Anxiety stood no chance against the cocky ease in his expression. Its spark was like a snapshot to the past, undoubtedly more familiar to older versions of himself. Her heart thudded even as the right side of her brain demanded she collect more information.
“When did you learn how to fly?” she asked. Somehow it didn’t seem politic for the nation’s future King to have engaged in such a risky recreational activity.
His grin stretched wider, and she had the distinct impression that she was going to be even more shocked by his response.
“When I was fifteen.”
“Fifteen?” Mina sputtered. “That can’t be legal!”
He shrugged, obviously enjoying her shock, before asking insouciantly, “What’s ‘legal’ to the King?”
“I should hope a lot. And you weren’t the King then,” she pointed out.
He shrugged. “What’s legal to the Queen?”
“The Queen let you fly planes at fifteen?”
He laughed at the incredulity in her voice and nodded. “She did. Insisted, in fact.”
“That doesn’t seem very safe...”
Zayn tsked. “That’s awfully judgmental of you, Dr. Aldaba.”
She shook her head. “Reasonable. You were the only heir to the throne.”
“As you are about to entrust your health and wellbeing to my flying, I’d have to beg to argue that it’s incredibly safe. I never would have imagined that you, Dr. Amina Aldaba, youngest scholar ever nominated for the King’s council and barrier-breaking pioneer, were so old-fashioned.”
Instead of stinging, his words brought a smile to her face. He wasn’t throwing her lost dreams in her face—he was teasing her. The idea filled her with an unfamiliar feeling of warmth.
“I am an excellent pilot, if you’re worried,” he added.
She looked up to meet his violet gaze, saying with complete honesty, “I have no doubt you are excellent at everything you do.”
Her words hung in the suddenly charged air between them. She hadn’t meant them as anything but a straightforward observation, but somehow, in the atmosphere of it being just she and the King together, the words throbbed with innuendo.
Clearing his throat, the King said, “Glad to know I have your confidence. Now, if we’re ever going to arrive, I’d better get this bird in the air.”
He left her in the cabin with a nod, heading into the cockpit and closing the door between them with a decisive click.
Mina took her seat and clicked the seat belt, though there was no light to indicate she needed to do so in the luxurious interior. Alone, without the presence of her husband to absorb her focus, she had more time to examine every element of takeoff.
Fortunately, their transition from thousands of pounds in weight of land-bound metal to weightless flying creature was buttery-smooth. Better, she had to acknowledge, than any commercial flight she’d ever been on.
The first twenty minutes of the flight were smooth and clear, with the island soon coming into sight. Sooner than she would have imagined. Given the height and angle of the plane to the island, and the lack of any visible infrastructure, she was surprised when they banked toward a gorgeous long stretch of sandy beach.
Her geometry was rusty, but a frown came to her brow as they began what felt like a descent right on to the beach. There was no runway in sight.
She entered the cockpit to find the King ramrod-straight in the pilot’s seat, gripping the wheel with what was surely an unnecessary amount of muscle. His neck was tense and his entire being was focused on guiding the plane toward the beach ahead of them.
She looked once more from the King to the beach, and then back to the King again.
“We’re having to make an emergency landing on that beach, aren’t we?” she asked as if she had been asking about the weather. Her nerves felt strangely numb as she took in the situation, while her mind, well-muscled and rigorously disciplined, processed the data.
“We are.”
He didn’t look at her. He shouldn’t and she didn’t really want him to. She wanted him to land the plane. With all her heart, as it turned out. It took only one stark moment for her to realize that she wanted her life—even if it consisted of tattered dreams and ill-suited roles.
“I was afraid of that.” She was far too calm for the situation going on around them. She recognized that, and knew that it suggested she was in shock. In a mild haze, she asked, “What can I do?”