at her now, there was hardly any flirtation in Lysander’s smile. She took that as a good sign, and tried to relax.
Sitting in a prestige car with a handsome prince at the wheel, she felt as though a little bit of royalty might be rubbing off on her. She even had to suppress a childish urge to wave regally out of the window. For once in her life she didn’t have to worry about a thing. All she had to do was sit back and enjoy being chauffeured around. It was lovely and so, she had to admit, was Lysander. He was behaving perfectly today, as the ideal role model for Ra’id. Away from his office he was off duty, and so was the usual little crease between his brows. Now and again he even hummed along to the gentle sound of Marcello coming from the on-board CD player. With a sigh, Alyssa lay back in her seat and closed her eyes. The sun was warm against her lids and the filtered air was cool. For the first time in ages, life was offering her more than loneliness. The feeling of Lysander at one with his car and only inches away from her was incredible.
‘I suppose you went on picnics with your parents all the time, Alyssa?’
‘Mmm? No … they spent most of the year working abroad, so I was sent off to boarding school. I went home for the holidays, which was about as much exposure to me as they could take.’
‘Don’t sell yourself short,’ he said sharply.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. ‘What’s the matter? I expected you to laugh when I said that.’
‘There’s nothing funny about a child who sees themselves as a burden.’
‘You’re getting too fond of Ra’id for him to think that. I can see it every time you two are together,’ Alyssa assured him.
‘I wasn’t talking about him.’
She smiled. ‘Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ve long since stopped bothering about how things are between me and my parents.’
Another look at his face told Alyssa he hadn’t been thinking about her situation, either. He was staring grimly out of the windscreen at the road ahead.
‘Tell me more about your upbringing,’ she probed gently. ‘Is the Kahani family large, beyond this branch? I meant to do some online research in my spare time to get background, but I haven’t got around to it yet.’
‘Don’t bother,’ he said brusquely, missing a gear change. That made him spit out a word in Rosari that Alyssa was glad she couldn’t understand.
‘No, and there’s no royal family beyond me and Ra’id,’ he told her. ‘That’s the whole problem. My father was a second son, like me. His older brother was King, and a cruel, bitter man. His rule kept Rosara in the Dark Ages. My brother Akil and I were lucky. Our part of the family was never expected to inherit the crown, so we were allowed a lot of freedom. Unfortunately, the death of our mother changed all that.’
Alyssa clucked with sympathy. ‘My mother and I have never been close, so I can’t imagine how awful it must have been for you to lose yours. It must have been a terrible shock.’
Lysander didn’t reply straight away. Alyssa assumed it was because he was driving down a tricky, rock-strewn slope. When he spoke, she found out how wrong she was.
‘Yes—and no. She was found guilty of adultery, and, as my unforgiving uncle was on the throne at the time, she was beheaded.’
Surprise catapulted Alyssa forward in her seat. ‘Oh, my God!’ She clapped her hand over her mouth and glanced over her shoulder at Ra’id. The little boy had calmed down enough to look at a comic, and hadn’t noticed. Relieved, she turned to stare at Lysander in horror. ‘When was this?’
‘A long time ago. Thirty years or more—not long after the picnic I told you about, maybe? The riots that followed killed my uncle and put his brother—my father—on the throne. Father was determined things would change, and so am I. That’s why I’m going to continue making improvements here.’
He was staring ahead so grimly now that Alyssa felt she had to say something. ‘You’re right. The sooner you can secure your country’s place in the twenty-first century, the better,’ she said. It worked.
‘That’s why I want to make sure Ra’id has a proper childhood. Akil and I never had much experience of life until we were sent to England to finish our education. Our father was quite forward thinking, but even so we had private tutors to begin with.’
‘You must have been lonely.’
Lysander shook his head. ‘I always had Akil to think about. He was never very worldly, so I always fought in his corner. That made me self-reliant.’
‘Too much of that isn’t always a good thing.’
‘I don’t think my brother would have agreed with you. Once he became King and inherited a band of advisors, they took over. I was surplus to his requirements and didn’t have anything to do. Hitting the party circuit was a reaction to that. That was why Akil never liked the way I lived my life. He knew I was capable of so much more.’
Alyssa felt on firmer ground for once. ‘Then it’s a shame he never found you a job. Hard work suits you. You really looked the part when we saw you in your office.’
‘Thank you,’ he said, adding lightly. ‘It sounds as though you actually meant that.’
‘Why shouldn’t I?’
Sliding a glance wickedly across at her, he laughed. ‘Alyssa, I’ve been flattered by mistresses of the craft. Believe me.’
They crested a rise in the road, which gave them a spectacular view of the plains below. Lysander parked the four-by-four where it would cast the longest shadow, got out and opened the doors for Alyssa and Ra’id. With a squeal of excitement the little boy bounced out and careered off down the slope at top speed.
‘Don’t go too far!’ Lysander called, but Alyssa laughed.
‘He’s only got little legs. With nothing but a few sparse bushes in every direction, he can’t get lost. He’ll be fine,’ she reassured him, but kept a careful watch on her little charge all the same.
The atmosphere out in the desert was very different from the comfortable, air-conditioned interior of Lysander’s car. It was hot and dry. Now and then a light breeze blew up, ruffling his dark curls and wrapping Alyssa’s skirt around her bare legs. She was still wary of him, but her warnings seemed to be having some effect. Lysander’s interest in her didn’t waver, but he kept his distance. Neither spoke as they strolled along in Ra’id’s wake. Alyssa’s mind was too full of miserable childhoods and loveless lives, and the last thing she wanted to do was inflict her memories on Lysander. For a while they watched the little boy in companionable silence, but Alyssa’s gaze was often distracted by their stunning surroundings. Sunlight had spent a million lifetimes baking the stony countryside into a million shades from caramel to cream, and the overall effect was breathtaking.
‘It’s such a beautiful place,’ Alyssa was moved to say after a while. ‘How could anyone prefer the big city to this?’
‘A life spent in casinos and nightclubs isn’t exactly hell on earth. I’m sure you’d be the first one to remind me of that,’ Lysander said with dry humour.
‘Do you miss it?’
He smiled,
