to tense up when Jazz put her hand in his. ‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ she said. ‘You underestimate me, Tyr. You can tell me anything. Anything,’ she stressed.
‘Some things are best left unsaid, Jazz.’
‘I don’t agree.’ She shook her head and walked away a little distance. ‘If you keep all those ugly thoughts inside you they’ll just fester until they make you ill. Everything has to be faced at some point, Tyr. Look at me. I’ve made a mess of things, and now I’ve got to put them right. I haven’t a clue where I’m going to begin with this marriage nonsense, but I’ll sort it somehow.’ She sighed, but her compassion was all for him. ‘I can’t pretend to understand the enormity of the memories you’re avoiding.’
He said nothing.
‘And I can’t imagine what you’ve seen.’
Thank God for that.
Jazz’s gaze was unswerving. ‘I’m not going to stand by and see a friend in trouble without trying to help.’
‘I’m not in trouble.’ And he wasn’t into spilling the past as Jazz had suggested he should, but as she continued on he had a great sense of the girl he used to know returning, and that was the only news that mattered to him. The strong, practical, sometimes crazy, always feisty, dangerously impulsive girl he used to know was back, while the prim contrivance Jazz had turned herself into in the hope of reassuring one small sector of Kareshi’s population that not everything in their country was changing at breakneck speed had been forced to take a back seat. Great.
‘And as for that...’ She paused and bit her lip.
‘Marriage nonsense?’ he suggested.
‘You might not want to hear this, Tyr, but physical contact between a man and a woman in Kareshi can only mean one thing.’
He refocused on Jazz’s concerned face. ‘But there’s nothing going on between us, so everyone’s wrong.’
Jazz shook her head. ‘We can’t sort this out as easily as that. Whatever we know to be the case, those who would seize on anything in order to destabilise Sharif’s peaceful rule will refuse to be convinced. It doesn’t suit them. Can’t you see that?’
‘So, what are you suggesting?’
Taking a deep breath, Jazz braced herself. ‘It’s too late to save my reputation and I won’t risk either of us losing the trust of my people.’
‘We know that.’
‘So, it’s simple,’ she said. ‘We’ll get married, just like the headman said.’
He almost laughed. ‘That’s insane.’
‘No, it isn’t,’ Jazz argued. ‘It’s a practical solution. And don’t look so horrified. We won’t be living as man and wife. There’ll be no passion involved. And we can still be friends.’
While he was still absorbing this ill-advised plan, Jazz came up to him and, standing on tiptoe, she brushed her lips against his cheek. ‘Friends?’ she whispered.
Her touch scorched him. Taking hold of her arms, he moved her back. ‘Don’t,’ he warned.
Needless to say, Jazz refused to be put off. ‘I promise I won’t tie you down, Tyr. You can leave Kareshi any time you want, and we’ll get divorced quietly at some point in the future when all the fuss has died down.’
‘Love’s young dream?’ He shook his head disbelievingly. ‘Jazz, you’ve come up with some madcap plans in the past, but this one is heading for the history books.’
‘No, it isn’t,’ she argued firmly. ‘We both trust each other to do what’s right, so this is the perfect solution. Don’t look at me like that. I have to do something, and this is the best I can come up with. The best for both of us. You don’t want to lose the people’s trust any more than I do. No one needs to know how we live out our private lives, and this way we can still live in Kareshi and work together.’
Holding up his hands, he stopped her. ‘I can’t believe you’re serious about this.’
‘I’ve never been more serious in my life. Can you think of a better solution?’
‘You bet I can. I leave now. And you leave the moment the storm passes over and the helicopter can get here to take you home. You get on with your life, and I get on with mine. Separately.’
‘I’m not leaving my people. And as far as we’re concerned, in their eyes the damage is already done.’
‘All I can see is you panicking, and proposing to go ahead with some mockery of a ceremony that’s supposed to convince your brother, my sisters and your people into believing you and I are intending to spend the rest of our lives together. I’ve backed some of your crazy ideas in the past, Jazz, but this is way beyond reasonable.’
‘Tyr. Come back here! Please, listen to me.’
He stared down at Jazz’s hand on his arm and she quickly removed it.
‘What do you suggest?’ Her voice was quiet, but her eyes were direct and unflinching.
He pulled away. ‘I don’t have to suggest anything. Nothing’s changed, as far as I’m concerned. The people of Wadi village accept me for who I am. They always have.’ Which was one of the reasons he’d stayed so long. No one asked him any questions.
‘But that will change now,’ Jazz assured him tensely. ‘You will never be able to work here again, because if you don’t marry me after spending so much time alone with me, the people you care so much about will shun you.’
‘Why would they do that, Jazz?’
‘Because in their eyes you will have disgraced their princess.’
With a laugh, he shook his head. ‘You make a great case, but I’m not going for it.’
She went rigid. ‘A great case? I hope you’re not sticking with the idea that I’m trying to trick you into marriage, because nothing could be further from the truth.’
‘I just know this crazy idea of yours is going no further. I will explain to the people of Wadi village that our relationship is nothing more than a friendship of long standing, and Sharif will understand.’
‘If we were in Skavanga, I might agree with you, but this is Kareshi and you have no idea how wrong you are.’
Firming his jaw, he turned away from her. ‘This conversation is over, Jazz.’
‘Don’t you dare,’ she warned with all the old spirit. ‘Don’t you dare mistake me for some spineless pawn who accepts whatever scrap you care to throw at me. I’m trying to do the best I can to repair the damage I’ve done. And, yes, I can stand up for myself and I don’t need your help, but you’re involved in this whether you like it or not and you can’t just walk away. These are my people and you’re in danger of offending them, and no one loves these people more than I do. Yes, they’re flawed, but so am I. We all are. We’re human, Tyr, and flaws come with that territory. No one understands the people of Kareshi better than me. All I’m asking is the chance to
