things up a bit.’
William’s gaze flickered from her to Karim. ‘Her head is full of romance. She’s expecting Arab stallions, a desert and a glamorous Sultan who is going to sweep her off her expensively clad feet.’
Aware that the expression on Karim’s face had gone from mild impatience to thunderous disapproval, Alexa wondered if he was about to lose his temper.
Her heart thumping against her chest, she braced herself for a terrifying display of masculine aggression—but when he finally spoke Karim’s tone seemed almost bored.
‘There is nothing romantic about the desert. It is a harsh, unforgiving landscape that contains any number of threats. A sandstorm is one of the most deadly natural phenomena known to man, and the desert in Zangrar is inhabited by scorpions and snakes so dangerous that one bite produces sufficient venom to kill ten grown men.’
‘Scorpions and snakes. You see, Alexa?’ William leaned back, and someone hastily stepped forward to remove his plate. ‘It is a long way from Rovina.’
‘Indeed, it is,’ Alexa said quietly. She was banking on it. ‘Nevertheless, my father arranged this marriage, and I shall do as he wished. I owe it to his memory.’
And she owed it to the people of Rovina. The only way she was ever going to reach her twenty-fifth birthday was if she married the Sultan.
Karim’s dark gaze fixed on her with brooding intensity. ‘You are very young, Your Highness. Your uncle is obviously worrying about how you will fare in a country like Zangrar. You would do well to listen to his advice.’
‘I’m not afraid of anything I’ll find in Zangrar.’
‘Then perhaps you are not sufficiently enlightened as to exactly what awaits you.’ He spoke softly, his words only audible to her, and she lifted her gaze to his, wondering what he was alluding to.
Their eyes met and held, and Alexa felt a shiver of awareness and a flash of the same sexual chemistry that had singed her earlier in the day. ‘You’re doing it again—trying to frighten me.’
He lifted a dark eyebrow in sardonic appraisal. ‘Are you frightened, Your Highness?’
‘No.’ But that was only because she knew what true fear was.
Alexa glanced across the table at William and saw him smiling at her. Her pulse-rate doubled. If the Sultan’s bodyguard really wanted to know what frightened her, then he need look no further than the man sitting across from them. Over the years she’d learned to read her uncle’s moods, and if there was one thing that scared her more than his temper it was his smile.
His smile widened as he looked at her. ‘I hear she fenced you earlier, Karim. Hardly a ladylike sport, I’m sure you’ll agree. I think you’re going to find that the Princess Alexandra is unusual in many ways. Most of the time you wouldn’t even know she was a princess, from the way she behaves.’
Alexa noticed the sudden tightening of Karim’s mouth, and knew that William’s repeated attempts to undermine her were succeeding. Not for the first time in her life, she was seriously tempted to pick up her knife and silence her uncle in the most permanent way possible.
‘I have many qualities which the Sultan will appreciate,’ she said lightly, and then saw the glimmer of disdain in the bodyguard’s eyes and realized that she’d actually made the situation worse, not better.
Not those qualities! she wanted to shout. Why were men so basic? Why did they only ever think about one thing—sex? Well, actually, it was two things. Sex and power. Forget everything else—they seemed to be the only two things that motivated the male species.
And normally she didn’t even think about sex. So why was it that, since the Sultan’s bodyguard had removed his fencing mask and revealed his impossibly handsome face, she’d thought about little else?
Or perhaps it was just that this whole situation was turning her slowly loopy. There was so much at stake. And so many things that could still go wrong.
She was a nervous wreck.
Marrying the Sultan was the only way that Rovina would have a future, and if anything happened to prevent that …
Reminding herself that this was not the time to lose her cool, she allowed herself a small sip of wine.
William gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘Talking of qualities, most of yours are displayed over the front page of today’s newspapers. I think the headline read something like, “rebel princess hot for the harem?” I mean, really—’ he gave a weary shake of his head ‘—newspapers have no sense of moral restraint. Always digging up the past when it should be forgotten. We just have to hope for your sake that the Sultan isn’t expecting a virgin bride. Perhaps his reputation is way off the mark and he’s one of those rare men who values experience over innocence. I’m so sorry, Alexa.’
So was she.
Under no illusions as to why the papers had chosen to reprint those pictures, anger suddenly burst through her usual cautious restraint. ‘When the time comes, I intend to tell the Sultan the truth about my life. The whole truth, Uncle William. And he will believe me.’ She caught Karim’s astonished glance and saw the deadly gleam light her uncle’s eyes.
The emotion drained out of her, and she started to shake.
Why had she said that?
She’d gained nothing by that remark. Nothing at all. And she could have lost everything.
This was not the time to antagonize a man as dangerous as her uncle, and she knew that. Since when had she allowed anger to incinerate common sense?
‘You’re my niece,’ William said smoothly. ‘I only want what is best for you, and Zangrar is such a terribly long way away. I’m so afraid that something dreadful might happen to you on your journey. You know how accident prone you are.’
Alexa felt her heart stumble and her palms grow damp. He was threatening her.
‘Karim will ensure my safety,’ she said in a clear voice, hoping desperately that Karim wouldn’t choose this moment to mention the fact that she’d tried to dispense with his services.
William gently dabbed his mouth with his napkin. ‘If anything were to happen to you, I don’t know what I’d do.’
He would have achieved his lifelong ambition.
He would finally have destroyed her family.
Suddenly Alexa felt bitterly cold. ‘Your care and concern is always touching, Uncle William. My father would have become quite emotional, had he been able to see everything you’ve done for me since his death.’ Unable to share his table a moment longer, she rose to her feet. ‘We leave in the morning. I need my passport.’ And this was the moment she’d been dreading.
For sixteen years he’d held her passport.
Would he finally return it to her?
William was silent for a long moment, and then he gave a gentle smile. ‘You are such a featherbrain. I will give
