Authors: Sophia French
The Diplomat (48 page)
It was early evening. As they entered the gardens, a warm breeze set the trees swaying, sending fragrant petals loose to the wind. The women linked arms, and Elise rested her head on Rema’s shoulder as they followed the path beneath the brightly-colored canopy. Fat parrots bared their plumage to the setting sun and crooned as its last warmth touched them, while slender-beaked birds pounced among the lower branches, their heads turning to watch the lovers pass by. The air resonated with the calling of the waterfall, the cackling of animals in the distant menagerie, the hissing of wind-rustled leaves and the clamor of birds at play.
Rema led Elise off the path and toward a dense knot of pink-and lilac-flowered trees. They sat in the tall grass, and Elise laughed as a dragonfly settled briefly on Rema’s head before whirring into the sky. “I just realized that you’ve lost your adorable little hat,” she said.
“I hadn’t even noticed. I hope it’s content, wherever it is.”
“Most likely it fell off and burned. Poor hat.”
They watched as evening took shape on the horizon, a deep purple streak above the waning flame of the sun. Rema’s eyes itched and her lungs ached, yet as she sat amid the murmuring insects and the aromatic petals, her discomfort was eclipsed by her bliss. She gazed at Elise, who smiled back. Though her eyes were reddened and her lashes were dried with tears, her silver gaze was clear.
“Here we are at last,” said Rema, her fingertips following the rounded curve of Elise’s cheek.
“Just as you promised.” Elise put her arms around Rema and lowered her into the grass.
Many years before, a little girl played at her father’s feet while he sat, wreathed in incense, and drifted through a poet’s dreams. He knew that the world was good and prayed that his daughter would know it too, so that like him she would hope for hopeless things. So often he had asked her,
Remmy, what makes you happy?
As she lay beneath the fading sun, gazing into the enchanted eyes of the woman she loved, Rema found her answer.
Bella Books, Inc.
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