One Thousand Nights (27 page)
Read One Thousand Nights Online
Authors: Christine Pope
S
ome hours later
, after we had wandered out to sate our appetites with the delicacies the servants had left behind, Besh turned to me, eyes holding that certain glint I had come to recognize.
“My lord, as much as I have enjoyed this evening, I do not think I am quite ready to do that again.”
He laughed then, and picked up his goblet and drained it with one large swallow. “My lady wife, I would not think to impugn your…stamina. However, that is not precisely what I had in mind.”
I did not care for any more wine, and instead sipped at some of the lemon-flavored water that had been provided along with the headier drink. “So what do you have in mind?”
“Let us get dressed.”
Puzzled, I followed him back into the bedchamber, discarded the dressing gown he had loaned me, and climbed back into the costume of blue and gold I had worn earlier in the day. My hair was beyond repair, so I pulled it into a hasty plait and reassured myself that there would be no one around, save a few guards, to see my disheveled state.
While I was dressing, Besh did the same. When we were both ready, he extended a hand to me and I took it, reveling in the rush of warmth that went over me at the touch of his fingers against mine. We had done far more intimate things during the last few hours, and yet I was happy beyond measure that something as simple as holding hands could send such a thrill through me.
“Come along,” he said.
We went downstairs and out through the front doors to his apartments. Immediately the guards fell in behind us, but Besh seemed to pay them no mind, so I did the same. From his suite, he moved through half-lit corridors, twisting and turning until we emerged in the moonlit gardens, the air still warm, but in a soft, gentle way, like a lover’s caress against one’s cheek. Then I knew where we were bound, for he chose the path that led to the observatory, taking me past fountains sparkling in the moonlight and flowers whose fragrance seemed twice as sweet as during the daytime.
At last we came to the observatory doors. Two guards hastened forward to open them for us, but by some unspoken signal they remained outside while we entered. Inside, all was blind dark, and I almost bumped into Besh when he stopped a few paces from the door.
“Do you want me to light one of the lamps?” he asked.
“It depends,” I replied. “Are we here merely for privacy, or to watch the stars?”
Although it was utterly black in there, I thought I saw a glimmer of his teeth as he smiled. “The latter. There is something I wish to show you.”
“Then do not bother with the lamp. I trust you to guide me.”
I felt his mouth press against my fingers, and then we were moving forward again, going to where I knew the telescope stood. Sure enough, my eyes had begun to adjust to the darkness, and I could see the cylindrical bulk of it pointed up toward the opening in the observatory’s domed roof.
“I set it up earlier today,” Besh said. “All you must do is look through the eyepiece.”
Moving with care so I would not bump the instrument, I took up my position as he instructed, then gazed upward. There, encircled in brass and swimming in darkness, I saw a bright, flaring light almost pearlescent in its radiance. It seemed to pulse with its own rhythm, almost as if it were alive.
“What is it?” I breathed.
“That, my love, is a star being born. It was not there two nights ago, but suddenly blazed forth in the night sky. I thought it a good omen.”
“It is the very best of omens,” I said, turning away from the gleaming newborn star so I might face my husband.
He clasped his fingers around mine, pulling me close, and I felt his lips touch the top of my head, gentle, warm. “You are a very great gift, my lady wife. I never thought I would be allowed such happiness, but God has seen fit to grant it to me.”
Had I ever felt so safe, so loved? I thought not. Some part of me wanted to weep for joy, but I fought back the tears, instead saying, “After all the sorrow you have suffered, you deserve happiness, my love.”
He kissed me then, kissed me with all his strength and his passion and his brilliance. How long we stood thus, I do not know, but at last he released me and said, “Here in Keshiaar we have a saying: ‘I will love you for a thousand nights and one more.’ I will love you, Lyarris, for those thousand nights, and the thousand after that, and so on, until the very end of time.”
Truly, in that moment I had no words, no way I could reply, except to kiss him again, and again, and so let him know that I would be his, and he mine, forevermore.
The End
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C
hristine Pope has been writing
stories ever since she commandeered her family’s Smith-Corona typewriter back in the sixth grade. Her work includes paranormal romance, and fantasy and science fiction/space opera romance. She fell in love with Sedona, Arizona, while researching the Sedona Files series and now makes her home there, surrounded by the red rocks. No alien sightings, though...not yet, anyway!
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