Damn good looking bastard! Alana withdrew her right hand from the hands of the tan-skinned man with the red turban and sensual gaze.
"Teo Isila, I said that I expect envoys from Artcardia for that date. So, it will be impossible for me to make an appearance at their parties. Please convey my apologies to the Isila elders."
"I was hoping you would attend as my partner, Alana." Teo insisted. "You could make an appearance at night, after your assembly. I will be waiting for you."
Alana took a breath and gave up. "I'll see what I can do. But I don't guarantee anything. Teo, I think you should invite someone else. You know well that all the marriageable women of Samarta daydream about you." And even the unmarriageable ones. She thought.
"I will wait only for you. Alana, my northern star." Words did really come easily to him. Alana thought as she gave him a courtesy greeting and she prepared to follow her path.
Teo caught her firmly enough to make her stay in place, without hurting her. "You have to know how I feel." He told her, those emerald eyes that perhaps could only be rivaled by Alana's own, were famous throughout her congregation. He could melt the coldest of the hearts. "Alana."
"Teo, I'm going to say it just once," She didn't waver. She had known him since they were children. Alana knew he had more lovers than the number of voyages the oldest of the gypsies could count. Teo used to change his romantic interest almost at the same rate as he changed clothes. Besides, there was something else. Something she wouldn't tell him, of course. "You will not seduce me. I want a man who loves only me. You have proved you can't do that. And I don't think you're in love with me."
"You have to give me a chance."
"Now, it's not the moment." With that, she freed and walked away.
Alana could hear an imprecation coming from the man's pretty mouth. Those full, inviting lips of him. Damn good looking bastard. No, he was not going to be her lover. Yes, Alana had had a young crush on him. And who didn't? Yes, he was the most handsome man in all the great families. And there was even a time when she had considered him her friend.
Now, he was almost a stranger. Furthermore, suspiciously, Teo had begun to take an interest in Alana after she had assumed her responsibilities as queen right after her grandfather's illness. Dementia had knocked her grandpa down. Leonel, the patriarch of the Sarem family.
Alana had no doubts: Teo's family must have been pressuring him. Yes, the Isila lineage wanted more power.
Alana sighed. Gosh, she missed her grandpa. After his departure, she had been left alone. On top of that, with a heavy responsibility on her shoulders. She suddenly went from being a carefree and liberal young woman to being queen of the gypsies. Her freedom had become an illusion and her dreams an impossibility.
Become queen. Although she knew that day would arrive eventually, Alana had chosen to ignore it. The truth was that she had never aspired or desired to be queen.
Resolutely, Alana pushed Teo and her broken dreams out of her thoughts. She was to supervise the preparations for the reception of the Artcardian emissaries.