Chapter 30

Later that evening, Ledi awoke under a warm quilt, wanting nothing more than to snuggle down and sleep for a hundred years. Was there an internship in sleep studies? She should have looked into that.

“Are you feeling better, my cousin?” Nya was at her side, and that was when she remembered that Alehk had showed up at the hospital just as she had wrapped up the morning’s tiring work. Her uncle had invited her and Thabiso to lunch at his home. Ledi had asked to take a short nap and had been asleep before she hit the sheets.

“Still a bit groggy, but better,” she said. “I guess my brain still hasn’t caught up with the time zone. Did I miss lunch?”

Nya smiled indulgently. “Lunchtime has passed, cousin, and teatime. It is almost time for supper.”

Ledi bolted up.

“What? How come no one woke me?” She scrambled for the boots she didn’t remember taking off.

“Because Prince Thabiso said that you must sleep as long as necessary, and that you were not to be disturbed.” Nya smiled and lowered her gaze. “He is very protective of you. And he cares enough to stay and be civil with my father, even after the castigation he received yesterday.”

Ledi’s brain was still halfway in the clouds, but she latched onto a fragment of the conversation she’d had with Thabiso that morning. “Alehk is a finance minister?”

“He is the finance minister, and he often doesn’t see eye to eye with the royal family. Sometimes I think it’s because . . .” Nya’s cheeks showed just the slightest tinge of blush. “You see, after your parents left, he assumed that I would be chosen to be Thabiso’s bride. Our mothers were the best of friends, and it was seen as a good omen when they all conceived during the same period.”

Ledi processed that new information. “Wait, what? They were best friends?”

“Oh yes,” Nya said. “One second.”

She rushed across the room and came back with a framed photo. Three beautiful dark-skinned women—Ledi’s mother, Queen Ramatla, and a woman she assumed to be Nya’s mother. Three wide smiles, and three large bellies.

“They were devastated when my mother died, and when the priestesses chose you as Thabiso’s betrothed, it made the bond between Libiko and Her Highness even stronger. When your family left without saying a word, the queen went into a state of shock. She wasn’t the same after that.” Nya shook her head. “This is all rumor, of course. But my father thought it went without saying that I would take your place as the prince’s betrothed. After I fell ill, he became even more adamant, filling my head with all kinds of nonsense about the future, as though choosing a bride for a prince was as simple as transferring a property deed.”

Ledi mentally sorted all of the information Nya had just provided her. There really was no replacement for boots on the ground investigation, because she’d yet to come across any of this in the emails Likotsi had sent her. Friendship, betrayal, and now a possible love triangle.

“Do you . . . do you love Thabiso?” Ledi asked carefully. Her chest went tight at just the possibility.

“Oh! No, of course not. I never wanted to marry Thabiso,” Nya said with a shocked laugh. “Dealing with one spoiled, demanding man my entire life has quite cured me of any desire for another one. Although seeing how Thabiso treats you makes me believe that I misjudged him. Or perhaps the priestesses were right when they chose you as his betrothed, for you seem to be the one who brings out the best in him.”

Ledi pulled on her boots. “He’s okay, I guess.”

“Mm-hmm,” Nya said. “You know, when I watch television shows about New York, the women are always so cynical about love. I see this is one thing that is not false.”

“That’s the only thing those shows get right.” Ledi laughed. “You can see for yourself when you come visit me. My apartment is the size of the bathroom in Friends.”

Nya grew suddenly sober, and Ledi startled at just how frail her cousin was. “Yes, it would be quite lovely to leave Thesolo someday. Even if just for a little while.”

“Hey, my niece, you are awake!” Alehk’s voice carried into the room before he strode in with a steaming mug of tea, Thabiso trailing behind him. “Here, here, have something to warm you up before you leave.”

“Night will fall soon,” Thabiso explained as Alehk thrust the tea into her face. “If we want to make it back to the palace, we should go. Unless you want to stay.”

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Nya said, rising to her feet and helping Ledi to hers. “Our accommodations are in no way fit for a prince and his future bride, family or not. Go, and I shall see you tomorrow.”

Her cousin moved quickly, wrapping Ledi up in her blanket cloak and scarf and hat, slipping her gloves onto Ledi’s hands, as her first set of foster parents had when she was a child. Alehk disappeared for a moment and returned with a large thermos. “For the cold road, then, where warmth is even more important.”

Ledi tucked the thermos into her bag. “Thank you, Uncle.”

She had always resisted being looked after and fretted over, always eager to show that she was an asset and not a burden, but she had to admit that it was surprisingly nice to have people who cared about your well-being, even if Alehk was kind of a jerk. Wasn’t that how most people felt about their families?