The firepit was close enough to the tent that I had a generous amount of chain to work with. I inconspicuously let the damaged link fall into the fire once more, then turned my attention to Sneeds once I was sure Baron was soundly asleep.
“Good evening, Sir Sneeds,” I said pleasantly, twirling a coil of hair around my finger.
He flinched as though I was brandishing a whip. “I am not a sir,” he said. Even his voice reminded me of a rodent’s squeak.
I pretended to gasp in shock. “Oh, I thought for sure you must be a knight at least. You have such a look of power about you.”
Sneeds’s chest puffed up a little, but he remained vigilant. “I don’t think we’re supposed to talk to each other. They said you may try to escape or trick me.”
I sighed sadly and held up my chain. “How could I escape? There’s no way to break a chain that I know of. I have no way to escape that blundering oaf I’m attached to.”
“Baron isn’t a blundering oaf,” Sneeds said uncertainly. “He’s even higher up than my captain.”
“I wish I had been paired with someone more like you,” I cooed. I glossed over Sneeds’s words and made my voice as sickly sweet as I could. “Someone intelligent and powerful. Baron is nothing but an animal—all muscles and no brains. But I can tell…you are averyintelligent man.”
Sneeds’s eyes darted around, as though he was hoping someone would come and tell him how to talk to girls.
“Well, I…I do know how to read a little,” he admitted shyly.
I made sure my face showed admiration. “Do you? I wish I did. I don’t even know any letters.”
Sneeds smiled proudly. “I know L and R and S…” He began ticking them off on his fingers.
“Can you teach me some? I’ve always wanted to learn.”
Sneeds sat up taller, clearly pleased with all the attention I showered on him. “Take a stick and you draw like this.” He drew an uppercase L in the dirt at my feet. “That is L like in your name.”
I was momentarily surprised that he knew my name, but Baron knew it and it must have made the rounds in camp. “It’s wonderful! Can you draw another?” I begged. I kept Sneeds’s attention on the ground, tracing out letters, but allowed my gaze to scan the forest line. Only a little longer, and Father would come. He would bring the entire band of his Merry Men and they would all raze this accursed camp to the ground. I just needed to prevent Sneeds from raising the alarm before he was overpowered.
I kept Sneeds drawing letters and trying to sound out words for an hour, all while I flirted and inched closer to him. At first,he was cautious, but his trepidation soon gave way under my warm, flattering voice. I made sure to giggle coquettishly at even his least amusing statements, loud enough for Sneeds to hear, but not so loudly as to wake Baron, who would see through my act in a heartbeat. Sneeds was not nearly as astute.
When it must have been getting on to midnight, I heard Father’s call from the forest. “Did you hear that?” Sneeds asked. He abandoned his attempt to scratch out our names, mine spelt as L-O-R-L, and looked curiously toward the forest.
“It sounded like an owl,” I said, allowing my voice to quiver just a little. I opened my eyes wide and bit my lower lip. “I’m frightened of owls.”
“Now, now, a pretty girl like you doesn’t need to fear owls,” Sneeds said, and awkwardly patted my knee.
“I won’t as long as you are near,” I said sweetly, then caught his hand and squeezed. “I’m sureyoucould protect me from anything. You look so strong and manly!” It baffled me that any man would be fool enough to believe such sappy statements, but Sneeds was eating them up.
“And you’re very beautiful,” Sneeds said shyly.
I swatted playfully at his knee. “Stop it! You are making me blush!”
“It’s true!” Sneeds seemed encouraged. “Your lips are like…like red roses! And your eyes sparkle like emeralds in the sunshine!” I inwardly cringed at how hard he was trying.
There was some movement at the edge of the forest. Before Sneeds could notice, I pretended to shiver, then batted my eyes at Sneeds. He smelled as though he hadn’t bathed in a year. “It’s very cold tonight,” I hinted.
“It probably feels colder to you because you’re so skinny,” he said in a matter-of-fact way.
I resisted rolling my eyes.
“I wish I had something, orsomeoneto keep me warm.” I stared pointedly at Sneeds.
He gulped. “Maybe I could keep you warm?” he offered nervously.
“I would love that,” I gushed. Sneeds scooted over so our legs touched. I wrapped my arms around his neck and beckoned behind his back to the dark shadows closing the distance between us.
“Sneeds, mylipsare cold, too,” I murmured coyly, and leaned forward. “Can you find a way to warm them up?” Sneeds’s eyes, dilated to their fullest extent, shot down to stare at my mouth. I was disgusted at the prospect of doing what I knew needed done. As I leaned in, I reached surreptitiously for one of the rocks I had spotted earlier in the evening, thankfully close enough to where we were sitting for me to grab while he was…distracted.
