Page 38 of To Sway a Swindler

Heat burned As’ad’s ears and worked its way across his face and down his neck.

She set a hand on his arm and smiled sweetly. “I am very fond of you myself. Which means I know that you want a different life than what you have now, but I bet you’re feeling like you can’t ask me to give up my family and Sharamil to follow you somewhere else. And you know that I won’t stick around if you continue to scam people.”

He numbly shook his head. Everything she said was true. Wielding her honestly like a weapon yet again, this time it was poised to cut out his heart.

Rahma returned her hand to her lap, and he felt the absence of her touch as the warmth seemed to leach out of his arm. She raised her eyebrows. “So. What are you going to do about it?”

His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Nothing helpful, nothing harmful. Flat out nothing at all.

She rolled her lips between her teeth to keep from smiling outright. “First things first,” she said, taking up the reins of the conversation again. “Do you have feelings for me? Positive ones,” she clarified in a teasing warning.

As’ad finally found his voice, but his tangled emotions jumbled his words. “Yes! You’re the— And I . . . Mmmm!” He clenched his teeth and gave a wordless growl as he tried to spit out everything he was feeling all at once.

“Wow.” The smile Rahma had been holding back grew. “Where’s that silver tongue of yours, Mr. Con Artist?”

His thoughts finally clunked into place, and the perfect answer came to him. “Apparently, it fails in the face of real love.”

“Nice save!” She beamed at him. “Now forget words and just kiss me already.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Sometime later, after more kisses and several confessions of love and recitations of the wonderful attributes each person had come to value in the other, Rahma tilted her head against his shoulder and announced, “We should get married today.”

As’ad snorted. “Wouldn’t your parents like to meet me first?”

They had been sitting by the dying fire and looking at the pretty picture Jabal made from their copse of trees, but something in her manner caused him to sit up and look at her directly.

“They have! And while they can havenoobjections to me marrying the savior of Sharamil, they might be less thrilled to find out how long we’ve been traveling together withoutbeing married.” A wicked gleam shone in her eye, and As’ad knew she had won.

Finding a priest in Jabal to marry them was ridiculously easy compared to their most recent adventures, even with the complication of finding one who would allow rats to witness the ceremony. As’ad did put his foot down in one regard. He had his new wife write to her parents immediately after the wedding. Since they were heading back to visit after a brief stay in the mountain city, he wanted his in-laws to have time to work through their shockbeforethe newlyweds arrived.

Rahma’s parents welcomed their son-in-law (and his rats) with open arms. Tohisshock, but not Rahma’s, arrangements had been made with her uncle to outfit the young couple with accommodations and an apprenticeship by the sea. Her father’s brother owned a couple of trading ships and was hoping to expand in the coming years. If As’ad and Rahma wanted to learn the business and someday captain one of his ships, they were more than welcome. As’ad’s dream of living by the ocean, which had been so hidden he hadn’t recognized it himself, came true, and the couple was close enough to visit Nahr on a regular basis.

Life couldn’t be more perfect.