Ch 32
The shah-of-shahs sat back on his raised dais and stroked his scraggly gray beard. His small, dark eyes were narrowed on Girish Baleeze, who stood beside the daroga. With a sigh the Sultan turned to his favorite wife.
"India," he said simply.
She nodded but remained silent behind her black veil. Ari Nadir couldn't decide if it was a good or bad sign that the Little Sultana said nothing. When she was silent it was impossible to gauge her disposition.
The Sultan waved his hand toward the daroga. "What do you have to say of this, Mr. Nadir?"
The daroga's eyebrows raised at the unexpected questioning. "Your Excellency?"
"Erik Levesque escaped from my prisons, did he not?"
"Yes, I believe so," the daroga answered. "About two months ago if I'm not mistaken."
"And Mr. Nadir, was it known how he managed this feat?"
"No, Your Excellency, it was not known."
The Sultan sat back and tapped his fingers on the arms of the intricately carved wooden chair. His jaw twitched, which Ari knew meant the Sultan was deciding what course of action to pursue.
"Mr. Baleeze," the Sultan said suddenly.
"Yes, Honored One," the handsome young businessman said. He bowed deeply before the Sultan.
At his words the Sultana sat forward and studied the Indian gold trader with renewed interest in the meeting. Ari forced his eyes away. To him it was obvious that the Sultana had a lover's interest in Mr. Baleeze. He wondered how the Sultana had managed to continue affairs with her male servants and men associated with her husband now that the new palace was complete.
"Of what concern is your fiancée to me?"
The young man looked taken aback by the Sultan's question. He held his hands out, palms up, as he spoke. "My fiancée is only my concern, Great One. But if this man is wanted here as well, I will do everything within my power to bring him back for punishment."
"Do you know what his punishment is?" the Sultan questioned.
"No, I'm afraid I do not."
"Execution," the Sultan replied. He briefly turned to the Little Sultana and whispered something to which she nodded readily. The Sultan turned his attention back to Girish Baleeze. "How do you know of Erik Levesque again? He's building a home for you, correct?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. My fiancée's uncle hired him to devise plans."
Ari stood very still. If Erik was brought back to Persia there was a chance he could tell the Sultan that he was set free, not an escapee from the prisons. Revealing his means of escape might lessen the amount of torture Ari knew he himself would experience before the Sultan ultimately had him killed. Of course the Sultan would promise to leave Erik with his life for revealing the men who had helped him escape.
"He is a dangerous man, Mr. Baleeze. He knows much from his days of employment here. It is in your best interest if you return him to me."
Girish politely nodded. "With all due respect, High Sultan, this man has taken my promised wife. Surely you understand how humiliating this is for me to have her abducted while I was away on business."
The Sultan sat forward. "You wish to punish him yourself?"
"Yes, I do. He has taken what is rightfully mine."
"How do you intend to punish him?"
"That has yet to be decided, Good Sultan, though I assure you of one thing: I shall leave him alive. My bride's family will return him to you for execution. Does this suit you?"
The Sultana grasped her husband's arm and whispered to him. With another nod, the Sultan switched his gaze to the police commissioner briefly before his eyes settled on the trader.
"Mr. Baleeze, you shall not leave my kingdom alone."
-0-
The night air was so thick with humidity that Erik was drenched in sweat by the time he and Ursula arrived at the Inn. Through the bustle of the crowd he saw Corinna sitting on the steps, her head resting in her hands.
Erik looked at Ursula, who nodded and walked inside alone.
"May I join you?" Erik asked as he sat down beside her.
Corinna appeared startled by his presence. "Quiet as a cat," she mumbled. She rubbed her eyes and sat up straighter. "Have you seen Ravi?"
"No," Erik replied. His brow furrowed. "He's here?"
Corinna nodded and looked away, training her gaze on the dwindling crowds. The noise from the river had died down and the musicians had ceased to play. Erik reached into his pocket for his watch and saw that it was almost midnight.
"Was he looking for me?"
She nodded again. Her silence worried Erik. He had grown accustomed to her gregarious nature and constant smile.
"Are you tired?" he asked.
"No."
Erik studied her closely. She was still watching people pass; her eyes were red and puffy. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but he didn't want her to ask him where he had been. He knew Corinna had overheard what Lilian had said and he didn't want to talk about his father's death.
"Where is Ursula?" she asked at last.
Erik furrowed his brow, surprised that she hadn't seen her companion walk up the stairs. "I believe she retired for the night."
Uncomfortable silence lingered again. Erik sat with his chin propped up in his hands. The only activity was across the street where a pair of lovers stood wrapped in each other's arms beneath a tree. He smiled to himself. At least some people were making the most of the evening.
"I've been neglecting my work since we arrived here. Your uncle will not be pleased with me." He paused and waited for Corinna to say something but she still didn't look him in the eye. She stared at the wooden planks at her feet.
"I was considering taking some tea in the lobby and looking over my designs. Would you care to join me?"
"Maybe for a little while," Corinna replied blankly.
Erik rose to his feet and Corinna did the same. The breeze pushed a long strand of black hair into her face, which she attempted to blow away. Erik reached up and pushed it back from her eyes where it had tangled in her long lashes. His index finger gently grazed her cheek and ear, which elicited a soft sigh from her.
With a closed-lip smile, Corinna closed her. Encouraged by her response, Erik allowed his hand to remain on the side of her face. He caressed her ear, tracing the soft outline until he reached her earlobe. She turned her face to the side and released a harsh breath when he touched the side of her neck.
Corinna mesmerized Erik. Her smile intrigued him and her skin felt like warm silk against his rough fingers. When he touched her chin he could feel her breath against his hand. It excited him in the most primal way he could imagine.
Men in the rock quarries had spoken crudely of what it was like to touch a woman between the legs or on the breasts but none had ever mentioned what feelings were evoked by the sweep of a finger over an ear or the tracing of a jaw line.
He wondered if she noticed the slight tremble of his hands. Numbers and design had interested him more than attracting girls when he lived in France. He spent hours hunched over his desk while making elaborate plans for civic buildings too eccentric to ever break ground. He rarely noticed the sun setting or the candles being lit as he calculated room sizes and altered floor plans. Building was his obsession. And it was something he was very good at. Communication was his weak point. Large gatherings made him nervous and he feared that what his mother often told him would be true, that no one wanted to be near him.
Once he traveled to Persia the opportunities of companionship with the fairer sex had been limited to watching young ladies dance for the Sultan. At first it had been an exotic delight to watch something that would never happen to him in Paris, but after a while he became aware of the snickering around him as men retired for the night with women on their arms while he walked to his apartments alone. They considered him a foolish whelp who shouldn't have left his homeland. He was talented but inexperienced. Most of the older stone masons considered him little more than a fly buzzing around their territory.
Standing with Corinna outside the Inn was the closest Erik had ever come to an intimate moment. In his heart he never considered the night the Sultana had lured him to her bath as anything more than a duty. Had she not deceived him he never would have gone to her.
Corinna, however, was real. This quiet moment was something he desperately needed. As he studied her face, her closed eyes and slightly parted lips, he knew this was the only thing he wanted.
Erik's hand found its way to her shoulder. He gently gripped the soft woven fabric and drew her nearer until her forehead rested against his chest. In silence he nuzzled the side of Corinna's head and felt her arms slowly encircle him. She breathed against his chest, hot, quick breaths that told him she wanted to be near him as well.
He closed his eyes and held her close to him, feeling her heartbeat through her back. He wanted to disappear in her long, black hair, drift away in her obsidian eyes, sink into her crimson lips. Everything about their embrace felt perfect. The night faded away and took his anger and grief along with it.
Exhaling slowly, Corinna lifted her head and opened her eyes. She smiled up at Erik but said nothing. He gave her no reason to speak. Taking her hand in his, he led her inside.