A Price Above Rubies

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

"You're not coming with me and that's the end of this discussion!" Hilal insists as she tries to keep her voice down while she packs, knowing full well Acelya is only pretending to play with her dolls in her bedroom. The child is so like her father in that way. She waits, she listens and then acts when it's to her advantage and she knows she can win. 

There was a girl in school who'd been mean to her and she'd let the girl call her a weakling for three days for not fighting back. 

Hilal and Leon were called into the principal's office on the fourth day. The mean girl who it was discovered had a phobia of spiders had found three huge spiders in her lunch pail (Yorgo had helped his sister gather them personally-"It was so fun, Mama!") 

They punished her but Acelya absolutely refused to apologize to the girl. No amount of withheld desserts, inability to play with her toys, even a spanking, would make the girl give in. She had stood in front of her parents, blue eyes bright with tears that streamed down her face, tiny hands clenched at her sides and stubborn refusal on her lips. "I sorry I make Mama and Papa mad, but I not sorry for the spiders. I never be sorry cause Havva deserved it." 

The child undoubtedly listened now just as she had listened for something she could use against that little brat Havva. She knows something is going on with her father not being home yet and her mother and aunt's clear agitation. 

Hilal shuts the bedroom door in the hope that it will keep Acelya from hearing them, but still keeps her voice down because she knows her daughter is not above listening at the door. 

"You should have told me the moment you knew what happened to Ali Kemal!" Yildiz hisses angrily. 

"There was nothing you could have done. There still isn't. I was going to let Vecihi handle it but now Leon has gone after him and ruined that plan." Hilal digs her nails into her palms at the anger she feels at her husband. 

"So you think it's alright for you go chasing after your husband but I can't try and save Ali Kemal?" Yildiz countered. 

"Leon is my husband and in case you forgot, your husband is safe and sound right here, and is not Ali Kemal, for goodness sake!"

That makes Yildiz's cheeks turn pink and she can't meet Hilal's eyes. It's still there, her feelings for him, feelings they all knew about but never acknowledged. "He's still my family," she whispers. And more, Hilal thinks but doesn't say out loud. She's seen Yildiz and Yakup together and it seems to her that they love each other very much but Hilal has grown up enough to know how complicated love and emotions can be. 

Yildiz lifts her head then, a determined look in her eyes. "I'm coming with you and that's all there is about it. Yakup can help as well. I know he'll want to help."

Hilal blinks. "You...You think Yakup will totally understand and be fine with you wanting to rush off to save an old lover?" The words are out before she can stop them and Hilal instantly regrets them. 

Yildiz's face reddens and her body jerks and her hand raises as if she's going to slap her sister but just manages to stop herself. 

"I'm sorry," Hilal says quickly, her own face red. "I shouldn't have said that." 

"We were never that!" Yildiz says, tears filling her eyes. 

"I know-" 

"I love my husband, Hilal! I love him more than I thought I could love anyone and he loves me more than I probably deserve."

That makes Hilal smile and she tries to hide it but then Yildiz laughs a little and Hilal knows all is forgiven. 

"I can't explain to you why I have to help save Ali Kemal. I'm not sure I fully understand it myself, but I do know that leaving Yakup out of it is out of the question. He's forgiven me for much. This he would never forgive." 

So he does know, Hilal thinks. She's relieved to know this and rather proud of her older sister. Yildiz didn't have to tell Yakup about Ali Kemal. A woman's thoughts and emotions should be allowed to be private if she wished, and the old Yildiz would have certainly kept her mouth shut as it would be easier but Yakup really was such a good husband to Yildiz. It made Hilal happy to know Yildiz valued him enough to want to be honest with him. 

Yakup would certainly be helpful. His skills as an ex-spy would prove indispensable getting them to Greece without raising suspions. Leon had Vecihi who Hilal wanted to throttle for helping Leon pull off his scheme. 

So it was decided. Hilal loves Yakup for not even hesitating to agree to help them though there is the briefest look between him and his wife when Hilal mentions that it is Ali Kemal who has been taken prisoner. 

Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you'd said yes to Mehmet, Leon had asked her. Hilal wonders how Leon would have felt if Hilal had actually loved Mehmet and if he would have had the courage to ask her that same question. 

Yakup asks Azat if he can take care of the pub in his absence and Ahmet agrees to look after it as well. Azat and Omer offer any assistance Yakup and Hilal need in their mission. They only need to send word to the connections the two men have in Greece. Little Cevdet and Mehmet will be joining Acelya and Yorgo in Paris where they will stay with Veronika and Clara. Luchas wants to go to Greece with Hilal but she tells him that he can't risk being recognized and recaptured so he's to stay behind and help them when they need a way to get everyone back home.

"You've suffered enough," Hilal tells him with a tight hug. 

Lutfu, Cezmi and Osman also want to come but their wives understably object and Hilal insists she needs them here to help Luchas organize their return home when the time comes. Their wives aren't thrilled with even this much involvement but the men don't give in to that point. 

So with a group anchored in Istanbul standing ready to help when word comes, Hilal and Yildiz set off with their families to Paris.