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“After you.” He waited by the open car door, his eyes not leaving her face.
Olivia glared at him as she moved furiously by, hoping he understood. She would not be intimidated and she would not be subdued. She only hoped she could also resist being seduced. Worse, that she wouldn’t try to seduce him! How could her body be so weak? How could her desire betray her so monumentally?
He stood until she was seated in the back seat of the car and then slipped in beside her.
Once the vehicle was set in motion, she spoke. “Where are we going?”
“To the palace.”
“I thought your people would make my life a misery. I thought your father would feel betrayed by my presence and that your servants would treat me like a whore.”
“I am no longer convinced any of that matters.”
Ouch. His reasons for not bringing her to Dashan had been hurtful enough. But his sudden willingness to disregard her reputation and mindset was chilling. “Gee, thanks.”
Amusement crinkled his mouth despite her obvious state of distress. “You were the one who thought my concerns were unnecessary, once upon a time.”
“That was then. This is now. It might as well have been a lifetime ago.”
“If you didn’t care then, you should not care now.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a bastard.”
He turned away from her without responding and stared broodingly out of his window. The emptiness of the regional outskirts of the city gave way briefly to infrastructure, and then opened up once more to the open highways that would lead all the way to the old palace.
As though they were serenading the royal fleet of vehicles, the stars began to shine overhead as they drove. Twinkle, twinkle, lots of stars, Olivia thought, as the SUV made short work of the distance between the airport and the palace.
Her stomach, when the car slid through the regal golden gates, was in knots. Her anxiety only worsened as the car moved closer to the palace.
It was the most enormous building she’d ever seen. It was grand and yet reassuring at the same time. It had several turrets that were topped with swirls of copper, and the windows were shaped like something out of Rapunzel. It appeared to have been constructed from stone, though several of the turrets were faced in tiles. Some white, some blue, some gold.
Despite the bad mood she was in, Olivia couldn’t help but appreciate the beauty of the details. The ivy and jasmine that tangled across the front; the formally sculpted trees that lined the drive, and the fragrance of citrus that was heavy in the warm night air.
A bird sung and Olivia caught her breath. “A fiestral?” She wondered aloud, surprising Zamir with her knowledge.
“Yes. How did you …”
She didn’t meet his gaze. “Ra’if mentioned them. He told me they’re one of his favourite things about Dashan. And now I understand why.”
Zamir didn’t visibly react, but inside, he flashed with the temptation to punch something.
“It sounds like an actual song.”
“Yes,” his voice had a strained, faraway quality. “Their name means chorister, or something similar.”
She swallowed, and turned her attention back to the palace.
“What do you think?” Zamir realised that he cared a lot more for her good opinion than he wanted to acknowledge.
Were there eighteen or nineteen of those pretty little turrets? Did it matter? It was enormous. “It’s a palace fit for a King,” she said finally. She kept her features carefully neutral. “And his prisoner. How long do you intend to keep me here for?”
His eyes shimmered in his face. “Let us discuss that inside.”
A full set of servants had appeared outside the palace gates. One opened the door of the car, and the rest formed a sort of line.
Olivia startled as she looked at them, and Zamir, long accustomed to such trappings, had to remind himself that this was a whole other level of existence to Olivia.
Yet her awe served him, and so he did very little to ease her worry. “Just walk with me and don’t make eye contact with any of them.”
