Claiming His Desert Princess

‘There is something missing here,’ she said, tracing the oddly-shaped inset with her finger. ‘Another stone?’

‘Possibly. That is something I’d very much like to find out, though I doubt I ever will,’ Christopher replied. ‘What do you make of it?’

‘I think it is the most beautiful piece of jewellery I have ever seen.’ Tahira scrutinised the amulet more closely. ‘The design is very distinctive, and typical of this region. I have seen pictures of similar examples in ancient manuscripts. It almost certainly originates from southern Arabia and is clearly very old and very valuable. The light is too poor for me to make a proper examination, but the clarity of these diamonds looks to be peerless. And the turquoise—again, I cannot be certain, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen stones of this particular hue.’

‘They are indeed very rare. I have not found a single match anywhere. Yet.’

‘Oh!’ Realisation finally dawned on her. ‘Do you think that this mine...?’

‘I very much hope so.’

‘Mined on this very spot, fifteen hundred years ago,’ Tahira said dreamily, running her fingers over the turquoise. The amulet was warm in her hand. Her fingers traced the design compulsively. ‘How absolutely wonderful if you could prove that to be the case. I have never felt so drawn to anything as this. How on earth did you come by it?’

Christopher’s smile became rigid. ‘It came to me through my mother. Though not directly. I never knew her. She died giving birth to me.’

‘Oh, Christopher.’ Tears sprang to Tahira’s eyes. Even now, after all this time, her own loss could catch her unawares. ‘My mother too died in childbirth, but at least I had ten precious years with her. I am so very sorry.’

‘One cannot miss what one never knew, nor mourn what one never had.’

He spoke curtly, as if he would not have cared to know the woman who gave birth to him, but that could not be. He was a man, that was all, and as such did not care to show his pain. ‘Then this amulet must mean a great deal to you,’ Tahira said. ‘A very precious connection to your past.’ She reached inside the neckline of her tunic, pulling free her gold chain. ‘My mother gave me this. It is a Bedouin star. The traveller’s star. I wear it always. My most precious connection to my past. I would never wish to be parted from it.’

‘Be that as it may, I am determined to sever mine.’

Tahira’s jaw dropped. ‘Sever?’ she repeated, thinking she had misheard him, or that he had translated the word wrongly.

‘Sever,’ Christopher repeated. ‘By returning this object to its true owner.’

‘But surely you are its true owner?’ she said, utterly bewildered and a little intimidated by the turn in his mood.

Sensing her confusion, Christopher made an obvious effort to lighten his tone. ‘I’m sorry, I should not have spoken so vehemently. I have been six months in Arabia, attempting to match the stones set in the amulet, and am grown weary of the task.’

‘But why attempt such a task in the first place? I don’t understand, do you believe the amulet to be stolen?’

He laughed shortly. ‘Almost certainly, by tomb-robbers, centuries ago. But as to its recent provenance...’ His lip curled. ‘I have it on unimpeachable authority that I am the legal owner.’

‘Yet you wish to give it away? It must be very valuable. Why not sell it, if it pains you to own it?’

He shuddered. ‘To profit from such a thing—no, unthinkable. I could not square that with my conscience.’

Tahira furrowed her brow. ‘Because it is a sacred object? I can understand that, but why then don’t you put it on display in a museum?’

Another curled lip was his reply to what Tahira thought a perfectly reasonable suggestion. ‘A solution suggested to me by another. You cannot understand, though he most certainly should have, why that too is impossible. The amulet belongs here in Arabia, and nowhere else.’

‘Your sentiments do you great credit,’ Tahira said, which was true, though her instincts told her those sentiments were very far from the whole truth. ‘But to come all the way to Arabia on a—a quest, as you call it, which you may not be able to complete seems—honestly, quite an extraordinary thing to do. What if your quest proves futile?’

‘It cannot prove futile. Until I rid myself of this thing, I can’t—’ Christopher broke off, screwing his eyes tight shut, clearly struggling for control. ‘I must return it,’ he said with a finality that made it clear that the subject was closed, ‘there is nothing else to be done.’

Why? she longed to ask. Why do you gaze at this beautiful object as if you loathe it? Why must you rid yourself of an heirloom, a bequest from the mother you never knew? Why is it so important to you that you have spent six months of your life on a near impossible task? But he would answer none of those questions, that much was very clear. ‘How will you confirm the origin of the piece?’ Tahira queried instead. ‘And to whom will you return it?’

‘The stones hold the key,’ Christopher replied, his deep frown lightening at the change of subject. ‘The combination of this particular shade of turquoise and the clarity of these diamonds, along with the purity of gold, is unique. If I can locate the sources, link them closely geographically, prove that all were being mined at about the time this amulet was made, then I will know I am in the right place.’

‘How many wrong places have you visited?’

He shrugged, but she was pleased to see the faintest trace of a smile. ‘I have confined my wanderings to the southern region, concentrating on the kingdoms where I already knew diamonds and gold had been mined.’

‘How did you come by such information?’

‘Well, you said yourself that the amulet is distinctly southern Arabian in style, and I’m a surveyor to trade, as I told you. Ores and minerals are my business, and I have a—a talent for it. It was fairly straightforward once I’d narrowed down the general location.’

Proof—not that she needed it—of just how much this quest of his meant to Christopher. ‘You must have traversed any number of kingdoms,’ Tahira said, awed. ‘To travel so widely, you must have gone to a great deal of trouble. Papers, permissions...’

‘Oh, I can produce papers if I’m required to,’ he replied, waving his hand dismissively, ‘but I prefer to avoid getting entangled in red tape. Officials trying to be helpful can sometimes be—well, over-inquisitive. And over-suspicious at times too—let’s face it, you were suspicious of me yourself.’

Was he teasing her? No, that light in his eyes, it was more of a challenge. He could play by the rules, but he preferred not to. She didn’t know whether to be impressed or appalled. ‘But—but now I understand why you are here, and I am not an official, Christopher. If you were caught snooping about at this mine, you would be in serious trouble.’

‘Hence my decision to come here in the middle of the night. I have no time to jump through official hoops, Tahira. I must find a way to lay my hands on a piece of ore from this mine as soon as possible. While the turquoise on the amulet is the least valuable component, its rarity is the key to its provenance. And so, like you, I’ve no intentions either of curtailing my activities or of being caught in the act. We’ll make a good team, don’t you think?’

She thought she must be a little mad to be agreeing to this. She thought his recklessness must have infected her. There was no getting away from the fact that the more often she escaped, the more chance there was of her being discovered, but time was no more on her side than on Christopher’s. This man, this stranger who attracted and intimidated her by turn, wanted her help with his most improbable, most intriguing quest. She would never get such an opportunity again. There was no possibility of her refusing.

‘I think we will make an excellent team.’ Smiling, Tahira turned her attention back to the amulet, examining the stones in question more closely. ‘The turquoise is undoubtedly very distinctive, but it’s likely to be a few weeks before any samples are unearthed.’

‘How do you know that?’

She could have kicked herself. ‘An educated guess, nothing more,’ she said lightly.

Christopher looked sceptical, but he chose not to press her. ‘Then I have a few weeks’ grace in which to match the gold and diamonds.’

‘Ah, now I finally understand how I can be of assistance. And I’m pleased to say that I think I can, if what you want is confirmation that diamonds and gold were mined in Nessarah fifteen hundred years ago.’

‘That’s exactly what I need,’ he responded warmly. ‘It would save me a great deal of time and legwork. In return I can help you to explore this site, and by doing so, I very much hope, obtain the final proof I need. A mutually beneficial arrangement, I think you’ll agree?’

She would agree to almost anything when he looked at her like that, his smile teasing and wicked and reckless. ‘I do,’ Tahira said, handing him the amulet back and trying to prevent her own smile from betraying her pleasure. ‘That would be wonderful. Even more so if I can help you prove that this came originally from Nessarah. Though if you do mean to restore it to its owner, and if it is indeed fifteen hundred years old, then presumably you hope to track down a descendant?’

‘You’ve said yourself that it’s extremely valuable, which means it was almost certainly created for a member of the ruling family. In Nessarah’s case, that would be King Haydar.’

‘By the stars!’

‘It seems the obvious conclusion to reach,’ Christopher said. ‘I don’t know why you’re so surprised.’

‘I suppose so,’ Tahira said, trying desperately to contain her astonishment. ‘I am simply—it is all so strange, isn’t it? I came here tonight hoping to find a few shards of pottery or a crude flint. Instead I found you, a man who shares my passion for the past, seeking to resolve the provenance of a beautiful artefact which may have been fashioned right here, in the kingdom I call home. To think that I may even be able to play a part in proving this, that is the stuff of my dreams, Christopher. This encounter—surely it has been arranged by the fates?’

‘I would not go so far as to call it destiny, but I would agree it is serendipitous.’

His smile made her lose her train of thought. Her breathing quickened. He leaned towards her, and as if they were connected by some invisible force, she leaned towards him. He pushed a tendril of her hair back from her forehead, his fingers trailing down her cheek. ‘You smell delightful. What scent is it?’

Her heart was pounding. ‘Jasmine.’ Her voice had faded to a whisper.

‘I have the absurd conviction that your kisses would taste of peaches.’ His mouth hovered mere inches from hers. ‘It is absurd, isn’t it?’