Last night, she had lain awake, and tossed and turned in her bed trying to reconcile herself to this new arrangement with Gabriel. She should be happy.

She was.

She was grateful with every atom of her being for his willingness to join her cause, and so touched by his n.o.ble unselfishness. He had forgiven her for her lies and accepted that they had been necessary. There was no doubt in Sophia's mind that he would keep her safe.

At the same time, having this handsome, charismatic man so close-but completely off limits to her-was a sweet sort of torture. She had wanted him with her, craving his solid strength at her back now that Leon was gone, but she had not foreseen how his nearness would pain her. How it would make her acutely aware that all her wealth and power could not buy her the one thing she craved.

True love.

Gabriel's gentle gaze and striking smile made her all the more sharply aware of what her duty was costing her, all the more cognizant of the womanly needs in her that would have to go unmet. What could she do? He had explained that emotional entanglements would only make his job harder. If he was putting himself on the line for her, the least she owed her new chief bodyguard was her full cooperation.

And so, friends it was.

She was used to getting her way, but not this time.

Friendship would have to be enough, and by G.o.d, she'd be grateful for that, too. Never mind the fact that every time she looked at the man, she wanted to tumble him down onto the nearest piece of furniture and have her wicked way with him. Not for the world would she make his role any more dangerous for him than it already was.

Besides, Sophia understood that these feelings were also dangerous for her. Falling in love, if that's what this was, was hazardous for any woman ruler. To be sure, it was how Cleopatra had gotten herself into trouble, losing her head over a handsome soldier.

It could lead to losing everything if she was not careful. After all, Gabriel had a commanding presence, an aura of natural leadership. As a seasoned officer, he was used to the mantle of authority and, truthfully, more accustomed to having the responsibility for people's lives on his broad shoulders than she was.

Too, she was well aware that Lord Griffith and the other Foreign Office magnates already took her less than seriously, much to her chagrin. It would be all too easy for them to start ignoring her and simply deal with Gabriel, a strong and worldly male of aristocratic descent, and one of their own.

Sooner or later, it might occur to her darling head of security that he could become the one in charge if he played his cards right.

Not that she didn't trust him. He was far more sincere with her than any other male with a romantic interest had ever been before. It was merely a matter of having studied history well as part of her royal education. Men would always be men.

For now, thankfully, there was no threat of a power struggle between them.

Friend-like, they walked through the security procedures for the night of the Grecian Gala.

Preparing for another round of possible violence during her fund-raiser ball ought to have been a grim and somber activity, but she enjoyed his company so much that the mood somehow stayed light.

Jesting and laughing together with idle banter as they went about their duties, they studiously refrained from the slightest physical contact. This was wise, especially considering all the courtiers and ladies they pa.s.sed dotting the hallways and salons. Those palace parasites loved their gossip, but Gabriel and Sophia walked right past them as they bowed and curtsied.

For her part, Sophia privately rejoiced that at last someone had arrived who treated her like a normal human being. With Gabriel's strict refusal yesterday to become her lover, she had feared she would be imprisoned once again in her royal role, thrust back into her isolation as always, but this wasn't so bad. Friendship was better than nothing.

Starting from the ballroom where the party would be held, they walked off three different exit routes she could use if trouble reared its ugly head during the festivities.

"One more," Gabriel informed her as they headed back to the ballroom so he could show the fourth and final way out that he had planned for her. "I've saved the most interesting of your escape routes for last."

"Really?"

"Come."

Once more, they were off. This time, he showed her through the vast kitchens and down a shallow flight of stairs into the castle's ancient cellars.

"Oh, my." She drew closer to him instinctively as they descended into an eerie subterranean maze dimly lit by glowing lanterns; ma.s.sive storage racks loaded with barrels and crates seemed to stretch for an acre underground.

"When you come to the bottom of the steps, the first thing you'll do is grab that lantern off the peg," he said, pointing to it. "You're going to need it to be able to see down here. It's very dark."

"And nasty," she muttered. When he gestured again to the lantern, she obediently went and collected it.

"Follow me." He marched on, straight ahead.

With the lantern in one hand, she lifted the hem of her skirts off the dirty ground with the other, and grimaced as a rat scampered by through the shadows.

"Stop," Gabriel said. "Now, turn around and look back."

She did.

"Right, so when you come to the bottom of the steps, you take your lantern, go straight ahead-don't start wandering around or you'll get lost, especially if you're panicked."

"I won't panic," she a.s.sured him.

"No, I don't imagine you would," he agreed, slanting her a brisk but admiring glance. "Your guards told me how you acquitted yourself in the carriage the night of the attack. Well done. In any case-go straight ahead and count off ten of these racks, then turn right. Come." He took the lantern from her and led the way into the darkness.

She followed him down the shadowy aisle between the tall, looming storage racks, then Gabriel stopped as they approached the ancient wall. A few feet from it, a row of three barrels stood on end; he pointed at the ground behind the barrels. "Take a look."

Moving closer, she saw that the upended barrels concealed a little trapdoor with a leather strap for a handle. As he bent down to pull the trapdoor open, Sophia watched him, mystified by the change in his demeanor. All of his weighty new duties seemed to invigorate him.

"Some medieval baron must have dreamed this up six hundred years ago," he remarked. "You'll go right down the ladder." As Sophia crouched down beside him, he opened the door, revealing the entrance to a pitch-black hole that led straight down.

"Oh, dear," she murmured.

He lowered the lantern, illuminating the ladder that led down into the darkness. "The captain of the gatehouse told me this tunnel is one of the castle's original secret pa.s.sageways. Only a handful of people are aware of its existence. Your Highness is asked by the Regent not to reveal it to anyone," he added.

She nodded. "Of course."

"This will be your exit of last resort. I've already been down there and checked it thoroughly. It's still structurally sound, so you don't have to worry about it collapsing on you."

"Comforting." She peered down, not liking the look of that dank, spidery hole one bit.

"The tunnel goes for a quarter mile underground and comes up inside the stable complex. If we need to go to the highest alert, this is the route you will take. We'll have men stationed by the stables with a carriage at the ready to get you out of here with all possible haste."

"Can we go now?" She brushed the trace of a cobweb off her arm and shivered. "I don't like it down here."

"We can, if you're clear on all this."

"Of course." She heaved a sigh as she straightened up again.

He closed the trapdoor and stood, dusting off his hands. He pa.s.sed an a.s.sessing gaze over her face. "Something wrong?"

"Do you really think they're going to attack me at the ball? They'd have to be insane."

"I don't plan on trusting in their sanity."

"It seems to me they're more likely to set up another ambush when it's time for us to travel to the coast to board the ship that will be taking us to Kavros."

"You may be right. Perhaps I am being overcautious. But better safe than sorry. Let's get through the ball first, then we'll deal with what comes next."

"Yes," she sighed. "I suppose."

"Come." To her surprise, he touched her then, taking her elbow and shepherding her gently out of the gloom.

At the base of the wide cellar stairs, he paused to hang the lantern back on its hook, then he turned back to her with a somber stare. "I'm sorry if all this was too much at once. I didn't mean to scare you-"

"It's all right. I'm used to it, believe me." She shrugged. "I've been living this way since I was a wee girl."

"Still, it would be unpleasant for anyone."

"Thanks for caring," she murmured, offering him a fond smile.

"Everything's going to be fine," he a.s.sured her, stepping closer. "This gala is going to be your big night. You just concentrate on having fun and charming the guests into donating generously to Kavros." He slid his hands into his pockets as he gazed at her, the lantern's flickering glow sculpting his chiseled face. "Leave the worrying to me."

"All right." She lifted her eyebrows. "But you are going to dance with me at the ball, aren't you?"

He stared at her for a moment, regret flickering behind his eyes. "I'm going to be on duty," he said softly.

Her hopes fell at his gentle reminder of the gap between them; Gabriel looked away.

The silence that followed was excruciating.

He cleared his throat, then swept a gentlemanly gesture toward the stairs. She lifted the hem of her lavender skirts a bit and climbed the stairs ahead of him. Behind her, she could have sworn she felt his stare on her curves. It made her body tingle with awareness. But perhaps she was only imagining it, for he seemed to possess the self-discipline of eight saints combined.

At the top of the cellar stairs, they walked back through the kitchens. Gabriel kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.

"So, what are you going to do now?" she inquired.

"I've asked your guards to ride out with me and show me the place where your party was ambushed. I want to comb the site to see if I can find any clues about who was behind this."

Her eyes widened. "I'm coming with you!"

"No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" she exclaimed.

"There could still be danger."

"They're not going to strike twice in the same place, surely. I'll change into my riding habit and wear a net veil over my hat, will that satisfy you?"

Tenderness crept into the sapphire depths of his eyes as he held her gaze. "Another disguise?"

"When needed," she replied with a smile.

Still, he frowned. "Are you really sure you're up to this? The men told me what you went through that night. In truth, it would probably be helpful to have you there and get your perspective on how it all happened, but I would not ask you to face that place again unless you really felt you could."

Sophia moved closer to him. "If you're there, I can."

He did not move back as she had half expected. "I'll be right beside you," he whispered, holding her gaze.

She tweaked a bra.s.s b.u.t.ton on his smart red coat and grinned. "Then let's go."

CHAPTER.

TEN.

A n eerie stillness hung over the bend in the road where her guards had led them. The sunlit canopy of the autumn trees joined overhead to form a tunnel of their boughs, like a colored-gla.s.s mosaic.

Here and there, falling leaves cascaded down to a packed earth road still scored and stained by the skirmish that had taken place there.

Gabriel glanced at Sophia, making sure she was all right. Beneath the brown net veil that draped her riding hat, her smooth, young face bore signs of quiet distress, but she kept any tears she might have wished to shed at bay. He gave her a bolstering nod; she took a deep breath.

He dismounted from his horse for a closer look around. "Stay with her," he ordered two of the men.

"I'd rather be alone," she murmured, lowering her gaze and staring blindly at her hands, still clenching the reins as she stayed in the saddle. No doubt she needed a little time to reflect on what had happened here, but Gabriel would not leave her unattended.

"Give her some room," he told the two guards in a lower tone, then he sent the others off to search the surrounding woods for anything they might find, any possible new evidence.

They proceeded to do so, dismounting and then moving slowly, studying each foot of the mossy ground. Except for the low crunch of their steps over the dry fallen leaves and the occasional snort of a horse, the whole group was very subdued. Gabriel understood why. He was not so long parted from his regiment in India that he could have forgotten this numb, tearless grief after one of their own had been killed in battle.

While the men searched the woods, Gabriel went to inspect the old cart that had been used as a barrier in the attack, forcing Sophia's entourage to halt. It had been dragged off to the side of the road, and though he examined it thoroughly, it yielded no particular information.

Next, he studied the chaotic pattern of footprints in the road-wagon tracks, hoof prints, a few dark copper stains that told a tale of pain. Blood. His gaze traveled up into the trees, from where several of the attackers not hiding in the old cart had swung down into the fray on ropes, according to Sophia's bodyguards.

The ropes the brazen b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had used in launching their attack still dangled from the branches. Gabriel's gut tightened to see them hanging there like empty nooses.

This ambush, he thought grimly, had been carefully thought out and very well timed. Perhaps the only factor the enemy had failed to take into account was the ferocity with which their intended female target would fight back.

But now, no doubt, they would take that under advis.e.m.e.nt. Next time, they'd be ready. One look at the scene a.s.sured him that there would be a next time.

Whoever they were, these boys meant business.

He glanced darkly at Sophia to make sure she was still all right. She remained on horseback and was staring off into the woods. Moving on in his examination of the scene, Gabriel left the road for a closer look at the trees they had used as their hiding places before the attack.

He found a stray bullet lodged in a nearby trunk, pried it out with his knife, and studied it, but it told him little. The ordinary silver ball could have been used with a variety of guns.

He stepped back to a.s.sess the big old tree, then grasped hold of it, and began to climb. His efforts cost him a mild twinge in his middle where he had been wounded, but he persisted, wanting to see what the scene had looked like from the attackers' point of view.

Sophia watched him curiously as he reached the first main bough where two ropes were tied. Among the branches, he found broken twigs and cracked limbs where they had crouched, waiting for their moment. He inspected the knots they had tied. The ropes themselves were ordinary hempen lines available anywhere. From his perch on the thick branch, he surveyed the lay of the land. He realized the villains would have seen her party coming for at least a quarter mile through the trees.