"He's completely detestable!" Penny flung herself into a chair in her room. She'd invited Amanda and Francine to join her for a nightcap – and a strategy session – after Bo had outmaneuvered them and taken Rheza off for a post-dinner cigar in his study.
"Does the prince really not notice the way he's always putting you down?" asked Amanda as she sank into a chair opposite her.
"He thinks it's just Bo being a folksy Texan and tells me I'm overreacting," said Penny in a longsuffering tone.
She and Amanda watched Francine complete the scan of the room and give them the thumbs up once she had picked up a flower arrangement and moved it out onto the balcony. She pulled the door closed and came to perch on the bench at the end of the bed.
"He's doing a good job of cutting the ground out from under you though," Francine remarked. "He sounds like he's so worried about you but every comment about how little and frail you are and how much he's looking forward to another little prince to play with makes you look inadequate."
"You don't need to tell me," groaned Penny. "I have a graduate degree in International Politics and I've been working non-stop for three years to improve the lives of women in Zakir and yet somehow, my entire worth seems to boil down to whether I'm ever going to produce an heir for the throne." She wiped a hand across her eyes. "And I want to – so badly – but it doesn't seem to want to happen and Rheza tries to be good about it but I can see that look in his eye every month when it's clear I'm not pregnant." She gave a hiccuping laugh. "It sure ruins the mood when being intimate with your husband starts to turn into a chore."
Unexpectedly, it was Francine who was first to respond. "I can't even imagine that kind of pressure. I thought it was bad that I had to outperform everyone in my Agency classes to be taken seriously, but to be expected to produce an actual human being just to be considered successful? That's positively medieval."
"Do you want kids?" Penny asked her. "Or are you a happy career woman?"
"I don't know," shrugged Francine. "I never really thought about anything except proving myself for so long that it was never an option and since I'm still single…"
"I think Efraim would disagree with that remark," commented Amanda with a giggle.
"Since I'm not married," Francine corrected herself, smiling back. "Anyway, I don't think kids are for me – they seem to require a lot of attention and anyone who knows me knows I like to have all the attention."
"They do require a lot of work," said Amanda, "but they're mostly lovable enough to make it worthwhile."
"Mostly?" laughed Penny.
"99% of the time," Amanda's dark eyes twinkled back at her. "And then there's that 1% when they both come down with the flu and your husband is several thousand miles away and you spend all night washing sheets and shuttling them back and forth to the bathroom."
"Ugh – you're not making it sound very attractive Amanda, even if it is only 1% of the time," remarked Francine.
"Yeah but then there's next day, when they're feeling better and they've had a bath and they just want to snuggle on the sofa with you and they're all warm and they smell nice and you forget that you haven't slept or that you've already watched this movie a dozen times…"
"Sounds like heaven," said Penny softly.
"It'll happen," said Amanda encouragingly. "You just need to let go of the outside pressures – forget about any possible result and just enjoy the moments with your husband."
"Easier said than done when it's turning into a national crisis," said Penny bitterly.
"Well, you're on holiday this weekend," said Amanda. "When Rheza comes upstairs tonight, tell him this is a second honeymoon. Maybe wear a sexy nightgown so he doesn't misunderstand you. That always worked when I was having problems with my ex. Well, it did - right up until nothing worked," she added with a laugh.
"Sexy nightgown, hey? You think that'll work the magic?" Penny couldn't help laughing along with her, even as she wiped tears away.
Amanda and Francine nodded vehemently. "There is never an occasion where that isn't going to work," replied Francine with great certainty. "And he'll certainly be too busy trying to prove that it's even better once the nightgown is off to think about anything else."
The three women burst into laughter, interrupted by a light knock on the door. Francine gestured for Amanda and Penny to stay where they were before going to answer it.
"Who is it?" she asked through the closed door.
"I am sorry to disturb you," came the voice of the Zakirian guard who was stationed outside, "but there is someone here with a message for Her Royal Highness."
Francine unlocked the door and swung it open, only to be confronted with the sight of Bo's right hand man, Earl, knocking out the young guard he'd been holding at gunpoint. She moved to swing the door shut again, but Earl was too quick for her, throwing his full weight against it, sending it flying open and knocking her to the floor. As a stunned Amanda and Penny watched, Francine went for her ankle holster only to have Earl lean down, grab her by the front of her shirt and punch her hard enough to knock her out instantly. Two armed men followed him into the room, guns trained on Amanda and the princess.
"What the hell?" shouted Penny, leaping to her feet. "Guards! Guards!"
"You can shout all you want, Missy, but there ain't nobody going to hear you," said Earl. "We've been picking off your boys all day – they can't help you now."
"You've killed them?" asked Penny in a stunned voice.
"Oh no, we've just detained them for a while. They'll be fine once Bo gets what he wants. And so will you, as long as you behave." He reached out to grab Penny by the arm, obviously prepared to drag her from the room.
"Are you crazy? I'm not going with you," shouted Penny, pulling away from him.
"Oh, I think you are," smirked Earl, cocking his gun and pointing it at Amanda. "And I think we'll be bringing your friend along to make sure you don't cause us any more problems."
Penny gave Amanda an anguished look. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't even be here."
"It's going to be okay," said Amanda soothingly. "Let's just do what they want – I'm sure Bo isn't going to be foolish enough to let anything happen to you on his property, is he?" She directed the last question at Earl.
"Only if he can make it look like an accident like he's planned," leered Earl. "Sure is a pity that new horse of yours is going to turn out to have a mean streak."
The two women exchanged a long look. "It'll be okay," repeated Amanda. "Someone will come for us."
Penny looked slightly relieved at the subtle reminder that Lee was on his way. She drew herself up to her full height and stared haughtily at Earl. "Is my husband safe?" she asked him.
"Oh the prince is just fine – Bo needs him alive, after all, to get those drilling rights. Bo ain't going to pee in his own pool, is he?"
Penny nodded curtly, but then asked, "And what about me? Does Bo need me dead or alive?"
"Don't much matter to him as long as he gets your husband to agree to his terms," answered Earl laconically. "So whether you and your friend here get to go home again is entirely up to you."
Amanda hobbled closer to Penny and laid her hand on her arm. "Just do what they say." She stared at Penny, willing her to hear the unspoken For now in her request. Penny stared back, obviously seeing something calming in her wide dark eyes.
"Fine," she said. "Where are you taking us?"
"Oh you're not even going to leave the ranch," chuckled Earl. "We've got a nice little place set up for you up in the hills at the old homestead."
He gestured for the two women to leave the room. As they stepped forward, Amanda dropped to one knee to check on Francine who was still splayed out on the floor. To her relief, she was breathing evenly although her cheek and jaw were already swelling from Earl's blow. She squeezed her hand hoping that somehow even in her unconscious state, she'd take some comfort from it.
"Come on, move it!" said Earl gruffly, pulling Amanda back to her feet.
"Are we going far?" she asked in what she hoped sounded like a suitably whiny voice. "My ankle isn't going to last long if I have to go very far."
"Oh, you won't be walking far – the horse will be doing all the work getting us up to the old ranch. Those trails can be treacherous if you don't know them well," grinned Earl.
"The horse. Why did it have to be a horse?" muttered Amanda to herself, limping out of the room behind Penny.
