A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals #1)(90)
She was soon atop D’artagnan, waving farewell to her family as Thabiso directed their not so valiant steed through the quiet streets of the town toward the trail that would lead them to the pickup point.
“Thanks for letting me sleep,” she said eventually. “I feel a lot better. I’ve only worked in labs before, not in a clinical setting, so all of the interacting with patients wore me out. I’m glad none of them were actually sick, though.”
“It’s I who should be thanking you for working so hard today,” he replied. “You know, I looked up epidemiology back in New York after I found out your field of study. And I didn’t quite understand all the hard work that went into it. I remember once I asked you why you didn’t remain a waitress, as you should perform the job you are best at. After seeing you today, I understand why.”
Ledi grew a bit warmer under her layers of wool.
“I really want to understand what’s happening here,” she said. “I hate mysteries. I hate not knowing the ‘why’ behind things, and epidemiology is very much about answering that question.”
“I’m sure there’s good reason for that type of curiosity,” Thabiso said.
“Can it, Freud.” She felt his quiet laugh reverberate against her back.
They traveled in silence for a while, the sky darkening at a rapid rate as D’artagnan clomped his way down the trail. She shivered against the biting wind, which was no longer being filtered through the warming afternoon rays of the sun. “Do you think we’ll make it back before the sun sets?”
“We could have, but it seems nature is having a bit of a laugh at our expense right now.” He held out a hand in front of her and she watched a snowflake slowly drift down to his palm, only to be immediately whipped away by an icy gust of wind.
Annoyance ricocheted through her body. “Please don’t tell me I’m gonna be the first Black person who went on a voyage to the motherland and froze to death,” she gritted out through chattering teeth. “Social media would have a field day and I don’t want to live on as a meme. Did you know it might snow?”
“This storm was not forecast,” he said. “But the snow is coming down harder, so we should take shelter until we know how bad it will be.”
Ledi looked around, then threw her hands up in the air, the only expression of her annoyance she was sure Thabiso would be able to see from behind. “Shelter? We’re on the side of a mountain.”
“I’ve heard that if you’re going to be trapped in a snowstorm, it’s useful to have a Saint Bernard with you,” he said calmly.
“Thabiso—”
“I told you Naledi, what I know, I know well. Trust me.”
And since she had no other choice in the matter, she did.
LESS THAN AN hour later, Ledi sat in front of the fire that Thabiso had made toward the back of a cave that wasn’t exactly large but would have gone for two grand at least in New York. D’artagnan stood around the corner in the L-shaped entryway, tied near a weighted flap of fabric that dampened the strength of the wind.
“The goatherds need to take cover sometimes,” Thabiso explained as he threw a tuft of fibrous dried grass into the fire. “This cave has been here for generations. I vexed many a nanny by running off to come here without their knowledge.”
“Scaring your caretakers half to death by making them think they’d lost the prince? How cute,” Ledi said. She was not pleased with their sudden camping excursion. Being stuck on a donkey had been adventure enough; sleeping in a rocky cave with no hot water or soft bed was cruel and unusual punishment. But there was something else stoking her impatience: another f word feeling that wouldn’t let her be. Fear.
“There was no other place I could go in the kingdom to be alone,” Thabiso said as he worked. “There was always someone trying to placate me, or reminding me of the responsibilities I would hold one day. Here, there was occasionally a lost goat or a herdsman on the outs with his partner.”
Ledi took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. I don’t like feeling like this.”
“Like what?” Thabiso asked.
“Freaked out,” she admitted. Their impromptu camping trip wasn’t the only thing bothering her.
“Snow freaks you out?” he asked.
“My parents died in a car accident. Maybe you know that. I don’t remember much, but I know there was a storm and the roads were icy, and then the car skidded. Was it a taxi? I think I was calling for them and getting no response. Even that might be a false memory, though. But this kind of storm feels bad.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. She’d always told herself the nightmare was just a nightmare, but it was the closest thing to a memory she had.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know you don’t like to talk about what happened, but I was wondering if being back has brought any memories up to the surface?”
“No. I feel pretty silly, to be honest. How do you just forget a whole chunk of your life?”
“Sometimes it’s easier to forget, I imagine.” He stopped talking and Ledi did, too. She stretched her hands out toward the fire instead.
Thabiso went around the corner to give D’artagnan some feed from the supply of hay the goatherds had left in a corner of the cave. Wind rushed in, and then he called out. “We won’t be able to go back tonight, and I don’t want to risk anyone coming up to get us. It’s really coming down out there. I sent a message to Likotsi; hopefully she got it.”