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In a cheek-mottled, silent daze, Heba forgot entirely to haggle, which was one of her favorite things to do when shopping, and handed her the payment as the seller wrapped the box in linen and tied it securely with a string.
“Have fun, my dears!” she called as they walked away. “I know you’ll be thanking me one day! Probably when he’s—”
Heba tugged Shai around a corner and sped up their strides, drowning out the rest of the seller’s parting words in the bustling crowd.
Supper and beer were an uneventful affair, thankfully. The villagers brought out homecooked food and shared with their neighbors generously, no payment needed.
They chatted about inconsequential things, with Heba doing most of the talking. Her excitement at the festival sights and sounds simply overflowed her ability to contain it.
She wanted to watch the jugglers and sword-swallowers. To sing along to bawdy songs. She wanted to try as many of the exotic foods as she could from exotic places. Until her stomach was full to bursting and she could eat no more.
They did all of this together. Shai let her take the lead.
He didn’t inquire about her purchases, didn’t ask to carry her small parcel, and didn’t take off his ring. They held hands wherever they walked, and Heba settled into a living fantasy.
What if she could be with Shai like this always?
What if she wasn’t a Queen or a Regent?
What if she’d been born a common woman in Shai’s village and followed him around until he noticed her, until she wore him down?
These what-ifs were merely daydreams, she knew. After all, if she hadn’t been the royal princess, perhaps she never would have met Shai. Perhaps he and his family would have met a much darker fate that day.
And if she had been a common woman, would he have ever noticed her at all? No matter how dogged she was in her pursuit?
Perhaps he spent time with her and cared for her because he knew her so well. Perhaps their forced proximity over the years had led to reluctant affection, then attraction, then passion.
If he could have anyone in the world—and now that he was free, he could—why would he ever chooseher?
Even though Heba tried to focus on the carefree celebration of life, the churning thoughts inside of her made her doubt.
Made her fear.
If she ever took another husband for political alliances, for she could never imagine any other reason she would remarry, wouldn’t Shai want to take a wife?
He was a man in his prime. A man who should leave a legacy. And now that he was a respected leader of men, a man in a powerful position with more material wealth than he would ever need, wouldn’t he want children to carry on his name?
Beautiful warrior boys and ethereal little girls. He would want many children, Heba predicted. He would be such a wonderful Papa.
She could see his future so clearly, surrounded by the happiness and affection he deserved. A future without her, save for the protective duties he fulfilled.
Would they be strangers then?
As if they’d never shared these thirty days and nights? Never sharedthat night? Would he be walking through a city fair hand in hand with someone else? Someone with whom his smiles were plentiful and always reached his eyes?
Heba’s heart turned cold with dread, and heavy like lead.
She didn’t want to imagine such a future. She never wanted this night to end.
In the last event of the festival, already close to dawn, they joined a large crowd of revelers dancing within a ring of fire.
Everyone was dancing at this point, or laid out on nearby grass and woven mats, unconscious from all the drinking. It seemed that not a single person stayed inside their abode. Even the traders deserted their stalls to join in the revelry.
Men and women alike moved with the enchanting, passionate music, the beat of which echoed their thundering hearts. They writhed and undulated, swayed and rolled. Naked breasts, hips and thighs flashed through gaping tunics. Oiled chests and arms rubbed against heated skin.
The dance mimicked sex in the most provocative ways, and Heba watched on the sidelines, mesmerized.
She recalled their conversation on the ship vividly. How could she forget? She wanted to ask Shai to dance with her, but she suddenly felt shy.
