"That could be fun. There, darling. Buy some nice French bread from this chap. I'll bet you like the shape."

"You're a demon," she answered under her breath as the fellow from the baker's shop pressed in to sell them a long, hard baguette. When Sophia handed over a few sous with trembling hands, the baker's man frowned.

"Is your lady ill, monsieur?"

She could not speak, he was so deep.

"Fever," Gabriel forced out.

"Eh, there is a physician in the town."

"Non, non," he said, "I will tend her myself."

Sophia bit back a moan.

"Ahh," the man said with a sudden, hearty laugh and a knowing wink as understanding dawned. "Excusezmoi, monsieur. Merci beaucoup. So sorry to interrupt."

"You didn't," he muttered. "Oh, G.o.d, drive on!" he yelled at the coachman, sounding rather out of breath.

"Let them pa.s.s! Let the lovers pa.s.s!" the baker's man announced, waving them through the crowd with a grin from ear to ear.

Cheeky French humor. Laughter abounded as the people cheered and got out of the way.

As soon as they had cleared the town, Sophia held onto the leather hand-loop above the carriage window, supporting herself as Gabriel finished the deed.

"Oh, G.o.d-are you trying to get me pregnant?" she asked, out of breath and resting against him after their enthusiasm.

"That would be nice."

"Mmm, it would." She turned and pressed her lips to his in dreamy rapture.

Ending the kiss, he gazed tenderly into her eyes, and in that moment, Sophia felt as if her life was now complete.

When they reached the Mediterranean, neither of them was very happy to see it.

Their mood changed from romantic euphoria to one of more somber intimacy as they each contemplated what still lay ahead. They walked the beach at sunset, hand in hand, and barely spoke. Beside them rolled the jade expanse, its crop of lazy sailboats bobbing gently on the waves.

Gabriel was trying to figure out how to broach the subject of the threat from the Order of the Scorpion when Sophia turned to him abruptly, her cheeks pink with the breeze.

"I want to thank you for saving my life," she said earnestly.

He kissed her hand and smiled. "Thank you for loving me," he answered.

She gazed wistfully at him and brushed her blowing hair out of her face. "It's easy."

"You make me so happy," he whispered, a.s.sisting. He tucked the curl behind her ear for her.

At once, it blew free again. That mane of hers had a mind of its own, like the rest of the strong-willed lady, he thought in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Gabriel?" She clasped his hand in hers and moved closer. "There's something that I need to ask you."

"Such serious eyes," he murmured, furrowing his brow with a tender look as he studied her. "What is it, love?"

She stared back at him, her velvety brown eyes huge and earnest. "Do you plan to marry me?"

He blinked. "Of course! What do you take me for, darling? None of this would have been happening if that were not my intention."

I'm just not sure if Fate is going to cooperate.

Before he could qualify his statement, relief burst across her face. Blushing, she laughed at herself almost nervously. "I'm sorry. It's not that I doubted you, it's just that you never mentioned it-oh, Gabriel, let's go and do it right now!"

"Now?"

"That way no one can stop us! Oh, I so want to be your wife. What have you done to me?" she asked as she clung to him in doting affection. "I used to be too terrified even to think of sharing my position with a man before you. But I trust you so much. I know you would never betray me. I want to rule equally with you by my side, equal in every way."

He gazed at her for a long moment. "Are you sure that's how you see me? As your equal?"

"Yes, of course!"

"What about divine right and all that?"

"Oh, that's nonsense! Our quality is proved by what we do. And you have done marvelous things," she said with a sigh.

"What about Kavros?"

"My people will only benefit from the two of us being together. With your strengths and my strengths combined, think of it! We will make the country whole again in no time."

Moved by her faith in him, he captured her chin on his fingertips and tilted her head back to press a soft kiss to her lips. She smiled as his kiss ended and he slowly straightened up again.

"So, what do you think?" she murmured. She squeezed his hands with an eager little laugh. "Shall we go get married? There must be twenty churches in this town. Where are we, anyway?"

"Perpignan. Sophia," he said in a cautious tone, "I think we'd better wait a bit."

"But why?"

"Darling, with all that is at stake, we both must think practically. The Foreign Office as well as the local powers on Kavros could challenge the marriage if it's not done out in the open, in front of everyone. You know I am yours. Don't scowl, it happened to Prinny. Remember?"

She lowered her head.

"The world found out that he had married his Catholic mistress when he was only, what, twenty-one? It was a great scandal and in the end, they forced him to put her away-and he's a man. With you as the royal personage, being a woman, I cannot even think what they would do if they didn't like our match. They'd say I had swindled you for wealth and power-and even worse, you'd be deemed an easy virtue! Your loss of credibility and authority, in turn, means that Kavros would suffer."

She turned away.

"You could lose the throne if we are too hasty, and I won't let that happen to you. Your people need you, and I think you need them."

She sent him a soulful glance over her shoulder.

He moved closer. "I adore you for wanting me so much, but you already have me. And protecting you also means forcing you to think things through," he added in a soft tone, brushing her hair behind her shoulder with an intimate touch.

"Well, when you put it like that...I suppose I can be patient," she conceded with a glum look.

"Good. Because-" Gabriel hesitated, then braced himself and took a deep breath. "There is another aspect to all this that I haven't yet told you about."

He briefly related the information that he had shaken out of the Turkish amba.s.sador after she went missing. He told her what they knew about the Order of the Scorpion and how he had purposely ordered her Greek bodyguards to leave the one wounded Janissary alive so that they could track him to the villains' headquarters.

"I gave that mission to Timo. He took Niko with him and they're to report back to me as soon as they are able. When we find these devils," he said in a hard tone, "we are going after them."

"I see." She absorbed this in silence. "You plan to be a part of the attack?"

"h.e.l.l, yes."

"But I don't want you to risk-"

"Darling," he interrupted firmly. "You know me better than that." He paused. "Think of it as my way of trying to show your people I am worthy of you."

"But you are worthy of me! You don't need to prove it to anyone! You could be killed! No, I forbid you from taking part-"

He silenced her with a finger over her lips. "Need I remind you what happened the last time you tried to protect me? All h.e.l.l broke loose, as I recall."

She jerked away from him. "I'm not going to let you die! Do you hear?"

"Sophia, you'll be a queen, but you are not G.o.d. If I am called, then I must go. When it's over, I will do whatever you want. As soon as this threat is put down. In our hearts, we already belong to each other, but if I were to fall, then you must marry someone else. And quickly. For the sake of any...child we might have created," he forced out with a pang. "Even-the prince of Denmark-if you must."

"Have you lost your wits?" she cried. "Denmark? After what he did to his wife?"

"Yes, well, I'm confident that you are smarter than he is."

"I cannot believe we are even discussing this!"

"I'm sorry, Sophia." He shook his head stubbornly, refusing to budge. "I could not resist you anymore. I need you too much. Nor would I take it back for all the world, loving you. But now I have to see this through. You are in danger, and by G.o.d, I will tear them apart before I let them hurt you. But if I marry you now, and then I die, the fact that your dead husband was your bodyguard is hardly going to win you any suitors."

"Gabriel!"

"Better that you should lie about us than face public censure and disgrace."

"Do you think I want to live if these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds kill you?" she whispered. He could see her shaking.

"You have to. Especially if there's a babe."

"I think you want to die," she accused him. "You want to go back to your precious Light, your angels. You don't want to promise anything because you don't want to get dragged down onto this miserable earth once more! I'm not a fool! That's why you gave your brother your money, isn't it? That's why you swore never to kill again, why you fought me so hard. Don't you love me enough to want to stay alive?"

"Of course I love you, and of course I don't want to die! Don't be absurd! But I should despise myself entirely if I ever cowered behind you."

"Still your warrior pride takes precedence."

"My love for you is everything," he ground out fiercely, glaring at her.

"Love? How could you be so cruel to me? Making me love you so much I could die without you? How could you do this to me?"

"You didn't give me much choice." The more she eroded his certainty, the more he hardened his resolve. "Sophia, I will handle this threat, I a.s.sure you. But you're going to have to be strong. Whatever happens to me, you need to stand for your people. Everyone is threatened by these monsters."

"But I want you to stay with me. I don't understand why you think you must go! There are plenty of other soldiers-"

"No. Don't even travel down that road, my love. It will lead you nowhere. It's not just you, my darling love, whose life is at stake," he whispered, forcing himself to take a gentler tone. "It's more than even Kavros."

She looked at him in question, teary-eyed.

He shook his head. "Why do you think the Order of the Scorpion wants your island chain? The same reason Napoleon did, and the Russians, and the Austrians, and us."

Her face turned pale as she absorbed his words. "Are you saying that these men have designs on all of Europe?"

"Not for their own power-l.u.s.t, of course, but for Allah," he answered dryly. "Now you understand the true threat we are dealing with."

"Oh, G.o.d," she breathed, looking away.

"Be brave," he ordered her. "We both have our roles to play in this. You didn't want a lapdog, and I expect more from you than some carefree Gypsy girl."

"The Iron Major," she murmured in a bitter tone, then sent him an accusing glance. "No mercy?"

He looked her in the eyes, and in that moment, Sophia knew it was as useless to try to dissuade him from his duty as it would have been to try to talk her out of claiming her destiny.

"None," he answered.

G.o.d, she loved him, even as he dashed her hopes upon the rocks. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, fighting tears.

A thought of Leon trailed through her mind, her hardheaded old mentor taking her sternly in hand at their fencing practice. "Come! I'm not going to baby you. Your enemies won't! Now try again."

"Sophia?" Gabriel murmured, watching her. "It was not my intention to hurt you."

"You never wanted to kill anyone again," she reminded him in angry reproach.

"Yes." He did not flinch. "Until they came after you."

It was pointless. He was stone. She shook her head, at a loss, and walked away.

Gabriel let her go; he seemed to understand her need to be alone right now, and in truth, he probably fared no better than she behind his stoic facade.

All she knew was that the time had come to be a princess. And if this was what it was going to be like, then maybe she should have opted for the lounging life of exiled royalty.

They hadn't even reached Kavros yet, and the crown was already proving to be so much heavier to bear than she had ever expected. But it was too late now. The Iron Major could have worn it without bending, but now she did not know if he would even be by her side in a month or so.

If her duty took her love from her, if she must sacrifice even her mate for Kavros, then, at least, G.o.d willing, she would have his babe.

She went into their hotel room alone, folded her arms across her belly, and wept like an orphaned child-which, in fact, she had been, not so many years ago.