Bruce awoke quietly and had the grace to approach Bo without calling attention to her tears. ”There,” he pointed to a grand dome in the distance, ”that is the Hagia Sophia.”

Bo swiped at her tears quickly, pretending that something had gotten into her eyes, taking a big gulp of air to clear her throat. She nodded as Bruce continued to point at the monuments dotting the city’s hilly streets.

”That over there is the Blue Mosque,” Bo followed the direction of his arm. ”And that, that is the Ayasofya Hamam, said to be the oldest and most beautiful Turkish bath in Istanbul, a glorious temple, and a gift,” he added with a flourish, ”from Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to his favorite wife.”

”That’s some gift. You always surprise me, Bruce.” Bo felt a little cheered by him. ”How do you know this stuff?”

”I’ve lived a long time, my Queen.”

”I keep forgetting how old you all are.” She looked up at the giant, thoughtfully. ”Tamsin and Dyson. When did that happen?”

”People fall in love everyday,” Bruce shrugged.

”The stuff a girl misses when she goes a little crazy.” She could appreciate Bruce’s nonchalance towards the obvious romance, something she wished she might cultivate, too, but before she could allow another wave of self pity to wash over her, Bruce cleared his throat and, lifting his chin and placing a fist over his heart, he closed his eyes and murmured sweet words of love:

”Oh God, let me know the pain of love

Do not for even a moment separate me from it

Do not lessen your aid to the afflicted

But rather, make lovesick me one among them.”

Bo was stunned. ”That’s beautiful, I think.”

“It’s from the legend of Layla and Majnun, an epic tale that’s been sung and interpreted for centuries by poets throughout the East from Persia, India, and Turkey—but the essence is the same: Layla and Majnun fall in love but their love is forbidden. They are separated when her father marries Layla to another man—but Majnun does not give up. He searches the world for her, only to go mad at not being able to be with his beloved.”

”Only love can break your heart. That’s comforting.” Bo despaired over the idea of not being reunited with her best friend and—well, would it be fair to call Lauren her lover?