The Promise of Pain by David Penny

Author:David Penny [Penny, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rivertree Print
Published: 2019-06-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

“What I want to know is where she is going to sleep.” Belia sounded close to losing her temper, and Thomas wondered if she had grown too fond of his house and was starting to consider it her own. Not that he was ever likely to find much use for it again, so she was welcome to have it.

Olaf had brought them down from the hill on the same secret tracks he had taken them up on, and now sat in the main room while three of them stood on the edge of the courtyard trying to settle Helena’s sleeping arrangements. As if we have nothing better to do, Thomas thought.

“She should sleep with Thomas, of course,” said Jorge.

“No, she can’t.” Even the prospect sent a chill down Thomas’s spine.

“Why not? She’s shared your bed often enough before,” said Jorge. Belia had crossed her arms across her chest and stared at them both, waiting for a decision.

“Perhaps Luis would like her beside him.” Thomas said.

“She’d kill the boy. There is only your bed available.”

“Then she’s welcome to it, but without me beside her. There’s a cot in the workshop. It won’t be the first time I’ve slept there. In fact, it will prove quieter than in here.” Thomas stared at them both.

Belia eventually unfolded her arms and slipped a hand around Jorge’s waist. “Just so long as she doesn’t try to join us.”

Thomas wondered what kind of tales Jorge had been entertaining Belia with—or possibly not tales, for he had lived in the harem with Helena far longer than she had lived under Thomas’s roof, and no doubt knew more of her wiles.

“Will they miss her?” asked Belia, as Thomas started to turn away.

“Not for a while. Dawn is close and those on the hill will be sleeping most of the day away.”

“Will they know who took her?”

Thomas looked at Belia until she lowered her gaze, making him feel a moment of guilt. “They don’t even know I’m in Gharnatah.”

“But Olaf is,” said Jorge. “They’ll go to him first, and when they discover he’s not there…”

Thomas left Belia and Jorge in the courtyard and went into the house. He wondered if Muhammed would care enough to send men in an attempt to find Helena.

The woman herself sat at the table next to her father, as if his presence alone could protect her. Opposite, Luis stared at her with his mouth open, and Thomas wondered if perhaps they had been too dismissive of Jorge’s suggestion. It would be an experience for the boy, if nothing else. Not that it was ever going to happen. Helena ignored him as if he wasn’t there, but her eyes found Thomas as soon as he entered the room and she straightened her back. She was still dressed in the clothes of the harem, fine silk that clung to her body to accentuate the shape beneath. A shape Thomas had once known intimately.

He went to the head of the table and sat. Exhaustion clung to

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