Page 150 of The Moon's Fury

Kharteen grinned at her, wiping his mouth. “Baysahtisnorth of here, Princess. The northernmost kingdom on the continent. Glad to see your royal education was well worth it.”

Soraya huffed a laugh, popping a berry into her mouth. “What will you do in Baysaht?”

“I grew up there,” Kharteen replied.

It was near imperceptible, but his jaw tensed. Medjai preferred not to venture into the past, the graveyard of their stolen childhoods.

He tried to catch Soraya’s gaze, signal her to not press Kharteen, but she was singular in her focus. “How did you come to be a Medjai? Baysaht is a long trek from the Oasis.”

Kharteen worked his jaw. “There’s not much to tell. I lived with my parents and three older brothers. I was five, maybe six, when illness swept through our village, taking my parents and two brothers along with it. My remaining brother and I lived on the streets for a time. But children without parents are easy targets for evil. Slavers stole us in the middle of the night.”

Her brows knit together. “But … slave trade was outlawed over half a century ago.”

Kharteen’s rueful smile was laced with pain. “You can’t outlaw anything, Princess. Just make it harder.”

Soraya’s voice was soft. “Then, what happened?”

“We were sold at auction. It was the last time I saw my brother. The man who purchased me brought me to the Oasis, apologizing the entire way for what had happened to me. Said he was bringing me to safety, where I could be with boys my age. Never want for food or shelter. And they’d make me strong, so no one could hurt me again.”

Kharteen’s hardened eyes met Jamil’s, a silent understanding passing between them, one born of shared pain. “Gratitude is the best manipulator. And the Medjai have it down to an art form.”

Without another word, Kharteen stood and went to tend to the horses.

Soraya’s eyes were wet with tears when she met Jamil’s gaze. He scooted closer to her, and she leaned into his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I shouldn’t have asked about his past,” she whispered. “You’ve all suffered so much. I—I feel guilty.”

“Why?” Jamil tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her chin-length curls had grown out, now brushing against her shoulders.

“I grew up in a palace. Wanted for nothing. Grief didn’t find me until I was already an adult. With Baba”—her voice cracked—“and now Mama. But you’ve both dealt with that lossas children. And you’ve been suffering since. What right do I have to feel even an ounce of despair?”

He pulled her close against him, brushing a kiss to her cheek.

“You can’t control how you grew up, nor what happened to us. It doesn’t make your pain any less valid.”

Soraya sniffled. “You don’t think I’m a hateful, spoiled princess?”

“None of those words come close to describing you.”

Her fingers trailed up the inside of his arm, sending warmth cascading through him.

“How would you describe me, then?”

Kharteen coughed from over by the horses. “Right. I’ll just go for a walk. Seeing as you’ve both forgotten thatI’m right here.”

Soraya hid her face in his neck, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Jamil waited until Kharteen’s grumbling faded into the distance before murmuring in her ear, “Intelligent. Stubborn. Breathtaking.” He traced his finger along her collarbone, eyes greedily tracking the hitch of her breath, the reddening of her cheeks. “Unparalleled.”

He kissed her, gentle and slow, and she melted against him, boneless. She sighed softly as they parted, and the sound sent his blood rushing south, imagining what sounds she might make laid bare beneath him.

The last two weeks had been a delicate balance—Soraya oscillated between guilt-ridden grief, where she’d sob in his arms until she fell asleep, and desperate desire, pent up from weeks of restraint.

Loud footsteps sounded as Kharteen purposefully stomped back. They scrambled apart, but he didn’t spare them a glance as he untied the horses.

“Let’s go,eushaaq.”

Lovers.

They traveled the rest of the day until just past sunset. The trees had thinned out in the last hour of their journey. They were close to Tarakshan now, and in another week, Kharteen would head north while they’d continue west toward Thessan.