‘It helped some.’ She was silent for a long moment. ‘Will I keep losing to them?’
‘If you try to fight like them, you will. You need to fight smarter, because they’re a lot stronger than you are.’ He watched her face as she processed his words. ‘You can always pull out, tell Queen Fayre you changed your mind.’
Her eyes closed. ‘And then what? Marry the bootmaker and whittle the days away in his shop?’
He was torn on that. While he did not like the thought of her trapped in a life she did not want, he knew it would be a much safer existence. He also knew marriage would be the end of them spending time together. No sane husband would let his wife chase another man through the trees.
It was a difficult realisation to digest.
Eda was the only person within the walls who brought out his playful side. She was his escape from that harsh life. Her energy was contagious, addictive even. She made him forget the reason he boarded that boat and sailed to Chadora in the first place.
She made himforget.
‘I’ll take you home,’ he said, rising and offering a hand. For once, she took it. He pulled her to her feet, keeping hold of her while she steadied herself. ‘Your knee’s swollen.’
She looked down at it. ‘It barely hurts anymore.’
‘Liar.’
Her gaze travelled up to meet his. ‘Are the others at the tavern?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is that where you were going?’
He nodded. ‘Roll your trousers down. We’re not among the trees.’
He had seen her bare legs many times over the previous year. Sometimes they would swim in the creek, and she would strip down to her chemise without a second thought, as though he were a sibling immune to the sight of wet fabric clinging to her naked form. But his body did not react as a brother’s would. There was a reason he waited in the water until she was dressed.
When Eda had finished fixing her trousers and putting her boots on, she straightened and asked, ‘Can I come with you to the tavern?’
‘It’s not a place for ladies.’
She tilted her head. ‘Do you see a lady before you?’
Fair point. ‘Do you even drink ale?’
‘Of course. It’s my drink of choice.’
He exhaled, struggling to come up with a good reason to tell her no. ‘Fine. One drink, and then I’m taking you home.’
Those pink lips stretched into a smile. ‘One drink.’
* * *
Eda could barely stand the smell of ale, let alone the taste, but if that was what the recruits were drinking, then that was what she would drink also.
‘There she is,’ Tatum said when she slid onto the stool beside him. ‘We were wondering where you disappeared to.’
She looked around the table at their curious faces awaiting her reply. ‘I had to get some cold water on my knee.’
‘Told you that you hurt her,’ Hadewaye said to Tatum.
Tatum only shrugged. ‘Never did get your sword though.’
‘You would’ve had to pry it from my cold, dead hand,’ she replied.
Alveye grinned into his cup. ‘I don’t care what Blackmane says. I like her.’
