Chapter 4

Amir recognized the drawings on Amira's arms and that could only be royalty.She was a royal born, a princess.  She was indeed a good prize.

Amir and his guards went into the woods and he insisted on Amira's company.

When they got to the shores of a river, they stopped to have a bath.

Amir wasted no time in ordering his men over the side. Amira was ready, too. When he commanded tersely that she remain guarded, she retreated to the stern and sat obediently upon a rowing bench, in false meek ness.

Inside she was a raw bundle of nerves, her heart hammering.

Be still and be wary! she chided herself, clasping her hands tightly to contain her nervousness. Watch for the right moment and then seize it!

She averted her gaze as Amir stripped down to his trousers, focusing instead on the chirping birds fluttering in and out of the dense trees flanking the portage. But Amir's bare chest was so bronzed and massive that she couldn't help peeking at him out of the corner of her eye.

It was a good thing she was soon to escape, considering how attractive she found him. Then, she remembered all too well the pressure of those powerful arms wrapped around her, the sleekness of his skin over hard muscle. She frowned, growing angry with herself.

"Excuse me if I've offended your sense of modesty, Princess, but the afternoon sun is warm," he said sarcastically.

Amira swallowed the tart response that flew to her lips. In a concerted effort to appear as amenable as possible, she offered him a smile.

"It is your life, Lord Amir. I would suppose that you can do whatever you like with it."

Studying her for what seemed an interminable instant, his eyes alight with suspicion, he finally muttered, "So I can." Then he swung his legs over the railing and joined his men in the shallow water.

Amira exhaled in relief. She was finally alone! She waited until Amir and his men were absorbed in the river and lifting it onto the log rollers before she hurried into the chariot and grabbed the pouch, stuffing it down the front of her tunic.

She needed to get far as possible before anyone noticed her absence. Amir was so engrossed in his swimming and that he missed her exit.

Hastening back outside, she was about to retake her seat when the one of the guard informed Amir of illegal merchants at the border.

Amir's sharp commands filled the air, and as Zulu  rushed around to hear his King's orders. And so they headed in the direction of the approaching merchants leaving Amira in the care of Zulu. Zulu wasn't paying much attention to her .

This was Amira's opportunity to leave. She stood up and dusted her robe, about to move farther.

"My lady, where are you going?" came Zulu's astonished voice.

Her heart racing, Amira ignored him. She jumped to the ground and ran for the trees. It seemed that within seconds she had reached their safety, but she plunged on, prickly brambles scratching at her, the thick forest before her nearly as dark as twilight.

The brittle sound of branches snapping caused Amira to gasp in fright. Someone was crashing through the woods behind her.

Oh, God, Amir? She began to run faster, her panting breaths tearing at her throat and her legs pumping furiously as she dashed through the trees.

"Princess Amira, stop! It's not safe out here!"

Relief flooded her that it was only Zulu, but she knew that Amir might be close behind him and she ran all the harder.

"The king will have my head and my body fed to the wolves if you disappear on my watch, please my princess..."Zulu's  words ended so abruptly that she imagined from his sharp inhalation of breath and the dull thud that followed that he must have tripped and fallen.

She even dared to believe when she heard no more heavy footfalls behind her that no one else was even near to catching her. As she came to a small clearing, she paused for the barest instant to catch her breath and she shot a glance over her shoulder.  That was when she felt a sharp object piercing into her back.

"Don't move, or I'll run it through"

That was Amir's voice

"How was he able to catch up with me ?" Amira wondered.

Amir walked to face her with his sword still pointing at her

Her eyes were fixed upon Amir as he stepped into the sunny clearing, his powerful body drenched with sweat and spattered with the life blood of his enemies, his stained sword,

His face was hard, harder than she had ever seen it,

It made her tremble just to look upon him. Amira bent over and retched then, nearly choking in bile.

As she rose shakily, he stifled again his desire to crush her in his embrace, and disgusted by his waning self control, he set out through the woods. When they passed the place where the young warrior Zulu had fallen, Amir saw the black earth stained dark with blood. He heard Amira gasp softly.

"Where is Zulu?"

Her eyes were shining with fresh tears as Amir turned to look at her.""So you know that he was killed?"

She nodded, her delicate hand pressed to her lips. "Jamil has taken him back to the ship."

She said nothing for a long moment. Then she whispered brokenly, "I'm . . . I'm sorry, Lord Amir."

Startled by her apology and touched by its heartfelt sincerity, Amir nonetheless swallowed the catch in his throat.

"Sorry? Don't tell me that you're admitting you caused this misfortune."

She tilted her chin in defiance. "I'm sorry for what happened to Zulu . . . not for trying to escape."

By the gods, she could rile him like no other! Amir thought.

"The two events were intertwined, Princess. If Zulu hadn't run after you, he would have met his end . I suggest you save your apologies for his family.

This news came like a double blow. Amira wished desperately that she could turn back time and she hadn't tried to escape, for perhaps this man couldn't have died. If only she had listened to him. But now there seemed to be nothing she could do, he was dead and it was all her fault.