“A princess?” he said, on a choked laugh. “A princess from, Jesus H. Christ, from the kingdom of Qaram?”
She didn’t answer.
He could see the pulse racing in her throat as he took a step forward. “Goddammit,” he said, “goddammit, why didn’t you tell me?”
Annie, or the princess of Qaram, whatever in hell the woman who haunted his dreams called herself, looked at him through tear-glazed eyes.
“I never told you,” she whispered, “because you never asked.”
THE END