Page 39 of At the Sheikh's Command
“You won’t have to, and nor will I.”
“Will you switch it off?”
He shook his head. “It hasn’t been turned off for many decades. It wouldn’t be a simple task.”
“Of course not.” She felt so disappointed. She was sure it was within reach.
“But there is another way,” he said thoughtfully.
He spoke into his phone and a few minutes later, people came hurrying along the path carrying something wrapped up and on a pole. Another person carried a ladder.
“What is it you’ve asked for?”
“A mirror. Not exactly high-tech, but it should accomplish your desire without either of us getting soaked by climbing into the fountain.”
She watched with bated breath as people clustered around and slowly pushed up a pole with a large mirror on the top. A few times it had to be withdrawn and wiped clean, but then they managed to keep it away from the water and lift it to a position where she could plainly see the top of the fountain basin. She’d seen plans of it before on paper and knew that there was a secret place where things could be hidden in times of siege. She knew where to look. And she was looking at it now.
At first her eyes didn’t believe what they were seeing. Her mind’s eye completed the incomplete picture in front of her. She blinked but could no longer kid herself. The secret place was empty, the design disrupted where the container should have been. There was a void where she’d believed the diamond had been hidden.
Darrius placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not there, Leonora. I’m sorry. I know this means a lot to you.”
She looked up at him. “Surely it means a lot to you, too. After all, it’s one of the great mysteries of your country. Aren’tyoudisappointed?”
He shrugged. “The diamond belongs to my country and, of course, it would be good if it were found. But I sincerely believe it isn’t here. If it was, it would have been found by now. We have our own scholars, our own people who know oral stories. It would have been found, Leonora.”
She sighed and wrinkled her brow into a tight frown. “I guess you’re right. I just can’t believe it. It should have been there. Everything pointed to it being there. I need to go back to the palace library. Perhaps I’ll find some clues there which I’ve overlooked.”
“Later. First, I thought you might like to see the place where the diamond was once hidden when the palace was under siege.”
“The cave?” She blenched. She’d heard so much about the cave but, despite that, it had been the one place she had absolutely no intention of going to. She couldn’t bear the thought of being confined in a small space.
“Yes, you must have heard of it.”
She cleared her throat. “Of course.”
“Then we should go while we’re here. It features in many of the legends which surround the diamond.”
Darrius was right. She could do it. Besides, after the disappointment of the diamond not being where she’d imagined it would be, it would be good to come away with something to add to her research work.
“It’s not far,” he said, pointing to where the land rose behind the castle.
“Right,” she said, desperately trying to convince herself she was doing the right thing.
But she remained unconvinced with every step and it wasn’t the long walk or the warm day which made Leonora sweat, as she followed Darrius to a remote spot behind the castle.
“It’s in there. From memory, it’s a tight squeeze.”
She pulled a face, feigning tiredness. From the outside, there was no sign of the cave. A fissure in the mountainside, barely wide enough for a person to pass through, was all that was visible. There was no way in this world she was going to set foot inside of it.
“Well, I’m glad I came, but I’m feeling tired. I think we should head back.”
He looked at her with a puzzled expression, and she could understand why. It was her area of research. It was special. And she was here, now, with the opportunity to investigate it first-hand. But it was a cave. And she hated to feel trapped.
“You don’t want to go in?” Disbelief was clear in every syllable.
“No.” There was nothing more to add.
He tilted his head to one side. “I don’t understand. We’ve only just discovered there whereabouts of the cave which features in so many of our legends surrounding the diamond. No one outside this country has been there. You’ll be the first.”
