'It was just a thought,' she said, frowning.
'I'm expecting to hear that the danger has passed very soon and that you'll be able to go home.'
'Oh, good … '
Did her voice sound a little flat, or was he imagining it?
'This is nice for Hana.' She glanced around the elegant courtyard. 'But I wouldn't want her getting used to it.'
He rapped his whip across his riding boots. When he had worked out the next stage of Hana's integration into royal life, he'd let Beth know. Meanwhile, why shouldn't she enjoy the palace and all it had to offer? 'If you like riding I'll ask my groom to find you a horse so you can ride around the palace grounds.'
'Would you?'
As her eyes lit with enthusiasm, he realised Beth had mistaken this for an invitation, but what he had planned for himself was something more rigorous. 'Yes, I'll do that while I'm down there,' he said, giving his thighs a tap with the crop. 'I'll tell them to sort something out for you.'
'But aren't you riding in the grounds?'
'I have other plans. A groom will ride with you, if you like, show you around.'
'That won't be necessary, thank you,' she told him. Her eyes were wounded, though she tilted her chin in the usual way.
'Well, I'd better get on,' he said. 'I want to make the most of the daylight.' With considerable relief, he strode away.
The palace stables-why not? Even if Khal didn't want to ride with her, riding here would be a real adventure. Not that she'd go far, of course. She'd keep to the gardens as Khal had suggested.
Beth checked on Hana before she left, and was pleased to find her suggestions had been carried out to the letter. Hana was still sleeping contentedly, with the two nurses in attendance. Down in the stables, she discovered that Khal hadn't let her down. The pony they brought out for her approval was a sweet grey with a kind face, just the type of horse to give a novice confidence.
She was still wearing trousers and a shirt, and they lent her some boots with a heel to stop her foot slipping out of the stirrup, and also a freshly laundered bandana to keep the dust from her face. The grooms echoed Khal's words, telling her she must stay within the palace grounds. She was fine with that. They palace grounds were like a vast park, with plenty of opportunity to give the small pony his head.
But when she rode past one of the archways and saw the desert rolling back as far as she could see, the lure proved too much for her. She couldn't imagine any remaining insurgents would dare to come within sight of the palace. Ducking her head as she passed beneath the stone arch, she gave the guard a confident greeting as if this had all been arranged. He grew alert, as if to challenge her, but then thought better of it when she squeezed her knees to give her pony the signal to trot. She would just ride once round the palace and then return, Beth decided.
The pony responded eagerly to the promise of the desert. He carried her at a brisk pace beyond the walls, onto a shadowy carpet of sand beneath a moon in a tangerine-and-lilac sky. She rode out a bit further, and then a little further still. She felt safe as long as she could still see the palace. She was on the point of urging the pony into a controlled canter when she first caught sight of Khal in silhouette against the darkening sky. So he hadn't planned to ride in the grounds, after all. He was galloping as fast as she had seen any man ride, and his horse was stretched out like an arrow with its tail flying behind like a silken banner in the wind.
She could have sat there and watched them for hours, it was such a romantic sight. He was heading for a small fort, she noticed. What was the attraction? Beth wondered, turning her horse and trotting after him. It looked as though the crumbling building had been unoccupied for years. It was little more than an old ruin, with a yawning gap where once there must have been grand gates, and gaping holes instead of windows. It must be another one of Khal's projects, Beth guessed, squeezing her knees to give her pony the signal to move faster. She wanted to keep within range so she could admire Khal's skill on horseback. He really was amazing …
Beth tensed, hearing a sound like rolling thunder coming up behind her. Her heart fluttered an alarm as she reined in and turned in the saddle. It took her a moment to process the information, it was so surreal. It seemed that a wall of sand reaching high into the sky was sweeping towards her. And Khal wasn't simply testing his horse, Beth realised, he was riding for his life! As she must, if Hana wasn't to lose both her parents in one catastrophic incident.
She had never galloped flat-out, but now she must, it was that or become swallowed up by the sand. Pressing the little pony as hard as she could, Beth leaned forward in the saddle, gripping hanks of mane to keep her safe. Ramming her heels down in the stirrups, she prayed she wouldn't fall off. It was hard to see where she was going as the driving dust began to catch up with her. And then she saw a shadow, and realised Khal had spotted her and turned round. He was going to cross her path. He was coming for her, coming to save her, Beth realised, sobbing with relief. He was waving a warning, and pointing to the shelter of the fort. It was little enough protection, but she could see it was the only hope they had. To turn for the palace meant turning into the path of the storm. Thoughts of Hana drove Beth forward. Her baby couldn't lose both her parents!
The pony strained beneath her, moving as fast as it could, with its ears back and its eyes wild, as aware as she was that this was one race it couldn't afford to lose. 'Don't fall off!' Beth chanted to herself grimly as the sand scoured her skin and clouded her eyes, making them water. But as the roaring grew steadily louder Beth began to realize there was no hope.
But now Khal had cut across her path, and was galloping alongside her. 'Lose your stirrups!'
Take her feet out of the stirrups? Was he mad? She'd fall off! 'Leave me! Save yourself! I'll catch up.' They both knew that would never happen. But she didn't stand a chance, so at least one of them could be saved.
'Do it!' he snapped. Leaning across at full gallop, he caught hold of her reins and brought their two horses closer.
Her teeth were juddering in her jaw as she risked a glance. Khal wasn't going anywhere unless she went with him. He wasn't even going to try to save himself. She freed her feet, her scream of terror lost in a thunder of hooves as Khal grabbed her firmly round the waist. He yanked her into his arms. His horse sprang forward competitively as Beth's mount raced ahead, freed of the weight on its back, while Beth clung to Khal in a state of shock and pure relief.
He held her tight and safe in front of him as the stallion galloped for the fort. They were muscle to muscle, flesh to flesh, as he called out and thrashed the reins from side to side on its neck to urge the stallion on. Beth wasn't even sure she breathed again until they raced beneath the archway into a maze of ancient buildings, but the wall of sand followed them even there, blowing them deeper into the crumbling sanctuary. Khal dragged Beth with him as he dismounted, and her pony blundered blindly in after them. Capturing his reins as well as the stallion's, Khal led both horses as well as Beth to the shelter of a wall where perhaps they stood a chance.
'You saved my life!' Beth gasped, pressing back against the stone in an attempt to keep upright as the storm rushed over them.
'Not yet!' Khal rasped grimly, shielding her with his body, arms planted either side of her face as he yelled at her. 'What were you doing out here in the desert on your own? Don't you know how dangerous it is?'
No, she didn't, and the fierce expression on Khal's face told Beth he was thinking of another time, and another far more dreadful incident than this, an incident that had ripped out his heart. 'I'm sorry.'
'Sorry? You could have been killed.'
'Khal, please, I know I shouldn't have-'
'You know nothing,' he cut across her fiercely, and then his face contorted, and as she reached out to him he pulled away. 'Life is precious.'