Chapter 16
Three days later, Francis set sail for home, in Stormburg.
He didn’t want to think of it as goodbye to Istanbul and to Hasim, but only farewell for now. Francis fully intended to return.
Archie’s eye was healing well, and he could see again. Just about.
Gustav joined their party on the return journey, which meant that finally Maddie had a worthy opponent at cards.
The ship’s hold was stacked full of gifts from King Omar, arranged by Hasim’s wife, Queen Fatima, who’d turned out to be rather lovely, in fact, and very enthusiastic about Francis returning one day soon as Hasim’s consort.
Francis missed Hasim, the cats, and Istanbul already. He didn’t miss the sun, but it would be warm in Stormburg soon, so he couldn’t escape that.
The voyage home passed uneventfully, aside from a few dolphins, and Francis spent the days thinking of Hasim. Maddie and Archie pointed out several times that Francis had a smirk on his face.
At last, they arrived in Croatia, then they had the awful job of riding in the bumpy carriages all the way back to Stormburg. Not Francis’s favourite part.
He was eager to send Archie and Maddie home to their spouses and children, so separate carriages were arranged for the two of them at the Stormburg border to take them straight home.
Francis thanked them both profusely, promising to see them again soon.
“So proud of you, dear Francis,” Maddie said, air kissing his cheeks before she got into the carriage.
“Well done, sir!” Archie said, clapping Francis on the shoulder. “Finally, you came first in something!”
“Yes, thank you, Archie,” Francis said. “Safe journey.”
He waved them off, while Christian and Gustav remained, joining him in the royal carriage to Queen Maria’s estate.
Christian had his sketches to show her, and Gustav had the official offer from King Omar’s court. Francis trusted Granny to handle everything, and he didn’t want to waste any time in speaking to her as soon as possible.
The sooner he did, the sooner he could arrange his return to Istanbul.
Granny received the three of them in her private dining room, and supper was a rather uninspiring dish of basic venison and boiled potatoes. Francis missed the food in Istanbul already.
After recounting events for her benefit, Granny dabbed her mouth delicately with a napkin and eyed Francis closely.
“So,” she began. “You have assured me that you emerged triumphant in winning the king’s affections, securing an official offer not only to be his consort, but also to open engineering trade?”
“Yes, Granny,” Francis answered.
“Then, my only question is, Francis, dear…” She fixed him with a quizzical look. “What on Earth are you doing back so soon?”
“I…?” Francis looked at Gustav and Christian across the table, but both of them were avoiding eye contact. Francis was on his own.
“I thought it was expected?” he answered. “The protocol? Gustav has the formal offer. As soon as everyone else is happy, the sooner I can arrange passage back.”
“I would have covered for you,” she said, tutting at him. “But now you are here, you may have to wait for the details to be finalised.”
“That is fine,” Francis said. “Truthfully, I wanted to make sure that everything was all right on our end, and,” he added with a smile, “I wanted to see you again, Granny.”
She softened instantly and returned his smile with glistening eyes.
“Oh, you sentimental so-and-so,” she teased, and reached for his hand. “I shall miss you dearly, Francis. But I will be most happy knowing that you are happy.” She squeezed his hand firmly as she spoke. “If for any reason you are not happy, promise me you will come straight home to me. Understand?”
Francis smiled, blinking back happy tears. “Yes, Granny. I promise.”