he was sick I grabbed it from his belt and threw it into the water. And he tried to hit me but he started being sick again. And then the helicopter came and the man up there waved and I knew you’d come. So it was okay, wasn’t it, Mama?’
‘Yes,’ she said and she found she was laughing. Through tears. Her son.
Her men.
And she looked at Nikos and on his face she saw a mixture of pride and love and hope…and awe. Awe, pure and simple.
And in that moment she knew what she had to do.
These were her men.
This was her family.
She was the Crown Princess of Argyros. It was up to her to claim them.
As dusk settled over the island they returned to the Palace. The Eagle’s Nest was a hideaway for when there was a threat, but there was no longer a threat. And Athena knew-they all knew-that now was the time to lay claim to the throne so it could never be disputed.
Annia and Mrs Lavros took the children to be bathed and fed and put to bed. When Athena came downstairs it seemed half the men of Argyros had come to tie the threads together. Nikos and Alexandros were seated at the head of the long table in the ancient meeting room, where decisions on the rule of this island had been made for generation upon generation.
Nikos signalled that she sit between them. But she couldn’t. Not yet. There were things she had to sort in her own mind first.
There were words she had to find. For now she’d leave the speaking to Nikos.
‘We found the thugs who nearly killed the Princess Athena and Prince Nicholas.’ Nikos was talking to everyone in the room, but he was watching her. ‘They were guns-for-hire from Athens. Alexandros traced the boat, he found them, and we had the link we needed to Demos. But Demos obviously took fright. He’s had an informer on the island. We know now who he is-a man my mother thought of as a friend, a man who forfeited that friendship for pay. He’s already fled to Greece, but before he left he told Demos that today the children would be with my mother.’
The men in the room were silent. Shocked. As was Nikos, Thena thought. He still looked gaunt-the terror of this afternoon would probably stay with him for ever-but he had himself in hand, her Prince of the People.
‘We know it all now,’ Nikos said, and managed a wry smile. ‘It seems that seasickness is better than torture for getting information. The men who towed Demos to shore told him he’d stay in his boat until he told us everything, and now he has.’
‘He wrote it down,’ Alexandros added gravely. ‘We handed him pen and paper and he wrote and signed a confession. Jail’s looking pretty good to Demos. Anywhere where the ground’s solid.’
He smiled, but Nikos didn’t return the smile. The events of the day had shaken him too deeply for humour.
‘He wasn’t as unprepared as he seemed,’ Nikos said heavily. ‘He had a gun. Nicky described it to me, and…’
He broke off, his voice cracking. Alexandros put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and Athena thought blindly, these two men cared deeply for each other.
Her mind steadied. Focused. Knew what had to be done.
‘Enough,’ Nikos said and forced himself to go on. ‘So…Demos beached the boat, he went up to the cottage and found no one. He returned to the boat-furious-to find the children, seemingly waiting for him.’
He hesitated, and Thena could see him repress a shudder. ‘Maybe…maybe that was the best thing that could have happened. For if Joe had been in the garden and Annia had been at home…there could well have been a bloodbath as he seized Nicky and decided to eliminate witnesses.’ He closed his eyes.
Alexandros took over. ‘We know now that Demos has a king-sized gambling problem,’ he added. ‘He’s been gambling on the assumption he’d have access to all the Argyros diamond mines. He was desperate enough to do anything to get his hands on that stream of wealth.’
Athena shivered. She was standing by the door, leaning against the wall. She’d said she wanted to be able to leave easily if the kids needed her. But in reality she just needed to watch, listen and figure what had to be said. And how she was going to say it.
‘So he’s in jail,’ Alexandros said, and glanced across at Athena. ‘If it’s okay by you, Princess Athena, I’ll take care of him on Sappheiros.’
The men were all watching her now. Waiting for her to speak. She took a deep breath. She looked at Nikos’s haggard face. She knew what had to be said.
‘Thank you for your offer, Alexandros,’ she said, forcing her voice to be steady. Forcing her words to be clear enough to be heard the length of the great room. ‘But Demos will be tried here. We’d be thankful if you’d hold him for us until we have the facilities for a full and fair trial. But Prince Nikos and I will build this island’s court system as one of our earliest priorities.’
‘Prince Nikos,’ Alexandros said blankly.
‘Prince Nikos,’ she repeated.
‘If you abdicate, Nikos can’t…’ he began.
‘I have no intention of abdicating.’
Maybe she should have dressed in her royal gear again, she thought. She’d dressed neatly this morning, for the lawyers, in smart casual trousers and a crisp white blouse. But since then she’d been hammered by the sea. Oscar had jumped up on her when they’d docked and she was covered in sand. Her hair was a wild tangle from the wind. She’d abandoned her soaked shoes and she was still barefoot-and she didn’t care.
She was Crown Princess Athena and it was time for her to claim what was hers.
‘Ten years ago Nikos Andreadis asked me to marry him,’ she said, and she left the relative obscurity of her alcove near the door and walked deliberately around the table to its head. She stood between the two men-the two princes-and she looked out over the men of power from this island. Her people.
‘Ten years ago there were misunderstandings and threats,’ she said. ‘I left this island because I believed harm would come to it’s people if I stayed. Nikos let me go because he thought I was intent on a career. For ten years there’s been misunderstanding and grief. But no more. This day is a watershed for this island. This day I say to you all-to the entire island-that I’m here to stay. That ten years ago Nikos asked me to marry me. I accepted his offer, and now, if he’ll have me, I’d like to hold him to that contract. I would like Nikos and I to rule this island as man and wife. Prince Nikos and Princess Athena of Argyros.’
She turned and looked at Nikos. Who was looking…stunned.
‘Nikos, you’re a man of honour,’ she said. ‘I know-we all know-that you would never ask me to marry you if there was a hint that your offer would be taken as a desire to rule this island yourself. Everyone in this room knows you’re an honourable man. Everyone in this room knows the island is your home, your heart. Is there any man in this room who would say Prince Nikos shouldn’t take what I see as his rightful role? As ruler beside me?’
There wasn’t a sound. Not a sound.
Nikos was staring at her blindly, as if he couldn’t believe what she’d just said. The silence stretched on and on.
And then one lone person, far up the back of the long hall, started to clap. And then another started beside him. And then another.
And then the whole room was clapping. They were on their feet, cheering, shouting, clapping each other on the back.
And Nikos was simply staring at Athena. Saying nothing.
The applause died. Athena watched the men regain their seats.
Still Nikos said nothing.
‘I believe,’ she said softly into the silence, ‘that you’ll have to excuse us. Nikos and I have a few things to discuss.’
There was a delighted roar of laughter. Nikos was looking as thrown as a man could be, and their audience was loving it.
‘So can we call this meeting closed?’ she said. ‘I think we’ve achieved everything we wished for. Oh, and when the council next meets…I want this room to hold at least as many women as it does men.’
