A Price Above Rubies

Chapter Twenty

Her daughter is mad at her. Hilal isn't sure how much Acelya understands of what is going on with her father and Ali Kemal's disappearance but she knows that it's dangerous and that her mother is leaving her just as her father had. 

"Grandpa Cevdet and Grandma Azize didn't come back," Acelya reminds her, big blue eyes steady and sad as she looks at her mother. 

"Of course, your father and I will come back!" Hilal rushes to assure her, but Acelya is so much her father's daughter. She sees through Hilal's words to the uncertainty underneath. There's a chance they won't and just as Leon has always seen through Hilal's bravado and protests to her true heart underneath, Acelya sees it as well. Does she really see the guilty truth underneath? That Hilal would rather go to the wall and die with Leon than stay behind and live without him even for her children. Just as her own mother had. Will Acelya forgive her for that or will she struggle with her anger over it just as Hilal had? 

Hilal, Yakup and Yildiz arrive in Greece where Yakup checks them in to two hotel rooms under fake names. 

Yakup insists they speak no Turkish in public while they're here so as to not arouse suspicion. Hilal and Yildiz have a basic knowledge of Greek but Yakup insists they practice while in Paris and continue that practice here until they can converse perfectly with no hint of their Turkish accents. Hilal is confident that she and her sister can manage even if they don't have as much time as they would if they were taking an actual language course in school. 

Yildiz has always been better at languages than Hilal and perfects the task quicker than Hilal which irks her. 

"Remember when you gave me such a hard time for going to parties when we were younger while you stayed with your little band of fighters?" Yildiz teases. 

Hilal rolls her eyes as her sister sits in front of the mirror getting ready for them to go out to dinner at a restaurant nearby. 

"Well, looks like it was a good thing I did, wasn't it because coming in contact with so many different interesting people from different countries will certainly help us now." Yildiz preens prettily and sprays perfume delicately on her neck with a flourish and a smile. 

"Yes, indeed," Yakup says in the bedroom doorway, long since ready in his dinner suit. "One must look at the bright side of your younger behavior." His voice is tinged with disapproval and Yildiz has the grace to blush. 

Hilal bites her lip to fight her amusement at her sister being put in her place. She grabs a pink satin shawl and follows Yakup towards the front door. 

Greek feels foreign on Hilal's tongue as she and her sister and brother in law converse at first about simple topics. She and Leon have made it a point to teach Yorgo and Acelya Greek as well as Turkish but it has always been a bit more difficult for her because she carries so much resentment over those who spoke the language and what they'd done to her people. 

A waiter approaches their table with a glass of white wine which he sets in front of Hilal.

"Compliments of the gentleman by the window there," the waiter informs her. 

Hilal's face blooms with heat as she looks past him to a young man, roughly about her age with shining blond hair and blue eyes. He smiles at her in acknowledgement. She supposes he would assume since Yakup and Yildiz are clearly together that Hilal is available. 

She opens her mouth to protest but Yakup places a hand on her arm. 

"Tell him my sister in law Helena is very appreciative."

He nods and heads to the man to relay the message. 

"What did you do that for? I don't want to encourage him," Hilal insists, embarrassed. 

"Do you see the pin on his dinner jacket? He's out of his uniform but that pin identifies him as a member of the military," Yakup informs her as he holds Yildiz's hand, kissing it to give the appearance of talking of nothing of importance..

Hilal looks at the man again. 

He takes this as reciprocal interest on her part and gets up from his table to make his way over to them. 

"Oh good grief, he's coming over! What am I supposed to do?"

"He's going to ask you to dance. Accept and make conversation. Find out who he is, what his position and anything else you can without probing too much and making him suspicious." He motions towards her wedding ring. "It's best if you take that off."

Hilal clutches her hand to her chest in horror. "I will not!" 

Yakup is about to protest but the man makes it to their table and asks Hilal to dance, just as Yakup predicted he would. 

Hilal tries not to let her reluctance show as she gives him a smile and her hand. 

His name is Viktor, and he's a captain in the army. Hilal explains her wedding ring with the lie that she's a widow. Dear God, forgive me and keep my words a lie. Viktor seems genuinely sympathetic and as they talk while dancing Hilal relaxes a little. He asks if he can have dinner with her tomorrow and Hilal bites her lip, wondering how much she should be encouraging him. They need more information than the small talk she's managed to get out of him so far. He comes from a military family and has never been married. 

She agrees to dinner just as she spots a familiar face at the bar. Fury and surprise makes her step falter and Viktor looks over at the same spot. 

"Do you know him?" he asks. 

Hilal gives him a tight smile. "An old friend. Would you mind if we went over and said hello?"

Viktor guides her to the bar and she taps the man on his shoulder. 

"How wonderful it is to see you here!" she exclaims with false cheer. 

Vecihi turns and his eyes widen with horror while the whiskey he had been about to swallow comes shooting out of his mouth to hit Viktor square in the chest.