asked, excitement overtaking him.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will go with you. Wherever we go, I will go with you.”
And then he kissed her, hard, and felt his joy and hers, multiplying back and forth.
They would have a life together. Whatever it was, they would find their way together. And that was all he could ask for.
THIRTEEN
Anita
Hakim told Anita that he would be back later, when the restaurant was closed. They’d flee in the night.
It wouldn’t be the first time Anita had done that: leaving everything and everyone she knew in the middle of the night to start a new life far away. But the last time, she hadn’t known what was happening. She hadn’t even known until just now.
Now, going of her own free will, with a man she had only just met but felt she knew with all of her soul, leaving was a much more exciting prospect. And a more terrifying one.
She couldn’t let Fadi suspect. All of the day he had seemed a little suspicious. He hadn’t caught her coming in, sure, but he’d noticed something about her was off, and she was terrified that he would put it together.
So she bid Hakim farewell at the bottom of the fire escape, and she went back to work.
She was an actress, playing the girl she had always been. The girl who was compliant and happy to help, always ready to step in and take an order or show a party to their table.
It was the role of her life, because Anita wasn’t that girl anymore. How distant she felt, now, from the person she had always been. How different the restaurant felt, now that she had decided to leave. This restaurant had always been the world to her. It had been the center of her home. The center of her work. Even the center of her social life, as her friends had tended to congregate there for the cozy atmosphere and the food Fadi made them. But now it felt like a prison that she was escaping.
The worst of it was interacting with Fadi. She’d loved him all her life. Since before she could remember, he’d been her father. He’d been her protector, her provider, and her friend. Whenever anything went wrong, she could always count on him.
And he’d been a liar.
That whole time, he’d known who she was. He’d known she was royalty. And he’d hidden it from her.
She’d always thought that her parents had been his friends, and that he hadn’t wanted to talk about their deaths because it had been too painful for him. How wrong she had been!
Things would have been different, Anita thought, if she’d known the truth. She could have learned about her parents. She could have looked them up, and seen pictures. She could have heard stories. She could have felt close to them.
And she would have felt closer to her kingdom. It felt odd, even to think that, but it was true. Her kingdom .
And Fadi had robbed her of it, just as surely as the rebels had.
She didn’t know how she made it through her shift without yelling at him and running away, but she did. She had to. And, when it was all over, she cleaned the restaurant with him, closed everything down, and said goodnight.
And then, up in her room, she began to pack.
Anita was no stranger to packing in a hurry. Every summer, when she was growing up, Fadi had saved up and sent her to summer camp. And she’d always put off packing until the night before.
She knew it well, running through her room, trying to get everything she needed. She was doing it on autopilot, going here and there, and bringing this shirt, not that one. The only difference was that this time, the things she didn’t bring would be things that she would be leaving behind forever.
As a finishing touch, she grabbed a picture of her and Fadi from on top of her dresser, taken on the day they had gone to Austin. Then she zipped up her bag and threw it over her shoulder.
She was about to head to the window to climb down the fire escape and go to the corner where
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will go with you. Wherever we go, I will go with you.”
And then he kissed her, hard, and felt his joy and hers, multiplying back and forth.
They would have a life together. Whatever it was, they would find their way together. And that was all he could ask for.
THIRTEEN
Anita
Hakim told Anita that he would be back later, when the restaurant was closed. They’d flee in the night.
It wouldn’t be the first time Anita had done that: leaving everything and everyone she knew in the middle of the night to start a new life far away. But the last time, she hadn’t known what was happening. She hadn’t even known until just now.
Now, going of her own free will, with a man she had only just met but felt she knew with all of her soul, leaving was a much more exciting prospect. And a more terrifying one.
She couldn’t let Fadi suspect. All of the day he had seemed a little suspicious. He hadn’t caught her coming in, sure, but he’d noticed something about her was off, and she was terrified that he would put it together.
So she bid Hakim farewell at the bottom of the fire escape, and she went back to work.
She was an actress, playing the girl she had always been. The girl who was compliant and happy to help, always ready to step in and take an order or show a party to their table.
It was the role of her life, because Anita wasn’t that girl anymore. How distant she felt, now, from the person she had always been. How different the restaurant felt, now that she had decided to leave. This restaurant had always been the world to her. It had been the center of her home. The center of her work. Even the center of her social life, as her friends had tended to congregate there for the cozy atmosphere and the food Fadi made them. But now it felt like a prison that she was escaping.
The worst of it was interacting with Fadi. She’d loved him all her life. Since before she could remember, he’d been her father. He’d been her protector, her provider, and her friend. Whenever anything went wrong, she could always count on him.
And he’d been a liar.
That whole time, he’d known who she was. He’d known she was royalty. And he’d hidden it from her.
She’d always thought that her parents had been his friends, and that he hadn’t wanted to talk about their deaths because it had been too painful for him. How wrong she had been!
Things would have been different, Anita thought, if she’d known the truth. She could have learned about her parents. She could have looked them up, and seen pictures. She could have heard stories. She could have felt close to them.
And she would have felt closer to her kingdom. It felt odd, even to think that, but it was true. Her kingdom .
And Fadi had robbed her of it, just as surely as the rebels had.
She didn’t know how she made it through her shift without yelling at him and running away, but she did. She had to. And, when it was all over, she cleaned the restaurant with him, closed everything down, and said goodnight.
And then, up in her room, she began to pack.
Anita was no stranger to packing in a hurry. Every summer, when she was growing up, Fadi had saved up and sent her to summer camp. And she’d always put off packing until the night before.
She knew it well, running through her room, trying to get everything she needed. She was doing it on autopilot, going here and there, and bringing this shirt, not that one. The only difference was that this time, the things she didn’t bring would be things that she would be leaving behind forever.
As a finishing touch, she grabbed a picture of her and Fadi from on top of her dresser, taken on the day they had gone to Austin. Then she zipped up her bag and threw it over her shoulder.
She was about to head to the window to climb down the fire escape and go to the corner where
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