Author's Notes: Again, thanks for all of the reviews and feedback! I really appreciate it. And thanks to everyone still following along!
And, oh, I think I forgot to mention this before, but we will get to see Amir's POV on all of this in the epilogue. So, for those wondering, he does get some time in the spotlight. Just hang in there!
-x-x-
And Return
"What's this?" Sanjay murmured, picking the object up.
It was a small metal band, cool to touch. He held it high to examine it under the sunlight.
And flushed upon recognizing it.
"Who'd leave an amethyst ring here?" Olivia asked.
Sanjay hesitated. His heart raced in remembrance, but his stomach churned with guilt. "It's the ring Ms. Rio offered me," he replied, "out of love."
"Then she…" Olivia trailed off sadly. "Oh."
A breeze slipped through the clearing, ruffling Sanjay's hair. The trees swayed and sighed, and in them he thought he heard a whisper asking:
"What's love without heart?"
-x-x-
Unfamiliar, Forming
Sanjay looked around. It was an unfamiliar voice, feminine and light as air, yet he saw no one else.
Finally he turned to Olivia. "Did you say something?"
She frowned in confusion. "No. Why?"
"I…" He paused, listening, but the glade was silent. He shook his head and tucked the ring away. "Nothing."
Olivia smiled gently. "Let's return. You should rest."
As they walked, he contemplated the question he'd heard, real or imagined. Like a riddle, though none he'd ever known. Heart, it'd said, but what sort did it mean?
His eyes lingered on the town's architecture, an idea growing.
-x-x-
Something New
It wasn't until evening, however, that Sanjay's idea formed into a plan.
"I've been thinking," Amir said, poking at the meal he'd ordered out from Clement's.
Sanjay resisted telling the prince not to play with his food. "Yes, Master Amir?"
"With the snow melting, we should try gardening," Amir said. "I ordered stones for a terrace along the south side. It'd be something new."
After supper, Amir showed Sanjay outside to where he'd stored the material under a tarp.
Only to scowl upon looking underneath.
"These are uncut! We can't use them!"
But Sanjay smiled. "If I may suggest something?"