Alex knelt beside him while Murad sent another harem slave for the physician and went himself for herbal teas and other medicinal supplies. Alex remained severely shocked, horrified, sick inside. What had happened to Xavier? How had he become so emaciated, so filthy, and so very nearly dead? The slave trader, whom Alex had wanted to arrest and imprison on the spot, had sworn that he had acquired Xavier from a caravan of bedouin merchants. Alex had not bothered to either believe or disbelieve him. What if he died? This way, from starvation and abuse? Perhaps she had interfered so thoroughly with history that he would die now, instead of in an execution ordered by the bashaw in another month.
“Let’s begin cleaning him,” Murad said, returning to the antechamber.
“He needs fluids first,” Alex said decisively. “Hold him upright.”
Murad obeyed, lifting Blackwell up into a sitting position. He appeared unconscious. Alex took both of his limp, callused hands between hers, and pressed them to her breasts. “Xavier, it is I, Alexandra. You are all right now. You are home, with me. I will take care of you, make you well. I promise.” She hesitated. Had his lids flickered ever so slightly? She could not decide.
She slid a spoonful of beef broth between his lips. She was rewarded when she saw his Adam’s apple move—he was swallowing. “That is wonderful,” she breathed. She shared a smile with Murad, who did not return it. She continued to feed Xavier spoon by spoon. It soon became clear that he was swallowing every drop. The bowl of broth became empty.
Murad laid him back down gently and removed his tattered, filthy pants. Alex’s heart beat hard and fast—she could not believe how thin and bony he was. She remembered his hard, strong, muscular body so well, and looking at him now immobilized her with anguish.
Murad took the washcloth from her. “I’ll bathe him, Alex,” he said softly, understanding her grief.
Alex shook her head, her eyes filled with tears. “Will he live?” she whispered.
“He is a very strong man,” Murad returned, cleaning Xavier’s face.
Alex wiped her eyes with her sleeve, then heard a movement by the door. Intuition told her who stood there before she turned and saw Zoe. Since Alex’s recovery, Jebal’s first wife was always lurking about, and she refused to ever knock before invading Alex’s rooms. The two women locked gazes.
Alex forgot to breathe. She waited for Zoe’s eyes to widen with recognition, for Zoe to accuse her of betraying Jebal by bringing Xavier Blackwell into their home.
But Zoe did no such thing. “What is going on?” Zoe demanded, regarding Xavier. “What on earth possessed you to buy such a wretched creature?”
She did not recognize him. He was so thin, so dirty, and so heavily bearded that he appeared a different man.“Icould not stand to see him suffering so,” Alex retorted harshly, standing. “I have a soft heart—unlike you.”
“You are a fool to waste good gold on such a slave,” Zoe said, her gaze riveted on Alex.
“That’s my business, isn’t it?” Alex said.
“I suppose. But it is certainly Jebal’s concern to know that you were outside of the palace without his permission—in disguise as a bedouin man.”
Alex started. Murad, bathing Xavier’s chest, jerked and looked up.
Zoe smiled.
Alex’s mind raced. “It is your word against mine. I will deny it. Murad will back me up.”
“Now, did I say that I would tell Jebal?” Zoe asked in a sugary tone.
“What do you want?” Alex cried angrily, realizing that Zoe was enjoying playing the puppeteer and jerking her around.
Zoe shrugged, turned disdainfully, and without another word, left the room.
Alex faced Murad. “You were right. She is spying on us, perhaps even following us. But why? And why doesn’t she go to Jebal now with what she has learned?”
“She is biding her time, Alex. Like the lioness, stalking, waiting, for the right moment … to make the kill.”
Alex inhaled. She knew that Murad was right.
Murad nodded grimly. His gaze wandered to Blackwell. Alex looked at Xavier as well. “Ohmygod,” she said. “In time, when he gets better, she will recognize him,” she whispered.
“When he gets better, you must remove him from the harem,” Murad said harshly.
Alex stared, her jaw set.
“Alex!” Murad cried.
“We will see,” she said.
