The Warrior’s Princess

Steph glanced up as the young man appeared at their table. ‘Il conto, grazie.’ Suddenly she was looking worried. ‘He still loves you, you know.’ She turned back to Jess.

‘Not any more.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because I was horrible to him. Because I thought he had done something.’ She paused. ‘It doesn’t matter why, Steph. Just take my word for it.’

‘Do you still like him at all, Jess?’

They stood up, leaving the tip on the table. The hovering waiter scooped it into the pocket of his long black apron with a wink. Strolling slowly towards the Corso Vittorio Emanuele Steph glanced sideways at her sister. ‘You didn’t answer,’ she persisted. ‘Do you still like him?’

Jess shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think we could ever be an item again, if that’s what you mean. Too much water under the bridge.’

Steph swung her tote bag over her shoulder. The sun was reflecting off the pavement in a dazzling glare of pale stone. Car fumes hung in a haze over the crossroads ahead. The roar of traffic made it almost impossible to make themselves heard. Instinctively they crossed over to the shady side of the street and turned off the main road up a narrow alley, strolling more slowly still towards the Piazza Navona.

‘But you wouldn’t mind if you saw him again?’ Steph went on doggedly.

‘I suppose not.’ Jess paused. ‘Though I doubt if he would want to see me.’ She pulled off her dark glasses, narrowing her eyes. ‘Why are you asking me all this, Steph?’

‘Because he’s on his way. I’m sorry. I should have asked you first. I’m an idiot. But last time I spoke to him he told me how much he still loved you. Well, almost. And I thought … Well, he was up at Ty Bran, wasn’t he and after you rang to say you were on your way, I rang him.’ Steph heaved a great shrug. ‘I should have told you last night. It was sort of Kim’s idea too. She has so much room and we thought it would be fun, and Carmella said you had found love again –’

‘Carmella!’ Jess turned to face her angrily. ‘Who is this woman who seems to have such an influence over you? She doesn’t know anything about me! I don’t want Will here! I came here for some peace!’

‘I’m so sorry.’

Jess exhaled hard through her teeth. ‘OK. I suppose it’s not the end of the world. But I am not back with him. I am not wanting to be back with him, and that must be made clear. By you, Steph! I don’t want to be put in the embarrassing position of him arriving and thinking I am going to fall at his feet. Or into his bed. Or have his bags delivered to my bedroom for God’s sake!’ She rammed her sunglasses back on. ‘I have come here to do some research. I shall be out most of the time.’

‘Sorry.’ Steph shook her head again. ‘So sorry.’ There was a moment’s silence. They had drifted to a standstill as they reached the piazza and around them people divided and passed them by on the busy pavement. They were surrounded by the smell of food from the restaurants all round them; the sound of water from the three great fountains filled the air.

‘When is he coming?’ Jess said, after a pause.

‘Today.’

‘Today?’

Steph nodded. ‘Otherwise I could have rung him and told him not to come. He was very keen. He said you and he had had words and he was really sorry and he wanted to make up. Sorry.’

‘Stop saying sorry!’ Jess suddenly felt like crying. All the complications were coming back. Those wonderful moments of peace and happiness in her bedroom as she woke to a feeling of complete safety were gone. The wave of betrayal and devastation was swiftly replaced by anger. ‘As I said, I shan’t be there much.’

‘How are you going to do all this research, Jess?’ Steph said softly. ‘When you don’t speak Italian.’

Jess glared at her. ‘I’ll find a way. There are lots of websites. Besides, I shan’t need Italian to walk around the ruins.’

Will arrived at about six p.m. He dropped his bags on the floor of the hallway and greeted Kim and Steph with a kiss on the cheek. Then he turned to Jess. He smiled.

‘How are you?’ He sounded wary.

‘Better than last time we met. I’m sorry if I was rude.’

‘Why don’t you go into the salotto, you two.’ Kim, forewarned by Steph that Jess wasn’t quite as pleased by the arrival of the new guest as they had expected, ushered them into the large cool reception room off the entrance hall. ‘Clear the air, then come and have a drink. We’ll be in the kitchen.’

Will closed the door behind them and stood, his back to it, looking at Jess. He waited unsmiling for her to speak first.

‘I’m sorry. I know I was awful to you.’ Jess shrugged. ‘I understand if you never want to speak to me again. Steph and Kim didn’t realise. There was a reason I behaved the way I did.’ She saw the sceptically raised eyebrow and plunged on. ‘Can I explain?’

‘I think you’d better.’ He still hadn’t smiled at her, she realised. He had made no move in her direction at all.

‘When you came to see me in Wales I thought you had –’ She floundered to a standstill.

‘When I came to Wales you said all sorts of crazy things to me, Jess; you treated me as though I was a serial killer!’ he filled in for her.

Shaking her head sadly she hesitated before going on. ‘Almost. As you know, I thought,’ she paused again. ‘I thought you had done something. Broken into my flat.’ She struggled to meet his eye. ‘I know I was wrong. I want to apologise. I want to make it all right again.’

‘Just like that?’

‘Just like that.’ She bit her lip.

‘And did you find out who had broken into your flat?’ He held her gaze.

She shook her head.

‘Did they take anything?’

Only my self-respect. My peace of mind. Maybe a bit of my sanity. She didn’t say it.

‘Why did you think it was me?’

‘Because –’ She sighed. ‘Because someone told me it was you and like a fool I believed them.’

‘Dan?’

She was startled. ‘How did you know that?’

‘He’s been saying some odd things lately. Tell me, if he thought I had broken into your flat, why did he suggest I come and see you in Wales?’

Jess shrugged miserably. ‘He was setting you up. He knew you hadn’t done it.’

His eyes narrowed angrily. ‘He must have known you would throw me out.’

Dear God! She couldn’t tell him the truth. If she did he would probably kill Dan. Everyone would find out what had happened. She would never be free of the horror and the scandal. ‘He was protecting someone else. Look, Will, it doesn’t matter why –’

‘It most certainly does!’ He strode away from the door towards the large circular table that stood in the middle of the floor. He ran a finger across the intricate marquetry. The room was dim, lit by the faint lines of sunlight which strayed in around the closed shutters. It smelled of beeswax polish and dust. ‘Who was he protecting?’

She could feel the anger coming off him and it scared her. ‘It was Ash,’ she said hurriedly. ‘He thought Ash had done it. He didn’t,’ she added quickly as Will’s lips tightened. ‘It was all a silly misunderstanding. That’s why I wanted to explain to you why I had been so horrid.’ She floundered to a halt miserably.

‘A misunderstanding! And why did he think it was Ash who had done it? Because the boy’s black, so he must be a thief?’ Will’s anger seemed to condense in the air around them.

‘No! No, of course not. Dan saw Ash walking home with me after the school disco and assumed –’ She faltered. ‘Look, it wasn’t Ash. And it wasn’t you. And I’m so, so sorry for thinking that it was!’