do that…to trust her that far…
It cut both ways.
Finally, thankfully, the interminable evening was at an end. She listened while the Archbishop made his ponderous farewells, she said a formal goodnight to those she must, and then she practically ran upstairs.
Nicky was safe. She opened the adjoining door and saw a mound in the bed by the window, draped by another mound. Nicky with Oscar on top.
He wasn’t supposed to let Oscar onto the bed, but who was complaining tonight? Now, all she felt was comfort from the big dog’s presence.
A shape rose from a chair beside the door and she practically yelped.
‘Ma’am, it’s only me.’
Mrs Lavros. Her heart thudded back into place. ‘Wh…why are you here?’ she stammered.
‘Mr Nikos asked me to stay here,’ she said. ‘His instructions are that we’re not to leave the little one alone.’
‘What…what right does he have…?’
‘No right, more’s the pity. But he cares about this island so much.’
‘You think…’ It was hard to stop her voice from squeaking. On the second try she managed it. ‘You think he should be Crown Prince?’
‘Everyone knows and trusts him,’ the housekeeper said solidly. ‘You’ve been away so long…But Nikos has been here. He’s always been the one we’ve turned to in times of trouble. He’s always been ready to stand up to Giorgos. In the last few years we’ve been left more or less alone, thanks to Nikos. But now…you’re here…and Nikos says you’ll make a fine Crown Princess and I’m sure you will too, ma’am. It’s Demos and his friends who Nikos worries about. He’s fearful for you.’
‘He shouldn’t worry. I’ll be fine.’
‘I know you’ll be fine,’ the housekeeper told her. ‘For Nikos is keeping you that way. He has guards in place in the corridor and out in the grounds. You’re safe.’
She stared, bewildered. ‘Are you kidding? He’s scaring me witless.’
The housekeeper nodded. ‘He said that. He said he couldn’t protect you without scaring you a little. But I wouldn’t be fearful. He’s a good man.’
‘He’s been talking crazy talk tonight,’ she said.
Mrs Lavros raised her brows in polite disbelief. ‘Has he now? It’s not something I’d credit. All I know is that whatever Nikos does there’s reason for. Goodnight, ma’am. Sleep well and safely, for he’ll be watching over all of us.’
She sat for a while and watched Nicky and Oscar sleep. She tried to sort the events of the day into some sort of order.
She failed. It was a weird kaleidoscope of emotions, with Nikos front and centre.
Finally, so tired she could scarcely stand, she walked into her bedroom-the King’s bedchamber-and started to undress.
Uh-oh.
One of the maids had helped her dress. The gown had something akin to a corset underneath, designed to make her figure a lot more hourglass than it naturally was. There were fine bands of what was surely whalebone inserted inside.
It was laced down the back.
This gown was designed to have people help the wearer in and help the wearer out.
Here there was only her.
She struggled. She struggled some more. She was almost turning herself inside out.
It wouldn’t even rip. And where were a pair of scissors when she needed them? She was in a royal palace- where did she go in a royal palace to find scissors?
There was a bell pull by the mantel. She could pull it-but how loud would it be? She might wake the whole palace.
She struggled and swore some more. She was practically breaking her neck trying to see where the lacing was. Even if she could see how it was laced, she couldn’t reach.
She could wake Nicky, she thought desperately.
Right, that’d be a help. Once he went to sleep Nicky slept like the dead. She’d wake him and it’d take a cold shower to get him alert enough to unlace her.
Dammit, she could do it. If she could just reach an inch further…
There was a knock on the door.
She froze. It was two in the morning. What the…?
‘Who is it?’
‘Nikos.’ There was no mistaking the voice. Brusque. Urgent.
Nikos. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or not.
‘Are you okay?’ he demanded.
‘Of course I’m okay,’ she managed. ‘Why wouldn’t I be okay?’
‘The security guards in the garden contacted me. They said you appeared to be in trouble.’
‘I’m not.’
‘They said you were struggling-that you appeared distressed.’
What the…?
She stared at the window.
And winced.
The great bay windows of her bedroom were hung with fine silken netting. That formed the first layer of curtaining. But there was a second layer. Swathes of crimson velvet were pulled back, fastened to the sides with huge golden tassels.
Oh, no.
She glanced through into Nicky’s room, checking his windows.
The velvet curtains had been pulled closed.
Until now she hadn’t even noticed that there were heavier curtains over the fine ones. But now…She’d been standing before the dresser, trying to see the back of her dress in the mirror.
There was a chandelier in the centre of the room, blazing with light. So she’d been standing in a netted bay window, struggling with her dress, while the chandelier shone its light behind her.
They would have been able to see…
She blushed and blushed, then blushed some more. And ached for her nice anonymous Manhattan apartment.
‘I’m fine,’ she managed.
‘Thena, what’s wrong? Is someone in there with you?’
‘I’m stuck,’ she said, and listened to the silence on the other side of the door.
‘Stuck?’ he said at last, cautiously.
‘Yes, stuck. This damned dress…’
‘You’re stuck in your dress?’
‘In my underskirt. Oh, for heaven’s sake, I’ll let you in, but if you dare laugh…’
‘I won’t…laugh,’ he said, but laughter was already in his voice. Of course he’d laugh. She knew this man too well.
‘Pull the curtains first,’ he said, and she could still hear the laughter. ‘I need to radio the men to say there’s no drama, but if I enter…They can see…’
‘I know what they can see.’ She hauled the curtains closed with a viciousness she was feeling towards the underskirt-and towards the man in the corridor-and hauled the door open.
Nikos was no longer in his formal black suit. He was in a pair of jeans and a loose battered jacket. His hair was tousled and unkempt.
