Eternal Love (MewGulf AU)

🌻Chapter 11

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As soon as they left the room, Gulf recited the line he had prepared for Sana. "If possible, I don't want to see any guards...I'm not used to them. And it embarrasses me to say this, but they scare me."

The woman considered it for a moment. She was no doubt thinking only of how to make the guest's stay as enjoyable as possible.

"This way," she finally said, walking quietly.

Gulf followed a half-step behind her, nerves on edge. Every time they passed one of the tiled pillars, his heart jumped into his throat, expecting a guard to appear from behind it.

They walked through a maze of passageways, progressing through the palace without seeing anyone else. He would be able to get outside easily now. Just then, Sana stopped, interrupting his thoughts.

"Who goes there?"

The question came from a uniformed guard to their right. A sword was at his hip. The guard's gaze passed over Sana and landed fiercely on Gulf.

Sana drew back, distancing herself from the guard. Custom forbade men and women to speak to each other familiarly. Sana's interaction with Gulf was allowable as a function of her work, and perhaps also because he was a foreigner.

"This is Prince Mew's guests," she explained.

"Prince Mew has ordered that no one be allowed outside," the guard said, staring at Gulf from behind his thick eyebrows and bushy black beard.

Gulf's heart began pounding faster, but he collected himself. "That's odd," he said. "He told me I could go wherever I wanted."

He took a step closer to the guard. He wasn't going to put Sana in any more danger.

"I've heard Saria is a magnificent city," he continued. "Could I not just smell the air outside and gaze at the landscape? Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm sheikh Mew's college friend, Gulf."

He offered his right hand. Handshakes were the customary greeting in Arabian cultures. The social superior or the person with the higher status always initiated the offer. The guard was probably close to Gulf's own age, and as a foreigner, social position was irrelevant for Gulf. But the guard would have trouble ignoring the old college friend of "Mew."

The guard showed such reluctance to return the handshake that Gulf began to get nervous.

"I'll contact his majesty and confirm that," the guard said. "Please wait a moment."

"That's not neccessary. I don't want to interrupt sheikh Mew's work," Gulf objected with a smile. The guard needed to be persuaded to let it go. If they contacted Mew, it would be his own work that would get interrupted, not Mew's. "I'll just give up on going outside. If I could just see the back garden, that would be fine. I'd like to see the Arabian horses. You could come along, if you want to keep an eye on me."

He could probably figure out the location of the gate even if he didn't go outside.

After some hesitation, the guard reluctantly accepted the suggestion. Since he wasn't allowed outside, the guard would serve as a reminder of Gulf's restrictions.

"Sana, this man can guide me now," he said. "You can go back to your other duties."

"All right, sir." Sana nodded with relief.

Gulf smiled at her and they parted. He then followed the guard.

"I've heard Arabian horses are very beautiful," he said.

"The most beautiful in the world. And the strongest," the guard spoke eunthisiastically at Gulf's praise.

"I can't wait," Gulf gushed. "I wonder if Mew would let me ride one if I asked. I may not look like it, but I'm quite the rider." He had re-emphasized his friendship with Mew, hoping to keep the man off his guard. He couldn't see the guards expression, but the man seemed to be relaxing.

They stopped in front of a set of double doors and Gulf clamped his mouth shut.

"Pkease don't go outside," the guard shrewdly reminded him before opening the door.

Gulf first reaction as he gazed outside was shock at the grandeur of the garden. The lush palms bathing in the sunlight were the same as those in the front garden, but here, this garden was an unbroken landscape where two horses stood up to their ankles drinking the water. Past them was a gazeboo, and several horses trotled nimbly in a stable yard off to the right.

Where the other garden gloried in its splendor, this one was serene. With the horses scattered through it, it looked like a painting.

Gulf also saw for the first time that the outer walls of the Saria palace were white. The trim around the decorative windows, as numerous as the round pillars studding the wall, were all a pale blue in the sunlight. He hadn't come here to admire the scenery, but even so, he was transfixed.

A loud crash brought him back to his senses in an instant. What had made that noise? The guard escorting him looked troubled at the unusual sound.

The horses by the pond grew wild from fear. A stable hand came quickly to soothe them, but the horses resisted, shaking their heads and rearing up.

The guard took a step forward, then stopped and looked back at Gulf. He seemed unsure of what he should do, weighing his two choices for several seconds. But when Gulf nodded to him, he ran in the direction of the horse.

As soon as he was left alone, Gulf ran out into the garden, heading toward the pond. He murmured soothingly to one of the horses agitated by the noise, and it gradually regained his calm.

With the horses placated once more, Gulf and the stable hand exchanged smiles.

"Thank you for your help," the man said. "Who are you?"

"Gulf Kanawut."

As he stroked the horse's neck,  Gulf wondered how best to explain why he was at the palace. He had told the guard he was a friend of Mew's. It wasn't a lie, but he had only said it to manipulate the guard.

"Are you by any chance Prince Mew's friend?" the man asked.

So there was no need to explain.

The stable hand came to shake Gulf's hand happily. "The maids have been talking about a friend he brought back with him. This is the first time Prince Mew has invited a friend over to Saria, so everyone is very excited."

"I...see," Gulf mumbled.

He shook hands with the man, who was named Mathal with mixed emotions. The word "first" triggered another memory in his mind.

'I've never felt completely comfortable with anyone before. You're the first, Gulf.'

Mew had told him that six years ago. He had been happy to hear it then, but now, he just thought of it as more pillow talk. But maybe it had been true.

Mew looked different from the other people in Madina. He wasn't pure-blooded. Gulf had no way of knowing what that meant inside the royal family, which valued blood relations so highly, but it was obviously unusual.

Gulf put a stop to his rambling thoughts and smiled wryly. What was he thinking? It didn't matter to him what Mew's life was like. The man was first in line for the throne.

TBC