“Oh my God,” Fiona said, looking suddenly thunderstruck, “is this serious?” The look in Christianna's eyes, and Parker's when she'd seen them together that afternoon, said that it could be.

“No,” Christianna said firmly, looking sad. “It isn't. It can't be. I told him that when we started, before we started, I have to go home to my responsibilities. I could never live in Boston, and he can't come home with me. My father would never approve.” There wasn't even the remotest doubt of that on Christianna's face.

“Of a doctor?” Fiona looked shocked. Her parents would have been thrilled. “It sounds like he has unreasonably high standards to me.”

“Maybe he does,” Christianna answered quietly, just as she had said to Parker in similarly veiled terms. “But that's the way he is. He has many reasons for how he feels. It's complicated,” Christianna said sadly.

“You can't live your life for your father,” Fiona scolded her, upset by what she'd said, and her willingness to accept it unconditionally. “This isn't the dark ages, for heaven's sake. He's a wonderful man, he has a terrific job. He's trying to save the human race from the scourge of AIDS, at one of the most respected medical and academic institutions in the world. How much better does it get?”

“It gets better than that.” Christianna grinned, the dark clouds suddenly gone from her face. “He is also an incredibly decent, wonderful person, and I love him … and he loves me.” She looked totally mad about him.

“Then what nonsense are you talking about it having to end here?”

“That's a different story,” Christianna said with a sigh, as she sat down on her cot, and took off her boots. Once in a while, she really missed wearing pretty shoes. She would have liked to wear high heels for him, but there was no chance of it here. “It's too complicated to explain,” Christianna said again, and went on rhapsodizing about him, as Fiona looked amused.

“It sounds to me like you'd better run away from home when you get back. I hear Boston is a very nice place. I have relatives there,” which was no surprise to Christianna since everyone the world over knew that most of Boston was Irish. “If I were you, I would go.”

“He hasn't invited me,” Christianna said primly, but they talked about a vast range of topics, including their respective plans when they got back. Parker hated hearing about hers. It continued to sound like a prison sentence to him.

“He will,” Fiona said confidently. “He looked totally besotted when I saw you with him today. And come to think of it, he's looked like that for a while. I thought he was just overwhelmed by the unfamiliar surroundings and the work. Now I realize it was you.” They both laughed at the idea. “So what are you going to do about it, Cricky?” She gave her a searching look.

“It's way too soon to worry about that now.” But they both knew that, for whatever reason, Christianna was putting up some kind of wall, not between her and the young American doctor, but between them and any future they might have. Fiona had no idea why she was doing it, but it was clear that Christianna was convinced that their love affair could go no farther than the time they shared in Senafe. And thinking about it made Fiona sad. She liked both of them a lot.

The romance between Parker and Christianna flourished. They spent hours together at night after they had dinner with the others. They walked, they talked, they told each other stories about their childhoods and their pasts. Christianna always had to modify hers somewhat, for obvious reasons, but above all she shared the essence of what she felt, and her every thought. They met early in the mornings for breakfast, grabbed lunch together on the fly. The romance was in full bloom in May, as the African spring ended and moved toward summer, and no matter how in love they were, neither allowed it to interfere with their work. If anything, they worked harder, happier than each of them had ever been in their life. Together they were a force greater than even the sum of their parts that could not be ignored or denied. Being with either or both of them made everyone else happy, and everyone agreed that both were exceptional individuals who brought something special to the camp. Where Christianna had kindness, grace, compassion, and a remarkable way with people, Parker had gentleness, intelligence, and an extraordinary expertise in his field. Both of them bright, each of them funny, they added both spice and balm to every group they joined. As Fiona said, they were the perfect couple, but whenever she said it to Cricky, there was a sad look in her eyes. Something was stopping her from thinking about or talking about the future. All she was able or willing to do with Parker was live in the here and now. He had learned to stay off the subject of any future time with her, or what they would do about seeing each other when they went back. They simply lived day by day, more in love with each other by the hour, and happy sharing their work and their lives in this remarkable place, with people they loved so much.

Their relationship remained chaste for the first month, and then finally both Parker and Christianna asked if they could take a weekend off together. People rarely left the camp during their time off, although there were some wonderful places to visit in the area. But most of the time people who worked in the camp ended up spending time assisting the locals in their free time in whatever way they could. Geoff said he had no problem giving them a few days off, since neither of them was essential to the camp medically. Christianna was a willing, devoted and loving, hardworking spare pair of hands. And although Parker saw patients with Mary and Geoff and offered diagnoses frequently, most of his work was directed toward research. Fiona would have been much harder to spare as the only midwife. Or Mary or Geoff, as the two camp doctors, or Maggie, the only nurse.

After talking to people and doing a little local research, they decided to visit both Metera and Qohaito, which were both within twenty miles of the camp. Metera was known for its remarkable ruins, which were two thousand years old, and Qohaito had equally beautiful ruins, from the Aksumite kingdom. In addition, in Qohaito, they wanted to see the Saphira Dam, which was also over a thousand years old. Eritrea was sitting on the remains of a number of ancient civilizations, many of which had been partially excavated, and some of which had still been only minimally revealed. It sounded like an exciting trip to both of them. And a wonderful first adventure, almost like a honeymoon. They were told about a couple of tiny hotels where they could stay, which sounded very romantic. Klaus and Ernst had made several similar trips when they first came, and highly recommended it to Parker and Christianna. The other two trips they wanted to make later were to Keren, north of the capital, and to the port town of Massawa, where they could go water-skiing in the Red Sea.

The only obstacle Christianna had to deal with before the trip was a brief secret pow-wow with Samuel and Max. She knew she was going to have a serious problem leaving with Parker, without them. They argued about it for two hours, and neither of her bodyguards would relent.

“Why can't you just tell him that we'd like to go on the trip?” Samuel said with a determined look. They had been like bulldogs so far, but she knew they had to answer to the prince. And it wasn't fair to ask them to keep her secret, but she was doing it anyway. They were well aware that if anything untoward happened to her, even accidentally, they would be fully blamed, and perhaps even imprisoned. She was asking a lot of them, although they hadn't told her father about the romance yet. They had agreed between themselves to say nothing about Parker to the prince. It was their gift to her.

“No!” Christianna continued to argue with them. “I don't want anyone with us, and neither does he. It would spoil everything.” And Metera and Qohaito were only a few miles away from the camp. She was nearly in tears, and already had been twice, but they were relentless anyway. Their necks were on the line.

“Look, Your Highness.” Max turned to her finally, realizing it was time to be blunt with her. Nothing else had worked so far. “We don't care who you go with, what you do, what your reasons are for the trip. That's your business, and Parker's, not ours.” Fortunately, they were extremely fond of him, but she was asking them to risk their jobs, and worse, perhaps her life. “We're not going to give your father any details about the trip. Just a touristic weekend. He doesn't need to know more than that. But if we don't come along, and something happens to you …” He didn't finish his sentence, but she got the point. What he was saying was entirely reasonable. Living with it as a twenty-three-year-old woman in love with a man, was not.

“Why do you have to tell my father that I'm going, or even leaving the camp? And don't call me Your Highness again,” she reminded him, and he nodded. “There have been no political problems in Eritrea in years. The truce with the Ethiopians may be uneasy, but no one has done anything objectionable or even frightening since we've been here and long before. Nothing is going to happen, I promise you. Parker and I will be fine. I'll call you if I can, and if I feel uneasy, you can join us then. But please, I am begging you, let me have these few days, for once in my life. Max … Sam … this is truly my last chance. Once I go home, I will never have anything like this again … I'm begging you … please …” As she looked at them imploringly, tears ran down her cheeks, and both men looked agonized. They wanted to help her out, but were afraid.

“Let us think about it,” Samuel said finally, unable to think clearly in the face of her distress. They both liked her enormously, and respected her, but she was asking them to violate the conditions of their jobs, and their entire reason for being in Senafe with her.