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She inserted herself into his personal space as if it was her rightful place, standing closer than she’d ever done before.
So close, he could feel her body heat. Could breathe in the soft fragrance of her skin and hair. Unperfumed.
Just Heba.
For a long time, she simply admired the sunset as he did, her face turned into the wash of golden light, letting it caress her delicate, cat-like features. If she truly were a feline, he imagined she’d be purring sonorously right now.
“Is my son faring well?” she finally broke the comfortable silence.
“He is now traveling with the army under the tutelage of generals. I envy him for the freedom to see our vast lands first-hand, and perhaps to visit new territories as well.”
“You receive frequent reports of his situation, my Queen,” Shai replied. “You do not need me to tell you how he fares.”
She looked him directly in the eyes, the way she seldom did before.
Shai felt pinned beneath her gaze, even as he staggered from the intensity and openness of it.
It was the woman who looked into him, not the Queen.
“The reports are formal,” she explained. “I wish to hear your unvarnished account. As the man Ehab looks up to more than any other in the world.”
Ehab.
She almost never referred to their secret using the nickname that embodied it. Shai knew that she was asking him as a mother to a father in this moment. Asking him abouttheir son.
He swallowed hard as he gathered his thoughts. As a wash of acid chased down his throat.
His heart ached at every reminder of what they shared, of the physical proof of their union.
And yet, he was also inconceivably proud. His heart was full for the way Thutmose was growing into manhood. He was still just a boy, with a boy’s aptitude for mischief and mayhem. But he was also fundamentallygood.
He would make a superb king one day.
“He trains hard and obeys the generals,” Shai replied gruffly, his baritone raspy with emotion.
“But he also loves to laugh and jest. He plays pranks on the men good naturedly, and receives the punishment he deserves without protest. Everyone knows, however, that these punishments would not deter him from further mischief. He is beloved by the men.”
His words were unvarnished and sparse, but at the look on her face, he knew they did the job.
She smiled a wobbly smile, her bright eyes shimmering.
“Good. I am glad they love him. He will command the army’s loyalty more easily. He will need their support in the years to come.”
“Loyalty is not the reason Thutmose exerts effort with the men,” Shai put in. “It is simply who he is. Your son is a natural leader. He loves the men as much as they love him.”
“Like father like son,” she immediately quipped.
And Shai felt as if an arrow had pierced his heart, rending it with equal parts gladness and pain.
She looked at him pointedly, intensely, and said:
“Ehab is fortunate to have the mightiest of warrior blood in his veins. The purest of heart and fairness of mind. The sire people write down in history is not the father in his heart. He knows to whom he belongs, and he will never forget it.”
Shai’s breath arrested entirely in his chest. He could only stare back at her, speechless.
Then, she added, “Iwill never forget it.”
Not knowing why she was flaying him open like this, he looked away and gripped the rail so tightly, the sturdy wood creaked with protest as his knuckles turned white.
