You still with me?  Good. :) As promised, this chapter's a bit longer.  And to answer a question poised after last chapter, yes they are connected, but not in the normal sense. :)  The 4 books will revolve around the different incarnations of Rick and Evelyn.  Make sense?

As ever before, I don't own em.

Chapter 3 ~ Effects of the desert wind

To say Eveska was overwhelmed when the guard left her in the empty chamber would have been the understatement of the century.  Golden pillars, golden chairs encrusted with precious stones that would have made the rest of her life quite comfortable.  She sank into a velvet cushion, enjoying the feel of royalty.  Her dark eyes wandered over to the gold and ivory dressing table, cluttered with shining trinkets of all sizes and colors.  She pushed herself up out of the chair, stepping silently across the room to the table.  She ran a finger along the edge of the table, picking up a sapphire encrusted comb.  Pulling up the side of her hair, she placed the comb delicately in the mass of ebony, admiring her reflection on the looking glass.  "Not like he's going to miss it," she said to herself softly.

"No, probably not."  Eveska spun around, ripping the comb from her hair as she knocked half of the clutter to the ground.  Her eyes grew wide as they fell on the Prince, leaning against a pillar.  He stifled a laugh as the once graceful belly dancer girl clattered and fumbled with the best of them.

"Forgive me, Your Highness," she said quickly, slamming the comb down on the tabletop.  "I... uh... well, I..."

"It's all right.  Really."  He walked up to her, taking the comb from the table, placing it back in her hair.  For a moment, her mind blanked, strange images filled her mind...images she couldn't have explained now or ever, flooded her memory.  She shook them off, glancing at the Prince as he spoke.  "It looks better on you anyway."  He smiled at her for a moment before stepping away.

"Are they... your wife's?"  He laughed, shaking his head.

"They were my sister's before she was taken in illness."  I'm wearing a dead princess's comb...lovely... she suddenly though, as she said, "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago." She stood slowly, adding a little more sway to her hips as she made her way to the Prince's chair.

"So...was there any...special reason you asked me up here?" she said softly, raising an eyebrow at him as she leaned down, placing her hands on the armrests.  She caught him swallow, smiling inwardly at his awkwardness. 

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Name it."  He cleared his throat, shifting slightly in the chair.

"Why are you traveling with a band of thieves?"  Eveska nearly leapt back as the color all but drained from her face.

"Thieves, Highness?"  She could see in his crystal eyes he had obviously seen something.  She sighed as she pulled away, wrapping her arms around herself as she turned her back on the Prince.

"Because their leader is my brother, and the only family I have."  She did a double take on herself, at the words escaping her lips.  Had she really just told him that?  Admitting they were nothing more than a rag-tag band of thieves and cut throats?  She could not see as the Prince nodded, clasping his hands in front of him.

"I suppose that's excusable," he said, standing.

"I beg your pardon?" she demanded, spinning around.  "Excusable?"

"Well, it would seem only natural that a man of that caliber would use his baby sister as a pawn."

"Forgive me, Your Highness," she spat, "but this pawn can thieve with the best of them!"

"And I assume the disappearance of the comb would have been your greatest achievement in history?"

"How dare you!"  She lashed out to strike him, more bent on her task than ever before.  However, she had not anticipated him catching her wrist, pulling her in, and covering her lips with his.  Never before had something as simple and meaningless as a kiss make her knees grow weak.  She found herself struggling to stand, and to understand why this was happening to her.  This couldn't happen to her.  She had a job to do.

He obviously knew the power he possessed over her, as he lifted her from her shaky legs, carrying her to the bed.  "So was that really all you wanted to know?" she said breathlessly as he set her upon the soft pillows.

"Yeah," he nodded with a grin.

"Oh good," she whispered as she pulled him down to her, not wanting to lose his touch.

Little did she know, she possessed the same power over him.

~~~~~~~~

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