Page 84 of Silver Angel

She meant to smile, but it came out as a grimace. “Arrogant…as always.”

He smoothed the silver locks back from her temple. Her hair was damp, her face covered by a fine sheen of cold sweat. With a finger he wiped the blood from her lip.

“Look at me, Shahar.”

“Chantelle,” she whispered. “Call me Chantelle at least once before I—”

“Dammit, woman, you are not going to die!”

Her eyes slitted open to glower at him. “Don’t shout at me!”

“Then fight back. Resist it. Put your infernal stubbornness to good use.”

“What the bloody hell do you think I’m doing, damn you!”

Adamma was appalled, listening to them, that the Dey would torment a dying woman like this. And yet color had returned to Shahar’s cheeks, and her voice was strong again. His provoking her had done what all their tender care had not.

Rahine, who had been in the back of the room when the Dey entered and hadn’t left with the others, was disturbed as well, but for a different reason. She had never seen Jamil behave like this. She knew he fancied this girl, but to show his feelings for anyone and everyone to see was not his way. Even when Sheelah had had difficulty with her second labor, he had kept his concern hidden.

He was different. Was it Shahar’s doing, or simply the strain from all these months of danger? Whatever it was, she shouldn’t have gone out of her way to avoid him since his displeasure with her over Jamila’s purchase. It seemed she didn’t know her own son anymore.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Derek finally noticed her when he turned at the physicians’ arrival, but he didn’t recognize her. It was because she was still there after he had ordered everyone out that made him wonder who she was to defy him. And then he met her eyes, as emerald green as his own, and he knew. And the knowledge nearly undid him.

Christ, he had been racking his brain for a way to see her without her being aware of it, but it was easy to spy on him, not so easy on the women in the harem. He had wanted to just summon her to his presence, but Omar had talked him out of it, because if anyone could see through his impersonation, it would be his mother, and they had agreed, Jamil included, that no one, not even Rahine, was to know about the switch. And that meant Derek couldn’t talk to Rahine, at least not until it was over and Jamil was safe.

But here she was, only a few feet away, changed surely, older, reserved now, not the impetuous young woman he remembered, but, God, still beautiful, still regal in her bearing, still able to see into the soul with those eyes. They were probing his now, wondering no doubt why he was staring at her like this. What had Jamil said about her? Not much, because Derek wasn’t supposed to run into her.

He should have turned away and just ignored her. He couldn’t do it. He walked up to her, aching to embrace her, yet knowing full well it wasn’t something Jamil would do. But, dear Lord, she was just what he needed at the moment, the one person from whom he could accept comfort. If she told him Shahar would be all right, he would believe her. She was his mother. He felt like crying….

“Are you certain you want these men to see Shahar?”

Derek pulled himself together to see that the two doctors were just standing there, their blindfolds still intact. The traditions of the harem suddenly disgusted him, that no man, not even a desperately needed physician, could look on another man’s women.

“I don’t give a damn who sees her, as long as they cure her.”

“They understand, Jamil,” Rahine said gently. “But it would be wise if you came into the other room. They are too nervous to do anything with you glowering at them.”

He nodded and followed her only because he knew she was right. And then, too, he wanted some answers, and not where Shahar could hear them.

“You know these women better even than I. Who would want to kill her?”

Rahine hesitantly joined him by the window that faced the marble court. The area was empty now, the sun turning the spray in the fountain to diamond drops. He hadn’t asked anything of her in so long. She was gladdened that he did now, but at the same time wretched because she couldn’t help him. And he was obviously upset by this incident, enough to make him behave out of character.

“Your women are not as vicious in their jealousy as they could be, Jamil. I honestly don’t know. Noura is the most spiteful, but then you know that. If she were going to have anyone poisoned, it would be Sheelah. It is the position of firstkadinethat she covets, not your bed.”

“Who else?”

“Mara lost her position when Shahar moved to the Pink Court, but I don’t think she would kill to get it back. She knows she serves a special purpose that no one else can fill.”

“Who else?” he repeated.

“Have you considered your own enemies?”

He glanced sideways at her, but only for a moment. “I presume you mean mymainenemy?”

“Yes. It is no secret outside the palace that you are very well pleased with your new concubine. It is said you are content to remain inside the palace walls now that you have this new slave to entertain you. So it is not unreasonable to suppose that you might be distressed should anything happen to her, even careless enough to attend the funeral.”