Dedicated to DanGarrettAuthor .

At first the air was thick with a heavy silence as Tarek was contemplating the correct words to say so as not to offend his brother. He understood how important this news was, and what it could mean if the council heard of it. The repercussions of it could prove to be devastating – to Tarek and the Royal family nonetheless.

"We must keep this solely between us. No one else must know of your...sexual preferences. If any of the council members got wind of this, they would have my head, easily ousting me from my seat on the council. I honestly feel that I am walking on a tightrope, mother. I know my responsibilities are great, especially for the women of our kingdom. They need a voice on the council, and I think it should be you. And now with this situation involving my own brother – my own flesh and blood,  we must tread lightly and carefully on this subject. It requires tactful persuasion..." Tarek finally spoke.

"But...does this mean...you approve?" Aamir gasped, looking towards Helena for comfort.

"I'm not sure what to think right now, Aamir, but whatever you do, you have my support, even if I am still trying to understand your feelings towards this other man – Alexander. But, I promise you, I will try..." Tarek nodded, grasping his sibling's hand. "Thank Allah, no one on the council really knows what we look like..." Tarek mentioned.

"What? Not even Faisal, your most trusted advisor?" their mother sat, paused mid-fork, shocked.

"Not even Faisal" Tarek nodded.

"But how on earth is this possible?" Helena interrogated her eldest son, noting that once the servants had left them alone, did the two men adjust their keffiyeh, revealing their faces, and not just their eyes.

"Father forbade it, insisting that our identities were held sacred according to certain laws governing mixed children, especially in our case. Being partly American, he was worried that we would be frowned upon. Only our nurse, Amani was ever allowed to bathe us when we were still very young, after you had left. But even after that, we attended parties wearing our keffiyeh, hiding our facial features at all times. Not even Sheila was allowed to see us without it. Sheila may have helped Amani with certain things, but Amani would never allow her to administer any medicines to us when we were ill. Father made sure of it " Tarek added.

"Now I understand. I'm so glad Amani was there for you both. Again, I'm sorry I walked out on you. I never meant to leave you. If I had my way, I would have taken you both with me. I hated the fact that your father had given me such a horrible choice to make, and that I wasn't allowed to leave with you both. I have failed you, my sons! Please forgive me!" Helena's face became suddenly streaked with tears as she looked at both her boys across the table.

Both Tarek and Aamir's hands shot out in instinct, grasping hers, as they gazed upon their beloved mother. She had aged so much since then, and her sorrows displayed themselves in weary eyes. Both men found their chests constricting at the thoughts they had harboured angrily when she seemingly abandoned them, even though it was within reason at the time.

"What do you mean by...now you understand?" I asked her, curious as to her sudden quietness.

"Amani would secretly send me photos of you both without your father's knowledge. It was her way of helping me keep tabs on your progress as you were growing up" She smiled through her tears.

"You mean, all the time Amani was taking photographs of us in fun, she was sending them secretly to you?" they balked.

"Yes, my loves, she was. I owe her my thanks. I kept sending stuff for you both...books, clothes, toys...things your father never wanted you to have as children..." She admitted.

"My first camera...was it you who sent it?" Aamir meekly asked her.

"Yes, my dearest boy. I saw the artistry in you when Amani showed me your drawings..." She beamed at her youngest.

"And my very first football...It was from you, wasn't it?" Tarek had tears in his eyes when he confronted Helena in a loving manner.

"Yes, my eldest son" She stood and came over to them, kissing their temples.

"You were always present in our lives, even though not physically as you are here now, but in these things, Amani brought to us. They were all from you" Aamir stood up and embraced her.

"Of course! I couldn't leave my boys without the necessary amenities..." She grinned, ruffling their hair as if they were children again.

Then they all laughed and sat down again, enjoying pie and ice cream, thanks to their mother, who had secretly stashed gallons of the treat in the freezer of the royal carrier.

"So, all throughout high school and college, Tarek...you kept your face hidden, as a woman hides under a burka?" Helena was totally mesmerized by the fact that both Tarek and Aamir had managed to get away with it.

"Oh yes, since we were both royalty, no one would question our eccentricities as they would describe it. The fact that we both kept hidden helped us get away with lots of things. Since no one knew what we looked like, we could dress as ordinary students and continue on with our studies like normal kids" Aamir explained, "which is why I'm doing that now..."

It finally dawned on her that Aamir was doing exactly the same thing now at the university. Being incognito had its' perks, and he was experiencing college life with unbridled freedom, as a normal student would, without anyone questioning where he truly came from.

"Now I understand as to why you did it, and why both of you insisted on studying in normal schools and not private ones...Amani had mentioned this to me, and you caused a bit of an argument between your father and yourselves I gather..." Helena nodded, pondering on the entire situation, while looking at it through newfound wisdom.

"Exactly, mother" Tarek smiled widely, "We just wanted to be treated normally. Just imagine if we entered in, flaunting all our wealth and position as the others had done before us, always being bowed to, getting away with anything. Luckily, father insisted on it."

"I absolutely refuse to condone such offensive behaviour as some of the princes had done in the past, and are still doing...today...by using their wealth to get away...even with murder..." Tarek continued as Aamir observed his brother's handsome features suddenly contort into one of anger and contempt as he spat the words out.

"You are quite right, my son. It was shocking to hear of Hassan's untimely death, and yet his family did well to cover it up" Helena recalled the memory of the son of a very dear friend of the family, having struggled with life abroad.

"Hassan was just a few years older. He was closer in age to Tarek, mother" Aamir realized, noting that he had been the brother of one of their closest friends, and who had gone to the States to study, only finding himself in deep trouble – drug abuse, womanising and getting in league with some scrupulous characters who did nothing but tempt the young Hassan. He had been found after one of his many infamous parties, passed out dead, most likely from substance abuse or alcohol, or a mixture of both.

These old archaic ways had tied many of the younger generations down, who, upon choosing to enjoy their lives with wanton abandon, while studying overseas, ended up either in debt or very much dead, like Hassan.

It was overwhelmingly due to the fact that those of their age were never truly given any social freedoms. Saddled with responsibilities either as royals or those of higher social status, they all had to keep up with appearances. Once away from their families, and allowed to let their hair down, most of the young socialites would get too caught up in the frivolity of it all.

Aamir planned never to get into that situation, no matter whether his friends or schoolmates goaded him. He was not old-fashioned by any means, but both he and Tarek had witnessed the sadness that had befallen their friends upon hearing of Hassan's death. It was a time of mourning, and now he had to concentrate on his own duties as Crown Prince, second only to his brother, the King, but still keep up the appearances as a regular student at Stanford.

It was not an easy task. After the official period of mourning was over, Helena promised to stay on for another two weeks, while Aamir departed for California, leaving his beloved brother with his most trusted advisor, Faisal, to deal with the council.

He would not have left his brother's side, if it was not Tarek himself who persuaded him to return to his studies in the United States, and that these studies were important to his future career. In fact, one of the princes of another royal family, had become famous, not because of his family's wealth nor status, but of his own doing, as a fashion designer. Aamir, too, hoped, that he would be able to pursue his own dreams.

So, once the young prince was back on American soil, he returned to being just Khalil, a Middle-Eastern American student, as he was dropped off just outside the gates by Mohammed and his security team.

Aamir genuinely looked forward to seeing Alexander again...