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I fire e-mails to my boss and my family, hurrying up in case the connection dies out again and biting on my lip, I decide to tell them I won’t be coming back for a while. That I’m staying for some time and that they don’t have to worry. My boss’s gonna kill me though when and if I do come back but I’m willing to risk it.
For Xerxes I’m willing to risk everything. He makes me feel like a goddess or something, the one thing that’s overflowing with life and sustaining him. He looks at me like I’m his source of water, a necessity he can’t live without. His dessert in the desert...
Okay, now I’m getting loopy...
Groaning when the connection breaks again, I lean back and cross my arms. Figures...I tense when there’s a sound of movement behind me and I jerk around. A figure in robes moves behind the veils.
“Xerxes...,” I breathe, my heart speeding up but quickly slowing down when I realize the figure is shorter and narrower around the shoulders. The figure removes the robes from his face.
Djoser.
“Sorry to disappoint,” he murmurs and I wonder what he’s doing here. Xerxes doesn’t allow any of his men to be in the tent. “Just came to check in on you.”
“That’s...thoughtful,” I say with narrow eyes and he nods in agreement. “I’m sure Xerxes will appreciate it when I tell him about your concern.”
Djoser sneers. “You do that,” he drawls before putting his hands behind his back and he starts pacing. “The two of you seem very close, so much so it’ssickeningto the rest of us.”
“I was always told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” I say with a jerk of my chin and Djoser chuckles.
“Cute,” he growls, looking around in the tent and something that looks like disgust flashes his eyes when they land on the bed. The sheets are still messy because Xerxes and I rolled around in them this morning and I can still smell us in the air. Djoser probably can too. “Have you packed, yet?” he asks and I raise my brows.
“Why would I?” I say and I feel a dip in my gut. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He lets out a sharp, quick laughter that for some reason cuts. “How irresponsible of Xerxes,” he continues, “not to tell you, I mean.” Djoser shakes his head. “He’s been crueler to you, than we usually are. Usually we do it quickly and with precision. Everything to ease the pain.”
I lick my lips. “Pain? What are you talking about?”
His eyes flare my way before he picks up a leather bag and starts shoving stuff into it. A blanket, a flashlight, some bread...and I don’t say anything, unsure of what’s going on and I want Xerxes to come back.
“You’re not the first woman to have been taken by a thief but we usually don’t keep them around after we’ve reproduced.”
My heart pounds, my cheeks heating. “Reproduced?”
“What else would Xerxes need you for? Why do you think he brought you here? He needs an heir and you’re just the instrument he used to obtain it.”
Getting up on wobbly legs, I shake my head. “That’s not true.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Djoser barks before he drags a breath and his voice is calmer when he speaks again. “Did Xerxes seem demanding around you, asking questions about your body, asking about protection, trying to see if you were fertile?”
I vaguely nod and Djoser’s eyes flare.
“He was trying to get you pregnant.”
Should it make me angry? Because it doesn’t. Instead I just fill with warmth at the thought of us raising a family but I grow cold when Djoser adds.
“And when he was sure he’d succeeded, he’d let you go. You would give birth, raise the child on your own and once he was old enough, Xerxes would take him from you.”
Inhaling, I stare at Djoser who nods.
“It’s our ways. It’s what we do in our league and you’re no exception. Take my advice and go. It’s better to run now, than have him chase you off with your tail between your legs.”
Putting a hand over my mouth, I gasp, backing and tears sting my eyes but I’m not gonna let them fall in front of Djoser. I don’t like him and I don’t trust him but if he’s lying...then why was Xerxes so eager to get me pregnant?
And why are there no women around here? Why hasn’t Xerxes ever mentioned his mother?
I swallow the hurt. He does need an heir and when he has one, he won’t need me anymore! Grabbing the bag Djoser packed for me, I turn around and rush out of the tent. There’s a breeze outside, the sand whirling and in the near distance I hear Xerxes voice.
Before I would’ve run to it but now I just run.
