"I can see why. Their music has all the charm of a rusty nail being scraped across a blackboard."

"That's why Damien wants his grandson to go into the snake-charming business," Pandora said reasonably. "I can see that. Musicians have to be damn good to make it, while snake charmers don't have to—"

"Pandora," Philip interrupted. "Just tell me what I have to do to get these people out of my salon."

"It's very simple. Just do the voodoo you do so well. In short, intimidate the hell out of them. Make them promise not to put a snake back into the baby's playpen on pain of instant beheading or something."

"Is that all? Why didn't you say so?" He brushed by her and strode into the center of the confusion. Pandora jiggled the baby on her hip as she watched Philip draw a royal cloak of arrogance about himself. No one could be more menacing than Philip when he set his mind to it. He moved from the musicians to the snake charmer to the water vendor to the weeping mother, speaking incisively and leaving no room for argument. Then he crossed back to Pandora and took the baby from her arms. "Stand aside," he said. "I hope we're going to have a parade."

She shifted to the side of the archway. He put the baby in the chastened mother's arms and returned to stand beside Pandora. He crossed his arms over his chest, his legs slightly astride. She had a sudden vision of Yul Brynner standing in that same pose in The King and I and had to smother a smile. All they needed was the "March of the Siamese Children," but thank heavens these musicians weren't going to supply it. They were scrambling to their feet and snatching up their instruments. The two men nodded nervously to her as they practically ran out of the room. Damien followed, scowling, his shoulders set and proud. The last to leave were Beldar with Hanarand the baby. The young mother gave her a tentative smile and scurried from the room.

"You did that very well." Pandora turned to Philip with a satisfied smile. "Of course. I'll have to go visit the booth periodically to make sure they don't backslide."

"No! I don't want you anywhere near that clan again."

"But I can't just let—"

He held up his hand. "I'll send a man down to check it out every other day," he said. "But you stay out of it."

"If you insist." Her expression was suddenly wistful. "I would like to see the baby again, though. Wasn't he sweet? Such big, dark eyes ..." She broke off as her gaze fell on something across the room. "Oh, dear."

Philip frowned. "What's wrong now?"

"Beldar forgot something." She ran across the room and snatched up the small covered wicker basket on the floor by the window. "I hope I can catch him before he leaves." She hurried past him through the archway into the foyer.

"Pandora." Philip's voice was ominously quiet. "What is in that basket?"

She looked over her shoulder in surprise. "Beldar forgot his cobra." Her steps quickened. "I'll be right back."

Philip stared after her as she streaked out the front door in pursuit of the snake charmer. "Of course," he muttered dazedly. "Beldar forgot his cobra."

He was silent for a long moment, and then he began to chuckle. By the time Pandora returned he was leaning helplessly against the wall as he tried to suppress his laughter. "Did you catch up with him?" he asked, wiping his eyes.

She nodded. "I don't see what was so funny," she said crossly. "He was actually very rude to me. You'd think he'd be glad that I took the trouble to bring the cobra back to him. What's a snake charmer without a cobra?"

"What, indeed? Perhaps I ought to give him another lecture. Do you think that would help?"

"I doubt it. Anyone who would be dumb enough to put a sna—Philip, stop laughing. I went through a great deal of trouble and—"

His hand covered her lips. "And you caused a good deal of trouble today as well." His blue-green eyes were twinkling. "You're lucky that I can still laugh about it."

She kissed his palm affectionately, then took his hand away from her mouth. "I guess it was a little amusing," she conceded with a reluctant smile. "In retrospect."

"Definitely in retrospect." His palm tingled where her lips had rested. "Most of the humor you inspire seems to work that way. First horror and then amusement."

"You didn't seem to be any too terrified a few minutes ago. You play Lord-of-All-You-Survey with great dash."

"I've gotten a good deal of practice in the last two weeks." His lips twisted. "How did you manage to survive the past six years? You appear to live in the eye of a hurricane."

"I'm usually much busier than this." She paused deliberately. "Painting my toenails and lolling by the pool makes me restless. Perhaps if you didn't leave me alone so much I wouldn't get Into so much trouble. You could sort of keep an eye on me."

"Another setup, Pandora?"

"Not this time. However, I do get bored." Her eyes were glowing softly. "And lonely. I've hardly seen you since the night of the dinner party."

"I warned you that was the way it was going to be," he said impassively. "You should have expected it."

She nibbled at her lower lip. "You also told me that you were going to treat me as a Khadim," she said clearly. "You haven't been doing that." Her laugh was a little strained. "What good is a Khadim if you don't make love to her?"

"Perhaps I don't find this particular Khadim desirable," he said, not looking at her. "Perhaps one night was all I required."

"That's a lie," she said, her eyes flashing. "I know you want me. I can feel it. Why the hell don't you admit it?"

His gaze met hers. "All right," he said flatly. "I want you. But there's no way in hell I'm going to take you. I'm not going to give you that advantage."

"Advantage? This isn't a tennis match or some kind of game. This is—" She broke off. She mustn't fall apart. It was just that time was passing so quickly and she was getting a little panicky. She might discover any day now that she was not, in fact, pregnant. Philip was no closer to accepting her now than when she'd arrived in Sedikhan. And, since the night of the dinner party, he seemed to have erected new and stronger barriers against her. "All right, you don't trust me. You obviously think I'm going to weave some sort of erotic spell over you once I've lured you into my bed." Her lips were trembling a little as she smiled at him. "I don't know why you think that, but I'll accept it. However, is there any reason why we can't spend just a little time together? We used to get along very well in the old days. I think you even enjoyed my company. If you don't want me to go with you to the irrigation project, there are still the evenings." She reached out an impulsive hand and laid it on his arm. "I promise I won't try to seduce you. No matter how much you deny it, I'm still a part of your life. I have a certain importance to you. If you won't accept me as a lover, perhaps we could be friends."

Her expression was so earnest when she told him she wouldn't try to seduce him, Philip thought ruefully. Didn't she realize that her hand on his arm was doing just that? Just a touch and his body was hardening, readying itself. "You said I didn't have women friends," he reminded her with a faint smile.