with the wishes of the king, more his wishes I think to myself. I am standing here now dressed up in wedding clothes and being forced to marry the man I love but not under these circumstance ,how can I do this, how can I marry someone who is angry with me. It then strikes me clear as daylight this is the reason he is having fun watching me suffer and seeing Jason's hatred of me is his reward but a quick death will spoil his fun.
What can he get out of my pain , but I had no idea how much I would still have to suffer as the humiliation of my wedding night was to become a public display. The wedding tent was next to the event of the wedding itself and in less than a day we were married and placed in this tent and told to procreate or else...
I was nervous about being alone with Jason and he had a angry look on his face that showed me exactly how he felt about what is happening here but what can I do. We have I whisper to him and he grabs me by my hair as he says "Why does it have to be you Antineba? I would have died for my Camileta but not you" he choakinly says with a horse voice.