Tagan's Child (33 page)

Ahran got out
of the car and he and Galius embraced, giving each other a firm
clap on the back. Elaya and I joined the two men on the drive.
Ahran was almost as tall as Galius but he wasn’t quite the man
mountain that Galius was; Ahran was much more athletic in
comparison.

“You know my
sister of course,” Ahran said, switching to English as he
introduced Elaya.

“As beautiful
as ever, Elaya,” Galius said, complimenting her and kissing her
hand with an exaggerated flourish just like an other world
d’Artagnan.

“Galius, good
to see you,” she replied, batting his compliment to the side. Her
face had lit up. She was obviously pleased to see him.

“Not got a ring
on that finger I see, what’s wrong with the men in Dinara? I’d
marry you tomorrow if Salara hadn’t already made an honest man out
of me.”

“That’s the
problem, I’ve not met anyone that measures up to you yet Galius,”
Elaya said playfully.

Galius threw
his head back and laughed loudly. “When you’ve met the best, forget
the rest,” he said with an arrogant arch of his eyebrow, the humour
evident on his face.

“Galius, this
is Sophie, Toby’s aunt,” Ahran said, introducing me. “Sophie,
Lieutenant Galius Vanhallen.”

I could feel
myself blush as he gave me the once over before dipping his head in
a reverent bow that was more respectful than his initial appraisal
of me.

“It’s nice to
meet you Sophie. I trust Ahran has been looking after you during
your time in Ramia?” I wasn’t sure if there was a double meaning to
his words, but his expression was innocent when he straightened. I
wondered whether Ahran had said anything to him about me but just
in case Galius was in any doubt about the status of our
relationship, Ahran snaked his arm around my waist.

“It’s good to
meet you too,” I said politely with my hand outstretched, seizing
the opportunity to move away from Ahran’s encircling arm. It was so
much easier to resist him when we weren’t touching.

Galius shook my
hand firmly in his large work-roughened hand.

“It’s a
beautiful place you have here,” I remarked. To add to the idyllic
picture before me a mare and foal grazed idly in the paddock next
to the house.

His face shone
with pride.

“Thanks. Us
army boys don’t make bad farmers do we Ahran?” he said, giving him
a wink.

At that moment,
a little dark haired boy, who couldn’t have been more than three,
came running out of the house in his pyjamas shrieking and
babbling. We all turned to watch him running down the steps with
his mother following closely behind. Galius bent down and swept the
boy up onto his shoulders. It was a long way up.

“This is my son
Raffy,” he said proudly.

“He’s the image
of you,” Elaya remarked. She was absolutely right, the little boy
had dark wavy hair and big brown eyes to die for. He was a
miniature Galius.

Raffy chirped
something at us and everyone laughed. Galius’s wife came and stood
by her husband. She was tall and bigger built than Elaya with long
dark hair cascading in waves down her back. She was very striking.
She gave us all a warm smile and kissed Ahran and Elaya on both
cheeks.

“This is my
wife Salara, I am afraid she doesn’t speak English,” Galius
said.

She leant
forward and kissed me too.

“Hello,” she
said in a heavy accent.

“Graatcha,” I
replied, using the Ramian word for ‘hello’.

Both Ahran and
Elaya raised their eyebrows at me.

I grinned at
them both. “Don’t get too excited. It’s one of the only words I’ve
picked up since I’ve been here.” It seemed an impossible language
to learn.

They both
smiled.

“Graatcha,”
Salara replied, beaming at me. When she smiled like that I could
see how she had attracted the mighty Galius.

“Let us go
inside. Salara has made dinner, she is an excellent cook.” Galius
looked at his wife adoringly and I could tell that in spite of his
flirty behaviour he was smitten with his wife. I couldn’t help feel
a pang of jealousy. Some people had all the luck.

*****

Once Salara had
put little Raffy to bed she joined us in the kitchen and Galius
poured us all a glass of wine.

The
conversation was a mixture of Ramian and English so neither myself
nor Salara felt left out. When they were all speaking Ramian, I
took the opportunity to take in my surroundings. It was a huge
rectangular kitchen with a modern looking range at one end. The oak
table we were sitting at dominated the room. The wall down one side
was lined with units below a window with a view out onto the drive.
The opposite wall was made of glass and looked out onto a large
patio area, swimming pool and the fields beyond, most of which had
grazing horses in them.

Galius caught
me looking out the window. “It will be too dark to show you all
around once we’ve eaten. Perhaps Salara can give you the grand tour
tomorrow Sophie?” he suggested. “I’ll have to show you both around
another time,” he said, turning to Elaya and Ahran.

“I’d really
like to see what you’ve got here,” Ahran said with genuine
enthusiasm.

“You and Elaya
are going to the Island?” I asked, directing my question at Ahran.
This surprised me. For some reason I had assumed Ahran would be
going alone.

“Yes, and
Galius is coming too.”

I glanced at
Salara and caught her uneasy expression. I had been oblivious to
their conversation but she of course had understood every word. As
much as I could have thrown my arms around them all for helping to
find Toby, my heart sank at the thought of all their lives being at
risk. “When will you be leaving?”

“We’ll set off
later tonight,” Ahran replied.

Toby couldn’t
have had a better rescue party but I felt dreadful that Galius was
about to put himself in great danger without even knowing who Toby
was. I couldn’t look Salara in the eyes.

“You’ll be safe
Sophie, nobody knows you are here and Salara will take good care of
you,” Galius said.

He had
misunderstood my troubled expression. He must have thought a great
deal of Ahran to leave his family on such a dangerous mission and
it gave me a renewed respect for Salara. She had been warm and
welcoming and yet had every reason to blame me for her husband
risking his life. “Is it necessary that Galius goes?” I asked,
hoping they might reconsider. I already had enough people to worry
about.

“I know the
jungle well. I spent a long time staking out the area once,” Galius
answered. “I can lead Elaya and Ahran there quicker than they would
be able to find it on their own.”

It was
obviously a done deal. “I don’t know how to thank you,” I said, my
expression of gratitude sounding woefully inadequate.

“I just know
how I would feel if someone had taken Raffy.” An uncomfortable
expression flickered across Galius’ face. “I can’t stand by and let
Bazeera get away with what she has done. She is feared by many here
and is capable of great cruelty. It would be a satisfying victory
if we are successful.”

I understood
his motivation even though I didn’t like his use of the word if.
“And you have to leave tonight?” The thought of them traipsing
through a dark jungle did not sit comfortably with me.

“It is better
that we make our way to the island during the night,” Ahran
replied.

“The edge of
the jungle is only about half an hour’s drive away from here and we
need to make the most of the cover of darkness,” Galius explained.
Any further enquiries on my part were cut short by Salara, who was
ready to serve our meal.

The
conversation over dinner was about Galius’ business but it wasn’t
long before Elaya and Ahran started to discuss tactics. I helped
Salara do the washing up. Once we had finished she quickly made her
excuses to leave and went outside to tend to the horses for the
night. I got the distinct impression she didn’t want to hang around
to hear the finer details of their rescue mission. I stayed sipping
my wine ignorant of their plan.

When we had
finished our drinks, Galius showed me to a homely living room with
enormous soft cushioned sofas.

“We need to go
and see to a few things, will you be alright here?” Ahran asked. He
touched my cheek and I briefly closed my eyes in response. My chest
constricted. The more he touched me the more I craved his
touch.

“I’ll be fine,”
I said unconvincingly. He tenderly kissed my forehead and hesitated
before turning around to join the others.

I slumped on
the sofa and lay my head back on the cushions closing my eyes. I
felt a dizzying tangle of emotions; relief and terror for Toby’s
sake; fear for the safety of Ahran, Elaya and Galius; guilt for
bringing this to Salara and her family; hatred for Bazeera who was
responsible for putting us all in this situation and at complete
loss as to how I was going to get through the rest of my life
without Ahran.

So much had
happened in the last week. My life was no longer safe and familiar.
I was no longer sure of anything and my old anxieties about what
the future might hold returned with a vengeance. Now there was even
more reason to fear what lay ahead, I was in love with Ahran. It
was a bittersweet realisation. I turned my head into one of the
cushions on the sofa and sobbed my heart out.

I don’t know
how long I had sat there crying, but my tears had mostly subsided
when I heard someone enter the room.

It was
Salara.

She looked at
me sympathetically. I could tell by the puffiness of her eyes she
had been crying too and I wanted to put my arms around her and
comfort her. Would she blame me for her husband risking his life
and push me away? She had every right to. I gave her a weak smile
instead. She beckoned me to follow her and took me upstairs to
where I would be spending the night.

The room was
prettily decorated with a delicately embroidered bedspread. She had
laid out a nightdress and a change of clothes for me and there were
two neatly folded towels on the chair in the corner of the room.
She pointed to the en-suite and turned to leave. I gently grabbed
her hand and gave it a squeeze, she looked at me with tears in her
eyes. She had been trying to put on a brave face but my small
gesture of sympathy dissolved her fragile composure.

“I am so sorry
about all of this,” I said, even though I knew she couldn’t
understand me.

She nodded and
smiled and seemed to appreciate my concern. She gave my hand a
gentle squeeze back and then left me standing in the middle of the
room.

Ahran, Elaya
and Galius had been gone for some time and I wondered whether they
had left already to avoid the difficult goodbye. I let out a shaky
breath and picked up one of the towels before making my way into
the bathroom, my tears spilling over once more. I heard the bedroom
door open.

I turned around
to find Ahran standing there, the expression on his face stopping
me in my tracks. He closed the door behind him and I wiped the
tears from my eyes. He hesitated, fighting some internal battle
that he either won or lost because within four strides his arms
were around me, his mouth crushing mine. I responded without
thinking. My hands reached up around his neck as I took his mouth
as hungrily as he was taking mine. He lifted me up and we fell onto
the bed together.

Neither of us
said a word as we stripped our clothes off as quickly as we could
with our mouths barely parting. I couldn’t think. I didn’t want to
think. All I wanted was Ahran on me, inside me, taking me to a
place without fear or pain or misery.

My hands roamed
his back, feeling every hard, beautiful muscle. I pressed him to me
as I wrapped my legs around him again. I was so desperate for the
moment when I would feel him against me, sliding into me, that I
thought I might die if I had to wait any longer. I felt his fingers
glide between my legs and I arched my back in response pushing
myself down onto his hand. Suddenly, he pulled away and I whimpered
my disappointment. He couldn’t leave me now, my body screamed for
him. I opened my eyes and was rewarded by the sight of him rolling
protection down his long, hard length. Never had he looked more
beautiful.

I parted my
legs ready to receive him and our eyes met as he hovered over me. I
was so overwhelmed by what I saw there. It was a look of unbridled
passion but tinged with pain and regret and it made my heart ache.
He gently touched his mouth to mine and he slowly entered me. For a
heart shattering moment, we lay there neither of us moving, joined
in the most intimate way, our hearts beating hard against each
other’s.

We began to
move as one, each stroke becoming more urgent than the last. We
were both driven by the desperate need to reach the point where our
bodies would become one, and yet I knew that once we got there it
would be the end. We drove each other to the edge, neither of us
able to stop, our breath coming hard and fast.

We climaxed
together, crying out simultaneously. Wave after wave pulsed through
me, my tears a steady stream soaking into the covers beneath my
head. I welcomed the weight of him as he lay on me, his chest
heaving with exertion. I imprinted the feel of him into every cell
of my body, my hands splaying out on his back, attempting to create
maximum surface area through which to absorb him. Every second that
passed was a second closer to the moment he would have to leave. It
was a soul crushing irony to know that the sooner he was gone, the
sooner Toby would be rescued, and the sooner Toby was rescued, the
sooner Ahran would be lost to me.

“I will find
Toby and I will bring him back to you and then we can be together,”
he whispered against my lips.

I kissed him
for the last time, my lips saying goodbye and a part of me dying as
he pulled away.