Page 5 of Jon’s Desert Prince Dream

“If I wished to throw myself into the ring, yes. I do not want that much responsibility, however.” Prince Donovan gave an exaggerated sigh and his lines briefly flared orange, as if some memory aggravated him. “I have enough to juggle with the position I hold, I do not want more. Returning to the main topic, you ask if I can choose you. Rather, I would be blessed to have you. Being your anchor would be the best thing I’d do in my life. That’s how my people all see it. But also, if you choose to stand at my side, you can help me navigate politics.”

Oh.

Ohhhh.

It was a mercenary reason to choose me, but I conversely felt eased by it. Everyone had to be a little mercenary to get ahead in life, and he harbored no ill intentions. He was honest enough in his desire for me, too.

Everything I read from him inclined me to believe he’d be an amazing protector and lover, but… Oh, good question. “So, um, are anchors normally lovers as well?”

“Most of the time. Sometimes they’re siblings, and a few pairings are platonic friends, but usually the psychic and anchor end up together romantically.”

He hoped for that, too.

If not for his hand at my back, silently urging me forward, I would have stopped to study his lines better. He wasn’t contradicting himself—his lines agreed with what he said—but it still didn’t make complete sense to me. He could choose anyone. Literally anyone would be thrilled to have this man. So why me? I had nothing but my decent looks and ability.

“I can see I will have to convince you,” Prince Donovan said with a long sigh. “It is something else I will need to berate your king for. How dare he ignore such amazing talent in his own lands, to the point you feel like you are worthless.”

Ouch. I mean, he was right, but ouch. He’d put a finger squarely on a sore spot.

The reality of it was, psychics in my homeland were feared more than anything. A few were deemed borderline acceptable—mostly those who could find things, as it was almost looked upon as harmless. People with talents like mine, though, were outright shunned. I’d lived on the fringe of society my entire life, trained to stay out of sight and quiet. And in the end, even keeping myself small hadn’t been enough to save me.

I had no time to gather a rebuttal together, as we’d reached an entrance decorated with sheer curtains. Prince Donovan lifted a hand, pushing the curtains aside, and ushered me into a very comfortable looking room. A carved pit in the ground with tons of soft looking pillows stacked about was immediately to our left. Meant for lounging?

Past it was a very wide bed, with the same gauzy sort of curtain draped around it on all sides. To keep bugs out, I would assume. Beyond the bed was a patio area, and I could hear birdsong and the flow of water. A very large pool of water was situated in the middle of many plants, shrubs, and trees, and I wasn’t sure if it was for relaxing or bathing. Maybe both? The clear water looked divine, though. I wanted to throw myself into it.

A beautiful room with rich, bold colors. I never wanted to leave. Just deliver food every once in a while, and I’d be fine.

“Rest here,” he encouraged me. “Bathe in the pool if you’d like, or sleep. I can tell you’re tired.”

My exhaustion had accumulated over a four-month span of being enslaved, so a nap wouldn’t fix anything, but damn did I want to try, not going to lie.

“I’ll have fresh clothes and food sent in for you shortly,” Prince Donovan promised me. “Rest and unwind. I must assist my sister in settling in everyone else.”

“Thank you. For everything, truly.”

He gave me a courtly bow over one hand, then winked before turning and sauntering back out.

The second he left, I started shedding clothes. I had to soak in that pool first, I just had to. I was too hot and I wanted to be cool. I hopped in and sank right up to my nose. Ahh, bliss. The water was perfect in temperature and I wanted to sleep in here. If I drowned, I drowned, such is fate.

To mitigate said drowning, I oriented myself so my head rested on the lip of the pool, then closed my eyes and floated for a while.

Prince Donovan was truly a confusing issue for me. I believed everything he said—not like he could lie to me anyway—but at the same time, I didn’t know how to respond. To grow up being told consistently I had no value, only for me to come here and have this incredible man think I was the epitome of valuable, was…bewildering. To say the least. I had a feeling this was a huge gap in culture.

Did I dare take his words at face value? Act from this point on like I was worth a prince’s ransom? It felt so unrealistic and cocky, in all the wrong ways.

From the doorway came an enthusiastic “Hello, hello!”

Eh? Person? I twisted about, not leaving the pool, but popped my head up to see who had just come in.

On the surface, he was sort of average—a man with a slightly chubby build, dark brown curly hair and, interestingly, the same pale skin as myself. He was cute, and—oh, huh, a Medium. A rather powerful one. His lines were sparkly in the best sense, and sweet by nature.

“Hi, I’m Mack,” he said, walking straight toward me. He lifted each arm up a little as he spoke. “On my right, I have fresh clothes for you, on my left, a hearty snack as dinner is in about two hours. Donovan said you’re Jon?”

“I, uh, am. Nice to meet you.” I sat up a little more, taking him in with growing confusion. He was the brother-in-law of Prince Donovan, unless I missed my guess. “Did he ask you to come to me?”

“No, I volunteered. I remembered how I reacted to everything here in the palace on my first day and chose to have pity. Didn’t think you’d want three strange women coming in to assist you with a bath.”

I shuddered at the visual. “No, thank you. Um, that’s…standard?”