by Laura Martin
‘You were gone and I couldn’t find the scroll and I didn’t know what to think.’
‘So you assumed I’d stolen it and left you alone in the middle of the desert?’ Seb regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. He didn’t want to make Emma feel any worse than she already did. What he really wanted was to put his arms around her and tell her that everything would turn out well. But he couldn’t do that. Unfortunately his hands were tied securely and even worse he didn’t know they were going to be all right.
‘I’m sorry,’ Emma whispered again.
‘Don’t apologise,’ Seb said. ‘I should never have left you alone.’
He cursed his decision for the hundredth time. It was pure pride that had made him leave Emma sleeping in the camp whilst he tried to lure their pursuers away. At the time he had told himself that he hadn’t wanted to worry her, but the truth was much less noble. He had wanted to be the big hero, Emma’s protector, to draw away the bandits and be back triumphant before Emma was even awake. Look where that pride had got them now.
‘It was stupid and reckless and if anything happens to you I’ll never forgive myself.’
‘I’m sorry. I should have...’ Emma started again.
Seb shuffled a little closer to her, keeping one eye on the bandits who were engrossed in studying the scroll.
‘Don’t apologise,’ he repeated. ‘This whole thing is my fault.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?’
Seb smiled ruefully. ‘I thought I’d be the hero and lead our pursuers away whilst you were sleeping and be back before you awoke.’
‘So you were going to come back?’ Emma asked, her voice small.
Seb saw all the years of hurt and rejection on her face. Freddie had destroyed much of her confidence and now he’d nearly ruined the remaining shreds. He hoped the damage wasn’t irreversible.
‘For the last few hours I’ve thought of nothing but you. I wanted to be back beside you with all my heart. Did you not see my note?’
Emma looked at him searchingly and Seb felt as if she were looking into his soul. Finally she shook her head.
‘I left it right in front of you.’
‘There was no note, Sebastian.’
Seb shook his head as he realised the note must have become dislodged and blown away in the gentle desert breeze.
‘I promise you I was going to come back.’
Emma looked him directly in the eye then nodded. She believed him.
‘So what went wrong?’ she asked.
‘They were much closer than I realised. I thought I’d be able to set a false trail for them, then double back to our camp before it got light.’
‘How did you know they were following us?’ Emma asked, as if this had just occurred to her.
‘Someone’s been following us since we left Cairo. When the boys were with us it was easier to keep watch. Since they left for Luxor it’s been more difficult.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I didn’t want to worry you.’ And he’d had this stupid notion of being her protector.
‘You see the man holding the scroll? Their leader?’ Emma asked. ‘He ransacked my room at the Fitzgeralds’ whilst I was staying there.’
Seb felt his mouth open with surprise.
‘You knew you could be in danger?’
Emma shrugged. ‘I never thought anyone would go to this length to get their hands on the scroll.’
Seb shifted slightly and watched the four men squatting on the ground. They were talking animatedly and gesturing wildly. All four men seemed very excited by what they saw.
‘What are we going to do?’ Emma asked.
Seb didn’t answer for a minute or two.
‘We need to escape,’ he said eventually.
‘With the scroll,’ Emma prompted.
He frowned at her. ‘The most important thing is that you get away safely. I do not give a damn about that scroll. I’d trade one hundred scrolls for your safety.’
He saw her start to smile and wanted to reach out and shake her.
‘I’m serious, Emma. You must promise me if an opportunity arises you’ll run. Without the scroll and without me if needs be.’
He saw the colour drain from her cheeks.
‘Not without you,’ she said.
‘I’m not planning on getting killed, but you are my priority here. If there is a chance you can escape without me then you have to take it.’
She shook her head stubbornly. ‘I’m not leaving you behind.’
‘Please, Emma.’ Seb could hear the desperation in his voice.
She shook her head again. ‘We will escape and we will escape together.’
Seb was about to continue the argument when the leader of the bandits stood and started to walk towards them.
‘Quiet,’ he barked.
Both Seb and Emma closed their mouths firmly, but Seb sidled even closer to Emma’s side. He wasn’t sure what he could do tied up quite so tightly, but if this criminal even looked at Emma in the wrong way he would attack him with everything he had.
‘The scroll is very beautiful,’ the bandit said, directing his words at Emma. ‘Just as I had been led to believe.’
Seb saw Emma frown beside him but thankfully she bit her tongue and didn’t utter a word.
‘It is good to have such a valuable treasure back in our family.’
‘What?’ Emma asked sharply.
‘How do you think your father came into possession of this piece of our heritage?’ The bandit was smiling now, obviously trying to goad Emma.
Seb sensed her stiffen beside him and wished he could reach out a hand to try and calm her down.
‘I don’t know what you are suggesting but my father was an honourable man.’
The bandit shook his head slowly, clearly enjoying taunting Emma.
‘An honourable man wouldn’t have taken such a valuable artefact from our country.’
‘If he was the rightful owner he could do whatever he liked with it. Your family shouldn’t have been so careless as to lose it in the first place.’
Seb felt the muscles in his legs tense as his body got ready to attack. He could see anger lurking just behind the bandit’s smile. A few more inflammatory words from Emma and who knew what he would do?
‘My grandfather lost the scroll in a wager,’ the bandit spat. ‘An unfair wager that your father should never have agreed to.’
‘You can’t blame my father for your grandfather’s unwise betting actions.’ Emma was almost laughing, seemingly unaware of the danger she was putting herself in.
‘An honourable man would have refused the wager if he already knew the outcome.’
The bandit crouched down so he was level with Emma.
‘Why don’t we have a little wager now?’ he asked, his eyes glinting maliciously.
Seb wished he could do something to intervene. He hated feeling so helpless. Every fibre in his body wanted to launch itself at the bandit and batter him into the ground, but he knew with his hands tied as they were he had no chance of beating four able-bodied men. He might succeed in knocking one or two to the ground, but he knew before he could do any more he’d have a sword through his gut and then Emma would be truly alone.
‘I wager that you won’t escape this desert alive.’
Seb watched as all the blood drained from Emma’s face. He wondered if she would swoon, but he saw her rally herself, set her shoulders and tilt her chin ever so slightly upwards.
‘And if you win?’ she asked.
The bandit laughed, as did his three companions. Seb started to feel sick to his stomach.
‘If you can escape by nightfall tomorrow night then you win your life. If you don’
t...’ he left the sentence trailing for a few seconds ‘...then you’ll be begging me to kill you when the time comes.’
Seb felt Emma lean against him and he knew she realised the implications of the bandit’s words.
‘So if we escape by tomorrow night you’ll let us live, you won’t pursue us?’ Emma asked.
Seb could have kissed her. She was so brave and strong, much braver and stronger than she gave herself credit for.
He saw the momentary frown cross the bandit’s face. He’d obviously wanted to scare her more.
The bandit nodded curtly.
‘Deal,’ she said.
After a few seconds the bandit snorted.
‘This is not a wager I will let you win, Miss Knight.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emma felt her whole body start to shake. She watched the bandit walk away and knew if he turned back he would see how terrified she was. All the time he’d been looking at her Emma had managed to keep herself under control, but now she felt as though she wanted to cry and scream at the same time.
Emma felt Sebastian’s body press against hers. She felt the warmth and the strength emanating from him and she felt just a tiny bit more in control.
‘You were very brave,’ he said, soothing. ‘You just close your eyes and relax for a few seconds.’
Emma closed her eyes and tried to deepen her breathing, but the bandit’s face seemed to be seared onto the insides of her eyelids, gloating at her discomfort. Quickly Emma opened her eyes again and instead looked at Sebastian.
‘I will never let that man do anything to you,’ Sebastian said.
Emma looked deep into his eyes and she knew she believed him. Right now they might be tied up and completely at the bandit’s mercy, but she believed Sebastian would do anything to protect her. That was just the kind of man he was.
‘I will not let him touch you,’ he said, not breaking eye contact with her.
Emma felt some of the panic begin to subside.
‘You will be safe.’
Even though right now it seemed impossible to imagine, Emma believed him. She didn’t know how he planned to escape, defeat four heavily armed bandits and find their way out of the desert, but if anyone could do it, Sebastian would.
‘I don’t know why he hates me so much,’ Emma said quietly, her voice shaking a little.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Sebastian said. ‘In a few days this will all just be a distant memory.’
Emma nodded. ‘So how will we escape?’
Before Sebastian could answer the bandits were on their feet and Emma felt her body stiffen once again. She wondered whether they would stick to the wager and leave her alone until tomorrow night, and a shiver of fear spread through her body.
‘On your feet,’ the chief bandit ordered.
Emma struggled to stand with her hands tied, but managed to stumble to her feet.
‘I advise you keep up,’ the bandit said.
Emma’s eyes widened with disbelief as the end of the rope securing her hands was tied to one of the bandit’s horses. She eyed Wadjet and wondered why she couldn’t ride. It took a few more minutes to secure Sebastian; his hands had been tied behind his back so one of the bandits had to untie him and secure his hands in front of him before tying his rope to the horse.
‘We will not stop for anything,’ the bandit warned as they set off at a slow walk.
Emma felt the muscles in her legs protest as they started to walk. She had been sitting in a crunched position for a while and her muscles wanted stretching, but there was no time for that. She knew after a few minutes of walking she would warm up. Her injured ankle also screamed in protest the first few steps they took, but thankfully after a little while the pain dulled to a manageable ache.
Sebastian was a few yards ahead of her and she could see he kept glancing over his shoulder to check she was still on her feet. As she walked she studied his back and wondered at his reaction to her accusing him of stealing her scroll.
He’d protested that he wasn’t angry with her, and she believed him, but she was sure she’d hurt him with her lack of trust. Emma knew now he had only been trying to protect her, and she’d assumed the worst. Deep down she’d known Sebastian was a kind and good man, but still she hadn’t been able to trust that he would come back to her.
She wondered if she’d ruined any hope of a future they had together. The previous night they hadn’t spoken about what their intimacy had meant, but Emma knew Sebastian wasn’t the sort of man to make love to a woman of good birth and just walk away. That had been why they’d resisted each other for so long in the first place. But now, after Emma had shown she didn’t trust him, Sebastian would be perfectly within his rights to leave her. Why should he go against everything he believed in for a woman who couldn’t even have faith he hadn’t stolen from her?
She felt a lump form in her throat and tried to push it away. Now wasn’t the time to start crying; she had to focus on surviving the next twenty-four hours.
Images of what their life could have been like started to form in Emma’s mind. She saw them strolling hand in hand through the streets of Cairo, smiling at each other over dinner and maybe even doting on a little baby of their own.
Emma physically shook her head to banish the images. She had no doubt their lives could have been that happy, if only she had trusted Sebastian. Now she had destroyed any hope of that future and there was no point dwelling on it. For years she had been quite content knowing she would grow old with only herself for company, but that had been before Sebastian, before she had realised what her life could have been like. Now she would have to get used to the idea of living without the man she loved.
Emma stumbled and gasped. She saw Sebastian glance round and she gave him a shaky smile to assure him she was all right. In truth she hadn’t tripped on a rock or lost her footing on some loose gravel, but she had realised the truth behind her thoughts—she loved Sebastian.
The words seemed to keep spinning around in her head and Emma felt as though she wanted to catch hold of them and examine them. Could she really love Sebastian? She’d only known him for a couple of weeks. And only a few hours ago she was ready to believe he had stolen from her.
Emma shook her head; that wasn’t a reason not to love Sebastian. That was a reason she had to work on her own issues. She knew she lacked trust. If she couldn’t trust a man like Sebastian, someone who had sacrificed so much for her already, surely she had no hope of sharing her life with another?
She studied Sebastian’s back and wondered whether she would feel the same way about him had they met in different circumstances. If they’d met at a ball in London would her heart pound in the same way every time he was near? Emma had to admit it would. It wasn’t the exotic location or the excitement of their adventures together that made her heart swell with love every time he got close: it was purely Sebastian, the man. From the very first moment she’d laid eyes on him she’d felt the quickening of her pulse, and that initial attraction had grown into something much, much more over the last few weeks.
Sebastian suddenly glanced back towards her and caught her staring. Emma smiled sheepishly. She saw him check they weren’t being observed then he winked at her. With a frown spreading across her face Emma wondered what he was up to. Nothing happened for a few minutes and she started to question whether her overheated mind had imagined the wink. Then, without any further warning, Sebastian stumbled and fell to the floor. Emma heard the gasp leave her lips and she tried to run forward to help him up. The bandits were already pulling on his rope, but to Emma’s dismay she could see they weren’t slowing down at all. She started to imagine Sebastian being dragged through the desert on his knees, his skin ripped to shreds by the rocky desert floor.
Before she could reach his side Sebastian had staggered back to his feet. His clo
thes were covered with dust and she could see one trouser leg was ripped at the knee. She wondered if he had injured himself and thought about begging the bandits to stop. She was just about to open her mouth when Sebastian turned back to her and winked again.
Emma froze, her mouth hanging open. She wondered what he was playing at. Surely his trip hadn’t been engineered—what would have been the point in injuring himself?
Sebastian quickly turned to face forward again and Emma continued to stare at him. He gave no further indication of what he was planning and Emma wished they were closer so she could ask him.
After another twenty minutes of trudging through the desert Emma was convinced she must have imagined the winks. Sebastian was now acting like the model prisoner, walking along behind the bandit’s horse without even the slightest protest. Emma had no doubt Sebastian was working on a way to save her, but she couldn’t see how falling to his knees in the desert could possibly be part of that.
For the last couple of hours Emma had been desperately trying not to think about what was to become of them. She knew the bandits wouldn’t let them go. It would be stupid to set free two prisoners who could identify them easily and had the ears of some of the most influential men in Egypt within their circles. Emma knew if they didn’t somehow escape they’d be left as carrion for the birds.
She wondered bleakly who would miss her. Ahmed would certainly shed a tear, but she’d been forced to step back from many of her old friends after the Freddie scandal and the truth was she didn’t have many people who would mourn her life.
Emma tried to banish the maudlin thoughts. Sebastian had said he would get her out of the desert alive and she believed him. It might seem an impossible feat now, but Sebastian was a man of his word, and she trusted him.
She shook her head in wonder at the truth of the matter. She did trust him. Despite her convictions just a few hours before, she trusted Sebastian. For Emma this was rather a big realisation. For years, since Freddie had humiliated her in quite such a public fashion, Emma hadn’t really trusted anyone but her father and Ahmed, but now there was also Sebastian.
He might be unconventional but he was most certainly trustworthy, and Emma knew if anyone could get them out of this situation then Sebastian, with his quick mind and his unwavering sense of right and wrong, was the man who could.