He gestures to his waist. “Thisfeels a lot better. The rest of me feels like I’ve been trampled by a horse.”
“Excellent. I’ve already fed the animals. You can rest here today. Olive and I will head into town. She knows how to drive horses. Oh! You don’t know yet. She’s a princess.”
He blinks at me. “Am I still drunk?” He runs a hand down his face. “What is happening.”
I slice the bread, drizzle honey on it, and hand it to him. “She’s one of Rian’s many half siblings.” I tell him everything Olive told me about her husband, how he died in the war. “She said he wasn’t supposed to be in the midst of the fighting, but Rian ordered him in anyway.”
Erik takes a bite of the food and processes that for a moment. “I can see that.”
“Me too.” I drizzle some honey for myself. “I told her we had made arrangements to be in town this morning, and she agreed to go with me if you were still recuperating. I think it’s—”
“You shouldn’t go alone, Miss Tessa.” He’s frowning now.
“I won’t be alone. I just told you Olive will go with me.”
“Make me another poultice. I’ll ride with you.”
“Absolutely not. I’m not risking another infection. Do you really want to go through that again? You need to stay here.”
He sighs. Frowns.
But says nothing. His eyes are fixed on the counter now.
I reach out and put a hand over his. “If we’re stuck here,” I say quietly, “I need to be able to go places without a guard.”
His eyes snap up, and he looks back at me steadily.
“And I really like Olive,” I add.
“I know,” he says. “I can tell.” He pauses. “At the risk of being an annoying big brother again, it’s good to see you smile.”
Emotion catches in my throat and sticks there. “That’s not annoying.” I take a bite of the bread just to have something else to focus on.
But then I give him another smile. “I’m not the only one who likes Olive, you know.”
“Oh no?”
“I’m trying to remember if you told her she was pretty before orafteryou asked her to marry you.”
He chokes on his bread, and I have to pour him a glass of water.
I nod emphatically. “It was quite the proposal. You looked ready to pull her into your lap.”
“Now you’re being an annoying little sister.” But his cheeks are reddening.
My eyebrows go up. “Youdolike her!”
He eats his bread, then licks a bit of honey off his thumb. “It’s hard not to like a woman who knows how to handle a crossbow.”
I smile. “To say nothing of the fact that she nearly knocked me into the stove when she saw you without a shirt on.”
He grins, but his blush deepens.
“Well, well, well,” I say. “How interesting. Now I’m going to feel bad that you only said she was pretty after she toldyounot to wet the bed.”
The grin falls off his face. He swears under his breath.
My smile broadens. “Still want to go into town with us?”
