Page 81 of Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 29)

Truth said from the front, “Anita is a fellow warrior, always.”

“I know Anita can take care of herself,” he said.

“Would you say it that way if she were a man?” Nathaniel asked.

“What do you mean?”

“If Anita were a male cop, a male U.S. Marshal, would you say he could take care of himself?”

Richard thought about it before answering. “Yes, I don’t know, I think so.”

“Anita doesn’t just take care of herself, Richard, she takes care of me, of us,” Nathaniel said.

“I know that.”

“Then don’t thank a man for taking care of me like I’m some helpless damsel in distress.”

“I wasn’t in Vegas, or Ireland, and you seem angry at me for not being there and helping you through it all. Wicked was there in Vegas and helped you when I couldn’t; why is it wrong to thank him?”

“We weren’t there to help her,” Wicked said, “we were there to be her backup.”

“Isn’t being backup helping?”

“Yes, but not the way you made it sound.”

“I don’t know what I did wrong,” Richard said.

“When you talk to the bodyguards or any of us about Anita, you need to remember that she is never the princess in the story waiting to be rescued.”

“She’s a self-rescuing princess, I know that.”

Nathaniel shook his head. “No, Richard, that’s not it. Anita is never the princess at all, she’s the prince in shining armor who rides in with sword and shield and saves the day and the princess.”

Richard frowned, trying to wrap his head around the difference. It helped me not be angry with him, because he was trying. “I know that you’re comfortable being the princess to her prince.” He looked at Jean-Claude. “Is that how you see yourself, too, as her princess to save?”

“Non, mon lupe, she is queen to my king, we are equals and take turns saving each other.”

Richard nodded. “Okay, how about you, Wicked? Are you Anita’s princess?”

“I see her as queen when I am her bodyguard, but in a fight she is a fellow knight who will fight beside us.”

Truth added from the front, “She is our general who leads from the front lines of the battle.”

“And you, Jake?” Richard asked.

“She is my queen as Jean-Claude is my king; through their power and leadership they have made a kingdom that I thought was secure.”

“I get that,” he said, “but I look at you, Anita, and I see...”

“Just say it, I promise not to get pissed.”

“I see the princess that I want to hold and love and keep safe. I know you can take care of yourself, but...”

“Mon lupe, how do you see me?”

“Well, not as the princess, but a fellow prince to stand beside and fight and build a kingdom with, to keep with the metaphor.”

“That is how you need to seema petite, as a fellow prince to fight side by side with and save the kingdom.”

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