38

"Salim? Anything positive?" Zayed asked as soon as his elder cousin brother came into the council room.

"No. Mother was behaving rather oddly" Salim said with a confused frown

"Odd as in?" Basim asked

"I don't know. She was refusing my claims on her people being behind the abduction. She wouldn't let me even talk" Salim said with an exasperated sigh

"Your highness" the three of them looked towards the source of the voice and found their security team head, Hyder looking at them with a determined face.

"Hyder, speak" Salim ordered

"We found them. The kids are kept hostage at an abandoned warehouse near the Bedouin tents. About twenty miles west, exactly" Hyder said

"What about the force?" Zayed asked

"Already set in motion. There are more than thirty of our men already around the warehouse. Waiting for my order to move in" Hyder said

"I need to be there" Zayed said

"Sure Your Highness. It is advisable to take your horse. That would keep us from alerting them" Hyder suggested.

"Right. We are also coming. There is no way we are going to stand by and watch when our nephews and niece are in

danger" Basim said, gritting his teeth.

"Let's keep the women in the dark for the meanwhile. Aveline will be stubborn to come along, if she comes to know" Zayed said and the three men walked out to rescue the future heirs of Zidra


****

Zahir gasped in delight when he heard the gunshot.

"It's begun. Our game has begun" he cried excitedly and his siblings followed his excitement by clapping their hands.

"What should we do now?" Zada asked their obvious leader, Zahir

"We need to run," Zahir said and took hold of both his siblings' hands with each of his.


****

Everything happened before the kidnappers could comprehend what was happening.

The lady, Nilofer, was handcuffed and taken to a vehicle under Hyder's team.

So were her accomplices.

The kidnappers remained tight-lipped about who was the mastermind behind the kidnap and Salim ordered them to be locked in the palace prisons.

Zayed gathered his kids into his arms who

twisted and turned in their father's hold, trying to spot the camera crew.

"When will our movie come on the television?" Zahir asked impatiently, making the elders confused.

****

It has been a week since the kidnapping fiasco. Ava could still remember the terror of those hours when her babies went missing. It still gives her nightmares.

The people involved in the kidnap were kept locked in the palace prisons. But the people were adamant on not talking. They are too loyal to their master. The lady, Nilofer tried to attempt suicide, but was saved at the right time. Now the security has been increased for watching their

every movement.

Among all these happenings, Zayed has been avoiding her all these days.

He is cooped up in the room next to theirs for hours and hours, comes out only when Basim keeps nagging him by calling him on his phone to come out for food.

What he is doing there is a mystery?

Yesterday night she saw many workers bringing multiple boxes and carrying it into the room where Zayed has locked himself up.

He doesn't let anyone near the room. Not even his dear brothers.

Zahir being Zahir, tried to sneak up into the

room once when Zayed came out for lunch. But he got caught as Zayed somehow sensed it seeing the innocent smile Zahir gave him few minutes before, which is totally unusual.

So she couldn't contain her curiosity and excitement when Zayed asked her and the kids to come into the room in half an hour.

"Momma?? What do you think is there in the room??" Zada asked her curiously

"Do you think he is doing some black magic there??" Zahir asked, making up a dramatic story of his own.

"What if it is a dungeon? And he wants to lock us there because we don't like him??" Zian asked

"But he likes us. So he won't do that, would he Momma??" Zada asked frowning, making her grin.

"So you do like him huh??" Ava asked her daughter, smiling cheekily and the little girl turned pink at being caught.

"He is not that bad. He got me a Rapunzel doll" Zada said with a shrug

"He got me the dinosaur toy" Zian said

"What about you Zahir?? What did he get you??"

"He got me that big car in which I can sit and ride around" Zahir said proudly

"So you all like papa now because he brought your favorite things, huh??" Ava

asked

"He doesn't make you sad anymore" Zian said

Before she could reply to that, her phone binged indicating a call from Zayed

"Aveline" she felt his husky voice like a caress over her skin

"Yes Zayed"

"You can come in now" He said and hung up without waiting for her reply.

"Come on babies. Let's go and see what is in there" She said and ushered her kiddos to the next room.

She knocked on the door


"Not locked Aveline. You can come in" came his voice from inside the room.

She opened the door and it was dark and they could see little stars illuminating the ceiling.

"Wow" the kids said in unison.

"Switch on the lights" Zayed said, taking hold of Aveline's hand in the dark.

She did as said and was stunned to see what is in front of her.

Zada shrieked in excitement and her brothers too did the same and kept jumping around the room.

It was the most beautiful room a five year

old could ask for.

On one wall there was a mural painting of Rapunzel in the center and stickers of all other Disney Princesses covered the rest of the wall.

Another wall has a mural painting of a dinosaur in the center with stickers of other animals around it.

And on the third wall there is a mural painting of a red ferrari in the center with stickers of other cars all around.

And there were three princess cots in the center of the room.

"Did you do the murals, Zayed??" She asked, her voice breaking at each word.

"Yeah"

"Was that what you were doing all week" she asked emotionally. Her mother in law had said that he had given up everything related to art. Now she felt overwhelmed to know that their kids were able to bring it back for him.

"I wanted the best for them"

"So how do you like your new room chipmunks??" Zayef asked gaining the attention of his kids and they gave him a brilliant smile in return

"So get into your pajamas soon so that you can sleep in your new room" Zayed declared

"Momma, my pajamas" Zahir yelled in

excitement and ran out of the room followed by his siblings....

Ava narrowed her eyes at her husband and he shrugged innocently.