Lira was painfully close to finishing the soup. She'd been going a little slower ever since Dalal had left the room. It was rather obvious she couldn't trust her own tongue when she was asleep. She had no way of knowing what she said to him. There were a few moments of hazy clarity, but she couldn't remember what, if anything, she'd said. Even during the trial. She remembered all that went on around her acutely, but it was as if she wasn't in her body for all that had happened. She did remember being carried through the streets of Cairo by Ardeth. It was for this reason she very much dreaded a conversation.
Soon enough, she set the spoon in the empty bowl. Without a word, Ardeth took it from her hands and stood, heading to the table. She exhaled heavily, unaware she'd been holding her breath. She stared at the pattern in the quilt absently, knowing he'd be coming back to sit there again any moment.
Several minutes passed, however, as Ardeth stood contemplating what to say and absently pulling apart a pomegranate in order to stall the conversation he so desperately desired and dreaded at the same time. By the time he turned again, Lira had fallen back asleep and he sighed to himself. Still, he didn't wish to leave her alone and so he sat by the window, staring out at the night sky through the palms and wondering what he could tell her to make her forgive him.
Evy still had her nose buried in Al-Ahram, a Cairo paper somewhat notorious for it's subtle criticism of the most prominent in Cairo, when she heard a knock and absently unlocked and opened the door. Naturally, she assumed Rick had forgotten his key.
Dalal smiled at the studious woman before her and chuckled when Alex peeked around his mum's skirt and waved up at her. Finally, Evy looked up and grinned.
"You must be Dalal. We've heard so much about you, come in, come in." Evy beamed as she stood aside and motioned the older woman in.
"Indeed, I'm afraid we haven't yet had the pleasure of being introduced," Dalal offered, making her way over to the window. It was dark out and a breeze came through, pushing and pulling on the pale gauze curtains. "It's a shame I couldn't make it to Cairo to see you before all this mess."
"I know how you feel. I can't believe all that's happened." Evy sighed, sitting down at the table and motioning for Dalal to do the same. "I haven't even heard what went on at the hearing. Why on earth did Ardeth have to carry Lira back to the fort?"
Dalal sighed and relayed the whole story, how the inquisition was turned into an execution council. Evy was horrified, but as Dalal went on to tell how Ardeth stood for her and how he knelt at her side when she'd passed out, Evy's expression softened and she held a hand over her mouth.
"What's the matter?" Dalal asked, concerned. Evy's eyes were starting to water.
"It's just so…" she managed, "he's botched things up so thoroughly, and now they might have a chance. I'm just, I'm happy, really, not that she had to go through that mess, but now Ardeth might have a chance to make amends for being so pig-headed."
"What exactly has my dear boy done to the girl?" Dalal asked, crossing her arms. Evy smiled to herself and shook her head.
"Let me go put Alex down, and I'll tell you everything. You'll never believe it."
It wasn't too long before Lira awoke once more. She'd been sleeping most of the day and she hadn't expected to nod off again, but as her eyes fluttered open, she saw Ardeth sitting at the window with his back to her.
The lamp had been turned off, and the remains of a pomegranate, it's flesh picked clean of the seeds, sat on the table before him. There was a breeze coming from outside and the cool air felt good on her face. She was stifled under the covers and kicked them off, sitting up on the edge of the bed.
For a moment she just stared at the warrior sitting alone in the dark room and allowed the coolness to envelop her. She remembered the trial, and she remembered what he'd done. She was still a little upset at him for it, but more than that, she was confused. She'd been so convinced that her feelings were entirely one-sided. Was it all a matter of honor? Of duty?
Slowly, she stood and approached him. His long black locks swayed gently, and absently her hand reached out to touch them.
"You should be in bed," his voice said soothingly, and she drew her hand back like she'd touched an open flame.
Lira didn't say a word as she moved to his left and sat at the chair across the table. There was absolute silence, and his face looked darker and more forbidding in the shadows. He continued to stare out the window. Lira was nervously playing with the edge of her tunic.
"I just…" she began, her voice softer than she'd intended, "I just wondered why."
Finally Ardeth peeled his eyes away from the starlit skies and looked at her. Anything intimidating or formidable about him vanished the moment his eyes met hers. Those eyes, those deep warm brown eyes still had much more affect on her than she cared to admit.
"Why what?" he asked, and for the first time she saw pain and struggle on his face.
"Why you risked everything. Why you interjected for me," she said simply.
Ardeth was silent, pondering what to say, how to explain himself. All the time he'd spent thinking of what to tell her was useless. At a loss, Ardeth stood and walked past Lira heading for the balcony doors. Lira turned in her chair as he walked past and watched him incredulously as he disappeared between billowing gauze onto the balcony. She had no intention of letting him get off scott-free.
Lira stood and followed where Ardeth had gone. She saw him with both hands on the banister, leaning forward with his head down. She was entirely out of her element. She didn't know why he was acting this way. In truth she had her suspicions, but he'd done such an effective job of dashing all her interpretations of his behavior she was utterly confounded by this point.
"Ardeth," she said softly as she stepped onto the balcony, "I don't mean to make you so uncomfortable, but I think I have the right to know what that was all about. Was it your sense of duty? Your need for honor, to see justice? What? I'm already indebted to you for my life, you didn't have to do that."
"Is that what you think this is about?" Ardeth asked, straightening up and turning to face her.
"I don't know what to think. But I don't like being in anyone's debt. I just need to know why you did it. I need to know if I'm free of you. You can tell me whatever you want, and I'll let it be, I'll leave you alone, and tomorrow I'll leave and you won't have to face me again, just tell me why you did what you did," she insisted desperately.
"If that is what you wish, I'll tell you the truth. I'll tell you exactly why I stepped in, why I wouldn't let the council go through with that travesty of a trial," he said, his voice confident and firm once more.
"Please do," she said, absolutely exhausted by this point.
Ardeth took a step forward, and Lira was suddenly aware of his full presence. His face was no longer in shadow, and his eyes gazed down at her clear as the sun.
"But you must promise me first," he said. Lira furled her brow.
"Promise you what?"
"You won't carry out your threat to leave."
Dalal was less than pleased to hear what Evy had to say. She'd thought she and Hatim had raised Ardeth better than that. Hatim wanted to make sure Ardeth had a sense of the duty that came with being their chief, but they also stressed the importance of friends and family and, well, love.
Dalal and Hatim had been meant for one another, that much was certain, and she was disappointed that Ardeth would let his pride and his sense of responsibility get in the way of what may be the love of his life. With all that had happened at the trial, she knew Ardeth had finally wised up, but she now had to wonder if it was too late, if the outsider would forgive him.
Of course Dalal had never been oblivious. She had her suspicions long before they'd left for Cairo. The trial only confirmed her intuition. It was true in part that she'd used her veto to keep Ardeth from banishment; it would have destroyed him, but more importantly, if Lira were executed, Ardeth would be stuck living the same shell of an existence Dalal had these past 12 years. And that was far worse than banishment. The only way she could comfort herself was in the knowledge that he would be far better off without her, knowing she was alive, than having her dead. Even over vast distances there is hope; death is final.
It was in the middle of these musings that a key turned in the door and Rick and Jonathan entered, chatting loudly. Evy stood and immediately started scolding them. It'd taken her forever to get Alex to fall asleep, and her husband and brother sheepishly quieted, setting some bundles down on the chair by the door. Once everything was put away, Evy led them to the table and Dalal stood.
"Rick, Jonathan, this is Dalal, Ardeth's mother," Evy introduced. "Dalal, this is my husband, Rick, and my brother, Jonathan."
"Pleased to meet you." She bowed her head gracefully, and Rick immediately returned the gesture, grabbing Jonathan by the collar and dragging his head downward as well.
"The pleasure's all ours. We're glad you could make it. Evy," Rick said, "I'm going to go get changed."
Evy nodded; he always managed to walk in looking like he'd been chased and half mauled by a vicious mob, and Rick kissed her forehead before heading back to the bedroom.
Some minutes passed, and Evy, Jonathan, and Dalal made pleasant conversation. Evy didn't push Dalal about the trial or Ardeth. Jonathan would no doubt be disinterested and it was best to wait until Rick was to let them know what had gone on.
When Rick came running out of the bedroom, Evy was set to scold him, half expecting to see Alex's bleary-eyed face at the bedroom door. Rick, however, grabbed her arm, and halted any forthcoming comments.
"You all have to come see this," he whispered frantically, pulling Evy from her chair and heading for the bedroom. They were all thoroughly confused, but Evy allowed him to drag her away and the other two followed. Once in the bedroom they could see Alex still sound asleep on the bed. Evy smiled, but Rick continued to pull her out toward the balcony.
"Rick," she whispered, "what is-"
Shhh," he said. "Look."
Normally, Evy would have cut right into the middle of him for shushing her, but what she saw rendered her speechless.
"I… I don't understand," Lira stuttered. She suddenly felt too close. The world shrank, and her pulse quickened without warning. It was almost like drowning.
"If I tell you everything, tell you the truth, you must promise to listen. You must promise not to disregard my words and leave in spite of them. Otherwise, the excuse I give will be just sufficient to free your mind of any obligation to me."
"Ardeth, you know I'm leaving. I'm not running away from you, I'm trying to find a home in the only place I can think of," she explained.
"Is it? Is it the only place you could think of as home?"
"What are you trying to say, Ardeth?"
"Promise me" he replied firmly.
"Ardeth, I can only promise not to leave because of what you say, but I can't promise that I won't leave at all when that's what's been planned all along," she insisted, and she could see he was frustrated.
"Lira, I stood up to the council because I love you," he spat out. "I stood up to them because even if every chance for us has passed I could not let them kill you. I would rather leave everything I've ever known behind than live in a world without you in it."
Lira was amazed, and her expression showed it.
"But, but you…" she stuttered.
"It was all a mistake. My pride, my sense of duty kept pulling me back."
"Then why now?"
"Three thousand years our souls have waited. The heart will only stand for so much. The mind can't win out forever," he explained. Lira was dumbfounded. She had nothing left to say, and for the first time ever the world stood still.
"Well," she finally choked out, "what are you waiting for?"
"What is it, Evy?" Jonathan asked. She was staring at something to the right, out of his line of sight. Exasperated, he pulled Rick away and stepped out onto the balcony, Dalal stepping gracefully to peer between the two siblings.
There on the balcony fifty feet away, two shadowy figures were wrapped together. It didn't take long to make out a tall, darkly clad warrior with long black hair holding an auburn haired woman desperately close.
"I don't know how long they've been like that, but at least since I walked out onto the balcony," Rick whispered.
"'Bout bloody time," Jonathan scoffed, leaving the balcony and passing out of the room, no doubt to get a drink.
"Oh, Ardeth," Evy breathed, "please don't ruin it this time…" Dalal just smiled.
"He won't," she said. "Today was too close a call." Rick was confused and Dalal caught the look. "Come on, I'll fill you in on what happened." Dalal walked toward the door and Rick followed.
Evy stayed on the balcony. Still, Ardeth held Lira, Lira with her arms wrapped around the chief's neck. There was no indication of either pulling away. In fact, Ardeth looked as though hell itself could not pry his arms from around her.
Suddenly, Evy felt a hand on her arm.
"Come on, honey," Rick said gently, "let's leave them alone."
THE END
(Until the prologue, anyway)
A/N: I am so SORRY this took so freaking long. Shit has been hitting the fan here, and I was agonizing over this chapter for the longest time, and I'm still not sure it does the story justice. I just wanted to experiment a little with the constantly changing POVs and having the final kiss be viewed from outside. Kind of a "Nothing on earth could describe this moment, so you're just gonna have to witness it like everyone else" sort of thing. Now, for the prostrating and begging forgiveness and giving thanks. My thanks to: NewsieGoil1899, Shorty McGee, silentmagician, jibade7, FawkesFire, Raerain, Oh Those Eyes, bdpotato, and bookworm86. And, also, we should all know what time it is. You've all got one full week beginning Wednesday morning to enter the chapter title contest. Here's the original announcement from chapter 14:
P.S. There's a contest for all my readers out there. If you haven't noticed, I changed the titles on some of the chapters. All of them are now song titles. To the person who can correctly identify the MOST bands related to each of those songs (no two bands are the same) I will write a short one-timer starring them and everyone's favorite desert warrior. Essentially, I'm trying to find someone who's as big a geek as me. Now, if anyone can correctly guess ALL the bands as well as the poet to which the title of this story is accredited (if you can name the poem the line comes from, that'd be great too), I will write you into the next full-length Ardeth fic as a main character. Yes Elrowen is eligible for this contest, and no I won't be giving her any unfair hints. To be fair, if you name a band that sings a song of the same title as one on the list, I'll give you full credit.
