Spice of Love - Completed

Chapter 14

A long, endless, sleepless night later, Cat woke up fatigued. Wrought with nerves and anxiety, and missing Sadiq's frustrating but irreplaceable presence beside her, Cat found it hard to get a shut-eye on her soft bed... beside a snoring, older woman.

She gathered up her yards of fabric about her person and stumbled to her feet, stretching to alleviate the kinks and then moving towards back to head out. It was a pressing need the night before that had Sadiq showing her the location of the toilet. An open desert made it the largest toilet she'd ever visited. Cat paused long enough to fetch herself some soap and water before she made her way out, thankful it was still early yet and there were not many about.

Cat emerged in the open to find Sadiq perched in the distance on a dune viewing the desert spread about them. In the early hours, the light of the rising sun was still a fraction of its natural glory and the inviting shadows were a welcome relief from the blistering hot sun that would soon be upon them. Cat made quick work of her toilet, then returned the camp to restore the items she'd taken before moving off towards where Sadiq still sat.

Her ire over his parting words the night before had somewhat settled. Her only need at that moment was to be close to him. It was not anything new, what he had told her. Cat had already known that meeting his father was inevitable, just as their marriage appeared to be. It was not something that filled her with joy. Not marrying Sadiq, nor meeting the king. But the latter might actually be able to be used to her advantage.

"You're up," said Sadiq, not bothering to look behind him on her approach.

Cat merely nodded in reply, not bothering to voice her response.

"We should leave then," suggested Sadiq.

Again, Cat merely nodded as she settled down beside him. They sat there in mutual silence, enjoying the sunrise, where the night before they had witnessed the sunset. It sure put a lot of things into perspective, seeing that wondrous moment where dark met light and where light met dark. Two spectacular phenomena that kept the world alive. Both were needed in their own measure. It was what Cat needed too, she now realised. The light of her family back home and the dark that Sadiq brought into her world. The darkness of the unknown, the dangerous, the unexpected, and most importantly... the love. Nothing with Sadiq would ever be easy. Too much of the dark would only overwhelm her. She needed to strike a balance that worked. For the both of them. And she knew she could never do that here.

"I am ready when you are," said Cat, acknowledging her own desire to meet with the king. The only man who could stop their union. Her only hope for help.

An hour later and they departed, the Land Rover moving past a row of camels as the Bedouin camp began to disband and pack up, working from the edges in as they broke away and moved off left in a slow trickle through the desert in search of the next little oasis to inhabit.

"It will be another two days before the whole of the camp would have moved on," said Sadiq, in explanation to Cat's unspoken question. "They leave in the reverse order of how they came in." He went on to explain just where they would be heading next. And Cat could tell he spoke from experience, having done it all before himself. It was there in the intensity of his gaze. The silent longing to simply go along with them and disappear into the desert. Away from everything. Cat glanced back out, understanding the appeal. It was not the most comfortable of living. The hunger and the thirst that went hand in hand with such endless journeys was what kept spurring them on. The search for food. The search for water. The search itself. Sadiq's friend here had it good for himself. He had connections in high places. But the others? They surely felt the hardship of this life all the more. Cat cast a keen gaze over the procession of camels and the nomadic people who accompanied them on foot. Leaving their camels to carry the old and the young, or their things, while the rest moved on foot beside them, leading the way. Their bodies shrouded in more of the billowy material, all the colour of the desert, that almost camouflaged their existence while keeping them safe from the harsh, unforgiving climate around them.