Betrothed: To the People’s Prince

He replaced the radio on his belt and took her hands in his.

‘Like that’s done my reputation some good,’ she managed.

He grinned. ‘You want a reputation, you just got one.’

But the break had changed things. Just a little, but enough. The first desperate tug of attraction had pulled them together. Now common sense was returning. Just.

‘You want that I should unlace this slip?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Then…I think you ought to leave.’

‘You want me to leave?’

‘Nikos…’

‘Okay.’ His tone was suddenly flat. ‘Yeah, okay. We need to keep some sanity here.’

‘I am…I am going back to Manhattan.’

‘You can’t,’ he said flatly.

Here it was again, this crazy proposition. But she was too tired. It was doing her head in.

She said nothing. He looked at her for a long considering minute and finally he nodded. ‘Okay, Princess. You’ve had enough for one day. But you do need to see sense. Meanwhile…maybe we should stay away from each other’s bodies. It’s making me crazy. So let’s sleep on what’s the sensible course of action for all of us. Your career destroyed what was between us personally. I can’t believe you’ll let it destroy the island as well.’

‘It didn’t…’

‘Goodnight, Princess,’ he said softly, not letting her finish, and it was as if he was closing a door on what had just passed. Locking a door and throwing away the key. ‘Think about everything…Please.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

ATHENA woke as two bodies landed on her bed. Nicky and Oscar, zooming in from the other room, launching themselves on top of her, Oscar barking and Nicky whooping.

‘Breakfast,’ Nicky said. ‘Breakfast in bed, Mama. Pancakes.’

There was a soft tap on the door.

‘She’s awake,’ Nicky yelled and a maid appeared, holding a tray.

The maid was dressed in a lovely sapphire-coloured frock, a shirt-waister, buttoned through from throat to waist, the skirt flaring out a little but not too much, tied at the waist.

The difference from the grimly clothed servants she’d seen yesterday was astonishing.

The girl was smiling. ‘Please, ma’am, I’m sorry but Nikos said we were to wake you with breakfast at ten.’

‘Nikos said…’ Her bemusement deepened. There were so many questions she needed answering. ‘Nikos gives orders to the palace staff?’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ the girl said as if her question was a bit foolish. ‘For the most part there was no one else to do it.’

‘Nikos is a fisherman,’ she said cautiously. She had her arms full of dog. Oscar had obviously missed her deeply all night-and was making up for lost time.

‘Nikos has six fishing boats and employs many,’ the girl said simply. ‘When the King started taxing the fishermen so heavily they could no longer operate, Nikos started taking fish to the mainland. He organised funds there that Giorgos couldn’t touch. In the end the only way the King could stop him was by arresting him and confiscating his boats, but somehow he found the courage to face his uncle.’ She smiled wistfully. ‘The islanders love him,’ she said simply. ‘He would make a wonderful Crown Prince.’

And then…she realised what she’d said and her eyes widened in horror. ‘I didn’t mean, ma’am…I mean…we believe you’ll make a wonderful Crown Princess. It’s just that we all know Nikos and trust him.’

Despite the apology, there was still regret in her words. Athena heard it-and she even agreed.

Nikos should be Crown Prince.

He would have been, she thought. If they’d married as they’d once planned.

Marriage to the ruler meant automatic and equal status for the spouse.

So…The thought was suddenly there. What if…?

No. There wasn’t enough trust in the world to take her down that path.

Was there?

Marriage…It was such a huge concept that to take it any further seemed terrifying.

Concentrate on now, she told herself, feeling suddenly dizzy. Concentrate on what came next right now. Any more and her head might explode.

Her bed was big enough to hold a small army. Someone must have crept in earlier and rebuilt the fire. It was crackling cheerfully in the grate. The maid was pulling back the curtains. Nicky was already tucking into pancakes- made by the palace staff and brought to her in bed. The morning sun was glimmering across the terrace, and beyond the terrace was the sea.

It made her feel rich. It made her feel ostentatious. It made her feel that she had no right to be here.

‘I love your uniform,’ she managed, hauling herself back to reality. ‘Do you like it?’

The girl smoothed her skirt with pleasure. ‘Maria sewed all night. This is the first. She says if you like it she’ll make more.’

‘I love it,’ she said with enthusiasm.

Good. Think of anything but Nikos, she told herself. Anything but Nikos.

Uniforms.

‘You know, sapphire looks great on you, but some of the staff might like different colours. How about we leave the choice of colour to each person?’

‘Oh,’ the girl said, and flushed with pleasure. ‘We’d look like a rainbow.’

‘It seems there haven’t been rainbows round here for a long time. It’s a wonder Nikos hasn’t suggested change already.’

‘Oh, he has no authority to change the King’s orders,’ the girl said blithely. ‘Or yours either, ma’am. And he never would. He knows his place.’

How had they got back to Nikos again? It seemed as if her mind was a whirlpool and, in the centre… Nikos.

Give in, she thought. Just let it come.

‘And…and his place is with his fishing fleet?’

‘I…yes, ma’am.’ The girl didn’t understand what she was asking-and who could blame her? ‘He has six boats, but the one he uses is the one he built himself when he was a young man. The Athena.’

‘He has a fishing boat called the Athena?’ she said, stunned.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ the girl said and smiled. ‘It’s nice that he called his boat after his Princess.’

‘Yes, Athena said cautiously. ‘Um…Is he on his boat now?’

‘I believe he left the palace before dawn.’

So…Nikos was fishing.

While she played princess.

What did princesses do all day?

She wouldn’t mind going fishing. She wasn’t bad at hauling up craypots herself.

‘I should talk to my cousin Demos,’ she said doubtfully.

‘I believe Prince Demos left on the morning ferry for Athens,’ the girl said and blushed. ‘I…I overheard one of the security guards.’

The day spread before her. No Demos.

No Nikos.

There were probably papers she should be reading, she thought.

She glanced out of the window. The beach looked…fantastic.

‘Feel like a swim, Nicky?’

Nicky had been sharing a pancake with Oscar. He paused. She’d said the magic word.