by ammyford1
“I spent thirty years in it. Tagan and I spent the last few years in reconnaissance together,” he replied.
“What Ahran has not told you is that he and Tagan were our top agents and they received the highest awards for their loyalty, commitment and bravery.” Halsan’s pride was obvious.
I was impressed. “What made you leave?” I asked
“Thirty years is long enough,” he answered.
“I have no doubt he will be just as successful in his next venture,” the King said, changing the subject, it was obviously a painful topic of conversation for them all.
Sulaan reappeared. “There is a phone call for you my Lord.”
“I’ll take it in my office.”
The King wiped his mouth on his napkin and stood up. He turned to me. “Thank you for coming my dear, it was lovely to meet you at last. I will make sure preparations are made for your return. If you will all excuse me I have matters to attend to.”
“Thank you for the lunch and thank you for everything you are doing for us,” I said gratefully.
“Not at all, it’s the least we can do.” The King kissed his wife on the cheek and he returned to his office.
“We ought to get back if you want to visit your friend in hospital before Toby finishes school,” Ahran suggested.
“Yes, okay.” I had forgotten about the portal and I didn’t relish the trip back through it.
Leylana stood up and Ahran respectfully followed suit, I took his lead and stood up too.
“Well Sophie, I cannot wait to meet my grandson, I won’t be able to concentrate on a thing until you both return.” She came around to my side of the table and gave me a hug. She looked over to Ahran. “Look after them both won’t you?”
“Of course.” He nodded.
The Queen left us and Ahran and I made our way back to the entrance. “If this building is built into the side of the mountain how come it is so light everywhere?” I asked trying to make conversation to fill the awkward silence that had settled between us. Ahran had suddenly gone quiet. I hoped I hadn’t upset him when I had asked about his time in the army. Tagan’s death had obviously hit him hard.
“Fibre optics. Light is channelled through cables.”
“Oh right,” I said, nodding. “Is it a good idea going back through the portal having just eaten?” As much as I wanted to get back to see Audrey, I wasn’t looking forward to losing my lunch.
“You might not find it as bad this time.”
We left the palace through the front doors and walked down the front steps. The large wooden gates opened as we approached. We climbed the hill to the portal pretty much in silence. I used the time to digest the last hour or so. I had warmed to the King and Queen much more than I had thought I was going to and I was feeling less anxious than when I had arrived.
I was out of breath by the time we got to the top of the hill.
Ahran’s breathing remained steady.
“Ready?” Ahran asked.
“No, can I just sit down for a bit and get my breath?” I panted, knowing if we went now I would definitely throw up.
“Take your time,” he said.
I sat down and Ahran came and sat next to me. He sat so close our arms were almost touching. I concentrated on a spot in the distance and tried not to be so conscious of him. For the last fifteen minutes it had felt like he was in my company under duress and now he had chosen to be so near to me. I couldn’t keep up with him. I didn’t want to move away, that would seem too obvious, maybe if I tried to remember my schoolgirl geography that would help me to take my mind off the distracting smell of him.
“Now, a hill that shape is it called a spur or a heel?”
“Sophie?”
“Mmmm,” I turned to look at him only to find his face just inches away from mine.
All thoughts of geographical features vanished as I looked up into his face. Suddenly, all my good intentions disappeared and all I could think of now was how his lips would feel on mine. I searched his eyes, he looked conflicted and confused. For a few heart-stopping moments I thought he was about to move away but he gently touched the side of my face instead. I didn’t pull away nor did I give him any encouragement to continue even though the voice in my head screamed for his lips to touch mine. I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that there was a reason why he shouldn’t kiss me but for the life of me I couldn’t remember what it was.
My heart slammed against my ribs and it was nothing to do with the hill we had just walked up. Something flickered in his eyes as if he had just resolved the conflict behind them and excruciatingly slowly, still with his hand on my jaw, his lips came towards mine, all the time his eyes daring me to stop him. I was lost in the drowning blue of his eyes and held in his spell with no hope of resisting him. His lips touched mine and my eyes closed automatically, my heart feeling like it was about to pound right out of my chest. For a few blissful seconds my mind was silent and I allowed the sensation of his kiss wash over me. My lips responded, parting beneath his as the intensity of our kiss increased. Ahran’s body shifted and he pulled me towards him. His hand moved down the column of my throat and his thumb gently caressed the pounding pulse at the base of my neck. It was the hottest kiss I had ever experienced.
A groan came from deep in his throat and for some reason it made reality hit like a slap in the face. I pulled away and sat back on my heels. We were both breathing heavily. We stared at one another for a few moments, the intensity of the kiss had surprised us both.
“We shouldn’t have done that,” I said breathlessly. I don’t know why I had become the voice of reason all of a sudden because it certainly wasn’t how I was feeling inside.
“I’ve wanted to do that ever since I laid eyes on you,” he said without a trace of regret.
His words surprised me and my stupid misguided heart sang. “If you had done it this morning, I probably wouldn’t have stopped you, but as I have recently learnt, you actually had no right to kiss me.” It took a moment for him to realise what I meant.
“You mean Talina,” he said flatly.
“Yes, Talina,” I said, refraining from adding ‘duh?!’ on the end.
“Talina and I have been betrothed since we were children,” he said as if it explained everything.
I couldn’t help my surprise. “What, like an arranged marriage?” I asked, momentarily forgetting our little indiscretion.
“My parents and her parents are allies and our marriage will join together two powerful families.”
“Do you love her?” It was suddenly very important I knew the answer.
Ahran hesitated. “I ...” he seemed to be searching for the right word, “...care about her,” he replied.
He hadn’t said loved, the traitorous little voice sing-songed in my head.
“In Ramia, it is believed that our parents have our best interests at heart. Providing we like the person they have chosen for us it is believed love will grow and generally it does. My parent’s parents did it for them as did my aunt and uncle’s parents for them, they all have very successful loving relationships, it’s how things are done here.”
I thought about Ahran and Talina’s love for one another growing and it made my gut twist.
“Well, let’s pretend that didn’t just happen then shall we?” I said in as business-like a voice as I could muster. I stood up. I needed to step away and compose myself.
“The problem is, I don’t want to forget it, I want to do it again,” he said shamelessly, his eyes drilling into mine.
Even though my heart missed a beat at the thought of him wanting to kiss me again, I considered slapping him. “Well, you have just made it clear that this...” I said, gesturing wildly from me to him, “...is inappropriate because you are about to marry a woman you have been engaged to for...” How old was he and how long ago was it since he was a child? His kiss had befuddled my brain and I couldn’t work it out. “Ugh,” I said frustrated “...God knows how long. I think we ought to just leave
it there.”
I strode off to the spot where we had appeared a couple of hours ago.
“Can we just get this over with?” I said, holding my hand out impatiently. The last thing I trusted myself to do was touch him but I didn’t want to fall into some intergalactic abyss either. Holding his hand was the lesser of the two evils.
Ahran hesitated but then walked over and took my hand in his. I tried to ignore the electrical pulse that passed between us. So that was what Katie was talking about. A fat lot of good it was going to do me now, I thought dismally. I held my breath as we walked through the portal together.
It was the same horrendous feeling as before, like I was hurtling towards the earth and my stomach churned violently in response. A few seconds later I stumbled out of the portal into my wood. If I hadn’t been holding Ahran’s hand I would have fallen flat on my face. I regained my balance and snatched my hand away from his, fighting the wave of nausea that was threatening to make me lose my lunch. I leant against a nearby tree and closed my eyes. I took a few deep breaths, more to fight the tears that were hovering behind my eyelids than the sickness I was feeling. I had just begun to feel more cheerful about everything when he had to go and kiss me. Of course it couldn’t just be any ordinary kiss, no, it had to be a heart-stopping, earth-shattering mess-with-your-head kind of kiss. Whether it had been extraordinary because he was superhuman, I had no idea, but what I did know was that there was a chemistry between us the likes of which I had never experienced before. The kisses I’d had with Marcus paled into insignificance compared to what we had just shared. The irony was that I had thought Marcus had kissed well until Ahran had to go and spoil everything.
Ahran waited for me to gather myself. “Are you okay?” he asked sympathetically, mistaking my turmoil for travel sickness.
“Yes, no thanks to you,” I spat.
He didn’t respond.
“Let’s just go,” I said, pushing myself away from the tree and started to head back in the direction of my house. Ahran followed a safe distance behind. I decided as I walked that I would ask Elaya to escort us back to Ramia. I needed to distance myself from Ahran as soon as possible.
As I reached out to open my back gate, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the caller display. It was Toby’s school. I felt the blood drain from my face. Oh Jesus! Toby!
Chapter 10
I put the phone to my ear. I knew something had happened, I could feel it in my bones.
“Miss McAllister?”
“Yes,” I answered, my voice full of dread.
“This is Mr Harcroft, the Head teacher at Hatherley primary school.”
I knew exactly who it was. I had begun to feel like I was falling down a deep, black hole, far worse than the one I had just stepped out of. If the Head teacher was phoning me, something was definitely wrong.
“I am not quite sure how to tell you this but Toby has gone missing.”
My legs buckled beneath me and I fell to my knees. Ahran was beside me in a heartbeat. He didn’t need to ask, he’d heard what Mr Harcroft had just said.
I struggled to say anything and just about managed to repeat the word that had sliced through me like a knife. “Missing?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” he confirmed. “He was in the playground after lunch and didn’t return to his classroom after the afternoon bell, we think he may have wandered out of the school gates. I have informed the police and a number of my staff are out looking for him. He can’t have gone far and I am sure we will have him back in no time.” He was trying his hardest to sound reassuring.
Toby would never have just wondered off. Their search was futile. Toby would be in Ramia by now, God knows where, in the grasp of Bazeera. I dropped the phone.
Ahran retrieved it and said a few curt words to the Head teacher before hanging up. He knelt down opposite me and took my hands in his.
I stared at him unseeingly.
“We will find him,” he said, looking into my eyes.
“You said Elaya would look after him,” I said accusingly. I felt so numb I couldn’t even summon a tear.
“I know and I’m sure she would have done everything she could have done to protect him. We need to talk to her and find out what happened.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled her number.
She didn’t answer. Ahran cursed in Ramian.
I sat on the ground paralysed by fear.
“We need to find her.” I could tell by the look on his face he suspected something had happened to her too. I couldn’t offer any words of comfort I was too disabled by my own grief.
Ahran offered his hand to help me up. “We haven’t got time to waste.”
He pulled me to my feet. I felt like I had become detached from my body and the only thing I was conscious of was how difficult it was to breathe. I walked robotically through my back garden and allowed Ahran to lead me around the front to his car. We drove to the school in silence and parked in the cul-de-sac outside. “You stay here for a minute. I’m just going to see if I can find Elaya.”
I didn’t argue and sat there, staring out of the window. I watched an elderly couple come out of their house. The lady had a shopping bag over her arm and the man helped her into the car. They reversed out of their drive chatting away to each other. A young mother pushed a toddler in a pushchair. She had a phone sandwiched between her chin and shoulder as she walked and she laughed at something the person on the other end had just said to her. Several cars passed by and a delivery van pulled up outside a house a few doors away from where I was. How could everyone just be getting on with their lives when the bottom had just fallen out of mine?
Where was Toby? Was he hurt? Who was he with? He was only eight. He would be so frightened. How had they taken him without anyone noticing? Would I ever see him again?
The questions kept coming and I didn’t have an answer for a single one of them. My tears started to fall silently. I didn’t notice Ahran return until he opened the door and got in.
His face was lined with concern. I knew it was bad news and my heart sank even further.
“I’ve found her. She’s alive but unconscious in a ditch a couple of fields away from the school. I didn’t want to carry her back in case anyone saw me. I’ll drive round there and pick her up. I will have to take her back to Ramia.”
I grabbed his arm. “No, don’t leave me!” The thought of him leaving threw me into a blind panic.
“You will have to go into the school; it will appear very strange if you don’t. Why don’t you call your friend so you’ve got somebody with you? I’ll take Elaya back and I will come back for you as quickly as I can.”
I nodded. I knew that what he said made sense. I was going to have to pretend I had no idea where Toby was until Ahran returned and then we could head back to Ramia and work out what we were going to do from there.
Ahran gently held my chin. “We will find him, I promise. Bazeera won’t hurt him; he is worth more to her alive.” I appreciated that Ahran was trying to make me feel better, but I struggled to share his optimism. I nodded weakly. I got out of the car and started to make my way into the school. I don’t know how I was able to put one foot in front of the other. I looked back at Ahran and he gave me a weak smile, the worry was plain to see on his face. The car’s engine roared to life and he sped off.
I walked towards the school reception. The sooner I got this charade out of the way the better. I dialled Bennie’s number.
“Hi, Sophe.”
The sound of my best friend’s voice brought a fresh wave of tears.
“Toby’s gone missing from school.”
“Fuck! Where are you?”
“I’m just heading into the school now.”
“I’ll be right there.” She hung up. Thank God Bennie was staying with her parents and not still in Africa.
I walked into the school reception and as soon as the receptionist saw me she came out and ushered me into the Head teacher’s office. There
were a number of people in there with him; the deputy head, two police officers and the chairman of the school governors.
The Head approached me. “Miss McAllister, the police are doing a search of the area as we speak.” The gravity of the situation meant that he did away with any preliminaries.
“What happened? Didn’t anyone see anything? What about Adam, he and Toby are inseparable, didn’t he see anything?” I fired my questions at him.
“We’ve just spoken to Adam. He said they had been playing armies at the back of the playground, Toby went and hid behind the bank and that was the last time Adam saw him.”
“Wasn’t there anyone on duty?” I asked, struggling to hide my anger.
“There were two members of staff out on the playground at lunchtime but it is difficult for them to keep their eye on every child all of the time.”
“Well, you need more staff on duty then! We put our children in your hands and you have a duty of care to protect them,” I said, my voice rising an octave. I knew that there wasn’t a lot the Head teacher could have done but I took my fear and frustration out on him anyway.
“Miss McAllister, I can assure you we take our duty of care very seriously,” he said, only managing to thinly veil his frustration at my suggestion that they had failed in their job.
“Well you obviously don’t take it seriously enough!” I retorted taking a step towards him and stabbing the air with my finger.
“Miss McAllister I understand this is very distressing for you, as it is for all of us,” the governor said, trying to placate me. “It isn’t going to do Toby any good if we all get upset with one another. We need to concentrate on finding him as quickly as possible.”
I would have been happy if he had left me to tear lumps out of the Head teacher, but the governor’s gently restraining arm prevented me from getting any closer.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” the Head instructed, relieved by the distraction.
Bennie put her head around the door.
“Bennie!” I was so relieved to see her. I rushed over to her and gave her a hug.
