minutes before it was to begin, leaving all our guests, without a word of explanation to them or to our families or to me? Because of an insult to your pride? Because of a conversation you overheard?â
Noor could hardly take it in. How could he be throwing her accusation back in her face like this? She had been on a rock, and with a wave of words he had changed that into shifting sand.
This isnât really happening! her brain kept insisting. This is a dream!
How had she gone from being an excited, beautiful bride, wearing the most exquisite dress in the world and a diamond worth a sultanâs ransom, waiting for her wedding to a man who was crazy for her, to thisâhaving flown through a terrifying storm in fear for her life, and crash-landed at sea, she was now lying in a storm-tossed life raft waiting for rescue that might not come, her makeup streaked, her nails broken and torn, her hair in ratâs tails, wet, naked and shivering, and squashed into a tiny space with that same man who now despised her?
But worst of all was what she was hearing about herself. Did she act like a woman so used to being loved she took it for granted?
It wasnât true. If she had believed Bari loved her itwas because of the way he had treated her, not because that was her first assumption.
âI donât take love for granted!â Noor felt another chill sweep through her and, suddenly reminded, she sat up and tore the plastic bag from the tiny packet he had thrown her. She unfurled a sheet of rustling gold foil that glowed and glittered even in the dimness.
âSilver side in for warmth,â Bari said, and began working a small air pump.
She wrapped herself in it. Whatever the strange foil was, it had an immediate effect on her chill. But it offered poor protection against Bariâs accusations. They had already hit home.
âIt looks like the Sultanaâs robes at the coronation,â she muttered, tweaking the folds around her, trying to dispel her own gloom, trying to prevent herself hearing what he had said, what he really thought of her.
Could it be true? People had always loved her. Everyone she knew loved her. And not just her mother and father and her brothers and Jalia and her friends. At school she had been popular with everyoneâexcept for a few girls who were jealous, she amended carefullyâ¦but no one was loved by everybody in the world! You couldnât be human and not have some enemies! Some girls were jealous of her because her family spoiled her, sheâd always known that. Sheâd had lots of spending money and the freedom to do what she liked, and of course people hated thatâ¦.
Bariâs family had been cool with her, some of them. But she couldnât have cared less what they thought of her. Why should she? Bari was right about thatâsheâd taken no trouble to make them like her, not Noor! If they didnât like her as she was, that was their problem. Anyway, sheâd told herself, it was only jealousy because Bari had fallen for her so hard.
But if it turned out Bari hadnât fallen for her, and they knew it, what did that mean?
That they disliked her for herself?
What had she ever done to deserve dislike? When had she ever hurt anyone?
As if in answer, her brain suddenly conjured up the scene her flight must have created. Jalia and the bridesmaids coming to the door of her bedroom, one of the women going to the bathroom to call herâ¦had they gone searching through the house? And when she was nowhere to be foundâwhat would they have thought? Her parentsâwhat had they imagined? What were they going through now?
She thought of the guests, and what bewilderment they must have feltâwere probably still feeling. What she had done was a personal insult to them all. She had treated them as if they didnât matter in the least. Bari was rightâshe had thought her own concerns of overriding importance. Some of their guests
Noor could hardly take it in. How could he be throwing her accusation back in her face like this? She had been on a rock, and with a wave of words he had changed that into shifting sand.
This isnât really happening! her brain kept insisting. This is a dream!
How had she gone from being an excited, beautiful bride, wearing the most exquisite dress in the world and a diamond worth a sultanâs ransom, waiting for her wedding to a man who was crazy for her, to thisâhaving flown through a terrifying storm in fear for her life, and crash-landed at sea, she was now lying in a storm-tossed life raft waiting for rescue that might not come, her makeup streaked, her nails broken and torn, her hair in ratâs tails, wet, naked and shivering, and squashed into a tiny space with that same man who now despised her?
But worst of all was what she was hearing about herself. Did she act like a woman so used to being loved she took it for granted?
It wasnât true. If she had believed Bari loved her itwas because of the way he had treated her, not because that was her first assumption.
âI donât take love for granted!â Noor felt another chill sweep through her and, suddenly reminded, she sat up and tore the plastic bag from the tiny packet he had thrown her. She unfurled a sheet of rustling gold foil that glowed and glittered even in the dimness.
âSilver side in for warmth,â Bari said, and began working a small air pump.
She wrapped herself in it. Whatever the strange foil was, it had an immediate effect on her chill. But it offered poor protection against Bariâs accusations. They had already hit home.
âIt looks like the Sultanaâs robes at the coronation,â she muttered, tweaking the folds around her, trying to dispel her own gloom, trying to prevent herself hearing what he had said, what he really thought of her.
Could it be true? People had always loved her. Everyone she knew loved her. And not just her mother and father and her brothers and Jalia and her friends. At school she had been popular with everyoneâexcept for a few girls who were jealous, she amended carefullyâ¦but no one was loved by everybody in the world! You couldnât be human and not have some enemies! Some girls were jealous of her because her family spoiled her, sheâd always known that. Sheâd had lots of spending money and the freedom to do what she liked, and of course people hated thatâ¦.
Bariâs family had been cool with her, some of them. But she couldnât have cared less what they thought of her. Why should she? Bari was right about thatâsheâd taken no trouble to make them like her, not Noor! If they didnât like her as she was, that was their problem. Anyway, sheâd told herself, it was only jealousy because Bari had fallen for her so hard.
But if it turned out Bari hadnât fallen for her, and they knew it, what did that mean?
That they disliked her for herself?
What had she ever done to deserve dislike? When had she ever hurt anyone?
As if in answer, her brain suddenly conjured up the scene her flight must have created. Jalia and the bridesmaids coming to the door of her bedroom, one of the women going to the bathroom to call herâ¦had they gone searching through the house? And when she was nowhere to be foundâwhat would they have thought? Her parentsâwhat had they imagined? What were they going through now?
She thought of the guests, and what bewilderment they must have feltâwere probably still feeling. What she had done was a personal insult to them all. She had treated them as if they didnât matter in the least. Bari was rightâshe had thought her own concerns of overriding importance. Some of their guests
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