Her conscience nagged her.
Why hadn’t he just gone home as she’d ordered?
She hadn’t wanted to drag anyone else into this.
Aware that her uncle was watching her, Alexa faked a yawn and tried to look like a girl incapable of planning anything other than her next shopping trip. ‘I’ve heard that some of the souks sell amazing silks. I’m looking forward to designing myself a whole new wardrobe.’
‘I admit that I’ve probably overindulged her a little since her parents were killed.’ William addressed his remark to Karim. ‘I just hope that the Sultan will be as generous as he is wealthy.’
‘The Sultan’s generosity is not in question, but it is hard to spend money in the desert, and that is where much of his time is currently spent.’ Karim spoke in a matter-of-fact voice and Alexa turned her head and looked at him, unable to hide her surprise.
‘He lives in the desert?’
‘Since the death of his father, the Sultan has spent much of his time in the desert with his people. His wife will be expected to support him in that role. If you wish to augment your wardrobe, you might be wise to include robes and sturdy desert-boots.’ He reached for his glass. ‘The sort that repel the bite of a snake.’
Reflecting on the fact that dealing with snakes would be a piece of cake after living with her uncle for sixteen years, Alexa gave a shrug. ‘I’m sure I can live in the desert if I have to. I mean, when all is said and done, it’s just a giant beach, really. Sand, sand and more sand.’ She kept her tone as light as the subject matter. ‘I’m sure the Sultan isn’t going to want his wife dressed in rags. With all that money at his disposal, he’s hardly going to begrudge me a few pairs of shoes.’
William’s eyes narrowed. ‘He might, when he finds out how much they cost! Karim, I’ve been telling my niece that this marriage is ridiculous. Her father arranged it when she was a child, before he had any idea what sort of a woman she would become. And the truth is that she is not a woman who is going to be happy incarcerated in a dusty old fortress in the middle of a baking-hot desert.’ He softened his words with a smile and reached for his wine. ‘No offence.’
Alexa felt Karim’s sudden stillness, and wondered whether it was possible to die of embarrassment.
Reminding herself that Karim’s thoughts and feelings had to be secondary to William’s, she forced the expected response from her mouth. ‘I’m sure the Sultan entertains occasionally. As long as there’s a party going on, and everyone is having a good time, it doesn’t really matter where it is.’ Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Karim’s long, strong fingers tighten on the stem of his glass.
‘Parties are not high on the Sultan’s agenda. When he entertains, the guest list includes foreign dignitaries and other heads of state. The purpose of the gathering is all about diplomacy and international relations.’
He obviously thought she was shallow-minded and frivolous, which didn’t surprise her. What did surprise her was the fact that she minded what he thought. Why would she care about the opinions of a bodyguard? His views were irrelevant. They had to be. Tonight of all nights it was essential that she maintained her image of a woman who thought about nothing deeper than what to wear at her next social engagement. If William knew what was truly on her mind, he would be turning all of the keys in all of the doors.
‘Foreign dignitaries sound pretty dull.’ She suppressed a yawn. ‘I’m sure I’ll be able to help the Sultan liven 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,