fearlessly.
He’d crouched down, one knee to the ground, and held out his hand for her to shake it. ‘Hello.’ No way he’d been able to get his voice to come out smooth so he’d settled for gruff in the hope that it would hide some of the emotion welling in his chest at the touch of his daughter’s hand.
‘Sophia, this is His Royal Highness, Prince Casimir of Byzenmaach. He’s an old acquaintance,’ Ana had said. ‘And a prince.’
‘And your father,’ he’d said. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. Get it done, get it over with.
The girl had flinched and looked to her mother for confirmation.
‘Not dead,’ Ana had said somewhat helplessly, and left it at that, and his daughter’s wary gaze had returned to his face.
‘Your eyes are like mine,’ she’d said.
‘Yes.’
‘Maman says you have a castle,’ the girl had said next.
‘Yes.’ Yes, he did, and he wasn’t above using it to impress. ‘Would you like to see it?’
‘No,’ she said.
‘And we have puppies,’ he’d said.
‘What kind of puppies?’ She was hard to impress, this daughter of his.
‘Wolfhounds.’ He’d wondered if a six-year-old would know what that meant. ‘They’re big and shaggy and built to protect the animals in their care. Wolfhounds are almost as big as ponies, which we also have.’
‘Nice try,’ Ana had murmured, but, hey. Whatever worked. He wanted his daughter to arrive in Byzenmaach with castles, ponies and puppies on her mind rather than fear in her heart for the unknown.
Ten minutes into the flight he turned on his phone to find three urgent messages waiting, all of them from Rudolpho. ‘Flight time is five hours,’ he said to Ana as foreboding washed over him. ‘There’s food, a bed through there with a television screen on the wall. Children’s movies.’ He’d even stocked up on those. ‘Make yourselves comfortable.’ He stood and nodded towards the sole woman on his security team. ‘Katya will see to your needs.’
Ana eyed Katya with the deep distrust one might afford a rabid dog. ‘And what will you be doing while we make ourselves at home?’ she asked finally.
Casimir wasn’t used to having his movements questioned, but for her he made an exception. ‘I have some calls I must attend to. There’s an office area at the rear of the aircraft.’
‘I still have questions,’ she said.
‘Rest now.’ He wished he had that luxury. ‘There are some books on Byzenmaach in the bedroom if resting or television doesn’t appeal. English editions. Arabic editions.’ He’d offer books in his native language now that he knew she could read them. ‘You’re the mother of a royal bastard and you’re about to gain unparalleled access to me and Byzenmaach’s most trusted advisors. I want you knowledgeable when it comes to our history, our customs and our politics. I need you to be aware of the political battles in play around you and because of you.’
Not for Anastasia the kind of life his mother had led. Sidelined. Stripped of her voice and unable to influence even the most basic household decisions. Not for Casimir the choices his father had made.
‘You expect me to inhale all this knowledge in five hours? From a pile of books?’ she said.
‘Well, I hear you’re very smart and I did choose the books rather carefully,’ he offered, deadpan. ‘It’s a start. I’m arming you with the tools you’ll need to navigate my world. Knowledge that will prevent you from becoming a pawn for the ruthless. I want you to think for yourself. I need you to be able to protect yourself and our daughter. I will never deny you knowledge or a voice.’
She looked at him, and there was something wholly vulnerable in her gaze. A tiny break in her defences against him. ‘Is this who you really are? No pretence?’
‘This is me.’ His world and his choices exposed. Sometimes self-serving, sometimes in service to the crown, sometimes in need of an anchor he didn’t have but, heaven help him, he tried to be a fair and just man. And if he could be that for strangers he could sure as hell try to be that for her.
‘Okay,’ she said quietly.
‘Okay,’ he echoed, and fled before the sudden sizzling tension in the air between them got too much for him.
FIVE HOURS AND fifty-eight minutes later, after the flight in the royal jet followed by a helicopter ride, Ana stepped into another world.
Casimir had brought them to a pale stone fortress that shimmered in the moonlight. Floodlights lit the cobblestone courtyard that doubled as the landing pad. The walls of the fortress stretched towards the sky and dark mountains loomed menacingly to either side of it.
Ana couldn’t imagine a more remote place.
‘They’re expecting you,’ he said, as a security guard lifted his sleepy daughter from the helicopter and placed her in Ana’s arms. ‘The south wing is yours for the duration of your stay; they were my mother’s rooms and the rooms I used throughout my childhood.’ He gestured for a tall, bearded man waiting at the edge of the cobblestones to come forward. ‘This is Silas. He’ll see to your needs. I’m afraid I have to return to the capital this evening.’
‘You’re leaving?’ If she sounded panicked it was only because she was. He’d stayed in his office for the entire plane flight and had said less than two words to them in the helicopter. Granted, the helicopter was a noisy beast, not conducive to conversation, but still...
‘It can’t be helped.’
‘Why are you leaving? Where are you going?’ Ana clutched Sophia closer. ‘Why go to all this trouble to bring us here if you’re not even going to be here?’
‘I’m sorry,’ he offered. ‘I’ll return as soon as I can.’
‘You can’t just leave us here! I don’t even know where here is!’
That’d teach her to take the word of a prince as something worth having.
‘You’re at the winter fortress in the Belarine Mountains of Byzenmaach. This is my home and the people here are loyal to me. You can trust them.’
‘Why on earth would I trust them when I can’t even trust you?’
He looked torn in that moment. Not to mention utterly weary.
He took her aside, his hand at the small of her back guiding her way, and it was a gesture she’d never forgotten, not to mention a response she’d never experienced with any other man. Desire washed over her, pure and fierce and more potent than ever. Desire laced with fear.
She closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. ‘I want to trust you to do right by us. I want to believe I’ve done the right thing by coming here. But I
