“I don’t just mean your outside beauty, Natalia.”
She briefly glanced away. “I like how you make me feel, Elijah.”
“You should feel what I feel.” Elijah’s confidence was perfectly placed as they stood in each other’s arms.
Elijah suddenly put his arm across the small of her back. “Come on. I have friends for you to meet.”
“I am ready.” Before long, they were beyond the palace walls and several streets into the bustling city. As they approached the market square, Elijah sensed that something very exciting was going on. The closer they got, the louder everything became. Once they turned the corner into the huge open plaza, they were able to identify the source of shouting and music. An unbelievably long caravan had recently arrived from the Sun Empire, complete with acrobatic performers and exotic music. A stage had been erected, complete with high wire and net. The place was crawling with expert climbers and dancers.
Natalia gawked as two men flew through the air, directly at each other, and caught one another’s arms. If the man on the left had lost his leg hold on his swing, both would have plummeted into the net, far below. But he held on, causing the crowd to erupt in applause. The four-member band banged out a rousing round of notes from their strange instruments, further adding to the frivolity and excitement. Everyone, including Elijah and Natalia, were smiling or laughing and clapping their hands.
The attractions were fantastic, especially the caged Bengal tiger. Natalia had only seen paintings of them, and Elijah had to tug her away to get her to leave. She kept glancing back at the animal’s beautiful face and coloring as she told Elijah how sorry she felt for it behind those metal bars. That was their last sight before they were bounding across the rooftops on their way to the hideout. Elijah’s heart started pounding when he imagined how his friends would receive the princess. He was especially concerned about Nizar and Isabelle when he heard their voices drift his way.
Elijah hesitated, only for a moment, before he reached out and drew back the rug hanging across the doorway. Natalia stepped through first, and immediately, Karim’s voice greeted him. “Elijah! Where have you been?”
Firas quickly interrupted, “Hey, Elijah!”
Time stood still for Elijah as they stood before the group. Bayan took another bite of an apple and waved. Nizar looked on, but didn’t say a word. Rasha shyly waved, and Isabelle quietly stood by herself.
Elijah broke the ice. “Hey, everyone! I have a visitor!” His surprise introduction caused them to stop what they were doing.
“I see that, friend.” Smiling, Karim quickly stood up. “So this explains your sudden disappearances the last few nights.” He was quick to put things together, but Elijah just shrugged.
Natalia gently nudged her date with her elbow. Isabelle stood there, watching this develop, and frowned.
And then, he finally introduced the stunningly beautiful young woman by his side. “Well, everyone. This is Natalia.” Natalia lifted her hand a little and waved shyly.
Again, Karim was the first to speak out. “Hello, Natalia,” he proudly said.
Firas said, “Hi!” and Bayan waved again, now having finished his apple. Rasha timidly said, “Hello!”
Nizar and Isabelle stood there, both looking rather hostile, and didn’t offer a greeting in return.
Elijah had noticed how hard those two seemed, but decided to ignore it for now. “This is our princess by the way.” His voice was tinged with excitement as he glanced at his friends.
Karim and Firas were speechless. Bayan’s apple fell out of his hand. And Rasha’s eyes widened with excitement. Elijah stood back, beaming.
Firas broke ranks and blurted out, “Are you sure, Elijah? She is wearing commoner clothes.” It was true that her clothing didn’t become a princess, but her beauty did. That was something that she simply could not cover up.
His question forced a light-hearted chuckle out of Natalia.
Elijah joined her. “Well. That is how she fits in with us.”
Nizar continued to hold his peace. Isabelle didn’t though. Her hard voice was easy to be heard. “You can’t be the princess. No princess would come here.”
That was one thing that Elijah wouldn’t stand for though. “Isabelle!” His eyes slightly narrowed. Karim listened intently. Isabelle’s skin immediately flushed.
Nizar abruptly said, “If you are the princess, then prove it!”
Elijah glanced toward the princess. “I am so sorry, Natalia.”
But she didn’t seem to mind. “No worries.” She reached into her shirt and pulled out a beautiful gold necklace decorated with a shiny green gem. “Will the royal signet prove it?” Her face exuded great pride as she held out the jeweled object for all to see.
Both Elijah and Karim stepped closer as the candlelight glinted off its surfaces.
Bayan suddenly jumped toward the princess. Natalia gasped when he stumbled face first onto the unforgiving floor. He quickly recovered and lowered himself into a humble bow. “Your Highness! I am at your service!”
Natalia laughed as she extended her hand.
Elijah’s embarrassed voice quickly introduced the man. “This would be Bayan.” But he too couldn’t help but break out in a smile.
Firas mumbled, “Oh no. Not a good introduction, Bayan.”
Natalia said, “You don’t have to bow to me, now, tonight. I am a rat thief.” Bayan immediately blushed!
Firas exclaimed, “Brilliant! You’re the princess! This is incredible! How did you, why did you, how did you?”
She replied, “Yes?”
Elijah, a little put off by the man’s awkwardness, tried to reason with him and bring it to a close. “For goodness’ sakes, Firas. Introduce yourself.”
“Oh, yeah. I am Firas, Your Highness.”
“Please. Call me Natalia.”
Now, more relaxed, Firas agreed. “Yes. Of course.”
Karim walked up to the princess. “It is very nice to meet you, Natalia. I am Karim.” He quickly bowed.
Natalia, with perfect poise, gracefully returned his respect. “It is a pleasure, Karim.”
Elijah watched how Natalia treated his dear friends. He couldn’t believe how well this was going and was filled with intense pride. He had noticed their quiet, little Rasha and wanted to be sure she was included, knowing that she probably wouldn’t contribute anything at all unless encouraged. “Oh, and this is Rasha, our own little sweetheart.”
She timidly replied, “Hello.”
Without hesitation, Natalia turned. “Oh, you are so beautiful! You have such lovely red hair! What do you do to it?”
“Nothing.” Rasha giggled.
But Natalia continued. “You must do something to it. Please tell me your secret!”
Rasha said, giggling, “I don’t have a secret.”
Satisfied, Elijah continued the introductions. “And this is Isabelle!”
Natalia responded with a curtsy. “Hello, Isabelle.”
Suddenly, frowning, Isabelle and Nizar walked out of the hideout.
“What’s their problem?” Elijah said, shaking his head.
Firas tried to smooth things over. “They…um…I think Nizar has been having a lot of stomach problems lately, and Isabelle, well, is just mad because…she…forgot…her lunch today.”
Grateful, Elijah responded, “Uh…yeah, exactly.”
Natalia clasped her hand together. “Oh. What a shame.”
“Hey, Firas. Why don’t you and Bayan show her the hideout?” asked Elijah.
Firas excitedly jumped up. “Sure! Come with us! We will show you!”
Natalia followed the two men out of the front room.
For the first time in weeks, Bayan showed a lot of excitement and joined the two as they walked through their humble abode. �
��This way, highness!”
As soon as they were out of earshot, beaming Karim stepped over to Elijah and whispered, “How in the world did you get her here?”
Elijah casually shrugged. “Hey, she wanted to come.”
“You have more charm than I thought, Elijah.” Karim winked.
Elijah took the opportunity to open up to his friend. “She is amazing, Karim. I have never met anyone like her.”
Karim patted him on the back. “Nice catch!”
Rasha said, “Elijah!”
“Yes?” He quickly turned.
Rasha came to life. “She is so beautiful! The princess is actually here in our hideout! This is a dream come true!”
Smugly, Elijah replied, “You got that right!”
She continued, “Will she stay with us?”
A look of slight dismay followed. “I don’t think she can, but I am sure she will visit us.” In his mind, he thought about how wonderful it would be if they could spend the rest of their lives together, but he didn’t want that to happen in the hideout. She deserved far better than anything he could offer, at least now.
Rasha continued to beam. “I hope so. She seems so incredible!”
Inspired, Elijah replied, “Well. Why don’t you go talk to her and enjoy her company while she is here?”
She shyly asked, “Do you think she would mind?”
“I think she wants to talk to you as much as you want to talk to her,” chuckled Elijah. He knew his new friend well enough to encourage Rasha. He couldn’t imagine Natalia turning a meeting down like this—ever.
That was all it took. Rasha walked right over to her.
“Cute, Elijah. Real cute,” Karim said.
Elijah felt the happiness, especially after Nizar and Isabelle took off. Music from the street below drifted in the night air. The festive atmosphere caught on all over the city. Karim lit a few extra candles and threw away Bayan’s old apple. He laid out some bread and cheese to Elijah’s liking. Everyone was in a party mood now, and what better thing to do but eat and drink together. Elijah pulled out two large flasks of aged wine, while Karim grabbed cups for everyone. Elijah set the wine on the large table and glanced Natalia’s way every so often. He couldn’t have asked for anything better as she stood there, telling her special stories of life in the palace and breaking out in laughter at the other’s comments. This was the most fun his friends had had in months.
The wine quickly started to disappear. After the third bottle, Elijah thought about getting his princess back to the palace. No sooner had he thought that, Natalia said, “Oh goodness, I have to be heading home.”
Rasha pouted. “Oh, no. You can’t!”
“I am so sorry,” sighed Natalia.
“Promise you will come back! Promise!” Rasha had truly changed that night, and it was all because of the princess.
“I will,” replied Natalia, beaming. “You have my word!”
Natalia gave Rasha a big hug. Their tender display of emotion warmed Elijah’s heart.
Bayan was also deeply moved. “Please don’t forget us, Your Highness, Natalia.” He was so distracted with her presence that he hadn’t eaten anything in the last hour.
The princess’s laughter again filled the room. “I won’t, Bayan, and Natalia would do just fine.”
“Yes, Your Highness, Natalia.” Bayan made everyone laugh. Elijah and Karim shook their heads and as they watched his face turn red.
Firas wasn’t bashful in the least. “Take care, Natalia! Hope to see you soon!”
Natalia replied, “Yes. You too, Firas!”
She smiled as she turned. “Goodbye, Natalia,” Karim said.
“See you soon, Karim!” As soon as Natalia had said good-bye to him, Elijah took her arm and pushed the hanging rug aside.
Alone and unrestrained, Natalia leaped toward Elijah and gave him a long, tight hug. “Thank you so much, Elijah! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The innocent man held her tightly. “Thanks? For what?”
She replied, “For accepting me into your world and letting me experience all of it. I never had any friends, and today, I made four in one night! Four of them, Elijah!”
They remained in the tender embrace. “Don’t worry. You’re still my favorite,” said Natalia.
Slowly, Elijah drew in a deep breath, his thoughts lost in her presence. “Well…I better be.”
She gently laid her head against his chest as Elijah reached his large hand up and placed it against her soft hair. She hugged him even tighter. Elijah did not want this to end, but realized that it must. Her soft words floated up to his ears. “I don’t want to go home.”
“I don’t want you to go either.”
Natalia looked up at the huge, round moon, rising in the night sky, and seemed to go into a daze. As Elijah took in her beauty, chills ran up and down his spine. He couldn’t believe how many deep emotions he had for her in such a short amount of time. As he stood there, admiring her loveliness and beauty, his stomach fluttered. Love had struck him somewhere deep in his soul, and he was completely captured by its embrace. He had never before seen her in this light. She was so captivating and gorgeous. Tonight marked the beginning of his journey of love. His mind reeled with endless possibilities of how he would help her escape from the lap of luxury into his own, but these thoughts were quickly brought to a halt. “You ready?” No, of course not, were his very next thoughts. But he knew that he had to get her back home, to the palace, a place forever far from his own little, hidden world. He sadly replied, “Unfortunately.”
She turned and said, “Let’s go!” and started to walk away.
For a second, he didn’t budge. He gazed at her as she walked across the flat roof, again lost in a thousand thoughts. Then, he broke from them and turned to look back at the hideout. It was then and there that he saw Isabelle and Nizar, standing by the doorway. Isabelle was leaning against the wall, with her eyes fixed on Elijah. Nizar, with crossed arms, was clearly defiant in his glare.
Then, a movement, off to his left, made Elijah turn his head and peer into the darkness. Across from him, on a neighboring rooftop, he saw the shadow of a man, lurking in the darkness. It was impossible to tell who it was. As quickly as he noticed him, it was gone.
Elijah turned away from Isabelle and Nizar and walked up to the princess as she stepped over the first low wall. Hand on her back to steady her, he couldn’t help but glance up and out into the darkness and think again about that fleeing shadow.
Chapter 6
The streaming rays of yellows and golds lit up the dark corners of the streets from the night before. Sparkling beams bounced from roof to roof as the palace domes basked in the sun’s glory. Each towering figure served as a beacon of hope in a desperate city filled with open mouths and outstretched hands. Growling bellies and whining souls occupied nearly every street corner. But Elijah’s eyes and ears were closed to that as he sat high atop the city. He could only think of one thing, one person, Natalia, and how his friends had embraced her beauty and kindness. The building excitement far below did little to distract his thoughts and desires as the love of his life dug deeper and deeper into his dreams.
Graceful images of her blowing hair and sweet smells quickly vaporized. Isabelle bumped into a chair and knocked it against the table. An empty wine bottle dropped to the floor and shattered. Her feet shuffled as she kept the chair’s teetering form from falling. But it was too late. Elijah’s frown silently captured her disquieting display of morning awkwardness. Her hands smacked together a couple of times just before she wiped them against her robe. He had already turned back to face the wide-open sky and ever-changing morning hues.
“How was your walk with the princess?” Isabella said. Elijah thought she sounded rather tense for so early in the morning, something he did not want to deal with. S
o he shrugged his shoulders and remained fixed on the movements in the streets below.
She took a step closer as her breathing turned more rapid. “Are you going to ignore me now?”
She continued, jaws tightened. “You can’t have her, you know.”
Her pointed finger was aimed at his way. When he whipped himself about, her expressionless face came into view. “Who are you to tell me who I can and can’t have?” He drew in a deep breath and stopped.
“It’s just common sense, Elijah,” as she shook her head. “She’s a princess, and you’re a bandit. It could never be.” Both of her hands quickly settled on her hips.
He laughed, “Don’t worry about me, Isabelle. How about you just worry about your life, and I will worry about mine,” and then turned away.
Isabelle glared and walked away.
Elijah thought about how difficult his friend had become over the last several days, but knew he couldn’t do anything about it now. He shook his slightly lowered head and then fixed his eyes again toward the palace. “It’s going to be a good day.” He didn’t glance back when he bounded across the short distance to the neighboring roof and then quickly down the white walls to the street below. Some passing women, draped in scarves of blues and golds, had just passed as a couple of neighborhood children scurried between them. They suddenly turned sideways, but their unexpected laughter told Elijah all was well. The children kept running and were soon out of sight.
Through the crowd came a stiff voice, louder and harsher than any of the others. “Get out of here!” Elijah turned. It sounded vaguely familiar, but he wasn’t sure who it was. He was greeted by an enormous turban atop a stately looking man. Garment of white, red, and flowing brown silks bespoke of his staggering wealth as did the two soldiers by his sides. Elijah had arrived just in time to observe the impact of the man’s foot against a beggar’s rib cage.
The afflicted man yelled out as he rolled onto the dirty, stone street. “I’m sorry…I just…”
Quickly, one of the soldiers stepped over the cowering man. The wide eyes of a growing crowd gazed on in silence with the exception of a covered whisper from some just out of sight. With his hand on his oversized turban, he shouted, “Silence! You little pest! I told you to quit begging in front of my house!”
Fire in the Heart : The Princess and the Bandit (9781629020112) Page 5