Zavian rolled his eyes. “Who was she?”
Roshan grinned. “I couldn’t possibly divulge the name of the lady in question. I have her reputation to consider.”
“I think her reputation must have been the last thing on her mind if she decided to get together with you!” pointed out Amir.
Both Amir and Roshan laughed, but Zavian didn’t.
Amir noticed, and his face suddenly stilled and looked thoughtful. “You called the meeting, Zavian. What is so important that you want us to meet, not two weeks since our last meeting?”
Zavian looked first from Amir to Roshan and then back to Amir, trying to find the words he’d rehearsed in the helicopter ride from his city to here, their meeting place in the desert. But they eluded him still. How could he make sense of the emotion that had blasted into him with all the force of thekhamseen, obliterating all traces of what had gone before, since his night with Gabrielle?
Roshan pulled a face and shifted in his seat, casting a knowing glance at Amir. “Oh dear,” he said, with his characteristic insouciance, “This sounds serious.”
Amir grunted but didn’t move his gaze from Zavian. Zavian returned it in full measure. Once, as boys, they’d been fiercely competitive, but they were now close, and would take a bullet for each other. The underlying strength of their relationship remained intact.
“It is serious,” said Zavian. “I can no longer pursue marriage to the Sheikha of Tawazun.”
Amir didn’t blink, but Roshan groaned and let his head fall back against the chair. He opened his eyes slowly and stared at the dark ancient beams that intersected the white-washed plaster ceiling.
“Why?” asked Amir.
All three men had agreed to leave niceties at the door when they met, in favor of straight-talking. They’d reckoned they needed to cut to the chase with each other when there was little possibility of receiving honest, unbiased advice from anyone else. But, even so, Amir’s directness rankled.
“Because my plans have changed.”
Roshan jumped out of his seat and raked his fingers through his hair, twisting around to glance at them both. “He’s fallen in love.”
Amir frowned. “Zavian?” he said in a voice that doubted Roshan’s assertion. “Is Roshan correct?”
Zavian gripped his hands into fists and noted they were sweaty. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been afraid. Or, rather, he could. The day he realized Gabrielle had no intention of returning. He could sit through councils of war, he could stay calm in any crisis it seemed, other than ones of the heart. That, he thought, was the issue. He didn’t want to have a heart.
“Roshan is interpreting facts as they would pertain to him.”
Roshan shook his head in mock despair and came and sat at the other end of the table. “I’m stating facts, Zavian, just as we’ve always agreed to.”
“I’ve not fallen in love; I’m not in love.” He waved his hand in dismissal at the foolish notions. “These are romantic figments of your imagination, Roshan.”
Roshan grunted. “Mine and the rest of the world. Except you, apparently.”
“I repeat, love does not come into this. Is that statement enough for you?”
Roshan shrugged but didn’t look convinced.
Amir held out a hand to stop the argument. “Whether you are, or are not, is of no importance here. What is, is what plans have changed, and how they will impact us.”
Zavian nodded and rubbed his still balled fist against his lips briefly, before resting his hands on the table and eyeing first Amir and then Roshan. “The marriage cannot proceed.”
“I see,” said Amir.
Roshan’s face assumed a look of thunder, but he didn’t speak.
“And you are certain of this?”
Zavian nodded. “I am.” He licked his dry lips. “I wish to marry another.”
“I knew it!” exploded Roshan.
“This has nothing to do with love. She is simply…” He hesitated as he struggled to find the right word to describe her. “Simply the person who…” He sighed. “Who,” he repeated, hoping he’d find the words before his sentence ended, “I need…” He was still groping for the right word before he suddenly realized further words were superfluous. He’d stated the situation exactly as it was. He needed Gabrielle. He needed no one else.