Ardeth had caught up with Charlotte just as she was about to close her bedroom door and had eased himself inside her room before she could stop him.
Charlotte took a step back warily as he closed them in the room and stood in front of the only exit. "What do you want?" she asked quietly, her eyes large under her lowered brows.
"I want to make sure you are alright," he replied, moving slowly toward her. "You left the room rather abruptly, I was concerned."
"Why?" she said, moving back another two steps as he advanced.
"You seemed troubled." he said, frowning at the way she was backing away from him.
She gave an inelegant snort. "I wonder why that would be?"
His frown deepened at her sarcasm. "What is the matter with you?"
"You! You're what's the matter with me!" she burst out, hiding her unease with anger.
"Me? What is it I have done now to so displease you? You seemed fine earlier. I do not know why I troubled myself to follow you!" Ardeth felt his temper rising at her strange attitude.
"I didn't ask you to follow me! Maybe I just wanted to be left alone for a change!" she said, her voice rising as her feelings started churning inside her. She was beginning to like this man, but she was also scared of him and didn't understand her own feelings. Her unsettled emotions started showing themselves as anger and frustration.
"With your attitude I am sure you will always be left alone by any man with sense!" Ardeth threw at her, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at her.
"Meaning you have none then? Because you keep bothering me!"
"Do not trouble yourself that it will happen again, Miss Carnahan! I should rather sit in a pit of vipers than touch you again, I assure you!" he said through gritted teeth.
Charlotte gasped as his insult actually hit home and hurt her feelings. "The feeling is mutual! I wish I'd never come to this awful country!" she said, clenching her fists as she thought of how nice it would be to punch him.
"Then perhaps you had better go home? This 'awful country' will be better off without a woman of your sort in it!"
"My sort? What does that mean?" she asked, planting her hands on her hips and drawing herself up to her full height which brought her head to just beneath his shoulder.
"Do you not already know? You are a cold, nagging shrew, a woman whom no sane man would wish to have for a wife!" Ardeth said, his voice getting louder. "I do not know what I was thinking of by touching you in the first place..." he just managed to duck out of the way as she flung a perfume bottle at his head and the item smashed on the door behind him.
"What do you think you are doing?" he asked, aghast that she had dared to try and attack him again.
"I'm trying to teach you a lesson, you...you..." she picked up a vase that was within reaching distance and flung that at him as well, almost stamping her foot when he managed to avoid that too.
"It is not I who needs the lesson it seems," he said as he started toward her again, his expression furious. "Do you never learn? Did the bruises I put on you before not teach you how to behave?"
"Don't you dare touch me...." she squeaked as she hurriedly backed away from him. "If you touch me....if you hit me again I'll..."
"You'll what?" he asked quietly as he backed her up against the wall and planted his hands either side of her head, trapping her. "You know that I will punish you if you dare to strike me again. And you know what form that punishment will take. Do you really think that your body could take another beating so soon?" He looked into her eyes, noting the fear there and the confusion.
"You wouldn't dare do that again, not in Rick and Evy's house," she gasped out, grasping at straws because he looked like he was in just the right mood to do it again. "Get away from me."
He raised one eyebrow. "If I choose not to move?"
"Then I'll make you move!" she threatened rashly, her cheeks flaming with her bad temper.
"Feel free to move me if you really think that you can," he said, giving her a hard smile, his eyes sparkling down at her with his own temper.
She hated the confidence in his tone and in his expression, but she knew that he had every right to be confident. How on earth did you move a man this big? Her hands itched to hit him. Instead she reached up and shoved at his chest, hoping to move him enough that she could slide away from him, but what had seemed to her to be a hard shove had little impact on his solid frame and his smile got even more smug.
"Is that the best you can do?" he taunted, finding her fury more amusing than he had done previously.
"Oooh!" she hissed and raised her foot, delivering a sharp kick to the same leg she had kicked before, then giving him another hard shove, only this time in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Ardeth shouldn't have been surprised at her actions, he supposed. After all, she had done this before and managed to shock him. He just about managed to stay upright as she knocked the air out of him, and his arms stayed locked on the wall so that she still couldn't get away.
"Will you move!" she hissed at him, furious that her attempt to escape had come to nothing.
"No, I will not move, but I will make you pay for attacking me yet again!" he said, his voice no more than a growl as he grabbed her arm and hauled her away from the wall with him.
"Don't you dare! Let go of me!" she squealed, trying to prise his fingers loose from her upper arm as he dragged her towards the bed. Her head turned sharply as her bedroom door opened, but Ardeth didn't hesitate as he continued pulling her with him. "Evy! Rick! Make him stop!"
"Er...Ardeth, old buddy?" Rick said, watching the strange mix of anger and amusement on his friends face. "What are you doing?"
"It appears that Miss Carnahan is a slow learner," Ardeth replied, sitting on the bed and pulling Charlotte so she lay across his knees.
"Ardeth! Don't you dare! If you lay another finger on her I will never speak to you again!" Evy said, stepping over the broken remains of the vase and perfume bottle as she made her way towards her cousin who was struggling as she lay over his knees.
"Then you are willing to take over and deal with her?" Ardeth asked, fixing Evy and then Rick with an angry look.
"Well, as a rule we wouldn't actually punish..." Rick began, but Evy cut him off.
"Yes, yes! We'll deal with her. Now just let her go and get out of this room, everyone!" she said, glaring at the men who had crowded into the bedroom until they finally got the hint and left. Ardeth reluctantly stood up, taking Charlotte with him before depositing her none too gently on her bed and glaring at her.
"Pig!" Charlotte hissed through her teeth as she glared back at him.
Ardeth's jaw clenched at her words. "I warn you...."
"Hah!"
"Evelyn," Ardeth said, turning his attention to the woman he had known for so long. "Friend or no friend, I will not let you stop me from punishing her if you cannot make her close her mouth!"
"Ardeth, I think maybe you should just leave the room," Evy said, taking his arm and guiding him towards the door. "You have to understand the sort of ordeal she's just been through. You and your men are used to such things, even Rick and myself are used to it, but Charlotte has never been out of England before, never been in any sort of danger." She opened the door and drew him out of the room. "Just try and have a little patience alright? I have to admit I never knew that she had such a temper! Perhaps you just bring out the worst in her, hmm?"
Rick moved along the landing to join them and grinned at Ardeth's angry face. "Having a little trouble?"
"I do not understand her, O'Connell. I do not know whether to hit her or..."
"Or kiss her, right?" Rick said, giving Evy a knowing look. "Now why does that seem so familiar? Seems I remember feeling the same way a time or two about a certain female who isn't a hundred miles away!"
Evy swatted him and blew him a kiss, before disappearing back into Charlotte's room, leaving Rick and Ardeth to make their way back downstairs.
"Are you okay?" Evy asked her young cousin, sitting on the bed next to her when they'd cleared up the broken glass as best they could.
"I think so. I think I need to have my head tested though," she said wryly, attempting a smile and failing miserably. "What's the matter with me Evy? Am I suicidal or something? He's going to end up killing me if I can't learn to keep my mouth shut!"
"Hey, don't worry about it! I could never keep my mouth shut either and Rick ended up marrying me instead of killing me. Although I have to admit, it was a close thing sometimes." She smiled and hugged Charlotte, sighing at the misery etched on the younger woman's face. "How do you feel about him?"
"I don't know. Just when I think I really like him, he does something that scares me to death. Then he makes me really furious and I provoke him to scare me to death yet again! Then he kisses me and I like him again, but then he starts being horrible to me! I don't understand him," Charlotte said, giving a deep sigh.
"That's funny. He just said the exact same thing about you. You really do remind me of Rick and myself when we first met, the only difference being that Ardeth's a little more forthright with his attacks than Rick ever was." She looked Charlotte in the eye. "And no matter how much I thought I hated him, I didn't really. I loved him for a long time before I actually admitted it to myself."
Charlotte blushed. "Well I don't love Ardeth Bay! I've only known him a few days, so that's impossible." she said, lowering her eyes.
"Is it?" Evy asked, raising her eyebrows. "Come on, get ready for bed. You obviously need a good rest after everything that's happened." She took Charlotte's robe and watched as she slipped under the sheets and settled back on the pillow. "You can sleep late tomorrow. Don't worry about Billy, we'll take very good care of him."
Charlotte nodded, looking sad. "Evy, what if I wanted to go home? Would it be hard to arrange so soon?"
Evy looked upset at the prospect of Charlotte leaving. "Give it a few days, okay? I can understand how you feel, but just give Egypt another chance. If you still want to go at the end of the week, then we'll arrange it somehow."
"Thank you," Charlotte mumbled, her eyes already closing as her last few experiences caught up with her. "I'm sorry if I caused any trouble."
"You haven't done anything wrong. Go to sleep, you're safe now," Evy said softly, switching off the light as she left the room.
When she rejoined the others in the sitting room, all eyes turned toward her. "Is Miss Carnahan alright?" Ardeth asked, seemingly reluctant to do so.
Evy shrugged and sat next to Rick, snuggling up to him as he put one large arm around her. "She wants to go back to England," Evy said, looking troubled at the thought. "I've asked her to give it a few days and see what this country can be like without anything bad happening. I only hope she takes my advice."
"Well, I guess you can't blame her for wanting to leave. Not after being kidnapped, beaten then rescued by the monster of the Med-jai and beaten yet again!" Rick said, slanting Ardeth a teasing look.
"You do not think that she will actually go?" Ardeth asked Evy, ignoring Rick's dubious sense of humour. He couldn't name the feeling that was currently clawing at his insides at the thought of the young English girl leaving his country. Leaving him.
"I don't know. She's not exactly had a lot of incentive to stay, has she?" Evy said, watching Ardeth intently. "You know, perhaps if you showed her your more protective side, she might find a reason to remain here."
Khalid and Rachid both snorted and gave muffled laughter at the thought of their chief actually being tender and protective to a female, but they soon hid their smiles when Ardeth pinned them with a hard glare. "Go outside and guard the perimeter of the house and stay there until I tell you to return, do you understand?" he said harshly in their own language.
Both men instantly stood up and bowed respectfully, leaving the room with nods to Evy and Rick.
"What did you say to them?" Rick asked curiously, watching the men quickly shed their amusement and leave.
"I gave them something to do other than laugh at me!" Ardeth replied, sitting down on a chair opposite them.
"Ardeth, would you mind if I asked you a personal question?" Evy asked him.
Ardeth shrugged, trying not to look as ill at ease as he felt. "If you wish."
"How do you feel about Charlotte? I mean, really feel?"
He couldn't help the slight look of discomfort that crossed his face, he was unused to people asking him anything personal at all. But these were his friends and he owed them the truth at all times. "To be truthful, I am not sure. She is irritating at most times, but also fragile and delicate, as a desert bloom. She makes me want to protect her, but sometimes she makes me so angry I could happily bury her up to her neck in the sand."
"So you find her weak then? Fragile?" Evy said, frowning. She knew that such a woman wouldn't be what Ardeth would want.
"Yes...no. She can also be strong. She survived what those men did to her, and they beat her quite badly. She stood up to me and provoked me even though I had already shown her what an error that can be." He smiled at the fury she had shown him. "No, she is not weak. She is an odd mixture of courage and cowardice that I find...intriguing."
"And then of course, she is very pretty," Rick put in, watching his friends discomfort grow.
"I suppose some people may find her attractive," Ardeth said evasively.
"Mmm-hmm. I suppose some people might also find it permissible to grab her and kiss her, too?" Rick said, grinning a wide grin at Ardeth's sudden darkened colour.
"I did not intend to....I never thought..." Ardeth uncharacteristically stammered, then broke off and spat what sounded like Arabic curses, before taking a deep breath and raising his eyes to Rick's. "I realise that it was a bad thing to do. You are related to her and it is your duty to protect her from men. Whatever you feel I should do to make amends I will gladly do."
Rick's grin slowly disappeared at Ardeth's humility. "Oh, for God's sake, you don't have to make amends! Charlotte makes her own decisions and if she allowed you to kiss her then she obviously wanted you to." His face took on a sly look. "Did she kiss you back?"
Ardeth gave a reluctant smile. "Yes, she kissed me back."
"Both times?" Evy said, raising her eyebrows.
Ardeth's smile grew wider. "Yes, both times."
"And that was just before you started feeling guilty and started treating her like some sort of pariah?" Evy said, her expression becoming harder.
"I admit I thought it best to try and keep her at arms length, what with her being a relative of yours. I value your friendship, I would never knowingly do anything to harm it."
"Well, lucky for you that you haven't then, isn't it?" Rick said, relaxing back against the sofa.
"I think you should stay here tonight, in case of any trouble," Evy told him. "I've already made up the room next to Charlotte's. If anything happens there's a connecting door. But I don't expect you to use it unless she's in trouble, understood?" she said sharply, her voice showing her amusement at the thought of Ardeth sneaking around after lights out to have a rendezvous with her cousin. Ardeth didn't find it quite as amusing as she did, but he nodded in understanding.
"Come on, it's late, time to get some rest," Rick said, standing up and drawing Evy up with him. "What about your men?"
"They will stand watch until they are relieved, do not worry about them. Khalid and Rachid will stand watch until I decide that they should do otherwise, which will not be until dawn!" Ardeth said, giving a rare grin at his own wickedness.
They all left the room and made their way upstairs, Evy and Rick leaving Ardeth at the door to his room. "Maybe you could check on her for us before you turn in?" Evy asked him, hiding her smile as she turned into her own room, Rick winking at Ardeth and following her, leaving him alone on the landing.
