“I wish I could take the pain away for you. I hope Kiral is right. I know he was for me. I hope your pain fades, one day.”
He made a noise and forced a smile to his face. It was weak. “This is a depressing conversation. I’m sorry.”
“What for?” Jalilah whispered. “For sharing more with me than anyone ever has?”
He stroked her hair, pushing it back from her face. “You say things like that and it makes me feel a thousand sadnesses for you. Your life is so lonely. How do you face it?”
“It’s my life,” she said with a shrug. She kissed his lips, relishing their closeness. “It’s all I know.”
“Well, not quite.”
“Oh?” She snuggled beside him again, loving the way she fit so well into the crook of his arm.
“Now you know ice-cold cabins in the middle of nowhere.”
“And burly men with hearts of gold,” she quipped, lacing her fingers through his.
“Is there someone else I should be looking out for?” He demanded with mock jealousy and she laughed.
“I meant you, of course.”
“Ah, of course.” He squeezed her shoulder. “And I know now that beautiful princesses in turrets can still be rescued, even in the twenty first century.”
“Though thank heavens we didn’t need my hair to swing us to safety,” she murmured contemplatively.
“Rope was far better.”
“Yes.” She squeezed his hand. “It’s almost impossible to imagine going back. Do you think it is safe yet?”
Will thought guiltily of the phone in his car. The phone he should have checked once a day since they’d arrived but that he’d been ignoring lest it contain news that it was, in fact, safe for them to return.
“Probably better to wait,” he dissembled. “You’ll have to put up with me a bit longer.”
“Well, it is very tough to spend time with you,” she joked. “But it does have some perks.”
* * *
For three blissful days he ignored it.
The burning accusation in his mind. Check the phone. Check the phone.
More than enough time had elapsed for Abdim to have been brought to justice and the matter to have been sufficiently dealt with. Had personal feelings not intervened, he would have checked his phone on their second day in the forest.
But the phone was the pathway to reality, and reality was an end-point for what they were sharing. She had asked if it was safe, and he knew he couldn’t ignore the truth forever.
Kiral would be beside himself. With no communication from Will besides a hasty notification that they’d arrived safely, he would be desperate to know more about Jalilah’s fate.
Jalilah.
Will turned his gaze thoughtfully towards the cabin. In the pale dawn light, it rose like a mystical house from amongst the trees. She was asleep inside, her dark hair shimmering like a skein across the pale bedlinen. She reminded him of a fairy-tale princess, rather than a real-world one. She looked like a mix between Snow White and Cinderella. He’d held her all night, and when he flicked his phone to life he understood why. He had known, on some level, that it would be their last night together.
He’d been steeling himself for this, the inevitable goodbye.
Abdim has arrived in Delani. He faces our most serious charges. Alain has appointed a new detail for my sister. I trust she has not been too burdensome for you to manage. She is rather strong-willed and does not take instruction well. Undoubtedly you are keen to return her to those paid to be patient. Alain has explained the matter to the local authorities and you need not fear facing charges of your own. You have my deepest gratitude, friend.
Will pressed back into the seat and stared straight ahead.
He couldn’t think about the emotions that were coursing through his blood. He had been asked by a friend, and a powerful man, to do a duty of service, and he had done it. Lilah was safe. The threat had passed.