best chance of finding evidence of settlement is here,’ he said, pointing to one of the sketches. ‘There are indications of the usual miners’ shelters, a few shards of pottery, though we’ll need to do some more work to see how old they are. But it’s odd.’
‘Because our silver vessel is of higher quality than anything which is likely to be found in a miners’ village,’ Tahira agreed, nodding. ‘When I’ve found the sites of ancient villages, there have been remnants of pottery, beads, some pewter, but nothing like our pot.’
‘Precisely. Of course it could have been accidentally left behind by a traveller, or become detached from the luggage of a rich caravan, but...’ Christopher tapped his finger on the drawing. ‘I don’t know, call it gut instinct, but I can’t help feeling there’s something important we’re missing.’
She hoped he was right, but Tahira feared that he might simply be desperate. It cannot prove futile, he’d said to her when she suggested he might never find a home for his amulet. He would not accept defeat, but what would he do if the ore from this mine didn’t match? He was so determined not to contemplate failure, she couldn’t imagine how he would deal with it, if the worst came to the worst.
But that was a very long way away yet. ‘I have some more positive news,’ Tahira said. ‘I’ve had time to look back over my own research from the last few years, and I can confirm that both diamonds and gold were being mined here in Nessarah when your amulet was made. I know that’s the easiest part of the mystery to resolve, neither are exactly rare here in the south of Arabia, but...’
‘It’s a big step in the right direction,’ Christopher said. ‘Thank you.’
His eyes met hers as he kissed her hand, and it was as if her brain was somehow switched off, and her body took over. And then he let her hand go, and she looked away, and she could think again.
‘I’m afraid I didn’t find any evidence of another turquoise mine though,’ Tahira said, fumbling to regain her train of thought. ‘Turquoise is not nearly so intrinsically valuable as gold or diamonds, but it is becoming more highly prized for jewellery and decorative purposes nowadays, due to its unique hue, so demand for it is increasing.’
‘Hence King Haydar’s decision to re-open this mine and corner the market. The man has a penchant for business.’
‘It is rather that his son has a penchant for greed,’ Tahira snapped, without thinking.
Christopher’s eyebrows shot up. ‘So it is true, your Prince Ghutrif is the real power behind the throne?’
‘He is not my prince.’ She could have kicked herself, not only for the unwise words but the scornful tone. ‘That is to say, he cares little for his subjects.’
She dared not meet Christopher’s gaze. What she needed to do was to change the conversation. ‘I know you plan to match a sample of the ore from this mine with your amulet, but what about the diamonds? How do you plan to match those?’
If she did not meet his gaze she would make him more suspicious, so she forced herself to do so, and willed herself not to blush. The startling blue of his eyes was dulled by the night, the odd grey halo of the iris seeming more prominent.
‘You speak of Prince Ghutrif with something approaching contempt. An unusual attitude in a region where rulers are loyally revered by their people. Has your family perhaps suffered at his hands in some way?’
Oh, Christopher, if only you knew, she wanted to scream but instead, bit her tongue and said nothing.
He mistook her silence for wariness. ‘You can trust me, you know that?’
And she wanted to. A terrible urge to confess, to lay bare the worries about her sisters and her future which had kept her awake long into the night after Juwan’s dinner, almost overcame her resistance. She so wanted someone to understand how torn she was. But why should he? She caught herself, aghast. ‘There’s nothing to tell,’ Tahira said. And nothing to be done either, she reminded herself, save to comply.
Christopher’s expression hardened just a tiny bit. She had the impression of him retreating, not physically so much as mentally. Then he shrugged, reaching into his tunic for the leather pouch containing the amulet. ‘Do you know much about diamonds? The stones in this have a very particular clarity.’
She should be relieved that he had chosen not to pursue her slip, and she should be under no illusions. He had noticed. Tahira stared obediently down at the artefact.
‘Most diamonds,’ Christopher continued, ‘have impurities which gives them a yellowish tinge. Some very rare diamonds have impurities which make them seem blue or red, but these, as you can see, are almost completely clear.’
‘And so capable of being definitively matched?’
‘I hope so, if I can find a big enough sample—smaller stones, such as can more readily be obtained, are useless.’
And larger ones, such as the crown jewels Juwan kept locked away, quite unattainable, even to Tahira. ‘What will you do then?’ she asked.
Christopher grinned. ‘Gain access to the diamond traders in the bazaar. I tried the other day, but a very large man with a very large scimitar barred the entrance.’
‘Not surprising, given the value of the goods contained there.’
‘A royal guard, it was.’
‘Yes.’ He had not dropped the subject after all. ‘It is common knowledge that the diamond market is controlled by Prince Ghutrif,’ Tahira said warily. ‘No one can so much as look at a diamond without his permission.’
‘Then I will have to find a way to obtain his permission.’
Alarm bells started to clamour in her head. ‘How would you set about doing that?’
‘I might pass myself off as a wealthy merchant in order to gain access to the diamond traders. It’s a ruse I have used before.’
‘But that would require you to show your hand—or at least, your amulet, wouldn’t it, in order to compare it with those on sale?’
Her panic was clear enough to her own ears, so Tahira was mightily relieved when Christopher laughed. ‘Very true. Perhaps a more direct approach is required. I’ve had occasion to engineer an audience with the highest possible authority—in Nessarah’s case, that would be Prince Ghutrif—when I’ve found some connections to my amulet’s history, though not enough to be conclusive. I’ve taken the risk, just to be sure I’ve not missed something vital, to confirm, as far as possible, that I’m in the wrong place.’
‘How on earth do you engineer an audience with a prince?’ Things could get very complicated for her if Christopher turned up at the palace, and potentially very dangerous for him.
‘Drastic measures,’ he replied, with one of his devil-may-care smiles. ‘Getting myself arrested is one method, or working my way up the chain of command by refusing to divulge my purpose, it usually works a treat. I had a stroke of good fortune in Murimon, when the chief official there assumed I’d something to do with the Court Astronomer, who happened to be an English woman.’
Murimon! The kingdom which could so nearly have been her home. A coincidence which served to stretch her nerves to breaking point. Should she warn him?
