A Price Above Rubies

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Leon reaches for his wife's hand. Hilal's face is so pale that her usually fair complexion is almost ghost white. Her beautiful blue eyes are red and glistening with the tears she shed when Luchas told her the story of what the GSD has done to his hand. "We don't know if Ali Kemal is in any danger," Leon assures her. "As far as they know he is my Greek brother. As long as he stays out of trouble-"

At that Hilal lets out a sad whimper and drops her forehead on to the heel of her hand. 

If this was any other situation, Leon would have smiled at that. His brother is a rebel by nature. "My mother would have written or called if anything had happ-"

Another whimper.

She lifts her head and takes a deep breath. Hilal looks at Luchas. "You got out. So escape is possible…" She looks at Leon then. "If anything should happen, I mean."

"There are friends willing to help, yes. At great risk," Luchas says, "but ever day. that network is getting smaller."

"I think we should get my mother and my brother out of Greece as soon as possible. A trip to not arouse any suspicion… which means they can't come here, not anymore," Leon says as realization dawns. "Paris?" he suggests. He has distant cousins there. 

Hilal nods weakly and Leon decides any plans can wait until tomorrow. He doesn't want to worry her anymore than he already has. Luchas will be staying at Yakup's tavern for now, until they can help him get some place more permanent. 

They have a doctor visit Yorgo the next morning and he assures them the little boy just has a bad cold and slight fever. He suggests that perhaps Acelya can stay with Yildiz and Yakup for a few days so she doesn't catch it as well. 

"Awww. It be nice if you come too, Yorgo, but I promise to only have a little bit of fun with Cevdet and Mehmet and I won't play forts with Cevdet too so you can get better faster and only you can play forts with him, okay?" Acelya says blowing him a kiss from the door way. 

Leon hugs his little girl from behind, proud of her trying to comfort her little brother. He knows his children love each other but when ever one of them was sick, the other always went out of their way to be kinder to them. Of course when they were well again they went back to throwing things at each other but the reprieve was always nice. 

"Okay," his little boy croaks trying for a smile but the word clearly makes his throat hurt and he grimaces instead. 

The doctor says with some cool baths and the medicine he leaves with them, the cold should pass in a few days, a week at most. 

Hilal is preparing one of the cool baths for Yorgo while Leon drops off their daughter with his sister in law. 

"Poor little Yorgo," Yildiz tsks as she ushers Leon and Acelya into Mehmet's bedroom. The boy will be sharing a room with his nephew and while he doesn't seem overly thrilled with it, he doesn't make a fuss. "But we're going to have to find some way to have a lot of fun without him, won't we my darling little flower?" she says, scooping the girl up and showering her with kisses. 

"Oh yes, Auntie! But no forts cause I promised and Papa says we must always keep our promises otherwise men have no honor. I think that goes for girls too, right?" 

Yildiz cocks an eyebrow at Leon. "Well, no one could ever question she's your daughter." 

Leon snorts but doesn't reply to that. Yildiz quickly calls out to her son and her brother who are outside playing in the alley. While she explains about Acelya staying with them Leon spots one of his favorite pictures on the kitchen wall. He has a copy of it hanging in his hallway. It's a younger Yildiz, Hilal and Ali Kemal with their parents. Yildiz has a pretty smile on her face as she looks at the camera, sitting like a lovely little doll on one of Cevdet's knees. Hilal is on his other knee, between her father and her mother, her little face is scrunched up in a wide cheeky smile of delight, all teeth and uninhibited spirit. There is no artifice in Hilal's smile, no poise and it always warms his heart when he looks at the photo.