Crowned with Love Read online

  There was no need for her to say anything.

  She knew that it was where ‘The Invisible One’ would be not only out of reach of his enemies but also with a commanding view of the valley so that it would be impossible for anybody to take him by surprise.

  “I thought that as there would be no time for you to change,” Captain Darius said, “you would have to pin up your train. So I have brought you some safety pins.”

  He held them out in his hand as he spoke and because it seemed absurdly incongruous and she was so relieved to have escaped from The Palace, Giona burst out laughing and he laughed too.

  It was quite difficult to pin her train in the swaying carriage, but she managed it.

  Then Captain Darius produced a dark scarf for her to wear over her head and a long light cloak that she knew was worn by Cavalry Officers.

  Because of the speed they were travelling at they did not speak very much and Giona deliberately did not ask him more details about what was happening.

  She was simply and profoundly grateful for the fact that she had escaped from The Palace, where by now there was doubtless a hue and cry as to what had happened to her.

  ‘Perhaps they will think that I am hiding somewhere in The Palace with its vast number of rooms,’ she told herself. ‘In which case it will take a long time for them to look for me.’

  She could imagine the fury of the King at being kept waiting and she was sure that he would viciously punish everybody concerned with looking after her for their negligence.

  She was glad therefore that Captain Darius had said that Mithra could follow them.

  The horses came to a standstill and still without giving any explanation Captain Darius jumped out and helped her to alight.

  She saw that they had reached the foot of the mountains and awaiting their arrival were four horsemen all mounted on small but sturdy horses, which she was sure were used in mountain work and were not only sure-footed but capable of long periods of endurance.

  There was one horse with a side saddle that she knew was for herself, but there was not one for Captain Darius.

  She turned to him questioningly and asked him,

  “You are not coming with me?”

  He smiled before he replied,

  “You will be quite safe, Your Royal Highness, with these gentlemen. I have more work to do in the City before I can join you.”

  As he finished speaking, he bent his head and kissed her hand. Then he lifted her onto the saddle, arranging her skirt with its rather unwieldy pinned-up train so that it was concealed by the Cavalry cloak.

  Immediately two of the horsemen rode ahead and, as Giona followed them, the other two rode behind her.

  She was aware as they moved away that Captain Darius had climbed back into the carriage and already it was moving at a tremendous pace towards Dūric.

  She wondered curiously exactly what was happening, but was content for the moment to be free and busy seeing that her horse did not stumble over the rough ground as they rose higher and higher up the mountainside.

  They rode in silence until after over an hour they moved onto what seemed to be almost a level plateau below the peak of the mountain and for the first time she had sight of other men.

  They ran ahead when they saw her approaching and she was sure that they had been waiting for her arrival.

  Then the plateau widened out and she saw at the end of it that there was a large number of natural caves in the mountainside and on the other side she could see a valley not unlike the one she had just left, except that there were no houses.

  To her surprise there were a number of men and women moving about and she thought that there were also some guns, although she could not be certain.

  They rode across the level ground until she saw waiting for her in the entrance of one of the caves one man standing alone.

  She had never actually seen him before and had no idea what he looked like, but at her first glance it was as if the vibrations she had felt so strongly in the railway carriage leapt out towards hers and she knew without being told that here was ‘The Invisible One’.

  As the horses came to a standstill he moved to Giona’s side and, lifting her down from the saddle, said,

  “You are all right? The journey has not been too much for you?”

  She might have expected him to be concerned for her, but she gave a little laugh as she replied,

  “Every second was one of sheer delight, simply because I had escaped from The Palace!”

  She looked up at him, her eyes very large in her small face, as she asked,

  “How did you do it? How could you be so wonderful as to spirit me away at the last moment when I thought that all was lost?”

  “You are not lost,” he said in his deep voice. “You are here. And now, if you will come into my somewhat austere lodging place, I want to talk to you.”

  Giona turned to smile at the four horsemen who had brought her up the mountain.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you very much.”

  Then she followed ‘The Invisible One’ into his cave and found it very different from what she expected.

  To begin with it was large and very high, as high as any of the rooms in The Palace.

  There were rugs on the floor and a desk which she recognised as like those that were used in the Army by Commanding Officers and could be carried on the back of a horse or a mule.

  There were also several chairs and she was about to sit down when she realised that the man beside her was waiting to take her cloak from her.

  She unfastened it at the neck, thinking that, although it had been cool climbing the mountain, the sun was now hot and the cloak was really unnecessary.

  She also undid the dark scarf that she had put over her head, and untied her hair, which she felt must have been disarranged.

  As she did so ‘The Invisible One’ said quietly,

  “You look very lovely, just as I thought you would be!”

  Giona felt herself blush and then, as she looked at him, she saw that he too was exactly as she might have expected.

  There was no doubt that his features were Greek and in fact they reminded her vaguely of her father’s face.

  His eyes were dark and so was his hair and he was, as she had seen him silhouetted against the light when he had gone into her bedroom in the train, tall, broad-shouldered with a slender body and narrow hips and the long legs of an athlete.

  He was wearing the simple uniform of an ordinary Slavonian soldier, but she knew that he had no need of insignia or epaulettes for it to be obvious that he was a Commander, a leader of men.

  They stood looking at each other as if it were impossible not to do so until, because she felt shy, Giona looked away and sat down on one of the chairs.

  ‘The Invisible One’ sat down in one opposite her just as he had done in the train and then said,

  “First I think you should have something to drink because I am sure that you are thirsty. Then we can talk.”

  As he spoke, a man came into the cave bringing a bottle of golden wine and two glasses.

  There was a plate of sweetmeats, which Giona recognised from what her father had described to her as favourites in Balkan countries because they were made with nuts and honey.

  She sipped her drink and realised that she was very thirsty, but too excited to be hungry.

  The plate of sweetmeats were put on the desk beside her and, when the man had left, the cave, ‘The Invisible One’ said,

  “I managed to do as you asked me, Princess, and save you from a marriage that would have been a crime against God and against man. Now I have a suggestion to make that I can only pray will not frighten you.”

  “Frighten me?” Giona asked in surprise.

  “You are very young,” ‘The Invisible One’ said quietly, “and you should not be involved in the political disturbances of a foreign country. But you are here and I think you will understand what I am going to ask you to do.”

  “
You are frightening me!” Giona complained.

  “I have no wish to do that.”

  “But you have saved me from marrying a man who I can think of only as insane.”

  As she spoke, ‘The Invisible One’ could see the shock in her eyes and, as he looked at her, he could see the mark on her cheek that was still crimson against the whiteness of her skin.

  “What happened?” he asked. “Who has struck you?”

  Now there was a note of anger in his voice that had not been there before and instinctively Giona put her hand up to her face before she replied,

  “I cannot speak about it! It was horrible, beastly and obscene and, if you had not brought me away, I was determined – to kill myself!”

  ‘The Invisible One’ drew in his breath and then he bent forward to take Giona’s hand in his.

  “Forgive me,” he said, “I should have saved you immediately after we talked together in the railway carriage. I knew then that you were far too young, innocent and sensitive to be involved with a brute like the King, but at that moment I could not see what I could do about it.”

  “No, of course not,” Giona answered. “But I never knew, I never dreamt, there were men – like him in the – world or that they could – behave in such an – outrageous manner.”

  Her voice was very young and lost and she felt ‘The Invisible One’s’ fingers tighten on hers before he said,

  “Because of what you have been through, I am afraid to suggest what is in my mind. But will you listen to me and try not to be afraid?”

  “Of course I will listen to you,” Giona said.

  Then, as she looked up at him, she gave a little cry of horror and cried,

  “You are not thinking of sending me back – you would not want me to – face him again?”

  “No, no, of course not!” he answered. “Do you really think I could subject you again to such torture, both mental and physical, such as you have endured already?”

  Giona gave a little sigh of relief.

  “Then nothing you can ask me to do could be as bad as that,” she said with a tremulous smile.

  “Drink a little wine,” ‘The Invisible One’ suggested, “then I will tell you what I have in mind.”

  She obeyed him, feeling the golden wine like sunshine seeping into her body, dispersing the fear that still lingered in her breast.

  Then she said,

  “First can we start by your telling me your name? I only know you as ‘The Invisible One’ and now you are no longer invisible!”

  He laughed and it was a spontaneous happy sound.

  “My name is Miklōs,” he said, “and, as I think you already know, I am the son of King Alexandras, who was the last Slavonian King of this country and therefore by heredity I have every right to the Throne.”

  “Of course you have,” Giona agreed. “I like the name Miklōs, which in England would be Michael and I believe that only the Archangel Michael could have spirited me out of that heavily guarded Palace.”

  “Now you are here and safe from the King,” Prince Miklōs said. “But you are still in Slavonia, a country deeply divided within itself.”

  The way he spoke made Giona realise that this concerned her.

  He released her as he spoke and she clasped both her hands together and put them in her lap as she raised her eyes to his like a child waiting to be instructed.

  “What I have to say to you,” he said, “may come as a shock, but it is very very important for me and for my country.”

  “I am listening,” Giona replied softly.

  “It was, as I think you know, on the insistence of the House of Parliament but against the personal wishes of the King, that the deputation was sent to England to ask for the help of Britain and, as a token, one of Queen Victoria’s relatives, to preserve our independence.”

  “I am sure now that the King himself had no wish for a British bride,” Giona said, remembering the furious way that he had raged at her for being British.

  “That is true,” Prince Miklōs agreed. “He would have been quite happy for Slavonia to become part of the Austrian Empire, but was too afraid of the opposing elements in the country to admit it.”

  He paused as if he was thinking deeply and Giona waited, wondering what he had to tell her.

  “Queen Victoria’s reply to the Slavonian request for help was exactly what we had hoped for,” Prince Miklōs went on. “She sent one of her relatives to sit upon the Throne and thus make it quite clear to the Austrians and anybody else with designs on this country that it was under the protection of the Union Jack.”

  Giona nodded.

  She was aware of all this and she could not quite see what Prince Miklōs was leading up to.

  Then he said,

  “I cannot believe that Queen Victoria had any idea of the depths of depravity that King Ferdinand has sunk into. But for the sake of Slavonia I am asking you still to do what was intended when you came very bravely and alone to this country to save it.”

  “I-I don’t – understand.”

  Prince Miklōs smiled.

  ‘‘I am putting it very badly,” he said, “but quite simply, what I am asking you is to marry the King and make sure that in the future Slavonia is safe.”

  Giona stared at him in horror, as if she could not believe what he had said.

  Then once again he reached out and took her hand in his.

  “Not King Ferdinand, who would never have become King but for the stupidity of the Statesmen when my father died, but the rightful King, the King who is a Slavonian and whom the majority of the people love, as they will love you.”

  Giona stared at him again.

  Then she said in a voice that he could hardly hear,

  “Are – you suggesting – that I – m-marry you?”

  “I am not suggesting it,” he replied, “I am begging you, if necessary on my knees, to do so.”

  His hand tightened over hers as he added,

  “I swear I will try to make you happy and I believe that, when we get to know each other, we shall have many things in common.”

  He paused for a moment to look down into her eyes, wide and a little frightened and astonished by what he was saying.

  Then he asked very softly,

  “Will you marry me, my brave little Princess? You saved my life and now I am asking you to save my Throne.”

  “Is that what you – really want?” Giona asked, so surprised that she was not quite certain what she was saying.

  “I know it is a great deal to ask of you after all you have been through,” Prince Miklōs replied. “But looking at it from an entirely practical point of view, I know that, if I am married to a wife sent from England by Queen Victoria to ensure the independence of this country, the whole populace, even those who are timid and afraid of the Austrians, will rally to me.”

  He went on,

  “What is more, I am sure that the rank and file in the Army under Austrian and German Officers will mutiny against them and then there will be nothing that King Ferdinand can do but abdicate.”

  Giona drew in her breath.

  “If you really – think that will – happen,” she said, “then of course I must – marry you.”

  There was a look both of excitement and joy in the Prince’s eyes before he lifted her hand and for the second time she felt his lips on the softness of her skin.

  It gave her a strange feeling that she had never known before and suddenly she felt shy, finding it impossible to look at him.

  “Thank you, Princess,” he said in a low voice. “I feel that I have been cruel to ask so much of you so quickly when you have already been through more than most women endure. But it is an urgent question of time, for by now everybody of any importance in the country has gathered together in Dūric.”

  He pressed on,

  “As this is the moment when you have publicly repudiated King Ferdinand and the Austrian and German faction and have chosen instead to ally yourself with the Slavonian Pretende
r to the Throne, the impact will be tremendous!”

  He paused and then continued,

  “Unless I am very much mistaken, the only dissidents will be those who know they will have to clear out of the country and stay out!”

  There was a hard note in his voice as he spoke and Giona knew how much he must have resented the behaviour of the King and the Austrians and Germans he had placed in positions of power.

  “What do you – want me to do?” Giona asked.

  The Prince smiled at her and then he replied,

  “I want you to rest comfortably in a cave that has been prepared for you until I have made all the arrangements for our Wedding, which will take place this evening just before dark. Tomorrow, unless you are too afraid, I am going to ask you to be very brave and drive with me to the Capital, where I will claim my rightful place as King of Slavonia.”

  Giona looked at him in astonishment.

  Then she stammered,

  “Surely it will be – dangerous? Supposing – somebody throws a – bomb at you or tries to – shoot you?”

  “They will not throw a bomb,” the Prince said, “because they will be too afraid. If there is any will to resist left amongst the King’s Guard, they will not wish to kill you, but I must risk being shot by a sniper.”

  “You would do that?” Giona cried. “But – supposing – just supposing you were – killed? King Ferdinand might then insist on – marrying me – after all!”

  There was so much terror in her voice that Prince Miklōs knelt beside her chair and took both her hands in his.

  “Listen, Giona,” he said, for the first time calling her by her Christian name.

  “I am listening.”

  “I swear to you that whatever happens, if you will do as I ask, I will ensure that you are protected and never will you be forced to marry King Ferdinand or any man like him. Will you trust me?”

  Giona found as she gazed into his eyes, because his face was very near to hers and she was acutely conscious of the closeness of him, that it was impossible to look away.

  “I – trust – you,” she said after a long moment.