Page 31 of Dalla's Royal Guards
“Will there be anything else, sir?” she asked.
“No… Yes. Tell them it is a matter of urgency,” he said.
“Of course, sir,” Doris replied, turning and leaving the office.
He tapped his fingers on his desk, contemplating his next move. He needed control of Kashir and the ample supply of recently discovered Vasbin, the new mineral composite that was stronger than any known metal found to date. With Raja Hadi reclaiming power over Simdan, the new partnership between Simdan andJawahir, and Victor and Hannibal’s failure to eliminate the royal family of Kashir, the situation was about to get very messy.
“Sir, his royal highness is on line one,” Doris said.
Kramer schooled his features and forced a smile to his lips before he picked up the receiver.
“Your Majesty, how may I be of service?”
Musad woke with a stiff neck and the dry grit of sand on his tongue. He grimaced before he glanced around. Nasser was still sound asleep , his head resting on his hands. He nudged his brother with his foot.
“Where is she?” he asked, rising stiffly to his feet.
“How am I supposed to know? You were awake before me,” Nasser growled back.
Musad ignored his brother’s smothered groan of discomfort when he rose off the hard ground and stretched. He scanned the flat area where they had spent the night. There was no trace of Dalla.
“Come on. Maybe she is down with the others,” he said.
Nasser rubbed his hands over his face and nodded. They descended the hill and crossed back to the hut. Donovan was packing one vehicle while Andre was helping Colin into a second one.
“Have you seen Dalla?” he asked.
Donovan shook his head. “No, not since she disappeared last night. Howard, do you have eyes on the woman?”
“Negative,” Howard responded.
“Michel?” Donovan asked next.
“Negative, Commander,” Michel replied.
“I saw her. She came in to say goodbye to me.”
Musad twisted when Cianna responded from the doorway. He walked over to her and squatted so that he was eye-level with her. She was holding her floppy puppy under one arm and the unicorn that Nasser had given her the day before under the other.
“What did she say?” he asked.
“She told me everything would be alright. She said you and Uncle Nasser and the other men would keep Nanna and me safe,” Cianna said.
“Did she say where she was going?” Nasser asked.
Cianna tilted her head, confused. “She said she was going home. Did you make her mad? Is that why she didn’t say goodbye to you?”
“No, she just… she must have forgotten to tell us,” Nasser replied with a strained smile. Then he looked at Musad with a puzzled expression. “Home? Norway?” he asked.
Musad rose and shook his head. “No, she was insistent about visiting the mountains along the border.”
“How? Every vehicle’s still here,” Donovan said.
“She wouldn’t try to walk that far, would she? It has to be at least a hundred kilometers from here!” Nasser muttered.
“If what she told us is true, she would be used to slow methods of travel. Her first lifetime would have had walking or horses, and we don’t have any horses.” Musad pointed out.
“You believe her?”
