hide in the underbrush. He’s coming.”
“Nasim?” Her gaze flew to the road. Riders thundered toward the wood, and in the lead were Balkir and Nasim.
She slipped from the saddle and gave her horse a sharp slap. The horse plunged forward into the brush.
Antonio and Haroun had reined in, and Antonio jumped off his horse. Haroun still sat his horse, looking behind him.
“For God’s sake, hurry, Haroun,” Selene called frantically as she plunged into the shrubbery.
“They’re too close.” His face was tight with fear. “They’ll find you. I have to-”
He kicked his horse into a run.
Her eyes widened in horror. “Haroun!”
Layla covered Selene’s mouth as she jerked her down on the ground.
The riders were upon them.
Dust. Thunder. The crash of branches.
Selene could see the hooves fly by only feet from where they lay.
“There! Ahead!” Balkir’s voice. “The boy!”
Earth churned as the riders passed the shrubbery where they were hidden.
Layla’s hand slid away from Selene’s mouth.
“They’ll kill him.” Her agonized gaze searched the darkness where the riders had disappeared. “They’ll catch him.”
“We can’t stay here.” Layla stood up and jerked her to her feet. “They’ll be back. We have to find a hiding place.” She turned to Antonio. “Go on ahead. Head south. Find a cave. Even a tree we can climb. Anything out of sight.”
Antonio nodded and faded into the bushes.
“Come on.” Layla took her arm. “We have to get away from here.”
“We have to help Haroun. They’ll kill him.”
“We can’t help him. He has to help himself. He may escape. Anyway, we couldn’t catch up with them on foot. Even if we did, we couldn’t stop them. We’re outnumbered.”
“We have to try. You know they’ll kill him if they catch him.”
“Of course they’ll kill him.” Layla’s voice was lash-sharp. “Don’t be stupid. They’ll kill us all if given an opportunity. Or maybe they won’t kill you but will use you and the child to get to Kadar and Tarik. Do you want to give us all up to Nasim to try to save a man who can’t be saved?”
“He tried to save us.”
“Yes, and he knew exactly what he was doing. Are you going to let his sacrifice be wasted? Use your reason.”
Selene didn’t want to reason. She tried to pull away from Layla’s grasp.
“The child,” Layla said. “Think of the child. You have no right to risk killing it.”
The child.
Haroun.
No one had a right to choose who was to live or die.
She closed her eyes as waves of pain washed over her.
“Come,” Layla said. Her hand gripping Selene’s elbow was gentle but determined. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Layla always seemed to think she knew what was right to do, Selene thought dully. How comforting that must be. God knows, she did not.
She let Layla lead her in the opposite direction from that taken by Haroun and Nasim.
____________________
A few hours later Antonio located a small cave in the side of a hill.
They spent the next hour masking the entrance of the cave with branches. Antonio stationed himself close to the opening. Then their only recourse was to wait and watch.
And worry about Haroun.
“Stop fretting.” Layla’s gaze was on Selene’s face. “This isn’t good for you.”
“Don’t be asinine. How can I stop?” Selene wearily leaned her cheek against the cool stone of the cave wall. “We should have gone after him.”
“Then blame me. I made the decision.”
“No, I did it. I’m the one at fault. I didn’t have to go with you.”
“That’s true. But then I would have hit you on the head and had Antonio carry you. Either way I wouldn’t have let you go after Haroun.”
“It wasn’t your choice.”
“Nevertheless, I made it.” Her lips twisted. “It was easier for me. I wanted the babe and you to live, and I’ve only a small affection for Haroun. Besides, I’m accustomed to making decisions of that nature.”
She was speaking of life and death, Selene realized with a shiver. “Have you ever killed?”
“Not intentionally. I told you I could not bear it. Still, things happen.” She shrugged. “And I will not hide from it. I’m not like Tarik.”
Selene didn’t know what Layla meant, but she was too stunned and numb to probe. All she could think about was the expression on Haroun’s face in the moment before he had spurred away from them deep into the forest.
“He was terrified of Nasim,” she whispered. “Haroun wasn’t a brave man.”
“You’re wrong; to face your fears is very brave.”
“It was the babe. He promised he’d take care of me. I shouldn’t have told him about the babe.”
“And you think he wouldn’t have done it anyway?”
“Perhaps.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t know. He risked his life to come after me at Montdhu.”
“Then the babe had nothing to do with it. Now stop thinking. Try to sleep.”
Sleep? If she hadn’t been so numb, she would have laughed aloud. “How long before we can go looking for him?”
“A day, perhaps two. Maybe longer. When we’re sure Nasim has given up the search and left the forest.”
“He won’t give up.”
“He will if he thinks we managed to elude him and are no longer here. That’s why we must make no move.”
“How will we know when he leaves?”
“Antonio’s very good in the woods, but I won’t let him go out until we think it’s safe.”
“Of course not.” The last thing she wanted was to put another innocent person in danger. Her burden of guilt was already too great.
She closed her eyes. Let nothing happen to him. Please let Haroun be safe.
Twice the next day, riders came within yards of the cave. Once two of them dismounted and walked into the nearby bushes to relieve themselves.
But they did not discover the entrance.
On the third day Layla sent Antonio out to reconnoiter.
He shook his head when he returned a few hours later. “They’re still here. But they’re camped on the edge of the forest to the west. They may be getting ready to leave.”
“Haroun?” Selene asked. “Is he a prisoner?”
“I didn’t see him in the camp.”
Fear shuddered through her.
“Don’t think the worst,” Layla said. “That may be good news. He could be hiding in the forest. Now sit down and have some of these fine berries Antonio brought us.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat anyway. You’ve barely eaten anything for the past few days. You have to think of the babe.”
She had thought of the babe and let Haroun ride into danger. She had chosen the child, and Kadar and Haroun might suffer for-
“Eat,” Layla repeated.
