Page 31 of The Sheikh's Willing Captive

Ahmed gestured toward the table. "If you may be so kind," he said. "Everything is ready."

What was she supposed to do? Thank him for ending her marriage to a man who so obviously still had a deep affection for her?

She followed Razim and Ahmed to the table. Laid out, on a wide, ornately decorated mat was a parchment. It was brown and about the size of a regular letter. But it didn't resemble anything she'd ever seen. In the first instance, it was clearly very old. Probably centuries. She could see around twenty even lines of characters in the Qazhar language written there. Delicately rendered images, mainly desert scenes, decorated the border of the document.

So this was the famous divorce scroll, Paige said to herself. She wondered how many times this had been used. And just how much misery it had been responsible for.

"If you would be so kind as to stand in front of the parchment," Ahmed said.

Paige did as she was asked.

"Both of you," Ahmed added sternly when he saw that Razim hadn't budged an inch.

Razim took a step and edged closer to Paige. This felt more like a wedding ceremony instead of a separation vow, she told herself. But, this time, Razim wasn't smiling. In fact he could hardly look at Paige.

Paige noticed a sheet of paper next to the parchment. She recognize the form of the words. They were written in phonetics, using Western characters. She suppressed a wry smile. Razim had thought of everything. This way she would be able to say the words. Paige knew a little of the Qazhar language. Beneath the phonetics she saw two lines of words, this time in English. She read them and forced herself look away.

BY THIS ETERNAL DECREE I AGREE TO THE ENDING OF THIS MARRIAGE AND GIVE UP ALL CLAIMS AND RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO MY LORD.

The wording was stunningly archaic, she told herself. Apart from which, Razim was not her lord. He never had been, despite what he might have thought.

"Are we ready to proceed?" Ahmed asked.

"Yes," Razim said firmly. He looked at her, waiting for her response. He tilted his head with curiosity, taking note of her hesitation. Did he think she was about to change her mind?

"Yes," she announced.

Paige glanced at Razim and saw his jaw tighten and his nostrils flare. He lifted his chin and stared resolutely ahead, ignoring Paige.

"May I ask you both to place your right hand on the parchment," Ahmed said. He pointed at the bottom of the scroll where there was a blank area and some obvious discoloration of the parchment. The traces of many hands could be seen right there, she told herself.

Her hand touched Razim's. She heard a disapproving sound from Ahmed. He reached down and pulled Razim's hand away from hers. This was a physical separation as well as a legal one. It seemed appropriately symbolic.

Her heart was pounding and her legs felt curiously weak. Paige's throat tightened as she thought about what she was doing.

Ahmed started intoning some words from a book he had drawn out of his robe. The sound of his voice was alien and hypnotic. He spoke for about a minute and then closed the book. Ahmed fussed with the fabric of his robe as he tried to fit the book back into his pocket.

Paige looked at Razim and saw a hint of impatience in his eyes. Was he that desperate to get this over and done with?

Then Ahmed pointed to the scroll and spoke to Razim in the Qazhar tongue.

After one final glance at Paige, Razim started to intone the words from the scroll. His voice was steady and firm, displaying not even a hint of emotion.

He stopped speaking and looked at Paige.

Now it was her turn.

She peered at the words on the sheet and started to pronounce the phonetic version of the Qazhar words. It sounded strange to hear her own voice speaking in Razim's native tongue.

Finally, she was finished. She felt an odd sense of relief, having completed her part.

Ahmed's voice sounded, loud and emphatic. He spoke for almost a minute and then fell into silence.

Was that it? Was it all over?

Paige glanced at Razim and squinted at him, seeking an answer. His features were set in a grim expression.

That was all the answer she needed.

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