He licked his lips, and then he started to speak, and Gabrielle could hardly believe her ears.
“Between what is said and not meant
And what is meant and not said
Most of love is lost.”
This was no punchy, bullet-pointed sentence, no instruction, no adamant statement. This was poetry. After he’d finished speaking, she shook her head, hardly daring to believe her ears.
“‘Most of Love is Lost’ by Gibran Khalil Gibran,” murmured Gabrielle.
Zavian nodded. “It seemed apt.” He shrugged. “I have failed, Gabrielle, to persuade you that I love you. Every time I tried, I seemed to send you further from me. I am no good with words and like the poet says, I see my love disappearing like smoke into the air, lost between words said, and words not said.” He opened his arms in a gesture of surrender. “That’s it. I have no more words to say or leave unsaid. It’s up to you to believe in my love, or else it is lost. Do you trust my love is real? That is what it comes down to.”
Gabrielle’s frown deepened, and she glanced at him, unsure now, and edgy. She nodded, too rapidly, as if trying to understand something. But still, she didn’t speak.
He smiled. “It seems you are at a loss for words, so I must continue. Without you, my life is a half-life, a life lived behind a heavy curtain, looking out at the world, but not hearing it, not feeling it, not participating in it. You’ve shown me that life cannot be lived by calculation alone. It needs heart. And you have mine.” He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. “So, you see, I cannot do without you. Because if you go, you will take my heart, and I cannot survive.”
She half-laughed, half-sobbed.
“Marry me, Gabrielle. Please, marry me. Together we can deal with whatever comes our way. We’re stronger together. We’re right together. We’re meant to be together. I feel it profoundly, deeply, here inside. Please, marry me. Will you share my life with me, will you love me, and will you bear my children, will you allow me to care for you, adore you, cherish you always, and to be obsessed by you, forever?”
“Forever is a long time,” she said with a smile.
“Too long without you. Not long enough with you.”
She grinned and shook her head.
“Marry me, Gabrielle.”
She nodded. “Yes.”
It was the only word that could emerge before his lips claimed hers for a kiss, which felt like it would go on for a thousand years… or two.
Epilogue
Zavian stood with his two friends—Amir and Roshan—watching his wedding reception come to a close. Thanks to Gabrielle and her new best friend, Ruby, Amir’s wife, the usually austere reception room had been transformed into party central, complete with lights, dance floor and balloons, courtesy of Ruby and Amir’s son, Hani.
Now, at the end of the day, some of the balloons had drifted to the marble floor. He noticed Naseer clicking his fingers for someone to take them away. He smiled to himself. No matter how fond Naseer had become of Gabrielle, he doubted Naseer would ever get used to informality in the palace.
“You certainly didn’t waste any time,” said Roshan, taking a sip of his champagne. He indicated Zavian’s advisor, Naseer. “I bet the old man wasn’t impressed with only having a month to organize the wedding.”
Zavian smiled as he remembered Naseer’s reaction. “Indeed. But he didn’t make a fuss. I think he was relieved I was getting married at all.”
“That anyone would have you,” added Amir, with a smile.
Zavian’s gaze rested on Gabrielle, who was talking with Ruby and Hani. “She nearly didn’t,” he commented.
“No,” said Roshan. “She’s far too clever to consider a wealthy, powerful king to be a good match.”
Zavian ignored Roshan’s comment. Zavian knew that, despite how sarcastic it sounded, Roshan meant it. For all his outward appearance of confidence, there was something very unconfident that sat at the heart of Roshan. Sometimes Zavian wasn’t even sure if Roshan liked himself. But he was too focused on Gabrielle to question Roshan further.
“You’re right. It had to be love,” said Zavian. “And, as it happened. I’m madly in love with her.” The words of love came easily now.
Gabrielle glowed in the soft lights, outshining any of the other women in their dazzling dresses. At that moment, Gabrielle looked up and caught his gaze. She smiled, that wonderfully warm smile, that heated his gut, and lower. He sucked in a sharp breath as he imagined taking her to bed. Their lovemaking had always been intoxicating, but in the past few weeks, it had become even more intense. Gabrielle was more sensitive than ever to his touch.
Roshan groaned. “For goodness sake, take her to bed, now, and be done with it.” He shook his head, and Amir laughed.
Amir clapped his hand on Roshan’s back and addressed Zavian. “Our friend Roshan is a cynic, Zavian.”