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‘I don’t want my hair done,’ Maggie said.
‘But your curls need to be tamed,’ Kumu insisted.
‘I like them,’ Maggie said, and she saw Kumu’s rapid blink.
‘I shall do your make-up, then.’
‘No, thank you,’ Maggie said. ‘The crown prince will just have to take me as I am this morning and, believe me, having my hair and make-up done is the furthest thing from my mind.’
Instead of insisting, Kumu’s face broke into a wide smile. ‘Good for you.’
‘Thank you for everything,’ Maggie said. She had taken a gift from her bag that she had actually bought for Flo. It was a silver bracelet that she had watched being made, but she had other presents for Flo and knew that her friend would understand.
Kumu was delighted and slipped the bangle on and then, to Maggie’s surprise, gave her a hug. ‘I am going to miss you.’
‘But I’ve only been here for a day,’ Maggie said.
‘I know, but the palace was so happy to have you here.’
She spoke of the building as if it were a person. Maggie got that, for it did feel a little like she was being torn from her moorings as she headed down a huge stairwell. This place felt more like home than any she had known since the morning when she’d been a child and the lights had snapped on in her room and she had been hauled from her bed.
But now it was time for her to leave.
There was no sign of Ilyas and she was led through corridors she had not had time to explore to a large foyer that looked rather like the entrance to a luxurious hotel.
And, no, Ilyas was not waiting for her.
Ilyas had been sulking.
He had angrily sent away the woman that Maggie had summoned when she’d stormed out of thehammam. He was furious at what she had done, furious that she had reduced their connection to sex. Even though that was all it had been between them. Right? That was what he had told himself; that was what he had told her.
He did not usually head out to say farewell to lovers and certainly he was cross. But she had changed him perhaps more than she knew, for he put his own anger on hold.
In fact, it had gone the second he’d walked into the foyer and seen her standing there, talking to Kumu.
No one spoke here, not really.
No one stood chatting for no reason, yet Kumu was telling Maggie about her daughter, and how well she was doing at school.
Idle gossip perhaps, but friendly conversation was something badly lacking within these walls.
Kumu suddenly stopped speaking and Maggie saw the reason why when she turned.
There he stood, dressed in a black robe andkafeyah; unlike Maggie, he was all polished and groomed.
‘Could you excuse us?’ Ilyas said to Kumu, instead of dismissing her with his usual wave.
And then he and Maggie stood facing each other.
‘How was your morning?’ Maggie asked.
‘Confusing for some,’ Ilyas said, referring to the woman she had summoned whom he had immediately shooed away, ‘and frustrating for others,’ he added, meaning himself.
‘Good.’ Maggie smiled, glad for the little bit of chaos she had caused.
Ilyas could not read her. He looked at the tumble of red curls and her unmade-up face and thought that she had never been more beautiful to him than she was now.
He was certain she did not want to leave and yet she stood there with a smile.
