Alana hadn’t wanted anyone else to hear her tale. She was furious that he had allowed someone else to eavesdrop.
“Any dessert tonight?” Christoph asked the servant as Boris picked up the empty plates from the table.
“Sweet or sour?” Boris paused to ask.
“We still have lemons?”
“Sweet, if there’s a choice,” Alana interjected.
The captain nodded. She waited until Boris left the room to ask, “Do you trust him?”
“Boris? His parents were born on my family’s estate, as was he. We grew up together. Despite the difference in our social standing, he is a friend.”
“Then why did you hit him today?”
“He’s not stupid. The mistake he made was out of good intentions, but an error that would devastate him with guilt. If I hadn’t hit him, he would have walked into my fist. Trust him? I do not hesitate to say, with my life.”
That was well and good for him, but not for her. “Please warn me the next time someone else is going to be present at your interrogations. What I have to say is for your ears only—and my father’s.”
“You are here to reveal everything, not to keep your visit secret.”
“No, I’m here to reveal everything to my father and prevent a war, not make my presence known before then,” she said in frustration. “Until I actually have the king’s protection, the more people who know I’m here, the greater the risk I face. You do concede this would put me in great danger?”
“I concede that whatever you say will remain behind these doors.”
“Why can’t you just ask my father to come see me? Put me back in that cell, defenseless, unable to touch him, but bring him here to meet me!”
“Do you come to this country thinking we are fools?” he snarled.
Chapter Nineteen
SHE SUCKED IN HER breath. She’d made him angry again. How? She felt tears coming on. Oh, God, she’d never forgive herself if she let him defeat her with her own emotions simply because he was so intimidating when he looked like this.
“Answer me!”
“Not if you’re going to shout at me!” She had shot to her feet, getting ready to run if he moved toward her.
But he didn’t stand up; in fact, she’d definitely given him pause. He leaned back and studied her face for a long moment. He finally sighed before he said, “Against my better judgment, I’m going to tell you a simple fact. While you’re here, you are protected—even from me. Nonetheless, it’s not wise to provoke my anger.”
She almost fell back into her chair, she was so relieved. No, he probably shouldn’t have told her that. She could handle all of her emotions except the one he’d just inspired that was so foreign to her. If she didn’t have to fear him, she didn’t have to be so guarded, so she could speak more freely. She did that now.
“I came to this country thinking it’s so barbaric, it might as well be in the Middle Ages. You have reinforced that opinion three times today,” she complained.
“Only three? I can do better than that.”
Was he joking? No, he probably wasn’t. She lifted her chin. “You want the truth, don’t be insulted by it. But I didn’t call you a fool, you did. And why did you even make that statement?”
“You were resorting to feminine wiles, pleading for me to bring the king to you, appealing to my sympathies because I want you. Do you really think I take my job so lightly that I would ignore my responsibility for a pretty face?”
It registered. He still wanted her, even thinking the worst of her? She took it back; fear wasn’t the only emotion with which he could destroy her composure.
She immediately denied, “I did nothing of the sort. Is the king so busy he can’t spare a few moments to have a look at me? What if he recognizes me? What if he instinctively knows me? I was merely asking you to be reasonable.”
“There is nothing reasonable about putting you in the same room with His Highness—at this point.”
“For the record, the tactics you described wouldn’t have occurred to me. And considering your suspicions, I even agree with you.” She sighed. “I must be too tired, to have even mentioned it again. If there is no dessert forthcoming, perhaps you can show me to a room and we can resume this discussion tomorrow?”
“It’s early,” he said.
