When Xander entered the room, he raised an eyebrow in question. He gestured toward her ministers. “Is this necessary?”
“Yes. There’s nothing more to discuss. We’ve agreed in principle, and now it’s time to move onto the next level.” She smiled coolly. “Please, feel free to summon your own ministers. The sooner we begin, the sooner we can both return home.”
Xander gave a brief nod, his mouth grim, his fingers tight around the back of his chair, betraying his displeasure. “Sure,” he said.
Elaheh nodded in triumph. She’d put him back in his place and, with their staff around them, she’d ensure the remainder of their meeting would be strictly impersonal.
And so it was. The hours passed quickly as each detail was nailed down and approved. By the end of the morning, there was nothing further to discuss.
“Thank you everyone. I think we’re finished here, now.” She rose to follow her staff when Xander spoke from behind her.
“One moment, please, Elaheh,” he said. She noticed he used her full name. Further proof, if required, that she had him where she wanted him.
She turned to him with an imperious glare. “What is it you want, Xander? Surely there’s nothing to discuss that our executives can’t deal with?”
“Yes, there is,” he said firmly. Her heart sank. It seemed he was still resisting her will. “I wish to talk with you, in private. Just for a few minutes,” he added.
She hesitated before giving him a curt nod. A few minutes she could cope with.
He opened the door for her and they walked out into the courtyard. It was almost spartan in design—unrelieved by trees, shrubs or flowers. Its simplicity dramatized its only feature—a perfect rectangular slice of water which reflected the brilliant blue of the sky. Instinctively, it seemed, he walked over to the water. She had the opposite instinct and sat on the stone seat by the door. He turned around and shook his head, as if in despair at her obstinacy. What he didn’t understand was that if she didn’t stand her ground, she’d lose the respect of every one around her. She’d learned that by watching her mother. There was no room for flexibility in this man’s world in which she lived.
“Do I have to shout across the courtyard at you?” he called out.
“No, you may stand before me if you have something to say.”
He shrugged and came and stood before her, closer than she’d have liked. She regretted requesting him to stand before her, while she sat. He had the advantage of height. She couldn’t shift away easily, not without appearing to be intimidated. And there was no way she was ever going to appear intimidated by him.
Any further thought of intimidation vanished as she watched a strange expression move over his face. He was frowning as though displeased, but he blinked and his mouth twisted as though he were unsure of himself. She relaxed. This was going to be interesting.
“I wish to apologize, Elaheh. You were correct. Roshan did ask me to soften my stance towards you. But he didn’t ask me to flirt with you, as you suggested. That was all my own,brilliant,idea.” His emphasis showed that he no longer considered it to be brilliant.
She smiled. She hadn’t thought that watching an arrogant, powerful man humble himself before her could be so entertaining. “Indeed. Far from brilliant. Insulting even, I’d go so far as to say.”
He raised an eyebrow, his expression now returned to his usual cool aloofness. “Would you?”
“Yes, I would. To flirt with a colleague could, I understand, be construed as harassment in the workplace. To flirt with a queen could, I’m quite sure, be considered disrespectful at best.”
“And at worst?”
She rose and stepped toward him, annoyingly having to tilt her chin upward to meet his direct gaze. “At worst, Xander, it would be considered treasonous.”
She held his gaze firm until he laughed. She didn’t.
“And, what, Xander do you have so amusing?”
He thrust his hands in his pockets, traces of laughter still lingering on his face as he stepped even closer to her. “You, Ela, you. You are so…” He petered out as he shook his head and his gaze roamed over her face. “So old-fashioned.”
“Old-fashioned?” It wasn’t what she’d expected him to say, not that she could ever hope to fathom the workings of his mind. “Old-fashioned?” she repeated more loudly.
“Yes! All your talk of treason and respect, it’s as if you live in the dark ages!”
She gritted her teeth. “For your information, Xander, I do. My life and that of my people haven’t changed for centuries.”
“Then you need to change. Really. You need to move into the twenty-first century before you get left behind.”
She pursed her lips as she tried to control her anger. “And that, Xander, is exactly what I am trying to do. That is why I’m here, wasting my time trying to talk to you.”
“But that’s just it, Ela. You’re not trying hard enough. You don’t even look modern.”