“I have escaped.” Maia said simply. “I don’t need anything other than Mohammed. The villagers have welcomed me with open arms; they accept me for who I am. Life is hard physically but I can use the money I have saved to drill a second well, a deeper well. It will save people so much time and effort. I’ll be able to afford a bus to run to the capital for hospital visits. I’ll make a difference here. And I have a man who makes all the difference in the world to me.” Maia shook her head. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“No. I’m sorry Maia, I don’t. I can see you’re happy but, to me, it just looks like madness.”
Suddenly they were aware of someone else present. Razeen stood by the door. “It’s not madness for people to freely choose where they wish to be, what they wish to do.”
Lucy sighed. “I guess you’re right. But that’s how it feels to me.” Lucy turned from Razeen to Maia once more. “Are you sure, Maia? Think about everything you’re leaving behind.”
“I'm leaving nothing behind. Everything I want is here.”
Mohammed followed Razeen into the room and stood behind Maia, his hands caressing her arms. Silently they gazed into each other’s eyes. Maia sighed and glanced at Lucy. If Lucy hadn’t known better she’d have imagined the look was a pitying one.
Lucy smiled stiffly at Maia and Mohammed. “Look after her for me, Mohammed.”
He nodded and his face relaxed into a genuine smile for the first time. “Of course.”
Lucy hadn’t lied. She was happy Maia had found happiness with Mohammed but it didn’t take away her own feelings of loss. “I think I’ll turn in now. We’ve an early start in the morning and I’m so tired.”
“Sleep well, Lucy.”
But, as Lucy walked with Razeen through the dark tunnels, she knew sleep would prove elusive. She might have found Maia—might be relieved she was safe and well—but underlying that was a sense she’d lost, not only Maia, but her own bearings.
CHAPTER NINE
Without Razeen, Lucy’s insomnia kicked in again with a vengeance. She slept in a room with other women, as tradition demanded, and spent the night thinking of Maia. Occasionally she dozed only to wake suddenly feeling something or someone was missing. She groaned and closed her eyes as she realized she was missing Razeen’s arms, his body pressed against hers.
As the first light of day inched its way into the room, Lucy rose, dressed and carefully picked her way around the beds and out into the soft light of dawn. She needed to see Razeen. She walked carefully down the rough steps and over to the oasis where the light was brighter. There didn’t seem to be anyone around and she silently watched the birds and animals gather at the water’s edge.
Razeen saw her as soon as he emerged onto the terrace. She appeared a lonely figure in the grey light and he guessed her feelings.
“Your Majesty, I—”
Razeen held up a hand before turning to his host. “I need a little time. I’ll return shortly.”
Time. He never had enough of it. It was never his own. But now, he needed to be with Lucy.
She was just turning away from the oasis when he came upon her. He opened his arms and she walked into them and held her face tight against his chest. He curled his arms around her, dropped his cheek against the top of her head and breathed in her subtle perfume. His body responded as it always did when he was near her but stronger than his physical response, was his emotional one. He wanted to soothe the turbulent emotions he sensed within her.
“You’re sad, Lucy. Why? You’ve found your sister. She’s well, isn’t she? She’s happy?”
Lucy pulled away from him. “She’s happy all right. But I can’t believe my city-loving sister would want to stay here. Do you think she’s been brainwashed? Drugged or something?”
He shook his head, unable to prevent a smile. “No. She looks like a woman who very much knows her own mind.”
“But, our whole lives, we’ve dreamed of a time when we wouldn’t have to put up with second best, when we could create our own world. And she’s given up.”
“She’s chosen what’s best for her. Not given up. Why is that so hard to understand?”
“Because if I accept that, then my life has lost its meaning. I thought the point was to keep on going, keep on moving, experiencing, tasting new things, not settling for anything that wasn’t exciting and new.”
Razeen suddenly saw, in that beautiful face, the face of a young adolescent girl who’d adored her elder sister and had taken the sister’s dreams of escape as a literal plan for life. “Nothing stays the same, Lucy. Not for me, not for Maia and not for you. Your life was what you needed at the time. It will change, as you change.”