Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,152

doing that?” I whispered my question to Mazen.

“Because this is how a princess leaves, Princess,” he smiled softly down at me, even if his eyes held a fire of sadness that was even more colossal than the sky above us.

When we got into the car, Mazen didn’t let go of me. I stayed on his lap all the way to the airport, the same road I’d taken just two nights ago. The same road I’d thought to be too long then, but now seemed to be too short. The same road I never knew I’d take while starting to make my way back to my homeland–and be that depressed about it.

The hum of the expensive cars that surrounded ours was quiet and soothing, but nothing even compared to the sound of Mazen’s heartbeats underneath my ear.

He kissed my forehead repeatedly all the way to the airport, and I kissed his chest right above his heart in return, my tears never drying, nor my chest willing to stop swelling.

The car slowed down and my heartbeat raced, and I could swear I felt Mazen’s hand tightening over me a bit more. I heard the guard who was driving us asking, “Forgive me, Your Highness, is it the first or second jet?”

“First.” Mazen replied. When the car stopped, and the doors opened, neither of us seemed to want to make a move to get out of it.

The silence that surrounded us spoke volumes about how brokenhearted and miserable we both were, that even our silence was sad enough to put me in tears which seemed to have sworn to never leave me for the night.

We got out of the car when we both knew that we couldn’t stay any longer. It wouldn’t do either of us any good, we realized. When Mazen put me down on my feet, I threw myself into his arms, hugging him and saying, “I’m going to miss you, Mazen.”

I miss you already.

He sucked in a deep breath. “I’m never going to forget you, Princess,” he replied. When we pulled back to look into each other’s eyes, I saw his bloodshot ones through my tears, announcing how hard he was trying to keep from letting his tears out. It broke my heart even more. And his small sad smile–last one I got to see–pained every inch of my insides.

We kissed once, twice...then the third one was only a peck. I took a step away from him, my hand still tangled with his, and with another step, our hands let go of each other. I believe I felt a knife cutting through my chest and straight to my heart just at the loss of his touch.

I waved him a final goodbye when I reached the last step on the stairs to the plane, and when I got inside...I fought really hard not to collapse to the floor and curl into a ball.

I found my laptop and cellphone on the table in front of where I was seated, but–shockingly–I found no interest in them at all. All of my attention was focused on the window, where I could see Mazen still standing with his hands folded behind his back. But his head was not held as high as he’d always kept it: he was looking down at the ground as if he couldn’t move his gaze up and watch me leave.

I touched the glass of the window with my hand, and cried some more for the man I never thought I’d be crying over–or even shedding one tear for. I cried for the man who had shown me more love and protection than any other man had ever shown me. I cried for the man who handled me with care, and taught me things with patience. I cried for the man who asked me to stay with him for six months to save his sister’s life and her reputation, only to have me fall for him in six days, no less. I cried for the man whose race and beliefs I’d loathed most of my life, only to end up falling in love with him, utterly and unconditionally.

The plane moved, and then took off, and I left the kingdom. Left Mazen. And left my heart with him.

One day, I asked my grandfather, “Papa, what’s one of the hardest things in life?” and he told me, “To smile when your tears are about to fall.”

He was right.

Once I was on the plane, I never thought of how much I feared it, or