Hi Everyone,

Sorry this took a long time to come but I hope you like Part 2 of my story. I already have two more stories in my head already! Thank you to SingularToast for beta reading and Wonder Squint for cheering on. I truly appreciate your reviews and hope you like this one too!

Chapter 1

He had been away for over a week with Garsiv consulting on the matter of Alamut. Hassansins were on the rise, there seems to be plots to kill the Royal family, and in the midst of it all, Dastan worried about Tamina's welfare and how she was treated at Nasaf. It was not as if he could send an eagle with a message to find how the woman who rescued him from his own family is doing when Nizam is certain that it is the Alamutians that are the instigators of their current situation.

He arrived hours ago but Dastan could not run to her like a normal man could. He had to take care of matters of state with Garsiv and most of all he wanted to see his elder brother. Tus held his brother in an embrace, for atonement more than love. After what seemed like forever, he was treated to a warm bath and a shave. He longed to see Tamina. The past days, he would close his eyes and try to picture her as he feared that he would forget her face. He wondered what the appropriate time would be before he would meet her so that no one suspected a friendship, when Bis brought news of her location.

The laundry room of the palace was one of the most laborious tasks and his heart sank when he was led there. Bis narrated that she was assigned as a washer from the time she reached Nasaf. He knew she was tough and would bear anything thrown her way. Tamina was a survivor, more than he was.

The laundry building held the washing, steaming and dyeing wells and the heat rushed at Dastan, making his layers of royal clothes suddenly feel like a furnace. The sight of a Royal in such a lowly place startled the workers into bowing in respect, and they cleared a pathway to the yard where they dried the clothes. Dastan looked at Bis to indicate that he would proceed alone.

It was late afternoon now, and the breeze was once again strong and cool as he stepped into the yard where the linens were hung to dry. The women were all in a uniform of pale white but Dastan knew - he knew - which one she was. The other workers rushed out as their Prince walked past them and the guards directed by Bis ensured their privacy.

The clothes flapped in the wind and as they parted, he saw a solitary figure with her back to him, removing sheets of white from the line. He could not see her face but he knew it was her. It was Tamina. He stepped closer, his mind going through every possible thing he wanted to say, but suddenly all he could think of was how he longed to see her. The comfort of having her beside him was overwhelming.

"If not for love, what else would we fight for... if not for you, who else would I live for," he said, only audible enough for her to hear.

Tamina's whole being stilled at his voice and she recognized the verse as the one the old Alamutian woman outside of Avrat had told her. She was afraid to turn, fearing that it was her imagination and not him, not Dastan, just as she had all the other times she thought she heard him call her.

"I see that you have managed to translate old Alamutian," she continued to do her work without turning to him as she removed the sheet from the line.

"I had to do something since you refused to tell me what it meant," Dastan replied trying to act his usual self with her.

She turned to say a witty remark but what her eyes saw rendered her speechless. He was clean shaven, hair combed back and in a clean white tunic with a deep red coat. His face captured a sense of relief and he was truly the most handsome man Tamina ever saw.

Dastan stood with his hands behind his back as he always did when nervous, and tried in vain to calm his mind. Her face was covered with only her eyes visible to him. She looked tired, but colour had returned to her face after weeks starved and parched in the desert. No matter what, she was beautiful in his eyes.

Both realised that they had stood frozen for a while.

"I... I did not tell you because you would have read into it too much," she finally said.

"Me? You were the one who was misreading my every move as an expression of interest in you!"

Both laughed, but it was more to hide the silence than what was spoken. They had been separated for days. Parted with words unspoken between them, and they did not know where to pick up. They were equal as friends, but while he was still a Prince, she had truly become a maid.

"She thought we were eloping, victims of forbidden love," Tamina said. Silence again as she looked down at her hands which were gathered in front of her. "You should not be here Prince Dastan," she whispered, averting her eyes so that he did not see her lie.

"Yes I should, this is my palace I can be wherever I want," he remarked as a joke. "Are they treating you well?"

She looked at him and smiled again. He knew when she smiled as her eyes lit up like stars.

"As well as they treat any worker. But I might be in for a bulling now that you have visited me," she said, thinking of the whispers and looks the women had given her from the day she stepped in. Most of all, she was mocked for covering her face as only women of urban classes covered their faces.

"Food?"

"I get enough vegetarian food."

"Housing?" he inquired again.

"Common servant's hall," she said, a hint of sadness to her tone. Dastan knew what the hall was. The lowest of the workers were mostly homeless, and with the numbers they were not given their own rooms but housed in a hall for sleep and common facilities.

They once again stood quiet, looking at each other this time. It was evident that they both wanted, needed, to be in each other's lives.

She suddenly moved to turn and Dastan felt himself involuntary lunging forward to hold her hand. But she flinched in pain.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied in haste and hid her hands from his gaze.

"Tamina!"

"It's... It's nothing... I... I did not know the water paddle for the dye was hot... Silly of me actually… But you don't seem to be good for my limbs," she said with a nervous giggle. She continued to try to lighten the mood, "They put me here thinking that I would poison your food in the kitchen."

"Show me," he said and stood while she extended her palms. They were pink and peeling from the scalding and his heart winced in pain. This was what he did. He put her in this situation. He parted his lips to apologise, but Bis called him in a hurry to advise that Garsiv was looking for him.

"Tamina..." he whispered.

"All is well. I have a roof over my head and food in my belly," she smiled to comfort him.

"Tamina, about you being Alamutian..."

"I know," she nodded, "I will not tell a soul."

He looked at her, wanting to say so much more, longing to see her face. Instead he simply whispered, "I will come back for you."

Tamina looked on until he disappeared into the building. She felt relief at his safety and that he cared enough to see her but felt her eyes moisten with sadness at what they had become. She struggled to escape but at the same time she had to be near, closer to him so as to discover any information regarding the dagger. She wondered if he cared for her now or if this was all an act.

As soon as he stepped out of the building, Dastan showed his fury at the outcome. "In the laundry room? That's the best place they found?" he argued with Bis.

"Prince Dastan, she is not known to us. The Security Council feared that she may even kill you," Bis tried to reason.

"Kill me? Kill me?" Dastan said as he stopped in his tracks and looked at Bis. "If this woman wanted to kill me, believe me, I would be dead!"

He had broken his promise about setting her free and now she was in one of the lowliest work rooms in the palace.

"Bis... I have a job for you," he said as he held his friend by the shoulder. Bis opened his mouth with an 'oh no' expression on his face, as Dastan's plans always got him into trouble.

As night fell, Tamina returned to her sleeping mat only to find a messenger waiting for her. He was not polite but simply asked her to follow him. She hoped it was to see Dastan but was disappointed when instead she was led to meet who she assumed was the Chamberlain for Dastan. Bis was standing beside him but excused himself when Tamina approached. He was an old man, bald, stumpy and in deep thought at his desk.

"You now work at the laundry?" he questioned her while looking at a scroll.

"Yes," Tamina said trying to understand what had happened. The thought that she may have been discovered as an Alamutian made her short of breath.

He suddenly stood up and took out a ring of keys, chiming into each other. "You will work as His Royal Highness Prince Dastan's Chambermaid and maid in waiting from tomorrow. Follow me," he said as he walked past her.

Tamina was taken by surprise at the new appointment and stood frozen for a few seconds. But she did not question him and ran behind him to catch up. She knew from her own experience that this is a post reserved for a senior maid and realised Dastan had a part to play in this. The Chamberlain took her across the palace hurriedly. She tried to get a glimpse of the palace interior even as he shot questions at her.

"Do you know how to keep a room and bed?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Yes."

" Preparation of clothes? Sewing? And by sewing I mean clothes and flesh. His Royal Highness always does something to tear his clothes and always insists he use them until they are threadbare But you will need to dress wounds too. He acquires plenty of them and refuses to go to a healer. We have to make sure he will not die of infection." He narrated as they walked past guards and rich tapestries through the Persian Palace.

"Yes...I can sew, nurse and do any housekeeping" Tamina replied. She was a Royal but her mother always said that a woman should know how to do everything to be independent. Even after her mother's passing, she was taught the everyday skills - cooking, cleaning and keeping house.

After many stairs and corridors, they came to a massive guarded door which she assumed was Dastan's room. She hoped again that he would be there, but the Chamberlain walked in without any announcement, showing Dastan's absence.

As soon as she entered the room, she was greeted by a beautiful pond with a marbled bottom, clear crisp water trickling out of the mouth of four carved lion heads the size of her fist. This room lead to another inner room separated by a wooden wall, an intricate design carved through so that one could see into the room beyond. This was more of a sitting room with four cushioned chairs in the corners. They stood before an immense bronze door with a guard, and the Chamberlain pushed it open with effort to lead them to Dastan's bedroom.

It was a beautiful room, larger than her own room in Alamut, but it was not extravagant. The bed had a great canopy enclosed the bed all the way around in rich curtains. There was a resting place on the floor with cushions, and a desk next to a vast balcony. It was surprisingly simple for a Royal. Tamina realised that she had been taking in his room without paying attention to what should be done as the breakfast routine was being explained to her.

"Keep up," he shouted as he entered into the room where Dastan's clothes were kept. The whole place smelt of the Dastan she ran into on the first day. She saw his face in her mind, smiling as he did when they were together. She recognised the coat he had on when they first escaped, now in tatters, and took the sleeve to her hand as memories came flooding back. However, she was called back to the main room by the Chamberlain as he straightened the carper on the floor.

"May I speak to the maid who served prior to me to ask Prince Dastan's routines and preferences?" Tamina questioned.

"Well," he laughed, "I would not be showing you around if there was such a woman!"

He led her out to the pool area. "His Royal Highness has been battling the royal way of doing things as long as he was able to clothe himself alone and voice an opinion. He preferred to do his work alone and the common maids, cooks to bootboys used to support whatever work was there. Then you came along," he concluded with a knowing glance.

Tamina did not know what to say and did not wish to disclose more than she should.

"I have observed you. You are a decent girl. This is Prince Dastan being kind and not much should be read into it," he advised and Tamina nodded in reply.

"Is… will I be in his presence most of the time?" she questioned.

"You are a maid. You are to do your work without being seen or heard," he said sternly, "but, you are the first and last thing His Royal Highness will see every day."

She was advised that she would be given a private room with personal facilities reserved for governesses and high maids from that night onwards. The introduction and briefing had taken over an hour and it was dark when she was lead to her room. She looked at the cushioned mat on the floor. Tamina had not slept easy at all from fear and she wondered if the same would haunt her here. There were new clothes laid down on a table- long flared skirts and dresses, open-front coats, scarfs and belts. She battled if she should stay. Asoka was not here and while the dagger was safe, she feared that perhaps Asoka's life had been taken away. If she escaped now, she stood a chance of finding the dagger, if she was not killed first.

She looked around her new abode and seeing that the water jug was empty, Tamina grabbed the clay handle and stepped out to proceed to the well. As she passed a corner, a hand came over her mouth and the other dragged her into the shadows violently. Only a broken jug was proof of her ever being there.