Page 31 of Star Crossed Delta

‘Your uncle making trouble for you?’ Aveline asked.

‘When is he not? But I have it handled. I think. Can we talk?’ Saba asked, gesturing towards a secluded nook hidden behind a curtain of trailing ivy.

Aveline nodded.

Saba turned to Koda, who was shadowing her. ‘Please see to it no one disturbs us.’

He bowed without a word, and the two women slipped away from the prying eyes and disapproving glances.

Seeking refuge in the quiet sanctuary that offered solace amid the chaos of the celebration.

As they settled into the plush cushions arranged in the alcove, Aveline twisted to Saba, eyes wide. ‘Woman, we have not spoken since the reception. Where is Shiloh, and what freakin’ happened after that night?’

Saba gazed at her, holding her hand tight as she took a moment to gather her thoughts. ‘It’s a long story, hon,’ she began with a whisper, ‘but it all started the day Shiloh told me she was pregnant.’

Aveline’s eyes widened. ‘With whose baby?’

Saba closed her eyes and leaned in to whisper in her ear. ‘Zolan Asivan’s.’

Her hands flew up to her face as her face fell into shock. ‘ Nada! ’

Saba nodded. ‘Believe it. So you see why I had to do what I did.’

‘He’s Mak’s cousin!’

‘State the obvious, why don’t you?’

‘He’s also Mak’s foremost enemy.’

‘Tell me something else I don’t know.’

Aveline jiggled her head, hand over her mouth, as her astonishment rolled on. ‘What was Shiloh thinking?’

Saba huffed. ‘She wasn’t. She met him at a neutral place, on one of the party ships in the flotilla, and he swept her away. I think he seduced her, perhaps to spite Mak, but she insists they both fell in love in an instant.’

Aveline shook her head in shock. ‘Did she know if the Akkadian elders find out, she’ll be roasted?

Breaking a sacred engagement to marry another is taboo.

Also, being pregnant with her lover? She’ll be excommunicated because she flouted a core marriage tenet involving the ?ar himself.

There’ll be no room for her in the community anymore. ’

‘Don’t you think I know that?’ Saba groaned.

The reality of Shiloh’s situation was very real to Saba.

‘If she married Mak, announced her pregnancy, and he’d found out the child was not his, she’d have been killed.

It’d have started a war with Zolan. She chose to flee and begged me to take her place.

I had no other election. I could not let her suffer alone for the consequences of her actions. ’

Aveline studied her, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘What do you plan to do, Saba?’ she asked, her eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight that cast shadows across their secluded alcove.

‘I had to support her in the only way possible,’ Saba declared, her resolve unwavering. ‘I’m taking the heat for her; she’s my twin. I had to defy the traditions and expectations of our family if it meant protecting Shiloh from the harsh judgment of our community.’

Aveline reached out to grasp her hand in a gesture of solidarity. ‘You were always the stronger one.’

‘Or the stubborn one, according to my uncle.’

‘I admire you, risking everything for her,’ Aveline murmured, her voice filled with pride and worry.

‘She is my sister in blood,’ Saba replied, squeezing her hand in return. ‘I had no choice, unable to do anything less than help her get away. Do you know how hard it is to hide a pregnant woman and spirit them off an ark ship?’

She raised a brow. ‘Tell me.’

‘I had to help her pack, which was a nightmare for Shiloh, who owns too many clothes and shoes for her good. Then I took her in the dead of night to the ark ship’s port, where she had a pick-up location. We were met by an Asivan contact who smuggled her out on one of their vessels.’

With each word that fell from her lips, a burden lifted from Saba’s shoulders and was replaced by a sense of liberation that came with sharing the truth with someone who truly understood.

‘Were you scared?’ Aveline asked.

‘I was shitting myself every single passing moment with the dread of being found out. But somehow, I managed to hand her over, and she was off, slipping through the shadows like a ghost in the night.’

Memories flooded in of waving to her twin, her eyes brimming with sadness as she disappeared into the sleek cruiser bound for her lover.

She’d returned home under the cover of darkness, her soul heavy with the burden of the unknown future ahead.

The following day, she walked down the aisle in Shiloh’s stead.

Her heart and veil were belabored by the subterfuge, sacrifices, and choices that had brought her to the precipice of defiance in the face of tradition and expectation.

When she finished speaking, there was a moment of silence between them as Aveline processed it all.

‘Does Mak know?’

‘That his bride-to-be ran off, pregnant with his worst enemy and his cousin to boot? He does not, and he’ll slaughter me if he finds out I’m covering for them. Fokk. My. Life. ’

Aveline squeezed her hand in a gesture of unwavering support. ‘Saba, babe, I may not understand everything you’ve been through, but I stand by you; you can count on me, honey.’

Saba gave her a small hug.

She leaned back with a smile on her lips. ‘So what’s he like, the reclusive Sauvage leader? I’d never seen him before, but damn, from what I saw at the wedding, he’s a fine man.’

Saba’s mouth twisted. ‘He’s a sexy man, alright, but he’s also an angry one, and rightly so,’ she said, sobering Aveline up. ‘He was so pissed at me for what I did, Aveline.’

Her expression must have alarmed Aveline. ‘Did he hurt you?’

‘ Nada , he wouldn’t, his words though? Saber sharp.’

She shrugged. ‘I deserved it. He expected Shiloh and got stuck with ordinary old me.’

‘He’s not unseeing, but he has been bitter about the deception, torn between duty and passion, tradition and change.

His eyes hold secrets of battles fought and losses endured, yet I often see a flicker of vulnerability that belies the stoic mask he wears for the world to see.

I think he wants to be loved, and he waited so long for Suri only to be thwarted, and now this.

It’s a wonder he didn’t cut me down where I stood, which says a lot about him. ’

Aveline listened intently, her curiosity piqued by Saba’s description of the enigmatic ?ar . ‘He sounds complicated,’ she mused, eyes clouded with intrigue and concern. ‘Do you think he’ll go after Shiloh if he discovers who she’s with?’

Saba shook her head, the load of the unknown settling in the pit of her stomach.

‘I don’t know what he’ll do,’ she admitted, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

‘All I can do is hope that Shiloh finds safety and sanctuary wherever she is. I know Mak is formidable. I believe it’s a match, too, for Zolan, who’s also a force to be reckoned with, feared and respected by all who know of his exploits.

A war between both men and clans would be catastrophic. ’

Aveline took a shaky breath of apprehension. ‘What will become of Shiloh now that she has fled with Zolan?’ she asked, her voice barely above a breath as if speaking too loudly might invite calamity upon them.

Saba sighed. ‘I believe she’s in the heart of Sidani community, on the Selburnia, which Zolan commands,’ she explained, her inflection tinged with worry for her twin’s safety.

‘Shiloh is stepping into a world unlike any other, shrouded in secrecy and tradition that may not take kindly to an outsider like her. But I must have faith she is strong enough to weather whatever storms lie ahead.’

Aveline exhaled. ‘What about you, Saba?’ she murmured. ‘What will you do now?’

Saba mulled for a moment.

‘I’ll sit on my hands and wait for the right moment to speak with Mak about it all,’ she admitted, a hint of regret coloring her phrases. ‘I hope he forgives me because I could not stand idly by and watch my sister suffer the consequences alone. I had to do something, no matter the cost.’

Aveline reached out to place a comforting hand on her arm. ‘You’re so brave, babe,’ she whispered. ‘I hope he sees that in time.’

They sat in the soft-lit alcove, a warm silence settling between them.

‘What about you? How is life as a married woman?’ Saba asked.

Aveline’s eyes widened in panic, then shuttered. ‘I don’t want to speak about Khaman.’

The fear on her face was palpable, and Saba’s heart lurched for her.

Her husband was a bully and an asshole, to say the least, using his cultist fanaticism to cover up for his narcissistic tendencies.

Saba had no idea how Aveline had managed to survive this long with him.

She wanted to urge her to leave, but she also had to respect her privacy.

Reaching out, she touched her hand. ‘You called me brave. I believe you are the same, honey, and you don’t need to stay in a situation where you don’t feel safe. I understand you don’t want to share, but I’m here like you’ve been for me.’

She gave Saba a tentative smile. ‘ Sante .’

Saba studied her beautiful face for a beat, recalling their school days when they’d been so carefree and happy.

They’d hoped for devotion, equal partnership, joy, passion, and laughter.

How had they both, once independent Akkadian women, been caught up in marriages that were less than fulfilling, whether by fate or coercion?

Would their cherished dreams ever come true?

At that moment, all they could do was wait.

For Aveline to escape her constraints and find renewed love, and for Saba to attain some semblance of peace with Mak.