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He wanted to hear that he was loved again. He looked at the sky again, and a hawk sliced through the pale blue. And he did not think the sky was so unfeeling after all.
She was trying to do what Ariel said. She was trying to wait. And wait well.
But it was difficult. But she had to trust... She knew what had passed between them. What had passed between their bodies, whether or not he had been ready to admit what had passed between their souls. And she believed that it was love.
Still, she had put the town house up for sale. And where she would go after, she didn’t know. Would it be a cul-de-sac? She hoped not. She would try the palace first. But there was no way to know for sure.
She shut the door behind her one last time and turned the lock. And then she put her hands in her coat pockets and began to walk down the street.
“Brianna.”
It was his voice. He said her name in a way only he could. As if he was tasting it. As if it was something special and new. Something he had never tried before.
“You’re here,” she said.
She looked at him, backed by the city. By skyscrapers, all concrete and glass.
He was in New York. He was out of the dungeon.
“Riyaz...”
“Cairo is managing things in my stead. And I am... I am here.”
“You are.”
“Maybe I should play tourist.”
“You? A tourist?”
“Why not?” he asked. “I’m here.”
“Well, I can’t invite you over. I did just...sell the town house. I have a room at a hotel until I decide where to go next. I got rid of all my things.”
“And why is that?”
“I was really hoping that you would come. That’s why.”
“I also have a hotel reservation. It might be nicer than yours.”
“Probably. Though, hotels have beds, not jail cells.”
“I would think that in New York you could find one with a jail cell.”
She laughed. “Was that a joke?”
“It was. I read about many of these places. I can’t wait to see them. With you. I hope you understand I mean with you. Because you’re why I’m here. I love you,habibti. Brianna. And it is not because you are the first woman. It is that you are the only woman. The only one for me. I had to... Feel. Everything. The anger. The grief. Sorrow. So that I could begin to feel the joy. I had to trust that it would not be taken away from me, and only then was I able to see. I did not hate love. I craved it. But when you’re in a place of deprivation, wanting is the enemy. So I trained myself not to want. And eventually trained myself to believe all of that was bad. But I want cake. And sunshine and you. I said that my destiny was to rule Nazul. That it was part of me. My blood. But I realize now you are entangled in that destiny. If it took a coup, imprisonment, your awful father, and Cairo, for the two of us to meet, then I will call it all filled with meaning. You take tragedy that could be pointless and make it into something... It in and of itself is not beautiful, you understand, but it has made me into a man who has you. And for that I will be grateful. For that, I can leave the past behind.”
“I understand. I thought that I wanted normal. I just wanted to be loved. I wanted to love someone. And I do.”
“And I love you.”
“And I have my dream. Exactly the way that I always wanted.”
He frowned. “I’m not living in a cul-de-sac.”
She had to laugh at the expression his face. “I don’t dream of cul-de-sacs,” she said. “I only dream of you.”
The slow grin that cut across his taciturn face was like seeing the sun for the first time. “Good. Then let’s go sightseeing.”
