Forbidden attraction (The stars book 3)

 *Zara*  I am walking through one of the long palads hallways. It is quiet and rather cool here at this time of day and I enjoy being alone, soon the dry heat will sneak in here too. Every step I take is weighed down by the emptiness that is my life.  "Zara ? Zara where are you ?" I hear a loud whisper and soft running footsteps quickly coming closer. I immediately know it is Sada, my only friend here, a servant girl a little younger than myself.  I stop and wait for her to catch up with me. "Morning Sada, why are you in such a hurry ?"  "Haven't you heard ? There is a real movie crew coming here, they are going to use the grounds and the palace for an actual Hollywood movie. The prince has invited the stars to stay here in the palace. Laila told me, she has been getting the rooms ready. Isn't it just exciting ?" She is clapping her hands, bouncing on the spot.  I sigh, honestly I don't get this fuss. "Should it be ? They are just men aren't they ? I never noticed anything exciting about men. We have more than enough of those here already, I don’t feel we need more".  "But these are different from the men here. They are American and they are actors". Sada is sounding very convinced. "They are tall, handsome and educated".  I shake my head. "Why would that make them any different ? They are men and they surely do as they wish and treat women like nothing, just like every other man".  "Come on Zara, don't be such a bore. I am sure it will be exciting". Sada sounds disappointed by my lack of enthusiasm. “I have heard they respect women in America”.  I start walking again. "Well, at least it's something new, a change. That is a rather rare thing around here. But I will probably be kept away from it all, they are men after all".  "Oh... yeah, I hadn't thought about that. Imad is always so scared another man could look at you wrongly". Sada says, reaching out to squeeze my arm. “He is very protective of you”. She looks around nervously. "I better get back to work".  Despite everything, I can't help being a bit curious. It is not often we get westerners in the palace and I rarely get to go anywhere. So I make my way back to my room and ask my old nanny Nara. "Have you heard we will have guests from America soon ?"  The little old lady seems to always know everything happening in and around the palace. She has been my nanny since I was born, and when I was married off to prince Imad Al Din Abadi, he had allowed me to bring her with me as my personal servant and caretaker.  "Well all I know is that they are from Hollywood and 3 of them are going to stay here in the palace, the director and two male stars. The rest will stay in a tent and caravan city by the oasis". She tells me with a near toothless smile.  Even though I already know the answer, I still just have to ask. "And what about the female stars ? Don't they have any of those in the movie ?"  "Oh probably, but not in your husbands eyes. To him women don't count on the same level as men. He would never see a woman as a star". She is nudging me over to sit on a chair and start brushing my long black hair.  I wish that I had been born some other place in the world, where things were not like here. Somewhere where my feelings and opinions mattered. Somewhere where I would not have been married to a fifty year old man at the age of 19 against my will.  I have been married for four years now, and by comparison I guess I could have had a worse man. He is a prince and he is rich beyond belief. I am only his second wife and so far he has never been physically abusive with me.  But he has started getting rather disappointed with me for not having given him a son... or even a daughter for that matter. Not getting pregnant makes me a failure as a woman and wife. *Dean*  "Do you think he has like… a real harem, with fifty beautiful women in skimpy clothes laying around on pillows ?" Joel asks, loading his bag into the jeep.  We have just arrived in Saudi Arabia, and the heat is almost choking. Walking out of the airport was like walking into a sauna, fully dressed. To make it worse, we have about three hours by jeep before we'll get to the palace where we are staying.  I look at him shaking my head but grinning. I don't think anyone has harems anymore. And didn't people like get castrated for even looking at them or something ?"  The movie we are here to shoot takes place in the desert of a made up country, one of the writers is like a third nephew of the prince or something and he had gotten us permission to shoot the movie here for authenticity.  Me and Joel and the director Scott are going to live in the palace itself. I had wanted to decline the invitation, when I was told that the female star of the movie was not invited. But I was told that I couldn't, apparently it would be a great insult towards our host.  "s**t this is horrid". I wipe off my forehead, sweat already beading there. "I thought I was used to the heat from LA, but this is crazy. I really hope the jeeps have air conditioning".  I jump into the back seat of one of the jeeps. Joel and I are going in one of the jeeps and Scott is going in the other one with the prince's cousin. The rest of the cast and crew are going in two big busses.  I look out the window at the barren beautiful pasning by. So far everything seems very exotic and I have to admit that I am a bit excited to be in such a different country.