‘Then get out of here.’
‘Not a chance.’
He didn’t say anything for a while, and she really wasn’t sure what would happen, but she’d played her cards and now she could only wait.
And then, miraculously, Ram frowned at her. ‘Do you really want to ride an elephant?’
She had promised herself she would hold her feelings in, but that wasn’t always possible. She was sure her face was jumping into a smile against her express wishes as she said casually, ‘I thought I might give it a go.’
‘And you also thought it would be more fun if we did it together?’
‘Something like that…’
The last thing she had expected was that Ram would lift his hand and trace her scars; this was the same web of scars that gave her milky eye the appearance—or so the plastic surgeon had insisted—of a moonstone set in filigree.
She let one careless tear escape, but instead of wiping it away she tilted her chin at a defiant angle. She was determined weakness would not get the better of her this time, because this was Ram’s moment, not hers. The surgeon had done a good job. Why not give her some credit? Mia reflected as she waited to see what Ram would do next.
‘Forgive me, Mia,’ he said softly. ‘I shouldn’t have allowed you to become caught up in this.’
But she wanted to be caught up…
‘Come on,’ he added briskly. ‘We mustn’t keep our taxis waiting.’
Elation roared inside her, but she behaved with absolute decorum while Ram went to make arrangements for a late passenger in the elephant parade.
This was the first time she’d gone without her eyepatch in public and she was shaking inside, but it didn’t matter what she looked like, or what people thought of her, because this was about Ram fulfilling his destiny, and his happiness meant everything to her. At least he hadn’t fainted with shock when he saw the full extent of her scars. He’d just given her a long, searching look that said Ram had seen everything he needed to. And now she must have that same strength for him. He was only one small step away from devoting himself to his people, and, yes, there would be enemies, and, yes, Ram still had some way to go, but he would be a great leader. She was sure of it.
A great stillness had fallen over the crowd and the only sound to be heard was muted chanting from the priests and the occasional jingle of bells. Ram had reached the end of the receiving line, and now he indicated that Mia must join him. She was still feeling elated and proud of Ram—right up to the moment when some elderly man dressed in finery bowed over her hand, murmuring, ‘You have brought us a new queen, Majesty…How wonderful.’
She would have felt Ram’s good mood shatter a football pitch away, but standing next to him was like experiencing a seismic tremor.
Ram—no! She told him with her eyes. He had to get through this without incident. There was something happening here she didn’t understand, but, whatever it was, Ram’s people were still waiting to greet him. ‘I’m so very pleased to meet you,’ she blurted out, muscling in in front of a seething Ram. ‘I’m afraid I’m not your new queen,’ she explained to everyone’s astonishment. ‘I’m just a friend of the family out here to offer some advice on interior design.’ She had to admit, it sounded a bit lame, and she was glad when Ram steered her firmly away, but it also amused her that from that moment on he introduced her as his interior design consultant.
Finally they reached the gangplank where a uniformed chauffeur was saluting by the door of the official car. ‘You’re not going to change your mind, I hope?’ she asked Ram fiercely under her breath. ‘I promise I’ll never speak to you again if you do.’
‘Don’t tempt me,’ he growled back at her, but to her relief what he did next brought the biggest cheer from the crowd. Walking a few paces ahead of her, he raised both his arms in greeting.
To say Ram’s people were ecstatic at this sign of his affection would be totally understating the case. Mia thought her eardrums might explode, and it was some time before the beating of drums and cymbal clashes could be heard above the cheering, but eventually the determined drummers formed up at the head of the procession of elephants.
There was a moment when a prolonged barrage of camera flashes made Mia feel for the eyepatch in her pocket, but she took her hand away; there could be no more dodging the issue for either her or Ram.
Ram’s response to the adulation of the crowd was yet another incarnation of the man she loved. She had never seen him in this light before, standing with his hands clasped as if in prayer as he bowed to his people. It was a pledge of service she found both touching and inspirational. To have such a man on your side would be—
‘Mia?’ Ram’s eyes searched for her as he turned, and he seemed relieved to see her. ‘Your taxi’s waiting…’
Well, she’d asked for this, Mia thought with amusement and not a little trepidation as she followed Ram’s gaze towards a huge, gentle-looking beast. The elephant was kneeling to allow her to climb into the lavishly decorated howdah on its back, and a mahout, or driver in turban and baggy trousers, stood ready to help her. Biting her lip, she laughed with nervous anticipation. There was just one more thing she had to check. ‘You are coming too?’ she confirmed with Ram.
‘I believe that big old tusker is mine…’
Mia gasped. The biggest elephant she had ever seen, clothed in priceless armour of beaten gold, its crimson regalia flashing with the fire of rubies and diamonds, was a massive warrior beast almost as formidable as Ram. ‘You’re well suited,’ she said when the mighty animal raised its noble head and bellowed as if in recognition of another king.
‘Just go, will you?’ Ram said, trying to look fierce, though his eyes were laughing. ‘Just go ride your elephant and give me some peace.’
Mia relaxed into laughter, more relieved than she could say to see the fun back in Ram’s eyes. His steely core had defeated whatever the old man had said or done to hurt him, for now Mia was sure that the wily courtier played some significant role in the politics of Ramprakesh. What? She couldn’t know—but she was determined he wouldn’t spoil Ram’s day.
Once she was up in her swaying seat, Mia could see that the crowd extended for miles in every direction. Ramprakesh in carnival mood was a scene of incredible vibrancy, and she felt an immediate affinity both for the country and its people. The sun was blazing down from a flawless sapphire sky onto what had to be an unparalleled kaleidoscope of colour, scent and music. Drab beige was nowhere to be seen, and the air was zinging with the scent of food and incense and dust—and there were more flowers than she had expected in such a hot country—worn as brilliant orange garlands, or tossed like discs of sunlight into the air so that they landed around the giant feet of Ram’s elephant.
The howdah was more comfortable than she had expected too, though she guessed this form of transport must have remained largely unchanged over the centuries. It was a unique privilege to share this experience with Ram. He was already wearing a garland of golden flowers around his neck, and the colour was a striking contrast against the sombre black of his silk robe. But it was when he pressed his hands together in the traditional greeting that she thought like a priceless black diamond Ram’s darkly glittering glamour had finally found its true home.
‘Are you comfortable?’ he yelled as their howdahs drew level.
‘Perfectly,’ she mouthed back at him with a smile. Goldfringed rugs protected their gentle giants’ backs, while deeply padded cushions of crimson velvet invited relaxation. Each elephant wore a band of gold around its tusks and similar gold-trimmed headdresses from which spirals of gold wire and pearls cascaded down like giant-sized earrings, and a heavily ornamented brow band from which a jewelled medallion hung. She had no doubt the huge flashing jewels were real. No one had been left without a party outfit, she thought happily, wishing she could reach down to pa
t her elephant’s papery side.
‘Not bad for a lift from the docks?’ Ram called out to her.
‘Not bad at all,’ she called back. She felt a great explosion of joy inside her as she watched Ram waving to the crowds. Seeing him so happy and relaxed with people who so obviously loved him meant everything to her. But there was still one question puzzling her. If she had been mistaken for the new queen, what had happened to the old queen?
There were many unanswered questions and only one certainty—Ramprakesh was a very different world, and one she would need a new rulebook to deal with.
Chapter Thirteen
THE parade was fabulous and exhausting as it lasted for hours. It wound its way slowly uphill, along a broad, dusty avenue lined every inch of the way with huge crowds. The sun was setting by the time they reached the foot of some colossal arched gates, and beyond these Mia could see a magical walled city whose stone was rapidly turning pink in the fading light. She thought it was like something lifted from the pages of an exotic fairy tale.
It was a thrill when Ram insisted on helping her down from her lofty carriage and yet another thrill when he escorted her up the vast sweep of marble steps. ‘You don’t have to do this, you know,’ she murmured as uniformed guards with turbans and sashes and scimitars hanging from their belts opened the golden entrance doors for them, but Ram insisted, and, wrapping his arm around her waist, he said, ‘Do you think I’d ignore you? What you did there back on the dock—’
‘Was nothing,’ Mia insisted.
‘It was a little more than that,’ Ram said with matching certainty. Cupping her chin, he raised Mia’s face to his. ‘You’re the bravest woman I know, Mia.’
‘We both have our moments,’ she told him lightly. ‘Look at you—riding an elephant. Who’d have thought?’
He laughed and let her go, but she hadn’t forgotten Ram’s earlier reaction when he saw what a fuss had been made for his arrival, and she filed it away for later consideration as he led her on through the entrance portico towards the long line of staff waiting to greet them.