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No one, that ho
She would honor Mennah, and her new position
She would honor hih note of her self-addressed pep talk, she walked out
Aown, carrying Mennah who looked heartbreakingly cute in a getup hters followed, heading the procession of her ladies-in-waiting, all stunning with their glowing olive co down their backs, their lithe bodies wrapped in exquisite sarilike dresses in azures and golds that co place in the southern gardens, where the desert and sea winds reht deepened She’d been infor for her at the southern entrance to escort her to where the e certificate She’d chosen not to have a proxy, to perform the rituals herself Shehab and Kaitation and anticipation congealed Air, the world, disappeared Farooq
He was standing at the wide-open doors Waiting for her He was obscured by distance, by shadows But she saw hi in her And all she wanted was to run to hi him…
Thunder assailed her the moment she descended the last step The zaffah, the traditional bridal procession, a unique, instantly recognizable rhythe taers joined in, chanting the praises of the bride, congratulating her on herher eternal happiness And bountiful progeny
Shebeat hadn’t startled Mennah, she kept walking, head held high, with quick, purposeful steps toward Farooq, who stood with his feet planted apart, his hands linked, waiting for her to have her zaffah, to coive him herself As she couldn’t wait to do
When only two-dozen feet remained, he moved out of the shadows Her heart stopped
No deceleration, no warning It just stopped
And she no longer needed it to beat, to push blood to her brain, to keep her legsabout him that demanded her, at once Her vision didn’t diht he’d looked indescribable before, in suits, in any clothes, out of theroohts, really meant
All she could think was, he was dressed in blues and olds shades darker than those in her outfit He matched her so itation and pleasure sharpened to pain as she devoured every nuance of the heavy silk abaya as it hugged his shoulders, cascaded to his ankles, ees, shoulders and cuffs were heavily eold and bronze thread and sequins in a paisley cashmere pattern Underneath it, a striped top in the same colors buttoned down from his Adam’s apple, stretched across his chest, crisscrossed by bronze metal belts Another six-inch belt spanned his waist, anchoring cereold scabbards over bronze pantaloons whose looseness hid none of the potency beneath
This was Farooq as he really was, the heir to a legacy rooted in fables, a shaper of destiny, the embodiht and wealth, their iven her what hadhi, her miraculous Mennah He was the man she still loved beyond sanity or hope
He stood there, his eyes branding her as his As she was, had been from the firsther toward hi for hers She ran the last few steps, flew, both hands held out, grabbed his as if afraid he’d fade away
“Carmen” She heard his rumble over the din, felt it in her bones, his astonisher as he crushed her hands in the assuage more proof, she burrowed into his side His arm convulsed around her as the other ended the zaffah with a wave He looked down at her, bo her with ferocity She buried her face into his chest, seeking refuge froroan thundered below her ear “Let’s get this done before I give in, Car her ti beside him on the royal-blue carpet, down the expansive path lined with stunning plant and flower arrange in a dozen cream satin-covered steps They cli the cereazebolike structure with clusters of exquisite Arabesque ork hanging froilded on the outside, the color of cedar on the inside Within its pillars was a huge curved crea an antique worked bronze table The e scrolls in front of him, and a book that looked like soes where their destiny was still to be written
The live e and all her resolutions to be the seasoned professional boiled away Being the designingcenterstage in one
Her arrhythaze around the expansive gardens, even when it took a further plunge into irregularity The gardens were decorated in the exact way she’d iined and told Farooq about yesterday Hundreds of lanterns undulated in the twilight breeze between symmetrically planted palm trees Hundreds of torches flamed on top of polished brass poles, all intertwined between two hundred tables set in a level of luxury she’d only ever drea in her own enterprises, occupied by people whoat her In resounding silence
Her hand squeezed Farooq’s He squeezed back, leaned to put his lips to her ear “Your beauty has stunned them, ya jameelati”
Breath left her Not at his assertion, as touched as she was by it, but at his endeariven up on hearing one fro crisp water after months in the desert
Then he murmured, “Let’s work the crowd, ya helweti”