Chasing the Sun

XXXII

|| - Shifting Sand -I ||

“You love them because they sing a song only your heart can understand…”

- L.J. Smith

Even the berating desert sun could not expel the darkness that clung to him. The thought occurred to Kashi as she neared the towering man waiting for her underneath the skeleton of a dead tree. It might have been a giant of legends that provided shade for many travelers in the past, but remains of the tree looked creepy with its bony, bare branches scraping at the glaringly blue sky and its blackened bark. However, the tree served its purpose as an indication of their meeting place.

“Where is Andrew?” David asked her, stretching out a hand to take the reins from her hand. His gray eyes remained cold and distant as he pulled the horse she brought for him and started to pace forward.

“He asked me to apologize on his behalf, something urgent called him back.” Kashi replied as she dismounted her own horse and tailed behind him. David did not reply, instead his eyes narrowed. “What are Mr. Kent’s intentions towards Noor Banu?” Kashi questioned abruptly.

“He is keeping an eye on her,” David said impassively, his voice cut through the wind that was picking up. Instead of elaborating he focused on cutting through the desert wind that seemed to be the beginning of a sand storm, his head lowered against the stabbing wind. “So that we get to know before she stirs up more trouble.” He added after a pause as he stopped and turned to look at her over his shoulder.

“Are you sure you could keep up, Kashi Bai? It looks like a sandstorm is coming.”

Her turban had partially come undone revealing her face to the wind gracing her jaws like sandpaper. Kashi blinked, one of her hands protected her sight from being obscured by the mist of dusty wind. Unconsciously David reached out to take her hand. Grasping her fingers he stepped closer to fix her turban. As he tucked the dark cloth back in place behind her ear his fingertips graced on the top of her earlobe and their eyes met.

“It is dangerous to sympathize with one’s enemies,” Kashi declared. “I hope Mr. Kent knows that.”

David abruptly pulled back his hand. The harsh wind gave him an excuse to avert his eyes. He was sure Andrew knew the dangers of the waters he was treading in and David mused if the same could be said about him.

“The wind is slowing us down,” Kashi’s voice tugged at his wandering thoughts. “We better ride.”

He looked at her again, his initial turmoil forgotten as he sized her up.

“It is dangerous to ride through sandstorms,” he said slowly. “We could get lost and injure our horses.”

Kashi’s lips curled and a shimmer bounced between her eyes.

“Not if we are fast enough.”

She did not wait for his approval and swiftly mounted her beast. Looking up at her determined posture David reminded himself that Rajkumari Kashi took orders from none but her own stubborn mind. Shaking his head to himself he followed the suit. It was but a matter of little distance and as Kashi pointed out their speed could possibly bring them to their destination and shelter before the storm hits them. David wondered how she managed to make the risk of failing to outturn the storm sound rather tempting. But he quickly filed away the thought to reflect upon later as a cloud of dust told him Kashi’s horse had already kicked off.

They chased each other through the whipping wind that screamed in their ears, deafening them to the world around and rising to a crescendo. Sweat clung to their skins and breathe burned in their lungs as danger danced around in a heated mist of dust. The thrill made his heart pound and David felt strangely alive.