He strolls through the garden looking for her with his hands tied behind his back and the stalk of the rose twirling between his fingers. He finds her sitting at the edge of the gazebo in the center of the pond. She has her feet dipped in water as she keenly watches the fish swimming around and the lotuses afloat atop the crystal clear surface. She gently swings her legs back and forth. A ghost of a smile kisses his lips as he makes his way towards her.

He crosses the bridge connecting the shore of the pond to the gazebo. The day is split between light and dark, dwindling to blend into its end, the shades of twilight soon to come forth to overtake it. She looks up at the sound of his footsteps approaching and he quietly proceeds to join her at the edge. Taking off his shoes, he sits down and lowers his feet in the water too, placing the rose between them.

She doesn't greet him, doesn't say a word, and returns to observing the fish. He subtly kicks a lotus towards her. It grazes her leg and she lightly kicks it back towards him. The corners of his mouth once more twitch upwards to form into a smile.

"Do you like it here?" he tries to strike a conversation.

"Your palace is beautiful, sayidi."

"It wasn't before you. You've blessed it life with your light."

"Sweet talking."

He chuckles at her. "Am I?"

"Uh huh. You're the master of it."

"But I mean it, habibti." He leans closer to her. "My question isn't answered. Do you like it here?"

Her gaze seeks out towards the horizon where the sun is setting. The rays go bronze sliding past her face and making it glow, becoming dying embers in her fire lit orbs. Her foot bumps against his in water and she retracts hers sheepishly.

"What do you want to know?" she asks.

"Are you happy?"

"Are you?"

She turns to him and he's ruined by the distant look in her eyes. It cuts him like a dagger. Yet the thread of longing, though barely visible there but enough that he cannot miss it, is enough to stitch his wound. He reaches out to trace up her cheekbone with his knuckles, letting his fondness for her show in his actions.

"I couldn't be more happy with you beside me."

"Liar," she accuses weakly and he smiles.

"You know it's the truth."

He inclines forward to kiss her but she tilts away her head, like the many times before now how she has been denying him, pushing him away-- punishing him, torturing him. He burns in rejection, his heart aching, becoming more desperate with each refusal. His hands fall to her waist as he keeps her from getting away.

"Tell me you do not love me anymore," he demands, a begging in his tone telling her to prove him wrong. He feels her tremble at his request, as if an impossible one to be ever met.

"Your men are on guard," she tries to dismiss him and pull away. But he's stubborn and keeps her in place.

"No one is. I asked to be left alone with my wife."

She gives him a look of surprise. "What would they think we do out in the open under the sky?"

"If you mind the sky, we can return to our room. For unfortunately it's not in my power to cast it away."

She glares at him but cannot keep it harsh. "That's not what I meant."

"I don't care what anyone thinks." He lifts his hand back to her face and strokes her cheek. "Tell me that you still love me. Say that you crave my love like I crave yours. That your heart still chants my name, hayati."

Silence. He nuzzles his nose up her neck and she holds onto his forearm, grasping him as if clinging to a long lost hope. He feather kisses his way through her jaw until his lips level with hers.

"Shunning me will not shun your heart's desire, for I'm not blind to what these eyes portray."

She cups the side of his face, giving in, and he melts into her touch-- the tenderness of it sewing him to her. This time when he attempts to kiss her, she allows him, her fingers curling to pull him closer, as if any closure to her will ever be enough to quench this wanting. Yet the ruins in his soul are rebuilt in her love.

"Adam..."

"Noura says Adam, and Adam thaws in the warmth of his name from her mouth."

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Malika, Out Now!

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