Noir42

Erik stumbled away from Corinna and Ursula, his eyes trained on the uneven ground. Always he had known it would come to this, that she would find him and execute him. The last few days in Chandernagore were less troublesome. He was not plagued with glancing over his shoulder or wondering if an assassin waited around the corner.

He was with Corinna and she lightened his heart, parted the constant veil of dread he had felt looming over himself.

She had not moved from her place beside Ursula. Erik glanced at her and saw her standing very still as though she were planted in the earth.

"I don't want them to hurt you," he said under his breath as he sat beneath a tree and drew his legs up to his chest.

Corinna and Ursula were his main concerns. His life was forfeit. It was an idea he didn't want to grasp but the outcome was inevitable. Erik felt himself in the midst of a trap, surrounded on all sides by invisible threats.

"You must leave," Erik said evenly, finding his voice and the strength to speak.

Corinna sat beside him and shook her head. "Once my cousin sees Anisha is not with us everything will be fine. He'll look for her on his own, Ursula and I will tell him we haven't seen her—"

"No, no you can't be here. Not when they come. You can't stay here," he urged.

She was frightened, he knew. Erik looked at her once and saw the tension on her face, the uncertainty in her eyes.

"You promised my father—"

"To protect you."

"To stay with me."

He hesitated, running his hand down his face. There was danger in sending her off alone but she stood a better chance returning to the Inn by herself than with him. If the Little Sultana found Corinna she would not leave with her life. It was the price she would pay for being in his stead.

"What funds are left?" Erik asked. "From what your father gave you, how much is left?"

"I—I don't know."

"Enough to leave India? Enough for you and Ursula to return to London?"

It was her turn to hesitate, to look into his eyes and have no answers. "There should be enough for the three of us to travel to London...or Paris. Wherever we need to travel, perhaps New York, even."

"I've never been there," he answered absently, pulling a handful of grass from the dirt. He tossed it aside and did the same thing again and again until Corinna grabbed his wrist.

His eyes met hers and he frowned. "You cannot stay here. Take whatever funds remain, send word to your father, and return to London. Go."

"What about you? Where will you be?"

Erik shook his hand loose and stuck his fist into the grass. The pessimist within wanted to answer 'dead' though the optimist he couldn't deny thought 'several days behind you'.

"Erik, where will you be?" Corinna asked, her voice trembling.

He climbed to his feet and helped Corinna to hers. Once she stood he took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You must return to the settlement before the sun sets, do you understand me? Take my drawings, take what clothes you need, and head toward London. When you arrive wait for your father. Sell the building plans if your father finds a buyer."

"You're speaking madness," Corinna whispered. "We can't leave without you. It's not safe."

"It's safer than if you stayed here and waited."

"Waited? Waited for what?"

Erik sighed and released her arms. He glanced around again, his nerves playing tricks on him. Each brush of the wind through the grass made him think there was someone around him.

"Why is the sultan looking for you?" she asked.

Her question surprised him but he nodded, knowing he needed to tell her something.

"A palace," he answered. "I designed a palace for the sultan and his wives. His favorite wife, the Little Sultana, wanted something more." His face darkened and he took a deep breath. "I destroyed the plans. I disobeyed."

Erik couldn't bring himself to further elaborate regarding what else had happened with the Little Sultana. He was ashamed of what had happened the night he thought she poisoned him.

A weak smile touched the corners of his lips as he attempted to quell Corinna's fears. "It will be better if we go separate ways," he said gently. "When it has passed I will find you in London."

"Erik, please."

He clasped her hands in his and felt his stomach churn, knowing this would be the last moment he saw her.

"Sell my work. Tell your father to keep the funds he receives from the buyer. When you arrive in London send word to the Levesque House north of Paris. When I return…" He knew he would never see the note, the old home where his mother perhaps lived or perhaps had sold. It made it difficult to speak knowing it was all unnecessary. "When I return I will find you in London."

Corinna shook her head. "We'll go to Paris."

"No," he said sharply before she could finish. "London. Return home."

"How long?" she asked, her voice strained, her lips dragged down by the weight of her fears. "How long should we wait?"

"Two months," he said. It was the first thing that came to mind. "If you don't receive word in two months…I'll have crossed the ocean. New York," he said. His heart felt black, charred by the lies he spoke to her. When he looked into Corinna's eyes he knew she didn't believe him but still he said the words, the words neither of them thought of as truth.

"And your earnings? What would you have with your earnings?"

"Keep it," Erik answered quickly, knowing she was stalling. He looked only at her face, memorizing the length of her eyelashes and the gentle curve of her almond-shaped eyes, the fullness of her lips and the soft slope of her nose. "Until I return…I…I want you to keep it."

She was doing everything she could not to cry, not to throw her arms around his neck and beg him to stay. He watched her struggle to keep her composure and hoped she would not ask to remain with him. His strength was diminished and he knew he could not deny her. He wanted Corinna with him no matter what.

And that was why he had to ask her to leave.

"Don't follow the pathway Ursula used," he urged as he led her back toward the sound of the river. "Walk along the river and return to Chandernagore. Empty your room but leave mine untouched save for the artwork. Will you do this for me?"

Corinna nodded reluctantly.

"You and Ursula must be very cautious. The faster you take leave from here the better."

"Send word to the Levesque House?" she repeated.

"At the worst you may send something to the DeChantel Estate. I intend to send my condolences to them when I return to France."

Corinna nodded. She gripped Erik's forearm and steadied herself. "I will wait for you," she said.

His heart sank. "Two months," he corrected her. "Wait two months. Now go. Make haste."

Corinna dragged her feet as she and Ursula made their way toward the lazy river. He stood atop the highest hill he could find and shielded his eyes with his hand again. His stomach knotted as he watched them trudge away, weaving past rocks and negotiating the curves that followed the river.

Somewhere deep inside he wanted to weep for falling in love with her. Seeing her leave knifed through him, but at the same time he felt serene. The calm before the storm, he mused, the last moment of peace before the end.

He turned and saw a man appear at the bottom of the hill, pistol raised. Erik raised his hands, showing he was disarmed.

Within moments three other men appeared from the brush. Erik glanced back one last time at the river and saw Ursula and Corinna's distant forms. Through the commotion that surrounded him he heard Corinna screaming.

That was how he would remember her. Screaming for him to come with her.