“What lives?” the captain barked.
His tone disconcerted her again. She sat forward and put her hands on the edge of the sofa in preparation to flee. This man was just too big to yell at her like that.
She told him so. “If you can’t keep a civil tone, take me to someone with the patience to hear me out.”
He actually laughed, though she didn’t hear much humor in it. “You come here to impersonate royalty, but you’re not in prison yet, are you? That’s how patient I am, wench. Now what lives are at stake?”
His tone was back to normal, but she still closed her eyes briefly against the new fear he’d just stirred. Had that been deliberate on his part? She hoped that’s all it was. There had been danger outside the palace, but Poppie had assured her she’d be safe inside these walls—no, safe once she was with her father. And this man was standing between her and that safety.
She glanced at him again and summoned her courage. “I was referring to the lives that will be lost in the impending war, if the rebels gain enough support.”
“We are dealing with the rebels as we find them.”
“By killing them?”
“Of course,” he said simply. “What they are doing is treasonous.”
She couldn’t argue with that, but he was missing the point. “It’s the innocent Lubinians the rebels are agitating to their cause that I’m concerned about. In fact, no one else needs to die when the pretext for the rebellion is based on lies. The king does have an heir. Me. My presence will put an end to the sedition.”
“You suggest a lie to counter a lie?”
She sighed. “No, I am who I say I am, Frederick’s daughter. I wish it were otherwise. I didn’t even find out about it until last month. Believe me, I’ve never aspired to be a princess. I grew up in London thinking I’d marry an English lord someday—well, until I discovered I liked teaching so much, and the nobles at home frown on their wives doing anything so common as—” She stopped, realizing she was rambling nervously. “That’s an old dilemma. My point is, I might have been born here, but I don’t consider Lubinia my home, so I don’t want to stay here any longer than it takes to avert a war.”
“If you were the princess, the choice wouldn’t be yours to make.”
She jumped to her feet. “I can convince my father—”
“Sit down!”
She didn’t. She glanced at the door instead. That made him laugh.
“You’re not going anywhere until I decide what to do with you. Perhaps you should have realized that and waited to confess until after I bedded you. A man is much more amiable to a woman he—”
She gasped. “Stop it! Don’t say things you’ll have to apologize for later, when you realize I’m telling you the truth.”
He grinned at the warning. “Apologize for natural urges? Princess or not, I don’t think so. But if you are finished amusing me, would you please tell me what makes you think you are a member of the royal family? Shall we begin with your name?”
He didn’t believe her, but of course he wouldn’t when she hadn’t really told him anything yet to support her claim. She took her seat again and explained, “I had a bracelet to prove what I’m saying, but it was stolen when—”
His snort cut her off. “Conveniently stolen, eh?”
She lifted her chin. “I know who took it, one of my father’s own men.”
He frowned. “When?”
“The same day we arrived in the country. We came—”
He cut in sharply, “Who’s we? Who were you traveling with?”
Alana suddenly felt wary. She wasn’t calm enough to discuss Poppie yet. “That’s none of your concern.”
“You are mistaken. Whoever put you up to this and brought you here is plotting against the king, and it is my job to protect him.”
Her chin rose. “There is no new plot here, just a very old one—eighteen years old.”
He gave her a long, hard look before he said, “Very well, I’ll get back to this point. For now, go ahead and continue your story about the bracelet.”
She nodded. “To enter the country, we came through a little-used mountain pass and were stopped by a group of very rough soldiers who accused us of being rebels. My trunks were searched for weapons. All of my jewelry as well as the bracelet were gone afterwards. Find out who their loutish leader was and he can tell you exactly who that thief was.”
