After speaking to her mother on the phone, Tatyana took her bag and her camera for a bit of sight-seeing. She knew she could not stay any longer therefore; she would use her last day to visit some of the kingdom’s most beautiful sights.

The kingdom looked more beautiful as Tatyana took time to explore it and appreciate its people and unique cultures. The food had never once disappointed her taste buds and the people had never passed without smiling at her. Tatyana walked through the busy markets, the smell of scented perfumes and spices greeted her, and she felt invited.

Traders filled the market as they bargained off their precious goods and people scrambling for it, both modern and traditional pieces were up for sale. Tatyana stood at a particular stall where a woman sold the most beautiful sculptures that Tatyana had ever set her eyes on.

“How much is this?” Tatyana asked the young woman, who smiled at her and named her price. Tatyana took a few notes from her bag and the young woman handed the miniature statue of the elephant.

“Thank you” Tatyana thanked the young woman. She walked away from the store whilst carefully studying the miniature figurine, the figure painted in gold paint and other parts of it painted in different colors.

Tatyana had been walking for nearly an hour when she stopped in front of the palace, her toes began tingling, a sign that she needed to find out what was in there and who was in there. She was aware that the king had passed on and that the palace was mourning his death but that did not stop her from wanting to find out what the interior looked like.

“You are not going in there,” Tatyana told herself, hoping that this would discourage her from walking close to the palace. Tatyana began walking away but she stopped and turned, the gates of the palace was now opening and before long it was wide open.

Within no time, five heavily armored Jeeps drove into the palace, leaving just enough time for Tatyana to run in without notice. She slipped into the palace grounds whilst all the guards occupied themselves with someone that Tatyana could not make out who it was. She snuck through the back the bushes and made sure that she kept away from eye view.

Her heart still pumping in her chest as she thought of all the things that could happen to her if she were to be caught by any of the guards, she tried turning back but she stopped. Now that things were clearer, Tatyana could see the beauty of the palace. Up close the palace was not as white as it appeared to be but rather it was cream in color, the garden was the most beautiful that she had ever.

The garden had beautiful garden had statues of different figures, some Tatyana could make out and some she could not but even more it was beautiful. She touched each of them and surely, the stones carved out of white marble and the texture was smooth without a bump.

She took out her camera from her bag and she took pictures of the beautiful scenery, making sure that she stayed out of sight. Now the fear was gone and she continued discovering more of the palace and even stopping to take a break and eating her snacks whilst sitting on the grass with the tree covering her from view.

It was now more than two hours since she had snuck into the palace, she gathered her things as she was ready to leave, these pictures that she had taken would serve as a lovely souvenir.

“Guards, Guards! Intruder alert, there is a threat to heir’s life!” Someone yelled out from the palace balcony and when Tatyana looked up, there was a woman yelling and her eyes focused on her. Tatyana knew that she had been spotted and immediately she took off running.

**

Her arrival to her hotel room was a fresh breath of relief, she was lucky that none of the guards had caught up to her and she was happy that she slid into the small opening before the gates shut.

Tatyana paced her room, only this made her more anxious than she was before this until she stopped. She walked to her closet, grabbed her cloths and threw them into her suitcase. As beautiful as the kingdom was, she would not risk going to jail all for the sake of a few pictures.

Finally, she was done with her packing and all that she had to do was try and sleep this off, no one could have possibly seen her face and that gave Tatyana enough hope to know that she would be okay.

“Tatyana, relax because you would be okay” She gave herself a pep talk, hoping that it would calm her down.

**

The next morning

Tatyana was most thankful for leaving the hotel room without any trouble and she tried hiding her anxiousness away. The car ride to the airport was by far the most stressful that Tatyana had ever been in, because Tatyana spent it scanning the roads for any signs of security or anyone that could arrest her.

“Madam, is everything alright?” The driver asked her and this made Tatyana step out of her mental state. She flashed a smiled at the driver, hoping that it would be enough to avoid any suspicions.

“Yes I am fine. I am just sad that I would be leaving the country so soon” Tatyana lied, in fact she was more than pleased to escape with her life.

“That is such a shame, in four days’ time there would be a coronation and you would miss it,” The driver informed her and that had actually caught her attention.

“Oh that’s nice, is that why there were rows of cars entering the palace?” Tatyana asked the driver.

“Yes, how did you know that?” The driver asked her and this made her panic.

“Oh! I was passing by when the cars drove into the palace” She half told the truth, hoping that it would be enough to subdue the driver from asking further questions.

“That is good. Madam we have arrived” The driver announced as the car came to a stop right in front of the airport.

“Thank you” Tatyana thanked the driver, without waiting for him to help her. She jumped out, grabbed her bags and ran into the airport building. Her flight was due in thirty minutes and she would make sure that she was on the flight before anyone got to her.

As she got into the building, someone tapped her on her shoulders, she froze, afraid to turn around and see whom it was.

“Madam, you had forgotten your hand bag inside my car” She head the drivers voice and she turned around, luckily for her he handed Tatyana her handbag.

“Thank you so much” Tatyana thanked the driver who handed her the bag and left. Tatyana sat on a chair at the airport, taking her time to clear her mind. She knew that she was in a messy state and she had to get her mind together as soon as possible.

Without knowing it, she felt a tear run down her cheeks and she quickly wiped it away. What had begun as a business trip had turned into a nightmare and she wished that she could wake up from it. She took a deep breath in and exhaled, assuring herself that everything else would be okay.

Tatyana got up from her chair and straightened herself, she then made her way to her flight when two police officers approached her and stopped her.

“Good day madam” one of the officers greeted her and this time Tatyana kept her cool, mentally telling herself that she did nothing wrong.

“Yes officers, how may I help you?” Tatyana asked them, making sure that she smiled the entire time.

“We need to see you at our office,” The other officer informed her.

“Well I am sorry officers but my plane is about to leave” Tatyana answered them, hoping that this would force the officers to leave her alone.

“I am sorry madam but we have been sent to fetch you and bring you to our office”

“What would happen if I miss my flight?” Tatyana tried one last time.

“Do not worry about that madam; you will be placed on a different flight with no extra charges. Please come with us,” the first officer told her. Tatyana swallowed the lump in her throat and she nodded her head in agreement.

She followed both officers into a room, they gave her a chair to sit down and she placed her handbag onto a table. Both officers left the room, a cold feeling travelled through Tatyana’s body, something was wrong and she knew what it was.

The door swung open, two female officers walked in, and neither of them were smiling.

“Good afternoon Ms. Johnson” One of the female officers greeted her, all this without a smile on her face.

“Good afternoon, may I know why I am being brought here? I have a flight to get to and I might miss it” Tatyana informed them but neither women seemed interested. The second female officer reached for her bag and began searching the contents within it.

“Hey, you cannot touch my bag without my permission!—” Tatyana yelled but she soon stopped and her eyes widened. She was old enough to know what it was that the police officer had pulled out of her bag, in the female officers hands was a small see though plastic bag with white powder in it.

The female police officer looked up and smiled at Tatyana, who was till shocked at what it was that she was seeing.

“That— that’s not mine” Tatyana stuttered but she was smart enough to know how these things went.

“I am sure it is not, would you mind telling me how these drugs got into your bag?” The officer asked her. Tatyana did not know where to begin; she knew that she was not one to deal with drugs but she could not explain how it had gotten into her bag.

“Ms. Johnson I believe I am asking you a question” The officer asked her. Tatyana kept thinking of how it was that the drugs had made its way into her bag, but then it hit her, the driver.

“The driver!” She yelled out.

“Driver?” The female officer asked her and Tatyana nodded her head, it could be none other than the driver.

“Yes, the driver. He brought me to the airport but I had forgotten my bag and he brought it to me,” Tatyana confessed but it seemed as though none of the officers believed a word that she had said.

“So what you are saying is that these drugs are not yours?” The officer asked her and Tatyana nodded her head in agreement.

“Okay, so do you have the license plate of the driver?” Officer asked her and this question left Tatyana dumb struck. Her eyes paced the interior of the room, trying to think of how she could come up with the number plate of the car.

“Yes, my phone! I used a metered taxi and his details were sent to my phone before he came to collect me and those details are on my phone, the same phone that is in my handbag” Tatyana informed them, sensing a sign of hope for herself.

The female officer looked through the bag trying to find the phone; she paused and then looked at Tatyana. She took the bag and flung it towards Tatyana and it landed on the table.

“There is no phone inside your bag” The officer said plainly and this left Tatyana feeling lost, she took her bag from the table and searched through it and her phone was nowhere to be found.

“I am not lying to you, my phone was inside my handbag and I placed it in there myself,” Tatyana told them.

The female police officer rolled her eyes at Tatyana and pulled out her handcuffs.

“Ms. Johnson you are being arrested on drug charges, which a crime in the kingdom of Najam Alsabah. You are being arrested, you will be charged fairly and given a lawyer to defend yourself if need be” the female officer informed her, Tatyana was cuffed and taken out of the room.