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Zayn gave her a side long glance. “No. We have not been to the palace.”
Julia stood back from the car and tried to appreciate the sheer size of the royal residence. From this angle, it seemed to loom large out of the earth. It was completely circular in design, with lattice like windows carved into the marble to create the most fragile and beautiful effect Julia had ever seen.
“Aren’t palaces supposed to be terrifying?”
Zayn’s smile was unmistakably proud. “This was a palace built to show the cultural strength of the nation, rather than the military might of its army. Naman has a rich culture, and our architects and builders from the seventeenth century were renowned for their innovation and skill. This palace was the piece de resistance of the movement.”
“It’s stunning,” she said honestly. Around the base of the building, palm trees had been planted and they stood tall and immovable, like sentinels in the sand. A solitary flag was flying from the very center of the palace roof.
“I’m glad you approve.” If he freed Amal from the responsibilities of ruling, it would, after all, be their home. He caught her hand in his and squeezed it. “Come, I will show you inside.”
Julia nodded, feeling more than a little intimidated by the sheer size and opulence of the palace grounds. In contrast to the bustling city that their home overlooked, this was a place of serenity and calm. In the middle of the desert, green lawns sprawled into the distance, and exotic looking flowers were bursting into colorful life. A warm breeze rustled past, carrying with it the scent of something sweet, like jasmine or magnolias. Julia’s dark hair caressed her cheek and she hooked it behind her ear. When she lifted her eyes, Zayn was watching her, and though his expression was guarded, there was something in his eyes that made her pulse scatter uncontrollably. She turned her attention back to the palace, trying not to show how easily he could disconcert her.
“I thought today was about helping me remember things, anyway,” she said a few minutes later, as they made their way beneath a tall arch in the side of the building.
The frown that crossed his face disappeared again so quickly that she thought she must have imagined it. He fixed a small grin onto his features instead and shrugged, in that sexy, nonchalant way of his. “You don’t know what will bring your memories back, habibte. The doctors are happy with your progress. You heard them. It is very unlikely your brain will be permanently damaged.”
As he spoke the words, he felt an invisible steel band tightening around his chest. This idyllic time as husband and wife was the eye of an enormous storm. One that would certainly wreak havoc when it returned.
His Julia. He had never stopped thinking of her as his, and this week, she had been. But it was a house of cards, and the winds were brewing steadily, gusting and ready to blow it all apart around him.
“They said they couldn’t make guarantees.” Her voice quavered a little, and Zayn stopped walking, so that he could turn to face her. Julia paused beside him and looked up uncertainly into his handsome face.
Zayn lifted a hand and brushed his fingers along the downy skin of her cheek. How he wished things were different. That this bond could remain. “If you don’t remember, we’ll make new memories,” he promised. His eyes shone with intention, and silently, he willed her to trust him.
Julia swallowed down the strange sense of confusion that assailed her. For the last two days, she’d had the weirdest intuition that she was angry with her husband. And yet, she wasn’t. He was the perfect lover and companion, and she knew she felt only love and affection for him. So why was there this weird bubbling mistrust inside of her? Like the shadow of a memory, it haunted her, and colored everything he said now.
Her smile was shaky. “We’ll see.”
Zayn didn’t like her non-committal response, but he pushed it aside. He had spent his entire life controlling, dominating and directing. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose something as intrinsic to one’s being as knowledge and memory.
“I just wish I could remember how this happened,” she said with a small grimace. “You and me… it’s all blank.”
He nodded slowly. How could she know the memories she sought simply weren’t there?
“I mean, we must have dated for some time before getting married?”
His brow knitted together. “Why do you say that?”
“Just a guess, I suppose. Why? Are you saying we didn’t date for long?”
He angled his face away from her, staring down the long corridor in which they stood. “It’s pointless for me to tell you, Julia. You know what the doctor said.”
“Did we email back and forth, like we used to?”
His frown was gone almost as soon as it had appeared. “You remember that we used to email?”
“Of course.” Her smile was wry. “I remember sitting through Intro to Law drafting emails that I hoped would be funny enough to make you laugh. So why don’t I remember anything more recent?”
He sighed with exasperation. “Be patient, habibte. It will come back to you when it is supposed to.”
She gnawed on her lip dubiously. Again, the feeling that her husband was keeping something from her fogged into her brain and she wished she could pinpoint exactly what was making her doubt him.
“I want to show you my favorite part of the palace,” Zayn whispered into her ear, and his smile was so full of seductive charm that she grinned back at him, despite it being a clunky attempt to derail her investigations.
“I’d love to see,” she responded honestly, shelving her strange intuitive sense that something was amiss. For now.
Zayn put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his firm body. She fit so perfectly in the crook of his arm, beneath his shoulder. As they walked, Julia was surprised by how deserted the palace was. She said as much to Zayn and he agreed.
