That was why the muscles of her stomach felt this sore…“Food poisoning…not such good coq au vin after all.”
“Maybe. But I’ll swear that chef would never give you anything contaminated. I know him.”
“I might argue with you about that.” She swallowed to ease the soreness of her throat. “I felt so sick. But I’m going to be okay?”
He nodded. “Very nasty case, and it’s going to leave you weak for a few days. They say you’ll have to rest. But you’ll be fine eventually.”
“That’s good.” She closed her eyes again. Then they flew open. “No, it’s not. I can’t stay here in the hospital. I have too much to do. I have to get back to Robaku.”
“I thought that would be your reaction. That’s why I wanted to get to you before anyone else had a chance to try to brainwash you.” He smiled. “I prefer to do it myself.”
“Go to hell, Gideon.” She lifted her hand to her aching head. “Just tell me what you want, and I’ll see if I want the same thing.”
“I want you out of this hospital. I want you back at Robaku. I’ll pull all the strings I have to in order to get you there. But you’ll have to put up a fight to do it. All those nice kind people who want only what’s best for you are going to go on the attack in about fifteen minutes. And then, if you don’t cave, they’ll bring in the big guns.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. No one can keep me here if I want to walk out of this place. I’m already feeling better. I’ll just take a couple more hours to rest, then I’ll leave.” Not totally the truth. She was still feeling terribly weak, and her head was throbbing again. “I can’t just lie around. It would drive me crazy. I always feel better if I’m working.”
“I’m not arguing with you. I’m on your side. But I can’t be the one to force the issue this time. I’ll just tell you that when I get you to Robaku, I’ll take care of you, and you’ll be better off.” He got to his feet. “Now the first one to see you will be Dr. Jeremy Santiago. He’ll be comforting and reassuring but will tell you that you should rest here for a few days and let the ambassador send you home to the U.S. for a longer rest. When you refuse, you may even get a visit from Ambassador Sandow himself. The message will be the same. And that may only be the beginning. Your phone is on that nightstand. When you get through running the gauntlet they set for you, give me a call, and I’ll whisk you out of here.” He touched her hand gently. “I’m sorry, Eve. I wish I could do more for you, but that’s not possible right now.”
“It’s okay.” She only wanted to close her eyes and rest. “You didn’t cook that damn coq au vin. But you should really hire a different chef for that fancy hotel.”
“I’ll try to do that.” He was on his way toward the door. “As soon as I locate him. He seems to have disappeared…”
Disappeared. That sounded all wrong, she thought wearily. But she was too tired to work out why right now. She’d get a little rest, then she’d think about it.
“Ms. Duncan, how glad I am that we were able to help you. I’m Dr. Santiago.” A tall, plump man in a white coat was entering the room. “You were a very sick woman.” He was beaming at her. “But you’re going to be fine, and we’re going to make you comfortable for the rest of the time you’re in Maldara. But we do have to talk about plans for your recovery…”
* * *
“Get me out of here, Gideon,” Eve said in exasperation when he answered the phone two hours later. “I can’t take much more of this. I’ve talked to two doctors, the head nurse, and I just had a telephone call from the ambassador. They want to keep me in this hospital for another week, then send me back to Atlanta.”
“Told you so,” Gideon said. “I’m just surprised the ambassador didn’t visit you in person. Did you feel slighted?”
“Stop it. No one is listening to me. I tried to explain that I’m fine and need to get back to work, but they said they don’t want to take the responsibility for my recovery since the attack was so severe.”
“It was very bad, Eve,” he said soberly. “You have to know that was true.”
“Get me out of here.” She pronounced every word with emphasis. “Everyone agrees I’m not on the critical list. There’s no reason why I can’t go back to work.”
“You’re certain that’s what you want to do? I don’t mind persuading you, but I won’t coerce you.”
“You listen to me, Gideon. The last thing the ambassador said when I turned him down was that he thought it might be a good idea if I talk to President Kiyani, who had expressed concern I’d become this ill in her country. My head is already aching. I won’t sit here and get a migraine from having to deal with her.”
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” He cut the connection.
Eve put down her phone, leaned back on her pillows, and closed her eyes. She felt totally exhausted. She should probably have told him to bring her something to wear, she thought wearily. The clothes she had worn when the ambulance had brought her here must have been a total disaster. Oh, well, let Gideon worry about it. She had found him quite capable of producing anything she wanted while she was here in Maldara. Except maybe that coq au vin, she thought wryly. He hadn’t done such a great job at that particular—
There was some sort of bustle in the hall…
Oh, shit.
Her door was being ceremoniously opened by the same uniformed guard she had seen at Robaku yesterday.
Zahra Kiyani entered the next moment. “What a terrible thing to have happened to you,” she said sweetly. She motioned to the leather chair beside Eve’s bed. “Dalai, do something with that chair. You know how careful I have to be to avoid germs in places like this.” A young, pretty maid in an ankle-length tan sarong scurried forward and put a gold-silk shawl on the chair before fading into the background. “This hospital is truly deplorable,” Zahra said. “You should have been brought to my hospital when you were taken ill. I had it built this year.” She gracefully sat down on the silk-draped chair. She wore an exquisitely draped scarlet dress that contrasted boldly with the gold shawl. “It’s like a wonderful palace but with all the modern facilities.”
“This hospital seems entirely adequate,” Eve said. “And I’m not certain patients who are as ill as I was would appreciate being treated in a palace. It’s a little over the top.”
“It’s all what you become accustomed to.” Zahra studied Eve. “And you still appear to be quite pale. Would you like me to have Dalai do a makeover to give you a bit of color? She’s quite clever about all sorts of different things.”
And one of them was evidently how to please Zahra at any cost, Eve thought. The girl had seemed almost frightened as she’d scurried around at her command. “No, thank you. All I need now is a nap. I’m planning on checking out of this hospital soon.”
“So I’ve been told. I’ve come to try to dissuade you. We don’t want someone of your stature to take any chances with your health. What if you had a terrible relapse? It would look very bad for my government when I’m trying so hard to show the world that we are not savages after that terrible war.” She smiled. “Why don’t you transfer to my hospital, and we’ll take great care of you? Then when you’re well, I’ll either send you home or you can return to Robaku.”
“I intend to return to Robaku today,” Eve said. “And I don’t need to remain in your hospital or any other. My work is going very well.”
Zahra’s flashing smile remained, but it was now fixed. “As I said, I’ll have to visit you again and make that judgment. It would be unfortunate for you to go through so much when we might have to send you home anyway.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Eve said. “You’d have to have cause, and, as I said, I have proof that my work is going very well. And I’ll have more proof when I finish the new reconstruction.”
Zahra’s smile was now a mere baring of teeth. “I hate the idea of your being so stubborn. Look what’s already happened to you. That horrible bout of food poisoning. Did they tell you there was a possibility you
might die? Wouldn’t that have been terrible? It’s really too bad they don’t have food tasters in this day and age.”
Eve’s eyes widened in shock. There had been a thread of intimidation in those words, and that last remark had been totally bizarre. “Food taster? I’m sure that my food poisoning was accidental, and I’m glad we have no use for food tasters.”
“Yes, of course. But I admit that I’ve often thought that they did have their uses. When one is of a certain importance, naturally there are people who wish to take that stature away from them in any way possible.” She met Eve’s gaze with defiance. “I’m sure my own ancestors must have felt bound to protect themselves by such means. After all, the food tasters at court were only slaves and considered of no importance. The royal line had to be preserved.”
“Why? The idea is totally barbaric.” Then something Zahra had said caught her attention. “Court? I don’t know anything about your family background except that your father was the president of Maldara before you, and it was a republic.” She added dryly, “But I doubt if he appointed any food tasters to his cabinet.”
“No, of course not.” She was smiling again. “But we’re a very old family, and our traditions go back over two thousand years. Did you think that we’d emerged from the same jungle as those crude Botzans?” Her lips curled. “When he was president, it suited my father to pretend that we were one with all these people, but I would never be so stupid as to give up my heritage. We did not make the Great Journey from the north and struggle all through the years to keep our lineage pure just to sacrifice it to those uncivilized barbarians. I told my father that he couldn’t do it.” She drew a deep breath. “And I was right, the Botzans killed him. So you can see why I believe that one must protect oneself in any way possible. When death comes near, you should take it as a sign to stop and consider all the consequences.”
There was that hint of a threat again. “I don’t believe in signs and portents,” Eve said. “And I do believe in doing what I think is right in spite of consequences.”
“Too bad.” Zahra shrugged as she rose to her feet. “I do hope you’ll change your mind. Let me know, and I’ll send someone to make accommodations for you.” She snapped her fingers at the servant girl. “Dalai!”
The young woman jumped forward and snatched up the gold shawl on the chair. Her subservience annoyed Eve. In that moment, she could imagine Zahra indulging herself in any cruel arrogance she chose with those she considered beneath her. She found she wanted to strike out. “Thank you for coming.” She paused. “Oh dear, I just had a thought. How do you know that all those stories about your so-called pure lineage weren’t a fairy tale? You said yourself that it was a long time ago that your family came to Maldara.” She smiled gently. “Who knows? Maybe the Botzans were really your first cousins.”
Zahra stopped and whirled to face her. “You insult me,” she hissed. “It was no fairy tale. Look at me.” Her eyes were blazing. “I am everything she was and more.” Her voice was shaking with anger. “She made mistakes I will never make. And someday, I will have the world she lost to her own stupidity.”
She turned on her heel and left the room.
What was that all about? Eve wondered. She had clearly opened up a nasty can of worms when she had taken that potshot at Zahra’s august family tree. And who the hell was she?
Later. Gideon should be arriving at any moment, and she needed these few moments to pull herself together. At least she had gotten rid of Zahra before she had to confront Gideon. She was in no mood to referee the explosiveness she sensed between them. She glanced at the clock on the night table. It was almost five in the evening. It seemed like days had passed since she’d talked to Joe early this morning. She’d promised him she’d call him back tonight and what was she going to say to him? He’d be worried and immediately on the attack.
Think about it on the way back to Robaku.
Too many questions. Too many decisions.
And where the hell is Gideon?
* * *
“That bitch!” Zahra’s lips were tight with rage as the chauffeur opened the door of her limousine outside the hospital. “How dare she? Did you hear her, Dalai?”
Dalai knew that Zahra didn’t want an answer, only an audience, but she nodded as she slipped into the backseat beside her. One could never tell what would offend Zahra and cause her to take that rage out on the nearest target. Her anger with Eve Duncan was so intense that Dalai had to be extremely careful.
“She insulted me.” Zahra leaned back in the seat, fuming. “And she doesn’t even realize how lucky she is to be alive. Stupid. Incredibly stupid.”
Agree. Then try to distract her. “Yes, madam,” Dalai said. “And very rude. She doesn’t have any idea how wrong she is. She’s just a peasant, and you’re a queen. You should pay no attention to her.”
“Are you telling me what to do?” Zahra asked sharply. “You were stupid, too, today. You weren’t quick enough when I told you to fetch that shawl.”
The distraction hadn’t worked. It had only served to transfer the anger from Eve Duncan to Dalai. She had been expecting it. Eve Duncan could not be touched right now. But Dalai was always available as an outlet. Be humble. Show Zahra fear. She liked the fear. “I know, madam. Forgive me.”
“Why should I?” Zahra’s smile was malicious. “You should be punished. You’re obviously getting lazy. I’ll think about it on the way back to the palace.”
So that Dalai would have time to anticipate what was to come, she thought wearily. It was all part of the fear Zahra liked to make her feel. Dalai would almost certainly be beaten if she didn’t think of some other way to distract Zahra once she got back to the palace. But it would be easier to distract her there, where Zahra had decisions to make and Dalai could make herself useful in helping her. If she was beaten, it would probably not be severely.
“What are you thinking about?” Zahra asked suspiciously. “You’re very quiet.”
“Nothing, madam.” Dalai’s eyes widened with fear. “Nothing at all.”
It was a lie. She was thinking that it was worth a beating to have seen Eve Duncan cause that look of outrage and indignation on Zahra Kiyani’s face.
And that someone should warn the woman what a dangerous thing it was to do.
Chapter
6
Gideon arrived ten minutes later, and he was a whirlwind of activity for the next hour. Somehow he managed to persuade one of the nurses to help Eve dress in the slacks and shirt he’d brought with him. Then he ignored all the protests of the doctors and nurses, negotiated a miraculously fast exit, and whisked her to his Land Rover, parked in front of the hospital.
“Now lean back and relax. I’ll have you at Robaku in forty-five minutes.” He buckled her seat belt. “You did good, Eve.”
“So did you.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I wasn’t sure that they wouldn’t call security. They were very determined, weren’t they?”
“Very.” He started the Land Rover. “I could see it on the horizon once they got you settled in that room. It seemed to be a concerted effort.”
“It was annoying, but it’s hard to be angry. After all, it’s the job of a hospital staff to do whatever they think best to get their patients well. The only one I had problems with was Madam President. But then, that was a given.”
“Sorry I didn’t get there in time to spare you.”
“So am I. You might have been able to keep me from insulting her.” She shook her head. “No, I doubt it. I rather enjoyed it. She was so ugly to that young maid, and all that arrogant bullshit about royal tasters and such…”
Gideon went still. “Tasters?”
“It was almost a threat.” She looked at him. “Some nonsense about her family having had poison tasters in the past and that it wasn’t a bad idea. I found it peculiar she’d mention it in the same breath as telling me how sad she was that I’d become so ill. Is there any reason why I should consider it a threat?”
<
br /> “There’s always a reason to suspect Zahra of any effort at intimidation. She doesn’t want you here, and she’d take advantage of any opportunity to make you feel afraid and uncertain.”
“But there’s no reason to think that my food poisoning was anything but an accident?”
Gideon was silent. “Not as far as I know. The food was examined, and it contained mushrooms that could have made you very ill. And we haven’t been able to talk to the chef yet. We’re still trying to locate him.”
“And it would have been crazy for Zahra to slip me anything that would make me that ill just because I wouldn’t get on the next plane and take off for home,” Eve said. “She’s the president of the damn country. She must have more important things to worry about.” She made a face. “Though tonight I wasn’t sure if she wasn’t a little off base when she started talking about her Kiyani ancestors. That’s when I lost it and told her that her ancient history could all be bullshit.”
“What?” Gideon burst out laughing. “You do like to live dangerously. You couldn’t have said anything to make her more angry.”
“It didn’t seem to matter at the time. She was talking something about the Great Journey and how much better she was than her. Whoever that was.” She rubbed her temple. “It got pretty confusing.”
“Not for Zahra,” he said quietly. “It means everything to her. And I guarantee she doesn’t think it’s bullshit.”
She nodded as she looked at him. “That’s right, you’d know, wouldn’t you? You were…intimate.”
“Not exactly. But we had sex, and that was entirely different from intimacy.” His lips twisted. “But she enjoyed me enough to consider me a candidate. It was amusing to watch her. If I’d stuck around, I might have gone from candidate to consort. Pity I didn’t find her that exciting.”
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