She’d never been this far from the palace – not across the desert – and it was impossible not to be awe-struck by the sheer size of its expanse. In every direction there was sand, and more sand, and now that the sun was up, warmth was surrounding them. He rode harder and faster and the sameness of her view altered, showing a shape on the horizon. He was riding them towards it, so she watched intently, her eyes squinting as they drew nearer. Buildings!
No, ruins, she clarified, as they got close enough for her to make out the details. They were the colour of the desert, as if they’d organically risen from the ground, as though they were of this land. Perhaps forty houses, all two story, built side by side, with no roofs that she could see – flat at the top, and open windows. There was an odd kind of vegetation that had grown through the ruins, marking its ochre colour with green veins in places.
“What is this place?” She asked, her voice discordant from disuse.
“The ruins of Shakam al abut.”
“I’ve never heard of them.”
“I’m not surprised.” The horse’s hooves made a clicking sound and when Chloe looked down she recognised paved stones beneath them. Raffa stilled the beast and then leaped off with his easy athleticism, keeping a hold of the reins. Chloe felt his absence immediately.
He spoke a few words to the animal and then reached for Chloe. She wanted to tell him she could get down herself, but the horse was almost twice her height and if she’d felt inelegant being foisted onto him earlier that morning, she was pretty sure she’d look even worse dropping to her bottom.
Raffa gripped Chloe’s waist and lifted her easily, despite the fact she was higher than he, sliding her down his body in a way that was like striking a match to oil. She was already throbbing with need, the ride across the desert having been a form of sensual torture, so that now, feeling him so close, she ached to wrap her hands around his waist and stand up on tiptoes, to cleave her lips to his and taste him.
Perhaps something in her expression gave her away because he made a guttural sound and stepped back, as though she’d burned him.
He busied himself tethering the horse to the edge of a building and when he turned back to Chloe, she was herself again. Outwardly, at least.
“This settlement was built on a small spring – any of these places were. It was the only way they could survive out here.”
“It’s remarkable.”
“Yes.” He put a hand in the small of her back, guiding her forward and she inhaled deeply, breathing him in, reveling in the small contact.
“When was it built?”
“Some of the foundations date back to the twelfth century--,”
“So old?”
“Yes. Here, look.” He crouched down so Chloe had to use every ounce of willpower to ignore the way his powerful legs flexed, the way his body was athletic even in this simple motion. He scraped away some of the scrambling vines and tapped a dark stone. “This is Sharni rock, quarried from about twenty miles in that direction.”
“How on earth did they get it here?”
“How did they build the pyramids?” His eyes held Chloe’s so her stomach lurched and she looked away.
He stood, dusting his hands on the front of his pants. “Most of what you see though was built in the seventeenth century. It was a thriving community – a halfway point between the old city and the sea – where modern Qadim is. Trade thrived because there was a constant stream of travelers, moving south.”
“It’s amazing. I had no idea.”
He turned to look at her. “That’s my fault. I have not taken the time to educate you in the ways of my – our – people, as I should have. I expected you to love this country because I do, without making any effort to show you what is so unique about us, as a people.”
Her heart crashed into her ribs. “I do love Ras el Kida. I do love our people.”
“That is a reflection on the goodness of your heart.”
She bit down on her lip as she fell into step beside him. If only he knew! If only he knew how much she loved his country, his people… and him.
If only he knew that she was kept awake at night worrying that she wouldn’t be able to give him what he, and his people, needed most of all. And how, in her darkest moments, she chased that doubt down a deep, cloying rabbit hole of despair.
Only the knowledge that Amit was a viable heir kept her from pure panic.
“This was a lodging house,” he said, gesturing to a hole in the side of a building. She didn’t know if it had been destroyed by human hands, or the winds of time and this inhospitable desert, but the hole took up half of the building.
“Is it safe to go in?”
He nodded. “Engineers inspect the ruins each year, reinforcing any elements that are weakening. It’s an important part of our heritage; future generations should have an opportunity to see them for themselves.”
“So other people come here?”
“There are ruins in the East and North that are open to the public. These are on palace land. For security reasons, they’re kept empty most of the time.”
“I had no idea palace land stretched so far.”
“Much of this desert,” he said with a nod. “My father reduced it as much as was possible, but there is a great sense of pride in the palace and the heritage that accompanies it.”
She moved inside the ruin and drew in a breath. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been this.
“There’s furniture in here!” She said excitedly. “And carpets. Oh, the most
