Invitation to the Prince's Palace (8 page)

In many other circumstances, Rik would have accepted the thought and yet Melanie had agreed to help him for no reason other than out of generosity to try to help others. She hadn’t asked him what she would get out of the arrangement. She’d wanted to hear the problems and then she’d made a decision based on what she felt she could do to help.

‘I guess we just sealed the bargain.’ Her words held a tremor. She turned to the picnic basket and started to carefully repack it. ‘We should probably get back. Now that we’ve made this decision, your father will want that official meeting. That’s assuming he can fit me into his schedule. I imagine royal families are very busy and I certainly wouldn’t presume—’

‘It will be all right, Melanie.’ She was fully back into ‘dealing with a prince and a promise and a royal family’ mode and in feeling out of her depth, though she had valiantly jumped into this for his sake.

And for the sake of the people of Braston.

Did that mean she
hadn’t
thought of Rik in that light as they kissed? That he had simply been a man kissing a woman, and she a woman kissing a man? Had his impact on her come completely from Rikardo the man, not from him being the third prince in line to the throne of Braston?

It wasn’t a question that should even have mattered. Rik had accepted that women were attracted to his title first, sometimes to the man within, second, but always that first was there.

Perhaps some of his questioning came from the relief of knowing he hadn’t blown his chance of avoiding being locked into a miserable marriage as part of his bargain with his father.

Melanie’s gaze meshed with his. ‘Are
you
quite sure you want to do this? I want to help you and help the people of Braston, but in the end what you do has to be really what you want.’

‘I’m sure.’ He got to his feet and lifted the picnic basket. ‘We may not get much done today other than the meeting with my father if he is available, but Dominico will want to get the ball rolling on a few things.’

Melanie agreed. Now that she had committed to marrying Rikardo, she wanted to get things moving.

She didn’t want to stop and give herself too much time to think about the next month and the three that would follow it.

That might have been rather easier for her before they shared that kiss. Mel stumbled slightly on the uneven ground. She didn’t want to think about the kiss, either! Her heart still beat hard from its impact.

‘I have you.’ Rik’s hand shot out and grasped her arm.

And I have received the most moving kiss I’ve ever experienced.

Not that Mel
had
a great deal of experience. Her life with the family had kept her busy. Oh, she’d dated here and there with men that she met out in her ‘normal’ world. At the fresh produce store, or once it was the delivery guy from the local butcher’s shop. There hadn’t been a lot of time or opportunity.

There is always the time and the opportunity if you want it enough.

Well, now there was a prince.

No, there wasn’t. Not like that. She wasn’t dating Prince Rik. She
was
going to marry him, but that was for an agreed purpose that had nothing to do with romance. Right. So she was safe from getting any of the wrong kind of ideas about him or anything like that.

Why then, with Rik’s hand on her arm, and the memory of a kiss still fresh in her mind and stamped on her lips, did Mel feel anything
but
safe?

From what? Falling for him? That would be insane. Much more than falling down a rabbit hole or wearing sparkling magic shoes that would take her anywhere.

So focus on getting back to the palace to start this process that will help lift the country’s economy. Rather than thinking about kisses, you should think of how you can find out as much as possible about truffle crops so you really can be of help to Rik for the short time you’re here.

‘Do you have books about truffle cropping in the palace?’ She glanced towards the prince.

Yes,
the prince
! That was what Rik was, and Mel mustn’t forget it. And since when had she started to think of him as Rik?

He said you could.

And if you have a shred of self preservation left, then you should address him as ‘Your Highness’ or something equally distancing, in person and in your thoughts.

‘I have books at the palace and also at my personal home up in the mountains.’ He glanced at her, and then up and beyond her to where those two tourists had found their way to what to Mel looked like a sheer wall of ice.

Rikardo had a second home in the mountains?

Well, duh, Mel. He’s got to be about thirty and he’s a prince. Did you think he’d still live permanently in a couple of rooms in the palace?
Even if those rooms were quite glorious and added up to more like a small house. ‘I’d like to look at the books, if that would be okay. I’d like to learn more about the industry.’

She might not be able to do anything to help with the problems they’d had, but if Rik planned to harvest truffles from the royal grounds that, too, would be rather special. Maybe there were records about that, as well.

‘The kitchen staff would have special truffle
recipes, wouldn’t they? Maybe handed down through the centuries? I’d love to see those!’ Mel tried hard to walk normally and not lean into him. He still had hold of her arm and her silly response receptors wanted to melt into his side as though they had every right just because he’d kissed her.

He might be marrying Mel, but he was doing that to help him
avoid
a committed relationship.

And Mel was marrying him to help him out, and she didn’t need to add the complication of being attracted to him to
that
mix. So it was just as well they’d shared that kiss and put it behind them. They could get on with the business end of things now.

As if it will be that easy, Mel. What about the wedding preparations? The fact that his father will think the two of you want to marry for real?

‘I need to have the right things to say to your father!’ The words blurted out of her with a panicky edge she didn’t anticipate until it was too late to cover it up. ‘That is, I don’t want to be unable to answer any questions he might ask about how we met, how long we’ve known each other, that kind of thing.’

‘We met through your cousin Nicolette when I was at university in Australia. Six months ago we came across each other on a computer forum and we’ve been chatting online and on the phone ever since.’ He turned his head and deep blue eyes looked into hers. ‘I wanted you for my princess. You are calm and pleasant and I felt I could spend the rest of my life with you. It’s not the entire truth, but it’s as close as we’ll get.’

‘Okay. That will work. I know the years that Nicolette was at university, though I didn’t attend myself.’ There was one other issue, though. ‘What’s my story? Why did I say yes?’

Before he could answer, she shook her head. ‘If your father asks me that question, I’d rather tell him that I will do everything in my power to be as supportive of you as I possibly can in all the time we’re together.’

He dipped his head. ‘Then stick to that. Commitment to me is implied in such statements. My father should find that more than acceptable.’

‘Wh-what will be expected…otherwise?’ Mel asked the question tentatively, and she didn’t want to be tentative. She needed to know, therefore she was asking. She straightened her spine. ‘When we’re married, will we be in your suite as we are now, or…?’ Despite the straighter spine she couldn’t quite bring herself to put it into words.

His gaze met hers. In it was steadiness. ‘For the sake of appearances we would be sharing my room and…bed at first. This is something that can be managed with a little creative imagination without needing to cause you undue concern. Just for the look of things, you understand?’

‘Just—just part of our overall practical arrangement. Yes. I understand totally. That’s very sensible.’ Mel tried not to stutter the words, tried to sound mature and au fait with the situation and what it might entail. They might be sleeping together at the start—her mind tried to boggle and she forced it not to—but they wouldn’t be
sleeping together
. Not, well, you know. Not like
that
. She drew a breath. ‘Right. That’s okay, then. We can make that work.’

‘We will, Melanie, so do not worry.’ His words again held reassurance.

And Mel…relaxed into that reassurance.

They were at a turn in their downward descent where the two mountainsides faced each other when a cry ripped through the air, shattering her composure and bringing Rikardo to an abrupt stop.

‘Damn. What’s the man doing? He’s tangled in his equipment!’ Rik dumped the picnic basket and strode towards the source of the cry.

Mel followed, and after a few moments managed to spot what Rik had already seen. A man dangled against that icy outcrop. It was one of the two men she’d seen earlier. The other—Mel couldn’t see.

‘Stop, you fool!’ Rik spoke the words aloud but they were too far away for any hope that the man might hear them.

Even so, Mel echoed the sentiment.

The prince let out a pithy curse. ‘If he keeps trying to get loose, he’ll drop to the bottom.’ He didn’t slow his pace, but he turned to glance at her. ‘There’s no one anywhere near except us. I’ve rappelled that section many times. I have to see if I can help while we wait for a rescue team to get here.’

He already had a cell phone out, and quickly called for assistance and explained the situation and that he would see what he could do until the rescue team arrived.

Mel could hear someone at the other end insisting the prince must not go anywhere near the dangerous situation, before Rik said, ‘Get help here as quickly as possible’ and ended the call.

She bit back the inclination to ask him if he
would
be safe enough. ‘What can I do, Rik?’

‘Keep yourself safe. Do not follow the path I take. Follow the path that’s cut into the mountain and you’ll reach the same destination. It will take longer, but I’ll know you are not at risk. When the rescue team starts up the mountain, point them to where I am.’ He strode ahead confidently.

Mel followed at the best pace she could manage. Each moment counted and Rik quickly got ahead of her, and then cut a different path towards the ice-bound cliff. After a few minutes she could hear him shout to the man first in English, and then in French. The conversation continued in French, and Mel could only guess what was being said.

She struggled on, determined to reach Rik and be of help if she could. She was within shouting distance herself when she looked back and saw the rescue team starting up the mountain. Mel waved to them and pointed to Rik’s location, and got a wave back from the leader of the team.

Mel kept going, and then there was the man, dangling in mid-air, and Rik saying something sharp and hard to a second man at the top of the cliff before taking that man’s unused equipment and kitting up.

The third prince of Braston was over the edge in a breathtakingly short time. Mel didn’t go any further, then. She wasn’t sure she could have if she tried. Instead she stood frozen in place, completely unable to breathe as all the concern for his safety that she’d pushed back rushed to the surface and threatened to overwhelm her.

She bit back the instinct to call out, ‘Be careful.’ Considering what he was doing, he would already be at the bottom of the cliff if he weren’t taking care.

Nevertheless, what followed made Melanie’s blood chill. She’d never watched ice rappelling. It looked risky, and it was obvious from the way he tried to control his slip that Rik didn’t have the right boots on his feet for the job.

The stranded man, despite Rik’s instructions that even Melanie could tell were to stay still and wait whether they were in French or not, continued to tug and pull at the tangle he was in. Did he
want
to end up at the bottom of the mountain?

‘Your Highness, you must wait for us!’

‘Please, Prince Rikardo, you must come away from there!’

The words were called as the rescue team came close enough to see what was happening, but it was too late. If Rik didn’t do something about this man, he would kill himself. Panic had the man in its grip. The second man showed no apparent interest in proceedings, sitting there with a blank look on his face.

Had Melanie looked like that when she’d taken that medication and faded into sleep?

He’s taken some kind of illicit drug, Mel. You’ve seen enough of that in Melbourne to recognise it. No doubt Rik recognises it, too.

‘You have to make sure that second man doesn’t interfere with what Rik’s doing or do anything stupid himself.’ She spoke the instruction to the head of the rescue team as they drew close. ‘He’s under the influence of something. It’s likely that both of them are, because Rik’s struggling to get the stranded one to listen and stop fighting to get free.’

Rik had rappelled out beside the man. He couldn’t untangle him, but he was trying to calm him. At his own risk! Even now the man reached for Rik with clawing hands!

‘Oh, please, be careful,’ she whispered.

She didn’t notice that she’d called him Rik as she spoke to the rescue team, or that she’d spoken as though she had every right to that authority. Mel didn’t care.

The next ten minutes felt like a lifetime. When the man was hauled up, Rikardo followed. He moved with confidence. Mel had made her way to the top and wanted to grab him once he got up there and…

Shake him? Check that he was unharmed?

Kiss him a second time?

‘All is well, though I have asked the team to take both men to the nearest hospital and have them checked over, drug tested and, if need be, charged by the police.’ Rik’s words were spoken across a very calm surface.

But beneath that calm must be all the anger over the stupidity of those two men.

‘Your Highness…’ One of the rescue team approached.

‘I am well and unharmed but you must excuse me now,’ Rikardo said with respect, and firmness.