Page 13 of Raul
“I’d be shocked if you weren’t biased,” Erica said. “However, I share your opinion.”
It also had the best-looking prince in the world. But she needed to stop thinking about him that way.
He chewed and drank in silence while gazing at the view, and it struck her that everything he surveyed was his. She took in the expanse of land that included swaths of forest, checkerboard fields, crisscrossing roads, the buildings and houses of Ciudad Militar, and the huge U.S. military base, where lights were beginning to wink on. Okay, the land the military base stood on was leased to the United States, but it still belonged to Caleva.
What a heavy burden to be responsible for all this someday. The day, in fact, that his father died, which seemed especially unfair. She didn’t envy the prince.
He crumpled the empty plastic wrap in his long fingers. “I wonder what Ricardo el Rojo thought when he first caught sight of Caleva rising out of the sea.”
“Probably something along the lines of ‘Gracias a Dios,there’s dry land at last!’” Erica said. “Wasn’t his ship hit by a storm and damaged pretty badly?”
Raul shot her a sardonic glance. “Bien, what did he think when he came ashore and found giant frilled lizards, fields of red lilies, and beaches that glittered like diamonds in the sunlight?”
“Oh, you want poetic. I’m not good at that.” She relented. “One time when I was sitting right here, a Calevan dragon climbed up on the boulder where you’re sitting, flared its frill at me, and then settled down for a nap. The creature was about four feet long and the brightest green I have ever seen.”
“You are a dragon whisperer, then,” Raul said.
“I had been sitting still for a while, so I guess it decided I was not a threat.” She had been trying to disentangle her grief at her father’s death from her anger that he could have prevented it, a task she hadn’t succeeded in even now. When the dragon had slithered up, she realized that her shoulders were curled in as though to shield her breaking heart while tears ran down her face and soaked her trousers. She had straightened up very slowly to avoid disturbing the beautiful creature. “It hung out for quite a while. There was something magical about its trust in me.”
She had almost believed it was a sign sent by her father. Maybe an apology…except her father never apologized.
“Then you do appreciate the beauty in the natural world,” Raul said.
“Of course. I also enjoy pitting myself against it. Living off only what I carry on my back.” She shrugged. “I like the way it challenges me.”
When he wasn’t working, her father had loved to backpack, disappearing into the wild for days at a time while Erica stayed at home with her mother, bored to tears. When she got old enough to understand where her father was going, she had begged him to take her too. He had refused, saying he didn’t want to be slowed down by a girl. That had walloped her in the gut, since she couldn’t change who she was.
But this was her only chance to prove herself worthy of his love—because she was terrified of the ocean he adored. No matter how hard she fought it, fear seized her anytime she tried to force herself into the dark, dangerous depths of the sea. Her father looked at her in disgust when she panicked and had to be pulled out of the water.
But she wouldn’t admit defeat in her quest to win his admiration. She joined the school track team and trained like a fiend. Some days, she was so sore and exhausted that she could barely climb into the bathtub to soak her screaming muscles. When she won three events in the regional championships, she presented the medals to her father and waited for the congratulations, which didn’t come. He just nodded, but he took her on his next backpacking trip. The triumph had made her feet barely touch the trail as they hiked.
“Do you want to go back to the old days of living off the land?” Raul asked.
“Caramba, no!I like civilization, but sometimes you need to be reminded that it’s a fragile shield,” she said. “Given time, nature would take it all back from us, you know.”
“Ah, you’re preparing for the apocalypse.” There was a gleam of teasing in Raul’s blue eyes.
No, she’d been trying desperately to gain her father’s approval. “If the apocalypse comes, I figure Caleva is pretty well-positioned to survive it,” she said.
“Or we’ll get bombed into oblivion because someone will want to wipe out the U.S. military base here.” Raul’s tone was cynical.
“There is always that possibility,” she agreed.
“Ay,I am not good company tonight.” Raul shook his head. “Perhaps it is time to go to bed.”
He must be more fatigued by the hike than he let on. Maybe that explained his change of mood. “Tomorrow, we’ll get an early start so you can make your first climb.”
“I look forward to that.” He stood and brushed off his trousers before he gave her a regal nod. “Thank you for finding this beautiful campsite. I have enjoyed the view. And the company.”
She almost stood up to curtsy because he had transformed back into the prince. Funny that she preferred him asun tipo normal.
Chapter 4
After an early morning start and three hours of hiking, Erica pushed through a thicket of laurels to step out into a clearing surrounded by basalt cliffs tinted green with olivine and pyroxene silicates. The sunlight caught the embedded minerals, making them sparkle like jewels set in the dark rock.
The three men stopped beside her to scan their surroundings, Dario and Pascal bracketing the prince as they had all morning.
Raul tilted his head to squint at the top of the cliff. “Is this what we’re climbing?”
