nothing.

"Whenever he took me in his arms, I thought of you."

He closed his eyes.

When she was with David she never grieved over the turns her life had
taken. She never felt sorry for herself, as she did with Simon, because
she had not married and could not marry. Simon had actually said he
wanted to marry her, and in the end she had believed him. That seemed
like a dream now. A pleasant dream, but an impossible one.

For an instant she tried to picture herself, a woman of Constantinople
wed to a Frankish lord and living in a castle in the north of France. If
such a preposterous thing should come about, she would be enormously
wealthy and powerful--though she had not really thought about that when
she was with Simon. She was not herself when she was with Simon. And
now, when she _was_ herself and able to see things clearly, the wealth
and power still did not matter, because they would give her no pleasure
if she had to live among barbarians.

When she was with David she never worried or even thought about her
future, what life would be like for her when she was older. With David
she thought only of now.

He had opened his eyes and was staring at her. She looked at him,
standing tall and fair.

_I love you, David. I want you so._

Why had it not happened? Soon it would be a year since they had met at
Lucera, and she had long known that she wanted him, and believed that he
wanted her as well. But something had always held him back.

Her body grew warm inside her cold garments.

_It is not because of me that we have waited this long._

There was a question in his eyes, and she felt something inside her
pulling her toward him. She took a faltering step across the tile floor.
Then another, surer one.

He held out his arms, his harsh mouth softening as his lips parted
slightly.

"Come to me," he said.

* * * * *

He watched her walking toward him one step at a time, and he thought she
looked like a woman in a trance. Her head was lifted to receive his
kiss.

"How like rose petals your lips are," he said in Greek. He had never
spoken Greek to her before. She stopped her slow march toward him and
gave a long, shuddering sigh.

Then she ran the last few steps and threw herself into his arms. Joy
flooded his chest as he pulled her against him.

_At last, at last, at last!_

He had wanted to hold her like this for so long, and much of the time
had not even been aware tha