I could feel the Queen staring at me, making me lose count, and my cheeks heated. I dared to look at her, and to my surprise, she was beaming at me.
I returned a nervous smile and continued counting.
“The total for everything…is three-hundred-twenty coppers,” Mother hesitantly stated.
The Queen raised her arm and signaled for one of the guards, who walked up and handed her a black velvet pouch. Without opening it, she gave it to me.
“I do not carry copper,” she said. “But I do carry silver. There are one hundred pieces in there. I don’t wish to count it out, so keep it all,” she said with a wink.
Mother and I gaped before Mother finally spoke. “T-thank you, Your Majesty.” One thousand coppers equaled one hundred silvers, which was also ten gold. She gave us over triple the amount. We both bowed, and the Queen smiled softly before walking to the next place.
“Oh…oh my gosh!” Mother squealed, grabbing my hands. We both couldn’t help but jump for joy. She gave us enough to buy food for at least two months!
We closed our stand after the Queen's guards collected our items, and we moved swiftly on our way back home.
“Let’s get pizza tonight! We deserve it,” Mother said as she nudged me with a smile. I smiled back, but when I looked away, my lips began to turn downwards despite the blessing that had just occurred.
Why was she staring at me?
Chapter Six
“So,whatdoyouknow about combat?” Quill inquired.
He showed up at our cottage precisely one week after we met, on market day once again. We heard a knock on the door just past six in the morning, and Mother answered it, saying Quill looked happy as can be. I groggily rolled out of bed, then once what she said registered, my eyes flung open, and I rushed to put myself together. Quill just waited at the dining table, smirking as he watched me run back and forth from the bathroom to my bedroom.
Mother wanted me to run the stand today but instead happily allowed me to do the deliveries so I could spend time with Quill, thinking it was a date and entirely unaware of the deal we had made. After we delivered the orders together, we headed to the Western Forest to train.
I picked at a speck on my shirt, feeling a little awkward. I opted for a grey tank top paired with black leather pants and boots, the closest thing to the training attire I owned. I threw my hair into a messy bun; loose copper waves had already fallen and framed my face. “Nothing, truthfully. I probably couldn’t hold my own if it came down to it,” I answered honestly.
He tensed. “Then why did you pull your dagger on that girl?”
I crossed my arms. “At the moment, I didn’t care. I just wanted to hurt her,” I stated bluntly. He clenched his jaw in response, and I put my hands on my hips at his reaction. “Do you think I’m bad for that?”
Quill had chosen to wear an emerald-green tunic. It was embroidered with silver decals that swirled along the neckline and the cuffs of his sleeves that he had rolled up to his elbows, exposing a matching silver watch. On the bottom, he wore sand-colored pants that hugged his legs beautifully and the same black boots as before. His sword was wrapped around him like last time.
He looked me up and down. “No,” he answered softly. “But you can’t let your emotions cause you to make poor decisions. It is not wise to go into a battle you are not positive you will win, or at least are not sure you’ll have a fighting chance in.” He bit back a grin. “I did enjoy seeing you making that girl shudder, though. I bet she’s never felt terror like that before. I hope she never forgets it.”
I blinked. Perhaps this middle-class lad wasn’t as uptight as I thought.
“Well, since you know nothing about fighting,” he continued, “and your body…isn’t exactly toned, we will need to work on your strength before we learn how to use different weapons.”
I flushed. “Wow—‘isn’t exactly toned’. How kind of you.” I looked away, dusting my shoulder.
He smirked. “It’s not a problem in the looks department, Flower.” His smile faltered. “But it can be detrimental when it comes to fighting.”
I rolled my eyes, ignoring my silly nickname. “Well, let’s get on with it then.”
“Alright. How is your stamina?” he asked.
I thought about the different ways I exert my energy. Until four years ago, my stamina was great since we traveled on foot the whole time. Now? I hardly went anywhere, save for the times we scavenged the forest.
“Probably not the best,” I muttered.
He then instructed me to attempt four laps around the grove of trees near us, the circumference having to be close to a quarter mile.
By lap two, I was completely winded. I stopped and put my hands on my knees, gasping for air when I couldn’t go any longer.
“Yikes,” he laughed, running up to me. “This may take longer than I thought.”
