Lyndal leaned down, touching her nose to the girl’s. ‘Clever girl.’ She straightened and looked around. ‘Now, I need some muscle for this next part.’
A boy stepped forwards, around five years of age judging by his height. ‘I’m strong.’
‘Excellent,’ Lyndal said, handing him a pail. ‘I need some more water from the well.’
All the while, the queen mother watched on, her expression stoic and unreadable.
When it was time for the flag parade, the king mounted his horse, looking like he was about to ride off to war. The merchants moved to the main street in preparation.
‘Would you mind if I stayed here and finished the planting?’ Lyndal asked Queen Fayre. ‘It won’t take long.’
Fayre glanced over her shoulder at her son, then turned to Astin. ‘Take Lady Lyndal back to the castle as soon as she is done. Lady Kendra will accompany me.’
Lady Lyndal?Every merchant within hearing range looked in their direction, no doubt as surprised by the formal address as he was.
‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ Astin said.
‘When Queen Fayre was out of earshot, Lyndal leaned in and whispered, ‘Lady Lyndal? I’m glad the nobility weren’t present for that blasphemous address. They might have thrown rocks at me.’
Astin took a step back from her. ‘They’d have likely had their servants do it for them.’
‘What was that?’ she asked, angling her head.
‘What?’
She pointed to his feet. ‘That. Stepping back from me like I’m a leper.’
‘You’re covered in dirt and shit,’ he said.
She let out a noisy breath. ‘You’ve been in a foul mood all day.’
‘Are you gardening or chatting? You’ll have to return to the castle at some point, you know.’
The hurt in those jungle green eyes of hers made him want to take a fist to his own face. Bending, he picked up the small shovel and handed it to her. ‘Sorry.’
‘And I’m sorry you’re stuck here with me.’
‘It’s not that. I’m just tired.’
Her eyes moved over him. ‘Well, I won’t be long. Then you can go take a long nap.’
‘A nap, you think?’ He shook his head and went back to standing guard while she dug away in his peripheral vision. After a few minutes, she began to hum to herself, and his eyes were drawn to her once more. She was always a pretty thing to watch, but happy was hard to look away from.
Straightening, Lyndal went to move to another part of the garden, but her heel slipped off the stepping stone. Astin could not get there in time. Down she went, her arm collecting the edge of the garden bed as she fell.
He was pulling her to her feet a moment later, eyes moving over her. ‘You hurt?’
She began laughing.Laughing.
‘Oh my goodness.’ She wiped at her eye. ‘My sisters are going to besodisappointed they missed that.’
He noticed a tear in the sleeve of her dress and took hold of her elbow. ‘You’re bleeding.’
‘I am?’ She was still laughing as she inspected it. ‘It’s only a scratch.’
Unbuttoning her sleeve, he slid it up her arm to see for himself. ‘It’s not a scratch.’ He pressed a hand over it to stop the bleeding. ‘Stop laughing.’
That only made her laugh harder. ‘Stop. You’ll dirty your uniform.’
