The door shut behind him.

She whirled and looked out the window again.

"Be bold."

She had never lacked boldness, but these circumstances were different, and the step he wanted her to take would affect her entire future. She would be defying her father to journey to a wild land with a man who was as strange and barbaric as Sedikhan.

Yet Galen had been entirely reasonable and urbane as he had outlined his proposal to her. He had used persuasion, not force. Why was she still thinking of him as a barbarian?

She caught sight of him below, striding toward the stable. His pace was unhurried, almost leisurely, but every step held enormous power under complete control.

She suddenly realized his iron control was at the core of her fascination with him. She had sensed a deeply layered explosive violence in him as he outlined his proposition, and she had been waiting for it to surface.

She was being foolish. If he did possess a violent nature, she would probably never see it. He had given her a choice. But what if she refused his proposal? Would he still be so calm and reasonable?

Galen disappeared into the stable, and Tess felt a sudden easing, as if she had been released from bondage. Bondage? What an odd thought when he had offered her only freedom.

She turned away from the window and sat down in the chair. Resting her chin on her hand, she dreamily gazed into thin air.

Freedom. The thought was honey-sweet, and the temptation nearly irresistible. Three years and she could be free for the rest of her life. Three years was not such a long time. She had spent six at the convent, and Zalandan had to be better than that dreary place.

Freedom.

"Well?" Sacha asked as Galen came into the stable.

"I left her to mull over my proposition." Galen took off his coat and hung it over the side of the stall again. He knelt beside Sacha in the stall. "I'll carry on."

"Does she need me?"

Galen's brow rose as he glanced sidewise at Sacha. "I don't know why you persist in believing I'm victimizing your sweet cousin. I was everything gentlemanly and courteous to her."

"She's still a child. I'd hoped while she was away, she would become—"

"Convents don't contribute to worldly wisdom." Galen dipped the cloth in the hot water again. "That's why you were able to persuade her father to send her away." He applied the salve and wrapped it tight around the stallion's ankle. "She's not really a child. She may lack experience, but we both know she is anything but ignorant and naive."

Sacha remembered the luminous look on Tess's face when she had spoken of traveling the route of Marco Polo. "She has her dreams."

"So do I." Galen waited another moment, then loosened the bandage and began to unwind it. "Sedikhan."

Sacha frowned as he looked at the bandage. "How many times are you going to do that?"

Galen put the cloth in the hot water in the bucket. "As long as it takes to get the results I need."

"All night?"

"If necessary." Galen squeezed the water out of the cloth and began spreading the salve on the bandage.

Sacha felt a sudden uneasiness as he realized Galen's determination in this matter, small as it might be, was as nothing compared to his devotion to his grand plan.

"Why don't you warn her?" Galen suggested without looking at him. "It's what you want to do."

"You won't try to stop me?"

"Why should I? It will make you feel better." He wound the bandage tightly around the horse's ankle. "And it won't make any difference."

"You think you've convinced her?"

"No," Galen said softly, "I know I've convinced her."

"You don't have to do it." Sacha gazed at Tess's taut back as she looked out the window. "All you have to do is say you don't wish to marry Galen, and we'll set out for Belajo in the morning."

"It was you, wasn't it?" Tess asked in a low voice. "I was surprised when my father told me I was to go to France. It was you who presented the idea and talked him into it. Why?"

"Galen decided you needed protection, and he believed the sisters would provide it."

"And do you always do what Sheikh Ben Raschid tells you to do?"

"He convinced me it was for your good."

"Yes, he can be very persuasive." She turned to face him. "But I'm surprised he can so easily get you to do as he wishes."

"He does not—" He broke off and grimaced ruefully. "It's true he had no trouble molding me to his wishes at that time. I was a thoughtless popinjay who had more concern for the cut of my coat than anything happening around me."

She studied him thoughtfully. "But you've changed."

"Sedikhan changed me. Galen changed me." Sacha glanced down at his gold brocade coat. "Though I admit I still like an occasional bit of flash and glitter."

"There's nothing wrong with flash and glitter." She smiled affectionately. "And that empty-headed popinjay was very kind to me."

"No, I wasn't. I should have done more to help you. It's not enough to care, one has to act."

"Is that what you learned in Sedikhan?"

"Yes, that and other things."

"Then it must be a very interesting country. Why are you trying to persuade me not to go?"

"I feel responsible."

"And?"

"It's a difficult situation. I don't want you hurt."

"Yet you consented to maneuver me into this position."

"Galen needed you. Sedikhan needed you. I thought it wouldn't be such a bad bargain for you."

"And now you do?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Galen is… He's not always…" After a long pause he said softly, "In Zalandan Galen is all-powerful, and his people love him. His power is even greater than my father's."

"That cannot be so bad if his people hold him in affection."

"You don't understand. Galen's desire to have Sedikhan united is a passion that sweeps everything else away." He gazed at her soberly. "I don't want you to be swept away, Tess."

She laughed. "Why should I be affected by all that? I'd be a visitor in Sedikhan for three years, perhaps less."

He could see the excitement flushing her cheeks and had a sinking feeling his words had not swayed her. "Three years can be a long time."

"I have only one question. Do you believe I can trust Galen to keep his promise?"

"Yes."

She crossed the room to give him a fleeting kiss on the cheek. "I thank you for your concern, Sacha, but it will truly be fine." A hint of bleakness colored her voice as she continued, "I know I'm only a pawn to your friend, but when have I ever been anything else? At least I'll have a chance at independence, if I agree to his terms. No one else will offer me even that possibility. You were right, he was right: It's not a bad bargain."

"You've made up your mind?"

She nodded as she took a step back. "And I'd better tell him. Where is he?"

"In the stable. I'll go with you."

"I'll go alone." She cast him a gamine grin. "Stop frowning. Everything is going to be splendid."

Chapter 2

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"What are you doing?" Tess asked from the doorway of the stable.

Galen turned toward her. The light of the setting sun behind her sharply silhouetted her slender figure, seeming to etch her hair in dark flame. "My horse was bitten by a snake on the way to Dinar, and the wound is infected," he explained slowly.