watched the ferry dock and knew that how Athena reacted in the next few moments affected the future of every islander.
Including him.
‘Mama, why are all these people here?’
‘Uh-oh,’ she said.
‘What does uh-oh mean?’
‘It means Nikos is making a statement.’
‘What sort of statement?’
‘That I’m a princess coming home,’ she said.
‘So the streamers and balloons and the great big signs…’
‘Saying Welcome Home To Our Princess? That would be for us.’
‘What do we do?’
‘I’m not sure. Stay on board until they get tired of waiting and go home?’
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Nicky said dubiously.
So it wasn’t a good idea, she conceded. It was an excellent idea. But she knew Nikos was down there. She knew how much he loved this island and she knew for certain that if she didn’t walk back onto her island home he’d come aboard and carry her.
Balloons had drifted into the water. A couple of excited kids had jumped in to retrieve them, and the ferry captain was forced to reverse and wait for his men to verify it was safe to dock.
Nikos watched and waited, feeling as if he shouldn’t be here. Feeling as if he had no choice.
The islanders were going crazy. Their pleasure in Athena’s arrival was a measure of how terrified they’d been that Demos would destroy them. It was also a measure of confidence that Athena wouldn’t betray them.
Did he believe it?
Up until she was nineteen he’d believed it. He and Athena had plotted what they’d do if Giorgos was to die without an heir.
He grinned now as he thought of their plans. They’d build a cinema. They’d set up a surf school—Thena thought she’d make a great surf instructor—and what the heck, they’d invite a few rock groups over. But in their serious moments they’d had a few more solemn ideas. They’d slowstart the diamond mines. They’d ensure every child had the funds to get a decent education. They’d set up a democracy.
All of these things had been discussed over and over, as they’d wandered the island, as she’d come with him in his family’s fishing boat and helped him haul pots, as she’d sat at his mother’s kitchen table and helped shell peas or stir cakes.
When had he first figured he loved her? It had crept up on him so slowly he hardly knew. But suddenly their laughter had turned to passion, and their intensity for politics had turned to intensity of another kind.
The night her mother had died…She’d been seventeen. He’d cradled her against his heart and thought his own heart would break.
And then…suddenly it had been over. It seemed she had a chance of a journalist apprenticeship in New York.
Leaving had never been in his vocabulary, and he’d never believed it could be in hers.
And now she’d returned—she was standing at the ferry’s rail looking lost, and he was standing on the jetty wondering where he could take it from here.
She had Nicky by the hand. Mother and son. And dog. The sight made him feel…Hell, he didn’t know how he felt.
‘Go on, Nikos.’ His mother, Annia, was beside him, holding Christa. ‘Go and speak for all the islanders. You know it’s your place.’
‘It’s not my place.’
‘It is,’ Annia said fiercely. ‘No one else will do it.’
And hadn’t that always been the case?
As the King’s sister, Nikos’s mother had always stood up to the old King. She’d fought for the islanders’ rights and, as he’d matured, Nikos had taken her fights onto his own shoulders.
He’d built up a fishing fleet that was second to none, but the islanders knew he worked for the whole island. They looked to him now as leader. He was in an uncomfortable position but he had no choice—there was no one else willing or able to take it on.
And now…If the only way Athena would rule was for him to stand beside her and guide her every step of the way, then he’d do it. He’d been raised to love this island, and he would not see it destroyed.
So now…He shoved aside anger, loss, confusion, a host of mixed emotions he wasn’t near to understanding, and he strode up the gangplank with the determination of a man who knew where his duty lay. And, as he reached Athena, he took her in his arms and he hugged her. Whether she willed it or not. Whether he willed it or not.
‘Welcome home,’ he said and lifted her and swung her round in his arms, a precarious thing to do on a gangplank, but jubilation was called for. ‘Princess Athena, welcome,’ he said in a voice to be heard by all. ‘We all welcome you, don’t we?’ he demanded of the crowd, and the islanders roared their assent.
‘It’s our royal family,’ someone yelled. ‘Princess Athena and Prince Nikos.’
‘Nikos is only a prince if he marries Athena,’ someone else yelled and there was a huge cheer of enthusiasm.
‘Hey, Demos is already a prince. Maybe she should marry him,’ someone yelled as the applause died, and the crowd laughed. The laughter was derisive.
And Nikos glanced to the back of the crowd and saw Demos. Even from this distance his body language was unmistakable. He was rigid with mortification and with fury.
Athena had a real enemy there, he thought. In the mood he was in, Demos could do harm.
Not if he stayed close.
He had no choice. In order to protect this island then he needed to protect this woman. He intended to stay very close indeed.
Athena’s smile looked pinned in place. She was terrified, he thought.
‘It’s okay,’ he murmured.
‘No,’ she murmured back. ‘It’s not okay at all. I’m doing this because I have no choice. If you think I like being hugged by you…’
The crowd’s cheers were building. Athena waved and so did Nicky.
And Nikos had no choice either. He waved.
They stood together.
‘There’s a reception tonight at the palace,’ he told her.
‘There’s a what?’
They were all in the royal limousine, heading for the palace. Nikos hadn’t wanted to come with her, but once again there’d been no choice. Someone had to introduce her to the palace staff.
He’d brought
