“And I’m–”
“You’re dropping it again!” Josie cried. She shoved the gown back into its center.
“Fine,”Lord Evergreen relented, taking a breath. “Fine. Help.”
“Was that so hard?” I asked.
“Yes,”he said.
“Well, I’m not going to help if–”
It began to slip. Josie pushed me toward it, and together, we caught the thing another time.
“We’re almost there,” she said.
“We are?” I asked.
“No,” she replied. “But I thought it would encourage you both to collaborate.”
“Lovely,” Cyrus said.
“It’s not as though–” Josie breathed through his nose, “your bickering is helpful in nature… Your Highness. Sir.”
“You’re probably on to something,” Cyrus said.
“Don’t encourage her,” I muttered.
A second later, my knee banged into the base of the bed. I yelped, releasing the lord’s body to grab for my wounded limb, and in the process, he lost control of the dress, and it toppled over, thankfully, onto the comforter and not onto poor Josie for all of her concern.
He exhaled, making a point to turn and look at me.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Am Ialright?”I jeered my hands at my knee. “No! Obviously!”
Jocelyn came and urged me to sit.
“Let me look at it,” she said. “Are you bleeding?”
We bundled my skirt high enough for her to see just above the wound. When Lord Evergreen did not turn to avert his eyes, I loured at him.
“Ahem.”
He quickly complied, finding something else to focus on, but then I watched him settle the hem of his shirt a couple of times, and I felt a strange seizure inside my chest. Something sinister made me say, “Are you well, my lord?”
Josie choked, which prompted me to pause and reevaluate the taunt.
“I’m just asking if he is well,”I told her.
She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, but she said nothing.
“What? Is my leg so mangled?” I asked, trying to see.
Cyrus looked himself. When he was caught, he cleared his throat, and Miss Josie covered me again.
“No mangling here, Your Highness.” She stood and curtsied for the lord. “A minor bruise. No need to start the doctor. Thank you for carrying that, sir. You saved me quite the hassle and, apparently, an injury.”
“Yes, praise Lord Evergreen,” I muttered.
