Bad Nerd Rising (12 page)

“That’s not enough sleep.”

“No, it isn’t. I’m flying
more doctors in to help ease the load, but I don’t want to take
chances with you. So I’m sending you to London. You can stay at our
flat there, where you’ll be comfortable, and the car can take you
to your various appointments.”

She looked hesitant. “Do
you really believe this is necessary?”

“I do,” he said firmly.
Already the idea of leaving here seemed to have perked her up. His
father hadn’t spent much time in London, but his mother loved that
city. She always seemed to thrive there. London never failed to
revive her spirits. “Once you’re given a clean bill of health, then
we can speak of your returning home.”

She rose briskly from her
chair, “I’d better go see about making the arrangements for my
departure today.” Her eyes shone with a new light and her energy
seemed to increase before his very eyes.

“Yes, you have much to
prepare.” He could barely believe the difference just suggesting
she leave. “Also, Mother?”

“Yes, dear?” she asked. She seemed more like
his mother than he’d seen in the last year.

“I’ve arranged for you to
see a few doctors. Make certain you don’t miss any of the
appointments, okay? Each is important.”

She studied him for a few
moments, and he could nearly see the beautiful person she’d been
before his father died. But that woman had been replaced by one who
was bitter and angry, so her beauty had faded. The more he thought
of Emma’s belief that his mother needed grief counseling the more
he believed her notion correct.

“I won’t miss any of the
appointments if you feel so strongly about this,” she said. Still
sounding like the mother he remembered.

“I do. I need you to keep
every one of them.”

“Who are you sending to be
my watchdog?” Her voice sounded wry, teasing almost. More glimpses
of the woman he knew.

“Aunt Loletta is planning
to join you there.”

“That is a most excellent
bit of news.” His mother appeared even more excited. Loletta was
her sister, and best friend. They lived in two different countries
and although they stayed in contact regularly, didn’t spend much
time together. But Loletta was also a force to be reckoned with and
she wouldn’t allow his mother to miss her appointments. All the
while making certain his mother also enjoyed herself.

“I thought you might enjoy the opportunity
to see her and London again.”

His mother swooped down to
kiss him on the forehead before she turned on her heel and swept
from the room. She positively burst with renewed vigor and
happiness. Maybe she had simply needed a change of scenery but
didn’t feel she could leave him with his new duties.

Silly woman.

Her leaving the palace
would provide everyone with a much needed break. And he could
reassess his plans to seduce Tia. The enjoyment would have been
decreased had he attempted to do so under his mother’s watchful
eye.

The women she deemed
appropriate left him... unfulfilled and dissatisfied. All of them
would bore him in moments. Each of them already had, in fact. There
wasn’t one of them who could carry on an intelligent conversation
for an extended period of time.

He required stimulation.
Mental stimulation as well as physical. With the women his mother
had chosen he’d receive neither.

With Tia, she only had to
be in the same room with him for everything to heighten. The birds
seemed to sing prettier, the colors more vibrant, and the world was
a more cheerful place. With Tia in the palace, he actually didn’t
mind climbing out of bed in the morning.

Now with his mother off to
London, he’d be even more apt to tumble out of bed. Especially if
he could coax his princess-to-be into a few stolen kisses. Being a
princess wasn’t exactly the easiest job in the world. She would
have to undergo a thorough physical examination. And once their
engagement was announced, she’d be under the scrutiny of his
countrymen. He didn’t worry about this because she’d be a hero if
she solved their well problems.

Ill people tended to be
appreciative of those who took them from sickness to health.
Actually, they might not deem
him
good enough for
her
. But he would have to worry
about that when the time came.

His phone rang. “Aleksi
speaking.”

“Answering your own phone?” Graham asked
with interest.

“Everyone quit.” He tried
to sound mournful, but figured he failed when Graham
laughed.

“That’s what happens when you’re a
dictator.”

“You could have informed me
of this earlier,” Aleksi groused, as he always did when he spoke
with this man. Graham had been more a father to him sometimes than
his own father had. The principality had taken up much of his
father’s attention, although he had spent time with
Aleksi.

“You never asked. Now, how
did your mother take being shipped out of the country?”

“She’s ecstatic,” he admitted.

Graham made a tsking sound
in the back of his throat. “Isn’t that interesting how we all
missed the signs in your mother? A total stranger saw what we
didn’t.” Aleksi appreciated the shame he heard in Graham’s voice,
but he didn’t want his mentor to feel bad.

“We’ve been too close to
the situation. And we all had to grieve, too. How could we have
known she couldn’t work through her sorrow?”

His mentor sighed. “I know.
I just feel like one of us should have figured it out. Maria is
usually very aware of that sort of thing.”

“Mother doesn’t allow Maria close.”

“Yes, there is that silly feud your mother
insists on, isn’t there?”

“I’ve never thought Maria
cared about keeping it up. She’d just as soon see the entire thing
dropped, but my mother doesn’t appear to want to do
that.”

“Do you have any idea what they originally
fought about?”

“Graham, I’m not certain
even Maria knows,” Aleksi said dryly.

“She knows. She has to.”
Disbelief was the prominent emotion in Graham’s voice.

“Ask her. I doubt she
does.”

“That would be sad.”

“That would be my mother.”
Aleksi said grimly. Please, let him chose a better woman than his
mother.
Let him have
Tia
.

***

When she thought about it
at breakfast the next morning, Tia realized she didn’t miss
Aleksi’s mother at all. The woman was too busy preparing for her
time in London and was supposed to leave today. Her thoughts
drifted from the woman to her son. When Tia’s aunt and uncle left,
she’d have to eat meals alone with him. But that shouldn’t be a
problem since the palace was overrun with people at any given hour.
Seems the place never quit. Much like she’d heard about New York
City. Only smaller.

Therefore she would never
actually “be alone” with him, which was both good and bad. Good
because she didn’t trust herself, and bad because oh, but it could
be fun to kiss his socks off. Tia had never kissed anyone’s socks
off, nor ever had the same done to her, but she didn’t doubt the
power of Aleksi.

Not that she would ever
attempt this feat until
after
her aunt and uncle left. General Emma tended to
notice things like that, and she’d have to tell someone, and then
that juicy tidbit of gossip would eventually work back to her
mother, who would start planning her wedding, even though Macy
would tell her to cool it...

And Tia reconfirmed the
need to keep her hands off her delectable host. Hottie though he
was, he wasn’t up for grabs. At least not by her. She didn’t have
the background, didn’t have the social manners required, nor did
she have the grace and beauty necessary to pull off
princesshood.

She shuddered just
thinking about being a princess.
No
way.
It was bad enough having to endure
the moments when she couldn’t escape to her lab. The servants
wanted to do everything for her. Including walk. She understood she
wasn’t the most graceful of women and things didn’t truly grow ugly
until she strapped heels on, but still, even she was capable of
walking from one area to the next. Usually.

“Good news,” Aleksi announced, breaking into
her thoughts, thank goodness.

“Oh?” General Emma asked.
She looked fresh and radiant this morning. Part of the brightness
might have something to do with Gloomy Gracia soon being en route
to London. Tia took a moment to feel sorry for the British. But she
suspected a goodly amount of the shine around her aunt had to do
with general good health, her personality, and the fact that she
was totally in love with her new husband.

“The plumbers have managed
to install all the filters so we can take showers in our
bedchambers,” Aleksi said. She noticed he sent her a rather
speaking look. She swallowed.

“Oh, that’s wonderful
news,” she murmured, thinking lustfully of the hedonists delight in
her own bathroom.

“Yes it is wonderful.
Although we certainly didn’t mind using that amazing bathtub,
either,” General Emma replied as she dug into the oatmeal before
her.

When Tia noticed her Uncle
Rich seemed more interested in his filled plate than the bathing
situation, Tia had to tease him. “Uncle Rich is going to mind not
getting to trek down the hall.”

He swallowed and a lazy
grin creased his lips. Yep, he was definitely handsome beyond
belief. “Since I’ve lived in places where the bathing arrangements
were downright primitive, I’ve learned not to complain when there
are decent ones in place.”

Tia glanced at Aleksi.
“Uncle Rich spent two tours in Kuwait,” she explained.

“
Two
tours?” His dark brows snapped
together. “You must like punishment.”

Rich laughed. “No, but I
guess I like my country.”

“You must. I do not care
for Kuwait, myself. It is so sandy and hot,” Aleksi
said.

“I imagine you’re used to
some primitive conditions then.” Rich took another bite while Tia
went on alert.

“Yes, I suppose I feel the
way you do. So long as there are some provisions made for bathing,
I am not one for complaint.” Aleksi did that Gaelic shrug
again.

Her girls roused. She
shushed them and in the meantime, Emma beat her to the question.
“Why is that?”

The men turned to stare at her.

“All the men in my country
must join the military between the ages of seventeen and
twenty-one. I joined as soon as I finished university.”

“Just because he was the prince doesn’t mean
that same law didn’t apply to him,” Rich continued.

“You were in the
military?” Tia hadn’t been aware of that.
Interesting
.

“Of course. And I told my
father I wished for no special treatment. He arranged for some men
he knew who wouldn’t treat me any differently to undertake my
military training. My experience was identical to that of the other
men in this principality.”

She liked the satisfaction
in his voice. Perhaps that’s why he seemed so much more
down-to-earth than she had thought possible for a member of
royalty.

“You didn’t have to do
that, surely,” General Emma commented. She paused with her spoon
halfway between her mouth and bowl.

“No, I did not. But the
circumstances of my birth should not provide me rights over those
who are my fellow countrymen. Besides, from that experience, I
discovered true friends. It was one of the best periods of my
life.”

“You weren’t any different
from anyone else for the first time in your life,” Tia said,
realizing how not fun it would be to have been born in a royal
family. A woman had to be nuts to marry into one.
Hello? Step away from the gorgeous prince,
she reminded herself.

“That’s correct. The only
other time I enjoyed such an occasion was when I attended
university in America. There, I managed to hide my identity until
my third year.”

“Who found you out?”

“My father called the
Provost and spoke with him, having no idea I had failed to mention
my heritage. I had managed to keep our people who dealt with the
school from revealing my identity, but my father was not
aware.”

“He didn’t approve?” Emma
again asked the very question on her lips.

“Actually, I believe he
did. He once told me that if I kept my attitude, about not wanting
to be treated differently while in the military or at school, I
could take our principality further than it would likely ever go. I
am still not certain what he meant by that.” Aleksi bit his lip and
Tia wanted to soothe the abused flesh with her lips and tongue. She
wanted to swirl her tongue....

She cut off those
treacherous thoughts because that way lay madness. And since she
was a member of the Morrison family and sister to three Apes, she
decided she didn’t need more insanity. Plus, she’d already given
herself that little pep talk about marrying into royalty. Heck,
dating royalty would be a... royal pain. She winced at her own
stupidity. Oh well, at least she could entertain
herself.