Chapter 12
Part One
Dastan woke in the middle of the night. He tried to move, but he almost screamed in pain. He was hungry and thirsty, but he was pretty sure he wasn't going to go anywhere.
His eyes tried to focus in the dim light of the chambers that he shared with his wife. Dastan sighed; it really was the middle of the night and he had slept through dinner.
Moving his head to his right, he noticed that the space beside him was empty. The sheets were cool and it appeared Tamina had never been there that night.
Dastan felt overwhelmed with a feeling of panic. Where was she? Did Tamina leave for Alamut without him?
He fought the pain and pushed himself up on the bed. This pain was no different than the pain from previous battles, but combined with the exhaustion and panic, he was almost unable to move quickly enough. He knocked over the table that had been set bedside with a clear liquid that he assumed was water. The vessel and the table crashed to the stone floor with a metallic thud and the liquid quickly spread across the floor in the nearly-dark room.
Dastan swore loudly.
"Are you trying to wake the whole palace?" a feminine voice asked from the other side of the room.
"Tamina?" Dastan asked as he struggled to squint in the darkness. It was no use; he couldn't see anything.
Stepping forward, he slipped very ungracefully and landed with an equally loud thud as he hit the ground.
He swore again.
Tamina struggled to light an oil lantern near her and she surveyed the sight of her husband laying on the floor of their chamber. She couldn't help but laugh. Tamina tried to stifle it, as to not offend him, but resistance was futile.
Tamina continued to giggle, but got up from the chaise she had been sleeping on and moved to her husband who was groaning in embarrassment on the floor.
"I love you," Tamina said.
"I'm not entirely sure why you would pick this particular moment to express that sentiment, but…" Dastan began.
Tamina reached out for her husband and he took her hand and allowed her to help him up without complaint.
"I love you, too," Dastan said, holding her close. "But why were you sleeping on the chaise?"
"You looked so peaceful, none of us could stand to wake you for dinner and I didn't want to disturb you when I went to bed," Tamina said. "Besides, you were in the middle," she added with a sly grin.
A knock sounded on the door and the chamber door swung open, with Garsiv and Tus in the doorway.
"Is everything all right?" Tus asked, looking at them and then to the table and all of its contents that were now lying on the floor.
"Why is the table overturned?" Garsiv asked his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"You wear your sword to sleep?" Dastan asked.
"What happened?" Tus asked, now seeing the water spread across the floor.
"I just woke up and was disoriented, I guess," Dastan said sheepishly. It was a huge mess that was going to have to be cleaned up.
"Sorry to have disturbed you both," Tamina said.
"All right, I am going to go back to sleep," Garsiv said. "I would suggest you do the same, little brother."
Tamina smiled and nodded a good night once more to her brothers-in-law and they left, closing the heavy chamber door behind them.
Tamina was laughing again.
"Because it was not embarrassing enough to have done this in front of you alone?" Dastan asked.
"Why were you so panicked?"
"I thought you had left me again," Dastan said.
"Again?" Tamina replied.
"I suppose it would only be the first time in this timeline," Dastan said. "But the second that I remember."
"And how do you think I could leave you and your family? My family?"
"I'm sorry," Dastan replied.
"I hope you learn to trust me, Dastan," Tamina said. "I am certainly not going to go running off in the middle of the night. At least, I don't think I will. I don't have any reason to."
Dastan rubbed his face with his battle-calloused hands. He felt the dried blood and grime on his face and his beard that was longer than he would like it to be. He was still wearing his gauntlets and breastplate.
"I feel…"
"Dirty?" Tamina replied.
"That's the real reason you were sleeping on the chaise, isn't it?" Dastan asked, grinning at her.
"How dare you?" Tamina said, pretending to be offended. "It was actually the smell."
He pulled her closely again. "Well, I've learned to live with the snoring so, all's fair," he said.
He kissed her passionately.
"I think I'm going to get cleaned up," Dastan said.
"It's the middle of the night," Tamina pointed out. "You'll wake everyone else."
"I think they will understand," Dastan said.
"All right, but let me come help you."
"I don't usually have assistance with my baths," Dastan said. "You should sleep."
"Well, you're all out of luck, prince, because I am going with you."
The following morning's wake up was definitely more pleasant than the middle of the night one. Perfumed air danced under Dastan's nose and he instantly recognized the scent: Tamina. She was humming slightly and the sound in her throat made him happier than he thought any sound could.
"Good morning, princess," Dastan said. "And child."
"You're saying good morning to a child that doesn't exist yet?" Tamina smiled.
"Just preparing myself," Dastan said, sitting up in the bed.
He was finally clean. Tamina had helped him get out of his dirty and sweaty armor and clothing and had cleaned up his many cuts and scrapes.
In an effort to keep the noise to a minimum, Dastan had sat in a tub of cool water in order to get clean. It wasn't a problem, it felt good on his bruises, but it wasn't the most relaxing bath he'd ever had.
While he had finished bathing, Tamina had returned to their chamber and changed the sheets and cleaned up the table and the puddle of water in the center of the room. She had been exhausted, but these tasks were necessary if she were going to sleep anymore that night.
Truthfully, Dastan didn't even know that Tamina was capable of such domestic things. While she wasn't the most stuck-up of princesses that he had met in the past, all princesses were brought up with servants to do their things for them.
But Dastan certainly knew enough not to say anything to Tamina about it. Which is why things were so pleasant that morning.
"Are we making plans to leave for Alamut today?" Dastan said. "If we worked quickly, we could probably be back late tonight."
"I wasn't actually planning on going anywhere today," Tamina replied.
"I've had a chat with your father, and he thinks that sending troops ahead would be safer than us just going with the dagger," Tamina said.
"When did you discuss this with my father?" Dastan asked.
"I hope you aren't angry with me. Your father, Tus and Garsiv and I discussed this while you slept last night," she explained. "Please don't be angry with them."
"I just would have liked to be included in the decision-making," Dastan said, standing from the bed.
Still nude, he began pacing the room, clearly agitated.
"Dastan…" Tamina began.
He turned to look at her.
"Please, we didn't make any decisions without you. We only discussed the options. Your father offered his army to go ahead of us and make sure the Hassansins don't make an attempt to take the dagger again. And then the sands will be protected by the presence of the Persian army. Just as long as they don't attack my gates again," Tamina said.
Dastan was silent, contemplating everything she had just said. In reality, it was a very good plan, which is why his father was a great king. He made no disputes about the strategies that his father seemed to be able to create out of nothing, but he had also still wanted to prove he could do the same.
"Get dressed and we can go downstairs. We can discuss the whole thing. We can eat and talk with your family. An hour won't make much of a difference if we decide to go."
"All right," Dastan said. He really thought going back to defend Alamut himself was the best option. And he felt he owed it to the walled city as he had led an attack on it before. But he would listen to what his family had to say, especially if Tamina agreed with them.
To be continued…
A/N: Okay, that was just the first part of this chapter. Sorry for the lack of updates, but school has begun. Yay for it being the last one before they mail me my diploma, boo for it being so ridiculously hot while sitting there.
Hopefully I'll have the second half posted soonly. As always, please review. You all have been so awesome on the reviewing, that I am so grateful, that I just need to keep updating.
Okay, enough rambling! Now start reviewing!
