The Perfect Temptation (56 page)

narrow thinking, sent his daughter away in
the night. Kedar

looked for her for many years in many places,
but could not

find her.

''When his father died, Kedar had to put away
his yearning

and fulfill his duty. He became raja and took
a wife.

Then, in accordance with our customs, he took
another and

installed mistresses. Prince Mohan and the
others were born.

The kingdom was preserved into the future.
But
Kedar
never

forgot the English woman. She remained in his
heart."

''And then one day in a temple …
“
 
Aiden supplied, sighing

and easing his finger off the side of the
trigger.

Blinking, Vadeen stared at him. "You
know the rest of the

tale?"

"Only bits and pieces Mohan
shared," he admitted, his

stomach knotted and cold. "And a few
guesses of my own

based on comments Alex has made. You might as
well tell

me all of it."

"In
the temple was an
English girl stealing the offerings

of food. Kedar saw her and knew the face of
the English

woman he had loved in Delhi. The girl ran
away from him

but he sent his soldiers out to find her.
They returned with

the girl and her mother."

Being found in a temple and looking like your
mother

didn't make a girl a princess. There was more
to the tale than

that. Not that it was all that difficult to
guess what it was.

The pieces had been there all along. He just
hadn't wanted to

see the picture they formed.

"And Kedar was happy at last,"
Barrett summarized cynically.

"The angels broke out the harps and all
was finally

right in the kingdom."

Aiden snorted and shook his head. It was bad
enough that

Barrett seemed determined to be as unpleasant
as humanly

possible, but he was pursuing the course
without having the

slightest idea of all the intricate
requirements of caste and

race in India. He hadn't understood, either;
not until Alex

had explained the basic outlines of them. And
all that she'd

told him squared with what Vadeen was saying
in the darkness.

"Ah, I see, Aiden, that you have some
understanding of

his dilemma," Vadeen said. "No, he
could not be happy. He

was the raja and knew there were enemies who
sought means

to remove him from power. His love for the
English woman

would have been seen by some as a sign that
he was unfit to

rule and he knew that if he were foolish
enough to provide

his enemies with such a weapon, they would
use it against

him. And against the English woman. He had no
choice but

to hold her secret in the shadows of his
heart."

"And Alex?" Aiden asked, already
knowing the answer,

beating back the rising tide of despair.
"Was she a secret,

too?"

"You are a most perceptive man, Aiden.
The English

woman knew of the dangers in Kedar's court.
She swore the

girl was the child of her husband. But Kedar
can count and

he can see. He has always known that she is
his. Just as he

has always known that he did not dare to
declare her his

firstborn child, his daughter, until his
enemies were vanquished."

"Which they will be as soon as you find
and kill Hanuman,"

Barrett offered.

"Yes. When it is safe, Kedar will
acknowledge her as a

royal princess."

Aiden clenched his teeth. He was going to
lose her. She'd

have no choice but to go back to India.
Princesses never had

choices. They existed only to serve the needs
of the kingdom.

Alex deserved a better life than that.

"Does Alex know that she's Kedar's
daughter?" he heard

Barrett ask.

It was a pointless question. At least to his
mind. He knew

Alex.
If
she'd even suspected that she was royal, she

wouldn't have dithered for a single second
over the decision

to go back or to stay in England. Not one single
second.

She'd take up her duty without hesitation.
Alex knew more

about obligation than the Queen.

"No. She looks fully English and so the
truth was kept

from her so that she could not endanger
herself or the throne

with a careless slip of the tongue."

Aiden swallowed down the painful swelling in
his chest

to ask a question that did matter. "But
Hanuman knows,

doesn't he?
If
he didn't, Alex wouldn't
be
in danger."

"He suspects," Vadeen answered
simply. "For Hanuman,

it is enough."

"Pardon my skepticism, Aiden,"
Barrett said, apparently

not even trying to hide his sarcasm,
"but has it occurred to

you to wonder how the bodyguard of Kedar's
brother knows

all of his master's brother's secrets?"

No, that Vadeen did was sufficient. He didn't
fathom the

ways of India and he never would. But all the
facts seemed to

add up. Either Vadeen was telling the truth
or he was the

most accomplished liar the world had ever
seen.

"When I was chosen as the one to seek
Hanuman,"

Vadeen explained,
"it
was decided that I must know the
truth

so that I would understand the importance of
my success. It

was Kedar himself who told it to me."

"Oh?" Barrett rejoined. "And
how do you think he'd feel

about your telling it to us?"

For the first time since they'd come into the
stable, Vadeen

turned his full attention to Barrett.
"Aiden is the protector of

Princess Alexandra's choice. I have watched
him and know

her judgment to be sound.
If
I fail and Hanuman kills me, it is

important that Aiden knows the danger that
stalks her and

why he must succeed. You are his friend. As
you came with

him tonight, you will help him protect the
prince and

princess. So it is right that you too know
the story."

Aiden silently congratulated the Indian on
having-at least

for the moment-put a halt to Barrett's
sardonic interrogation.

"When were you planning to tell me all
of this, Vadeen?"

"You saw me today as we were out in the
city. And I saw

you in the yard searching for my hiding place
as the sun was

going down. I had thought in the morning to
present myself

and the explanation." He smiled,
broadly. "But when the

peacocks raised their cry in the small hours,
I knew that you

had a different sense of time. I waited here
for you."

"I hope we didn't keep you waiting
unduly long," Barrett

offered dryly.

"You did not," the other replied,
laughing softly. "You are

very efficient in your work, Barrett. Should
you ever wish to

enter the service of my master, I would be
willing to speak:

in your behalf."

Barrett growled and muttered about sledding
with Satan.

Aiden let him. "When is Alex supposed to
know the story,

Vadeen? Were you going to tell her in the
morning, too?"

"Kedar placed the decision in my hands.
I had intended to

speak: with you alone." He paused for a
second or two, then

crisply nodded. "I am going to reach
into the folds of my

coat," he said, leaving his guns in his
lap and lifting both

hands, palms out so that they could clearly
see them. "I will

do it carefully and slowly so you know that I
am not searching

for a weapon."

"Careful men do tend to live longer than
reckless ones,

Barrett sniped.

"Yes, they do." A man of his word
and apparent good

sense Vadeen very deliberately slipped his
right hand into

the front opening of his jacket. And then
just as
cautiously

withdrew it, a sealed parchment packet held
between his

forefinger and thumb. "As Kedar told me
the
story, It was

written down," he supplied. ''The seal
is his. He instructed

me to give this to the princess when I thought
she should

know who she is."

Aiden had to swallow and take a deep breath
before he

could ask "When will that be?" .

"I
give
the choice to you, Aiden:' he replied, extending

his arm and the packet. "I have seen
that you know her well

and that she trusts you." .

Aiden considered the packet, the ticking away
of precious

seconds louder than the painful thunder of
his heartbeat.

Reaching out, he took it and then slid it to
the outside

pocket of his coat. "Alex once told me
that they'd be. summoned

back to India when Mohan's father thought It
was

safe for them to return."

Vadeen nodded. "Prince Sarad will be
here in one week.

Perhaps a few days sooner if the winds are
good. He is to

take Kedar's children home without
delay."

Days. Only days. He wanted to cry. And not
sure that he

could keep himself from
it,
he rose to his feet,
asking,
"Are

you going to stay out here or do you want to
come into the

house?"

Vadeen shook his head as he and Barrett also
gained their

feet. "One can often see more clearly
from a short distance

away. I will remain here."

"If
you need anything-"

"I will ask," he promised.
"You must do the same."

Aiden nodded and turned away, moving
resolutely toward

the door and desperately hoping that Barrett
had