nodded. ‘It is good that you are well rested. We are heading this way,’ she explained. ‘We are taking a helicopter.’
‘A helicopter?’ Gabi checked.
‘Of course.’
Violetta said it so casually and Gabi assumed that when you worked with royalty then taking a helicopter must be to Violetta the equivalent of taking a taxi.
The chopper was waiting and Gabi climbed in and fastened her seat belt and put on the headphones that Violetta handed to her.
‘It’s very windy,’ she warned Gabi. ‘We might be in for a bit of a bumpy ride.’
Gabi felt her stomach curl as she was lifted high into the sky.
The airport was a little way out from the city and Gabi looked again at the amazing skyline that she had so recently seen from the plane.
The view was even more stunning than before. The sun was starting to set and the sky was such a blush pink that even the white palace in the distance seemed to have been painted rose. There was a haze over the city but then the helicopter banked to the right and she lost sight of it. Gabi craned her neck for a glimpse of the ocean to orientate herself but the view had disappeared from her window and so she turned her head to look for it on the other side.
It was way in the distance and Gabi felt her nostrils tighten as the palace faded from view.
Gabi looked over at Violetta, who was herself looking out of the window seemingly without concern.
Except even the city skyline had now faded and looking below there was only the occasional old building. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked Violetta.
There was no response.
Perhaps there were two cities, two palaces, Gabi told herself, while knowing that could not be right. Or maybe the pilot was diverting because of the wind?
Gabi had felt on high alert from the moment that she had agreed to come to Zethlehan but now she had her first taste of pure fear.
‘Violetta,’ Gabi said, more loudly this time.
Perhaps her microphone wasn’t working, because Violetta did not respond to Gabi calling her name.
Now, as she looked out, there was nothing but desert. The sun was low in a burning sky and the endless sand looked like molten gold.
The ride seemed to take for ever, but finally coming into view she could see the billowing white of a desert abode.
* * *
And still Gabi fought for calm as she and Violetta disembarked.
What the hell had Bernadetta been thinking, making her wear heels? Gabi thought as she took off her shoes and then ran beneath the rotors.
‘Is the service to be held in the desert?’ Gabi asked, still fighting for an ordered reason, still hoping there was a sensible reason to explain why she had been brought here, but her voice was drowned by the rotors. ‘Violetta?’ she asked, and turned to see that Violetta was not by her side. She had run back under the rotors and was getting back into the chopper.
‘Wait...’ Gabi shouted.
Violetta did not.
The helicopter lifted into the blazing sky. The sand was a stinging blizzard of tiny, sharp pellets, and Gabi held her arms over her face to shield her eyes, eventually using her jacket to cover her nose and mouth. The soles of her feet were burning.
She had never felt more scared or alone, or more foolish for believing that she had been brought here for work.
And finally, when the helicopter was out of sight and the sands had somewhat settled she stood, windswept and scared but not alone.
There was Alim.
Only it was an Alim that Gabi had never seen.
Always he had been clean shaven, but not now.
Instead of the more familiar suits she was used to seeing him in, Alim wore a black robe and on his head was a keffiyeh; he stood utterly still, imposing and straight, and Gabi felt as if she were his prey.
She remembered his father walking through the foyer and that moment of foreboding as she’d glimpsed the al-Lehans’ power, and she felt the absolute full force of it now.
Yes, his prey was exactly what she was—he had sought her, found her and now she was within his grasp. As she stood there, waiting, they were plunged into darkness, for it was as if the desert had swallowed the fierce sun whole.
Gabi ran.
It was a rather stupid thing to do in a darkening desert but for now it didn’t matter, she simply wanted to be away from him, only Gabi didn’t get very far.
Alim caught up with her easily but so panicked was Gabi she shook off his hand from her arm and attempted to take off again, but she fell to the ground and lay with her head on her arm facing down, knowing that he stood over her.
Knowing there was nowhere to run.
‘Gabi.’
His voice was annoyingly calm and terribly, achingly familiar.
Despite his attire, despite the unfamiliar surroundings, he was still the Alim she knew.
Gabi felt soothed when she should not, yet she could taste her panicked tears and feel the conflict for she wanted to turn around.
She wanted again to lift her face to him.
But anger won.
‘You set me up,’ she shouted, and thumped the ground.
‘Come inside.’
‘I don’t want to come inside!’
Yet when he held out his hand she took it and she stood brushing herself down as the wind whipped her hair into her damp face.
So much for a sophisticated reunion!
‘This is kidnap!’
‘You are too dramatic.’ Alim shrugged.
‘Not where I come from. Your assistant told me I would not even have to see you...’
‘Violetta ensured discretion,’ Alim defended her. ‘Don’t you want a chance to be together for a while? I know that I do.’ He had to shout to make himself heard over the wind. ‘Don’t you want a chance to speak and to catch up on all that has been going on?’
That was the very last thing that Gabi wanted!
Alim must not find out about Lucia while she was effectively stranded here.
‘Come inside,’ Alim said again, and the authoritarian note to his voice told her that he would not be argued with.
That did not stop Gabi. ‘I don’t want to.’
She shouted it but the wind whipped the words straight from her mouth and carried them into the night. Her mouth filled with sand and it was the most pointless argument ever, she knew, for she could not survive out here in this savage land.
Gabi had seen from the sky just how isolated they were.
He offered his hand to walk her back to the tent but Gabi declined it and for a few moments she stood her ground.
Alim would not stand in the fierce winds, attempting to persuade her. If she ran again he would find her in a matter of moments, for Alim knew the desert well and in her cumbersome clothes and winds such as these, Gabi would only manage a few steps.
Still, he was relieved to make it to the entrance and then turn around and sight her.
He waited, and after a short stand-off he could see that Gabi knew she was beaten.
There wasn’t really a choice but to go inside and be with Alim.
The desert gave few options, she told herself.
The