As they drove slowly past the airport terminal a man burst from the ranks of the crowd. The car slowed, giving him time to throw something into the car. It fell into Alyssa’s lap. She jumped, then saw it was only one of the famous red roses of Rosara. It was the first of dozens. The car soon filled with flowers, all thrown by the delighted, cheering crowd.
Secure in his popularity, Lysander gave her a lazy smile.
‘Wow, I’ve never experienced anything like this! Your people seem truly happy to have you as Regent.’
Her words had far more effect on him than the jostling press of people around the limousine. He dodged her gaze, leaning forward to reach between the front seats and tousle Ra’id’s hair. ‘I know. So all I have to do is to build on that. For Ra’id’s sake.’
Alyssa wondered if he only tacked on those last few words for her benefit. It was easy to see it was Lysander the people wanted. It was his name they were calling, not the name of his nephew. That made her feel suddenly very uneasy, but she couldn’t ask him about it in front of all these crowds. She had to wait until their car turned onto the new main road leading directly from the airport to the palace.
‘I need to speak to you, Lysander.’ She flicked her eyes meaningfully towards where Ra’id was chatting happily to the chauffeur.
Lysander flipped a switch, and the car’s roof slid silently into position. Then he raised the partition separating them from Ra’id and the driver.
‘Are you sure it’s safe to bring Ra’id to a place like this?’
He gave her a steady look. ‘It’s his home. You don’t need to worry about a thing.’
‘Yes, I do. I lost a child because I didn’t like making too much fuss, even though I knew in my bones it was the right thing to do. I’m never going to stand by and watch another one suffer. This time I’m going to speak out, whatever the cost to me.’
His looked at her steadily. ‘Go on.’
‘The people of Rosara are fond of Ra’id because he’s small and cute, but most of that love and affection wasn’t directed at him. It was meant for you.’
Lysander leaned back in his seat. As their car crossed the trackless wastes of desert he gazed out of the window, running one finger back and forth across his lips. ‘Oh. Is that all you’re worried about?’
‘All?’ Alyssa’s voice was a squeak of disbelief.
‘Let’s just say that who the country want as their king isn’t uppermost in my mind at the moment. My people want something to celebrate, Alyssa. My—our—country was marooned in the Stone Age until only a few decades ago. They don’t want that any more. My late father replaced the horrible regime that killed my mother, and started improvements.’
‘Your mother was killed?’
His expression shut like a trap. ‘Yes. The recent rulers of Rosara don’t have a good track record when it comes to wives. My parents were put together by politicians, while my late brother married for love. Both matches led to disaster and death, so I’m saving myself from that. That’s why, when it comes to women, I keep moving. Everything I’ve seen and experienced tells me it’s safer that way.’
‘I thought men played around for the sake of it.’
Alyssa hid her pain so well, Lysander laughed. ‘Yes, there’s an element of that. Or at least there was, until my brother died and I was forced to—’
He stopped in mid flow, looked at her and became serious again.
‘When I became Ra’id’s guardian, and caretaker for my country. That’s a job that’s every bit as serious as childcare, wouldn’t you say?’
‘I hope you’re not making fun of me.’
This time he recognised that something had touched a raw nerve in her. The half-smile he had been using to try and lighten her mood vanished again. ‘Now it’s my duty to concentrate on my country, and carry on the good work started by my father and brother. Once I’m up to speed on ruling, I’ll teach Ra’id how it’s done. Until then, I’m happy to live off my—I mean our—people’s love until I can earn their respect. If the Rosari are happy, then the Kahani family is happy too. It doesn’t matter which one of us gets the credit.’
‘I want to believe you,’ Alyssa said slowly. ‘But when you mention Rosara, sometimes you forget Ra’id. Your instinct is to call this country your own, instead of saying “our country” and “our people”.’
The look Lysander gave her was inscrutable, but he didn’t silence her so she carried on.
‘You said that your country is in flux. I hope there’s no tussle for power going on behind the scenes. It would be terrible for Ra’id if Rosara turned into a war zone.’
Lysander’s hawklike glare checked the car’s intercom. Their conversation was guaranteed to stay secret, so he relaxed—but only a little. Almost as though he enjoyed keeping her guessing, he started to smile and let his expression mature in the heat of her glare. She refused to back down.
‘That won’t happen. I do love my country, but I didn’t ask for this responsibility—frankly, I’m far more comfortable lazing about on yachts. I’ll just be thankful when it’s over and I can get my freedom back. Until then, it’s my job to keep control of things.’
‘Including me?’ She narrowed her eyes.
He allowed his soft laughter to caress her. For an instant she was back in his private cabin, waiting expectantly beneath his hands.
‘I only work wonders, not miracles.’
She lowered her lids in disdain, but his next words were a teasing throb of promise.
‘Don’t tempt me to try, Alyssa, or you’ll miss your first sight of our palace.’
He spoke in a low, slow combination of notes that played over her body like fingertips. She turned her head away. It was one thing for her body to be preoccupied with Lysander, but she wanted to keep her mind her own. She needed distraction. Glancing out of the window, she got it.
‘What’s the matter?’ Lysander tensed again at her gasp.
‘I knew somewhere called the Rose Palace had to be beautiful … but I hadn’t realised how big it would be!’ she breathed.
‘Do you like it?’
She didn’t need to answer. Her amazed silence was enough.
The Kahani palace had been the home of Lysander’s family for centuries. It stood on the site of the best oasis in that vast, ochre landscape. The afternoon sun was already drawing gossamer shades of apricot and salmon across the sky and sand. Against this exotic colour scheme, Lysander’s home stood out like a fairy tale castle spun from sugar. An enormous range of buildings glowed as white as a wedding cake against the tawny desert. Nothing Alyssa had read or seen could have prepared her for this.
It was impossible to believe that such a lovely place could exist in this sea of sand, with its brutal reefs of rock.
As they drew up at the grand south front of the palace Alyssa thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Lysander’s huge home was built around a vast central courtyard. It had been enlarged and extended over the centuries around the site of the original desert spring, which had been captured in a series of formal pools. Around them, fig and apricot trees cast lots of deep shade. This oasis of calm was overlooked on one side by offices and on the other by a residential wing. Cool, paved corridors and shady courtyard gardens running away from this living heart were the perfect place to spend hot summer days. There were all sorts of places to hide or wander undisturbed. Each large, graceful room inside the palace was more stunning than the next. Delicate traceries of pierced stonework and gold leaf were everywhere. Smiling, bowing servants in flowing traditional dress gave the whole place a fairy-tale feel. It was a completely new world for Alyssa, and she loved it.
Lysander went straight to his office, leaving Alyssa to be shown around her new home by one of the resident housekeeping team. She was given the pick of several apartments in the nursery wing and chose one overlooking a small, quiet courtyard. Her living room had a little balcony draped with wisteria where she could sit down and relax, when she had a moment to hersel
f. In practice, that might never happen. There were plenty of staff, but in England she had already found she could never rest while Ra’id was up and about. She didn’t like to let him out of her sight during the day, and always popped in to check on him during the night, too. Each time she had run her hand over his cool, dry forehead she thought of little Georgie. That had been a rare tragedy, and with Lysander giving her total control over Ra’id’s health and welfare she knew the same thing would never happen again, but the worry was always there. She knew everyone else would think she was being irrational, but it didn’t feel like that to her. I’d rather care too much than not enough, she kept telling herself. Except when it comes to Lysander … Ra’id was so exhausted after all the excitement of their journey home, he wanted to go to bed straight after his supper. Alyssa couldn’t believe her luck. Once the nursery was straight, she had a long indulgent bath, got ready for bed, then allowed herself the luxury of a really early night. She was almost as tired as Ra’id, and dropped off to sleep straight away.
Alyssa had been told the nursery wing was fitted with the best alarm system money could buy, but nothing could override her years of training. Her ears were tuned to hear the slightest night-time noise. When music wafted in through her open windows, she was awake instantly. The faint, distant sound of wheels on tarmac told her exactly what was going on. Lysander was having a party. A big affair, judging by the number of vehicles arriving.
She tried to get back to sleep rather than worry about what might be going on, or how much noise there would be. From the sound of it, the party was a long way away. It must be on the other side of the palace complex. Although there was no way a nanny could have expected an invitation to one of Lysander’s parties, a part of her couldn’t help wishing she were there—while knowing it would be a bad idea. She had seen enough photographs of Lysander partying to know what would be going on. Half-naked starlets would be draping themselves all over the place, hoping for something more permanent than a simple photo opportunity. The more she thought about some other woman making a fool of herself over a philanderer like Lysander Kahani, the harder it was to get to sleep. In the end, she pulled the sheet over her head and stuck her fingers in her ears to block out the distant rise and fall of sound.
A loud knocking at the door to her suite was harder to ignore. Scrambling out of bed and padding over to open it, she found a footman outside. He was carrying a silver salver, and on it was a single sheet of handmade paper. It had been folded in half to hide the message. When she opened it out, she found a simple message written in a bold, flowing hand.
‘Dear Alyssa, please bring Ra’id straight down to the state banqueting hall. I’d like to introduce him to the company.’
It was signed simply ‘L’, with a little ‘x’ beside the initial letter.
Alyssa felt the unwanted stirrings of arousal within her body. A personal invitation from Lysander to visit his party, and with a kiss after his initial … She pursed her lips. It was a dream that, professionally, she had to treat as a nightmare. He was asking her to treat his nephew like some performing animal on display!
She checked her watch, which only made things worse. It was ten past ten—hours after Ra’id’s bedtime. Infuriated, she told the footman there was no reply and sent him back to the party. When he had gone, she realised a simple message would never stop a man like Lysander. He would carry on sending for her until she did as he commanded.
Fingering the mobile nursery alarm hanging from its loop at her waist, she wondered what to do. Ra’id was fine—she had checked on him the moment the party woke her, only a few minutes before. The security system was switched on, and there was no one else around. She hesitated between taking a chance, and doing nothing in case Lysander took ‘no’ for an answer. Assuming that wasn’t very likely, she decided to take direct action. She would head towards the noise of the party, and give the first member of staff she saw another message for their prince. This time she would send a proper explanation. Slipping his letter into the pocket of her dressing gown, she marched off through the shadowy palace. I’m not going to wake Ra’id so he can be paraded in front of Lysander’s feckless friends as some sort of novelty act! she thought angrily.
Her plan to pass on a better message didn’t work. She didn’t meet anyone who could relay it. All the corridors were deserted. It was only when she reached a landing above the great state banqueting hall that she saw someone. A footman in uniform stood beside a pair of wide open double doors. She hesitated, but when he noticed her and smiled she knew there was no escape. Creeping downstairs, she hoped no one would wander out from the party until she had passed on her message. Despite her dressing gown and slippers, the footman listened gravely as Alyssa tried to explain that Ra’id was asleep and wasn’t to be disturbed. As she spoke she caught sight of the glittering party going on beyond the open doors and knew she had made a mistake. It wasn’t the celebrity drinking contest she had expected. Expensively dressed, respectable couples were being treated to silver service at a formal banquet. The music came from an orchestra that was playing in an adjoining quadrangle while the diners chatted and laughed. Candlelight and the fragrance of good food made her want to linger, but she couldn’t risk anyone inside the room spotting her. Ducking out of sight as soon as she had left her message with the doorman, she made a run for it. Her slippers slowed her down so she had barely reached the first landing when she heard someone thundering up the stairs behind her. They were taking the steps three at a time. Only one person would follow her with such silent intent.
‘Lysander!’ He caught her arm before she could escape. ‘Why are you running away?’
Flustered, she waved at her towelling robe. ‘Isn’t it obvious?’
‘You should have told Gui to leave the door and come in to fetch me. Then you could have given me the message yourself.’
‘I didn’t want to disturb you …’ She faltered.
Lysander looked so smart, it took her breath away. He was dressed in a formal black suit and a purple sash, which was studded with medals. His finery made the contrast between them all the more painful.
‘You mean you didn’t want to tear me away from the party where I was having so much fun?’ he said wryly, making sure Alyssa saw something behind his eyes. ‘But perhaps not quite as much fun as you thought I might be having when you stormed down here in your wrap to check up on me?’ He grinned.
‘I wouldn’t dream of doing a thing like that!’ she snapped, but his widening smile told her there was no point in denying it.
‘Well … maybe you’re right,’ she said grudgingly. ‘I thought you wanted me to parade Ra’id in front of some noisy bunch of famous halfwits.’
‘You may have a point.’ He cocked his head towards the state banqueting hall. The company might be more sophisticated than she had thought, but the chat and laughter were still pretty loud. ‘But my real reason for making that request was to show everyone how well Ra’id is being cared for.’
His pride was obvious. Gazing at him, Alyssa forgot everything except the bond she knew was already beginning to grow between Lysander and his little nephew.
‘Why don’t you go back and fetch him, Alyssa? I’ll take good care of him for you, and it’ll only be for a few minutes.’ He smiled.
It was supposed to be an irresistible request, but it had the opposite effect on Alyssa. It shook her out of her delicious trance, and back into real life.
‘I don’t think so. Not at ten o’clock at night. He’s only five years old, Lysander. He needs his sleep,’ she said defiantly, expecting him to argue.
That was the last thing on his mind. He stood back, shocked.
‘I had no idea it was that late! The staff only told me about this reception an hour before it happened, when I asked to have dinner served in my suite. My late brother was so disorganised, bless him, that this household practically runs itself. They have been used to telling their king what to do at the last minute. It meant he never had to worry about m
aking any arrangements for himself. It was safer that way. So when I wanted to offer you dinner this evening to welcome you to Rosara …’ his voice took on a softer tone ‘ … it threw everything into confusion, and I lost track of time. Of course you’re right—I’ll go back and tell everyone they’ll have to see what a wonderful job you’re doing with Ra’id another day. Maybe he could host his own little party. The staff would love to arrange that.’
‘Don’t make him grow up too fast,’ Alyssa warned.
Lysander nodded. ‘That’s a good point. I had to when I was young, to make sure the staff didn’t push Akil, my brother, too hard. It wasn’t fun.’ His lips became a thin, serious line. ‘You’re right—I’ll tell the assembly they’ll have to meet our little star another time, and leave it at that.’
Alyssa smiled. ‘They’ll understand. I’m sure many of your guests have children of their own. But you’d better get back to your dinner party. You are the host, after all.’
‘Yes … and a lonely business it is too, despite all the racket.’ He laughed, without sounding happy. ‘It’s almost as barren as my old celebrity circuit.’
‘But much more useful.’ Alyssa glanced back along the way she had come, towards the nursery wing. ‘I have to hurry back. Even with this, I still worry about Ra’id.’ She tapped the monitor attached to the belt of her robe.
‘That’s why I never need to worry about him when he’s out of my sight, because I have you,’ Lysander said with a warmth that was completely different from his usual flirting. ‘Thank you, Alyssa.’
Dipping his head, he kissed her, in a brief echo of her wonderful dream. It was only the smallest gesture, but it was enough to send heat powering through Alyssa’s veins. Instinctively she reached out her hands, sliding them up his arms. It was all the encouragement he needed. His light touch became an all consuming embrace as he crushed her tightly against his body.
Weight of the Crown Page 6
