Christopher looked unconvinced. His eyes, those striking eyes, saw far too much. ‘Tahira...’
She pulled his head towards her and kissed him. It was a kiss meant only to silence him, but as their lips clung it became a desperate kiss. She truly had missed him. She would miss him terribly when he left. And Christopher, his hand stroking her hair, the nape of her neck, her cheek, she had no doubt that he felt the imminence of their impending parting every bit as much as she did. They kissed fiercely, desperately, as if they were trying to meld into one entity. When they finally stopped, breathing ragged, cheeks flushed, eyes dark with a mixture of passion and resignation, there was nothing more to be said.
‘We must seal the entrance up tonight,’ Christopher said flatly, freeing her from his embrace. ‘We can’t risk it being discovered.’
‘I’ve heard the mine will become fully active imminently,’ Tahira ventured.
‘Have you?’ He waited, but she could tell from his tone that he had no expectation of her explaining how she came to know such sensitive information. Her relief was tinged with another heavy dose of guilt. She hated deceiving him, but she had no choice.
‘I’ve been making drawings documenting the layout of the tomb. It’s taken me most of the day. It was worth the risk,’ Christopher said with a shrug at her horrified expression. ‘I wanted you to have something to add to your collection.’
Tears burned her throat again. ‘Thank you.’ Would she be able to take these with her? They belonged in the library with the rest of her modest body of work, but Tahira couldn’t imagine parting with them. ‘Thank you,’ she said again, kissing his cheek.
He caught her to him once more, resting his chin on her head. He said something she couldn’t understand beneath his breath. Then he let her go. ‘It will take us most of the night to seal the entrance. We must make a start, but before we do, I’ve been mulling something over. It’s my amulet. I’ve always assumed that I’d hand it over to a person, a descendent of whoever owned it, but why do that when the true, original owner is right here?’
It took Tahira a moment to understand his meaning. When she did, to her shame, what she felt first and foremost was relief. ‘You intend to leave your amulet in the tomb?’
‘It is such an obvious solution, don’t you think? I mean, it must have been a personal piece, because if it was part of the crown jewels, it would never have been allowed to be buried with her. It seems to me that this is the perfect place to leave it. Bury the past in the past,’ he concluded with a bitter little smile. ‘I confess I find it a singularly apt solution.’
Now that she knew he would not be seeking out Ghutrif, Tahira’s relief gave way to concern. ‘Christopher, what if the painful memories you associate with your amulet refuse to be buried with it? Physical objects can be buried, emotions are more difficult to dispose of.’
‘Since when did you become an expert on the subject of burying emotions?’
‘Since I was informed earlier today that my betrothal is to be formalised in four days’ time.’
‘So soon!’ He wrapped her in his arms. She surrendered to the comfort of his embrace, the steady beat of his heart, the familiar scent of him, the heat of him. His hand stroked her back as if she were a child, but his voice, like hers, was not steady. ‘You are determined to go through with it?’
‘You know I have no other option. It is what everyone wants. If I refuse, I would not only make my own life miserable, but that of my sisters too. Married, they will believe me happy and make happy marriages of their own in turn. But if I am outcast—no, it does not bear thinking about. I must set a good example.’
‘And allow your brother to blackmail you into a marriage you do not want.’
She took his hand, which was tightly curled into a fist. ‘That is between my brother and his conscience, Christopher, if he has one. I choose to make the best of a bad situation. I also choose to stop talking about an outcome I have always known cannot be avoided on this, our last night together.’
‘No,’ he said vehemently. ‘We must close up the tomb tonight, we dare not risk leaving it another day, but let us have one more night to ourselves before you bow to the inevitable.’
Her mouth trembled. One more night, just one more night. It was her heart’s desire.
‘Tahira, is it too much to ask? If you think the risk is too great so close to your betrothal, I would understand. I would not dream of jeopardising...’
‘No, it is what I desire more than anything. I assumed that you would want to leave immediately, that is all. I dared not ask you...’
‘Tomorrow then?’
Though it was only one more night, it was one more than she had expected. Tahira nodded mistily. ‘Tomorrow.’
Christopher kissed her hard, swiftly. ‘Tomorrow. Now let us make haste. We have a great deal to do before dawn.’
* * *
The silver pot and the serpent bangle sat on the shelf from which they had been stolen. Christopher carefully laid his amulet on top of the sarcophagus, placing it over the heart of the dead princess’s effigy. Once again, the relief he had anticipated feeling for nine long months still eluded him. He felt oddly bereft and had to force himself to let go of the artefact.
How odd that they kept it all these years. As always, the memory of that day, that loathsome voice, made him shudder. He released the amulet. Now there was nothing left to remind him, no object left to mock him, no evidence of his shame. Now, he was once again free to be himself. Picking up the lantern, he turned to where Tahira stood watching him from the doorway. She thought he was making a mistake, he could see it in her eyes, though she was biting her lip. She was wrong. He would not regret this. When they sealed up the entrance, that would be it. Then, surely, he would feel an enormous sense of relief.
He let her lead the way, refusing to look back. Forward, that was the direction he was heading from now on. It took them until dangerously close to dawn, but by the time he saw Tahira off on her camel the tomb was resealed. Christopher was done with the past.
* * *
Tahira rode directly to Christopher’s temporary abode the next night. After he had tied up her camel, he led her to the fire which he had lit. ‘It’s very nice but it has no magic qualities,’ he said, unrolling a rug with a flourish. ‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to admit defeat on the whole flying carpet thing.’
Tahira sank down, running her hand over the tightly woven silk. ‘All the same, I shall imagine you travelling on this, being carried by the winds across Arabia to Egypt. Though there’s not much room for your worldly goods. A camel and a mule would be more practical.’
‘This will suit me perfectly.’ Christopher sat down beside her, crossing his legs. ‘I always travel light, and now I don’t even have my amulet.’
‘Our princess is keeping it safe for eternity,’ Tahira said. ‘It is such a shame that we’ll never know who she was, what tragedy resulted in her being buried nameless and alone.’
‘But we can deduce something of her life from the artefacts buried with her—the silver pot, the serpent bangle, and my amulet. And we also have the drawings from the tomb now, to keep her memory alive.’
‘So even though she has no name, she lives on, in a fashion.’ Tahira’s smile was tinged with sadness. ‘Were we wrong to cover her tomb up?’
‘No!’ Christopher took her hand, twining his fingers through hers. ‘Definitely not. In Egypt, the tombs which are being uncovered are no longer sacred. They are stripped of all that is of value and then abandoned, or used to house livestock, or more often than not, left open to the elements. Perhaps there will be a time in the future when people value the history