Tagan's Child (59 page)

We made our way
through the corridors of the palace and I soon realised we were
heading for the gardens.

The maid
stopped at the doorway and pointed towards the small gathering of
people on the lawn and then returned to her chores. I’d not really
spent any time in this part of the garden and stood there for a
moment taking in the scene before me.

The gardens
were beautiful. Surrounding a large, perfect lawn, with mower
strips running up and down it, were gravel paths lined with
well-stocked borders. The path furthest away had been turned into a
green tunnel with arches that were smothered in vines. Off to the
far right, another path led through an archway and into a walled
pool area which was hidden from view. A cream marquee with no sides
was pegged out on the lawn and beneath it was a large rectangular
table, ready for lunch to be served. There were several groups of
garden chairs and tables set out informally on the lawn. The King
and Queen sat with drinks in their hands chatting to a silver
haired lady and Ahran was playing football with Toby. It was very
warm and Ahran had replaced his shirt with a polo shirt. I stood
there in the shadows watching him as he tackled Toby, who deftly
avoided Ahran’s attack and slipped past him kicking the ball
through the makeshift goal they had made out of two planters. Toby
did a lap of honour with his arms in the air and Ahran fell onto
his back, covering his face with his hands all in a very dramatic
fashion. I smiled as I witnessed them enjoying each other’s
company.

I closed my
eyes and took in a lungful of air before stepping out into the sun
and walking over to the King, Queen and I assumed, the intrepid
Grammour. Toby had dropped down beside Ahran who was now lying on
his back propped up on his elbows. I felt the moment Ahran noticed
me as I stepped out of the shadows and continued to feel his gaze
as I made my way to the seated trio. My heart was hammering in my
chest but I concentrated on trying to breathe as normally as I
could. The King stood up and pulled over another chair placing it
between himself and Toby’s great-grandmother.

“Mother, this
is Toby’s Aunt, Sophie.”

Halsan’s mother
didn’t get up but extended her hand and smiled.

She was a trim
lady of senior years. Her face was tanned and lined but her skin
was clear and unblemished, her eyes were a piercing blue. I stepped
forward and shook her hand.

“Sophie I’m
charmed to meet you and my great-grandson. He is a fine young man,
there is no doubt about it,” she said. “There are few grown men who
would equal in such bravery I am convinced of that. You must be
very proud of him.”

She spoke
perfect English but her use of language was reminiscent of a time
past.

“Yes, I am
er...,” I hesitated not sure how I should address her.

“Call me
Grammour, everyone does here.” Her voice was strong and assertive
and I warmed to her immediately.

“Take a seat
Sophie. What would you like to drink?” The King asked.

“Just a soft
drink, please.”

Halsan directed
one of the servants and I sat down as casually as I could, even
though I was acutely aware of Ahran lying on the grass no more than
ten feet away.

“My son has
told me all about your search for Toby. It sounds ghastly,”
Grammour continued.

“Yes, it was
pretty awful,” I said.

“Bazeera has
always been an unpredictable adversary and is capable of great
wickedness. The woman is not to be trusted,” she warned. “How close
are your forces to defeating her Afgharan?” She turned her
attention to her son. Like any doting mother, she didn’t question
whether he would be successful.

Ahran had
pulled a seat over and sat himself between Leylana and his
grandmother. I still hadn’t looked at him directly. Toby came and
sat on the arm of my chair.

“I heard from
my Commander-in-Chief this morning, they have located her
whereabouts and plan to carry out a surprise attack in the next day
or two,” Halsan said, answering his mother.

This was
certainly welcome news.

“Has she…” my
voice caught in my throat, I swallowed and started again. “Has she
moved from the place where Toby was held?” Ahran’s close proximity
after such a long time away from him was making it difficult for me
to string a sentence together.

“She is
constantly on the move,” Ahran replied matter-of-factly.

He had spoken.
We made eye contact but his face gave nothing away. His eyes were
hard and cold as if he found it distasteful to look at me. I looked
away. My hopes of winning him back were beginning to fade and the
pain of the last few weeks began to throb in my chest.

“She has moved
deeper into her territory but we have been tracking her for the
last week,” the King added.

Ahran looked at
the King as he spoke and I risked another glance. In an attempt to
quench my five week thirst, my eyes drank him in. He looked more
composed than he had done half an hour or so ago but he was clearly
unhappy about being here, or he was unhappy about me being here.
Toby got up, bored with the conversation, and started to dribble
the ball across the lawn.

I was aware of
the conversation as they talked about the difficulties of tracing
Bazeera, but I didn’t really hear anything they said as I
contemplated how I might try to win Ahran over. I willed him to
speak during the discussion so I would have another excuse to look
at him but much to my disappointment he barely said a word.

Toby came back
and hovered.

“Are you hungry
my darling?” Leylana asked.

“Starving,” he
replied vociferously.

There was a
ripple of approving laughter among the adults. “We better eat
then,” the Queen suggested with a smile. Grammour was the first up
and she moved easily to the marquee. We followed her lead and
seated ourselves around the table and the servants began to serve
our food. We chatted as we ate. Ahran and I didn’t speak to one
another, other than when I asked him to pass the salad dressing and
then he only replied with a polite, “Yes, of course.” For some
reason my saliva glands were experiencing a major malfunction. I
was dry-mouthed and finding it difficult to swallow, although this
wasn’t a total disaster on account of my appetite having completely
deserted me. I managed a few mouthfuls of flavoured rice and a
couple of strawberries and that was the sum total of my lunch.

I learnt that
Grammour had spent a few years on Earth when she was a young woman
and she was keen to find out how it had changed. I tried to fill
her in on what had changed in 95 years. I did the best I could
under the circumstances and managed to highlight some of the more
significant events. Grammour listened with interest and questioned
me relentlessly. The stress of such an inquisition under Ahran’s
watchful gaze took its toll and I was more than relieved when
Leylana suggested we all go for a stroll. The King, Queen and
Grammour walked ahead. Toby held Leylana’s hand as she pointed out
plants in the garden to her mother-in-law. Unnervingly, Ahran
became my walking companion by default. We followed the royal party
down the garden and I tried to act as normal as possible. He didn’t
launch into conversation immediately and so I said the first thing
that came into my head.

“So, you’ve
moved into the farm?” I quickly glanced at him before returning my
gaze to the path. It was too risky looking at him for any longer,
not only was he making me feel uncomfortable, but if I looked at
him for too long I was rendered incapable of coherent thought.

“Yes, I moved
in a few weeks ago,” he said.

There was an
awkward silence.

“How does it
feel to finally be there?” I asked, trying to sound upbeat and
light-hearted. I ventured a quick glance at his face and found him
frowning.

“It’s good.
It’s been a long time coming.”

In spite of his
decidedly frosty manner, I was happy for him, I knew how much his
farm meant to him. “Have you got any livestock yet?”

He gave a
humourless snort. “Yes, the cattle arrived two weeks ago,” he said
with forced patience.

I was running
out of things to ask him. There was another pause before we both
began to say something at the same time. He gestured for me to
continue.

“Oh, I was just
going to ask whether you have made a start on the house,” I
said.

“No, I’ve been
concentrating on getting the farm up and running.” His frustration
was beginning to show.

“Sorry, you
were going to say something else,” I said.

“How have you
been Sophie?” He stopped walking and turned towards me. His eyes
searched mine. Clearly he’d had enough of the small talk and the
sudden change of conversation took me by surprise.

“Oh, um, I’ve
been fine,” I replied.

“Have you?” he
asked, sounding angry.

I looked up
into his face. His expression was stony but it did nothing to
detract from his masculine beauty. I wanted to reach up and soothe
his frown away with my fingertips. I glanced down the path. The
others had walked on ahead and were out of sight. We were alone. I
turned back to him. He was waiting for my response.

I couldn’t tell
him I had fallen apart after I’d left Ramia that night and that it
had been a struggle to get out of bed each morning because the
thought of existing for another day was just too exhausting. Nor
could I tell him it had taken every ounce of energy I had to
suppress the pain and suffering that Talina’s disclosure had caused
and that any moment I’d dared to think about him a million tiny
daggers threatened to shred my heart.

“No, not
really,” I finally replied.

He seemed more
satisfied with that answer. “Why didn’t you answer the phone or
open the door? You never gave me the chance to explain.” His tone
was still angry but I detected a hint of his own suffering.

“Because I
didn’t want to speak to you, you had lied to me Ahran.” My voice
rose an octave and my fists clenched at my sides. Tears threatened
as I was reminded of the unhappiness I’d felt. “I just needed to
get away,” I said, my voice trailing to a whisper. I hadn’t meant
to start slinging accusations but his coldness unnerved me.

“I tried to
tell you so many times,” he confessed, his expression twisting.

“Ahran, I…”

“Auntie Sophie!
Uncle Ahran!” Toby sprinted across the lawn in just his shorts.

I wanted to
apologise, to say I’d had time to think about it and that I
understood, but Toby’s timing couldn’t have been worse.

Ahran turned
away, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

“Do you want to
come and have a swim? I’ve been in already?” Toby said, panting as
he approached us, the water glistening on his little brown body.
“Paps and Grams are by the pool.”

The excitement
on his face faded as soon as he sensed the atmosphere between Ahran
and myself.

“Are you okay
Auntie Sophie?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I
replied, my voice a little shaky. “Yes, I’ll come for a swim, I
just need to go and get my costume.” Toby’s interruption was
untimely, but I was thankful for the excuse to go back to my room
and gather my thoughts.

“Uncle Ahran?”
Toby looked at him expectantly.

“I’m sorry
Toby, I really ought to get back to the farm,” he said apologising.
My heart sank at the thought of him leaving so soon. I had the
horrible feeling that if he left now there would be no going
back.

“Oh pleeease,”
Toby pleaded.

Ahran
hesitated. I guessed he was wondering how he could let him down
gently. I was dismayed at how much Ahran seemed to want to get away
from here, from me.

“Please uncle
Ahran.” Toby gave him his most angelic, imploring look.

“Okay, I’ll
come to the pool for a bit,” he said resignedly. I silently let out
the breath I’d been holding.

“Yes!” Toby
responded and started pulling Ahran towards the pool.

“I won’t be a
minute,” I said, excusing myself.

I glanced over
my shoulder at them and caught Ahran’s expression. It was so full
of torment it almost broke my heart in two. I hurried along the
corridors of the palace not wanting to be away from him any longer
than I had to. We had begun to talk and I didn’t want to miss any
opportunity for us to finish our conversation. He had been distant
and hostile, everything he had a right to be after five weeks with
no contact from me, and I knew he was hurt and suffering, I could
see it in his eyes. I knew if I had contacted him any sooner I
would have only been full of recriminations that would have served
to put an even bigger wedge between us. Now I had finally come to
terms with what had happened and had the chance to explain how I
felt, I wanted tell him I no longer blamed him. I was certain I
wanted a future with him but judging by the way he had just
behaved, I wasn’t at all sure he felt the same.

Back in my room
I decided against a bikini, not wanting him to think I was using
sex to get around him and so I pulled an emerald green one-piece
costume out of the drawer instead. I slipped a pretty white
sundress over my head. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. I
looked like a scared rabbit in the headlights. The very real
possibility that he might reject me, filled me with terror. I
squared my shoulders. I loved him, and I dared to hope, he still
loved me.

All the things
I wanted to say to him whirled around in my head as I made my way
back through the palace and out into the garden. I crossed the lawn
and felt the urge to break into a run. I forced myself not to, and
made it to the gate to the walled pool area, at a fast walk. I
hesitated, took a deep breath and walked through the gateway.

Toby was diving
and retrieving something he had thrown in the pool and the King,
Queen and Grammour were sat under a large sunshade watching Toby as
they talked.