Page 6 of The Princess and Her Mercenary

Chapter Four

Ndari paced the tent, wringing her hands together. “Now when you say with me do you mean just for now, or do you mean…” she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

“Forever,” he confirmed, his tone final. “Get used to the idea.”

He strode to the tent’s flap and left. Ndari followed immediately after him. She wasn’t going to stay all by herself in his cramped tent while he went to make plans without her! She ran into his back where he’d stopped on the other side of the tent. He looked down at her, his expression annoyed.

“Back in the tent, Ndari,” he growled.

She shook her head. “Uh, no thanks. It’s dirty in there.”

“It’s not dirty in there,” he said with exasperation. “It’s a fucking dirt pit desert out here. Now get your ass back inside.”

“Still no,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her. “I go where you go until we figure out how to get out of this situation.”

“Get in the feckin’ tent!” he bellowed, pointing, his Irish accent growing stronger.

She glared at him. “You don’t need to yell.”

He shoved her through the flap. The last thing she heard was him shouting for someone to come keep an eye on his tent. Damn it, he was appointing a babysitter.

She paced for a minute, eyeing the tent with disgust. She’d never camped in her life! The closest she came was the time she snuck out to meet with some of the local boys and got locked out of the palace when she returned. Ndari had slipped inside one of the guard houses and found an empty bed for the night, then returned to her quarters the next day, no one the wiser.

“Ew, is that a bug?” she shrieked and ran to the other side of the tent.

The flap moved and a guy she vaguely recognized as having been part of Keane’s security team from her time as Jaya’s companion stuck his head through the door. “Problem, Princess?” he asked.

“Are you calling me a problem?” she asked hotly.

“No, ma’am, I was asking if you were having a problem.”

While his words were respectful enough, she felt they were lacking a certain regard for her station in life. “Then perhaps you had better use full sentences in future. It’s a crime punishable by death to insult one of the royal family in this country. You wouldn’t want to accidentally say the wrong thing to me, now would you?” Her voice was sweet, while her words held the venomous frustration of a kidnapped Princess who was faced with the possibility of having to camp in a desert. Ew. “Now, would you please fetch me a big, big drink, preferably a frosted margarita, but I’ll take whatever I can get. I would also like something to eat since I was kidnapped before breakfast. I will also require an extra bed, perhaps a chair, a couple of fans since I’m assuming these things don’t come with air conditioning.” She waved her hand around the tent before pointing at the offensive black spot in the corner. “And please remove that bug thing. In future I expect all crawly things to be removed before I arrive. I can’t believe I even have to specify such a thing.”

He was staring at her as though he was wondering what the fuck his boss saw in this woman. To be honest, Ndari was wondering the same thing. Though her ass was truly fine, she was a pain in it. She was going to annoy the hell out of these mercenary types, and the sad thing was, she wouldn’t do it on purpose. Ndari annoyed people wherever she went. She was too much of an independent free spirit for the palace but too much Princess for everywhere else. She just didn’t fit in. And once Keane saw this, he would send her back home.

This thought made her feel inexplicably sad.

“I’ll get right on your… requests, Princess,” the guard said before backing away.

Jacob, his name was Jacob, she remembered.

“Jacob,” she called out. He turned back, a look of surprised pleasure that she remembered him. “You may call me Royal Highness from now on. Now, get going, fetch my drink if you please.”

He made a snorting sound that could’ve been either amusement or disgust.

“Okay,” she said, turning back to the tent. “Where does one sit down?”

Jacob returned ten minutes later with a very dissatisfying assortment of goods. He handed her a canteen, then opened a small camp chair and placed it in the middle of the tent for her.

Ndari unscrewed the lid of the canteen and sniffed. “This is water,” she said incredulously. “I didn’t ask for water.”

Jacob shrugged. “Boss says no alcohol. He wants clear heads tonight.”

Her mouth fell open. Why would he want her head to be clear? What was happening tonight? “And what about my bed?” she demanded.

He shook his head. “Boss says no.”

“What? Why?” she spluttered. Surely he didn’t think she was going to be sharing that tiny cot with him? Or the floor. There were bugs on the floor. Even if she consented to having sex with him, which she was seriously on the fence about at this point since he brought her camping, where exactly were they supposed to do the deed?

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