“And?”
“And? You need an and? Alright. And you're our future Queen. And I’m your knight. And I enjoy seeing you happy.”
I could not process the moment. I defused it, saying, “I’m not lying. We didn’t… We really just talked in the cottage, Ser.”
“I believe you,” he said.
“You do?”
“Yes. I’m actually very good at reading people; you’re a mess around him, and Mr. Evergreen does seem well-meaning. If he had hurt you or if he had been inappropriate, you both wouldhave provided different behaviors in my presence, and he would have responded differently when I confronted him for such things.”
“When you threatened him, you mean?”
“Tomato, potato,” he said. He waved it off. “I’m glad we had today. I’m glad you invited Miss Jocelyn. I very much enjoyed her company.”
Cyrus entered the barn with her, as if he’d invoked her. She was locked into whatever method he was explaining, listening intently as he spoke of the various parts of a saddle.
I said,“She only says good things,”and it brought his gaze from her to me. “Thank you. That’s what I should say,” I explained.
“For what?”
“For letting me swim today, Ser Willoughby. No, just for today. Thank you for being nice to me,” I said.
“You’re very welcome.”
“In exchange, I’ll grant you one thing she said about you, should you ask it from me.”
“No,” he replied.
“No?”
“No, thank you. I’m moved that you would extend the offer, but if she wanted me to know, she would’ve told me herself,” he said. “I respect her too deeply to pry.”
“That’s rather gallant,” I said.
“And self-serving,” he said. “This way, I appear a humble man, while maintaining my control. It is nice to know she said more than one thing, though. You left that slip, didn’t you?”
I was surprised. “Oh, I guess I did. She said many things, cousin,” I played. “But never mind. You don’t care.”
He shifted.
“No, no,” I added. “You’re humble, remember? See you tomorrow.”
Chapter 9
Sometime in the early hours of the night, a thought occurred to me so abruptly that it drew me from my sleep. I lay in the bed, alone with the idea. I replayed every moment and every word from Mr. Evergreen’s lips from our time at the swimming hole. At no point had he kissed me. Therefore, I realized, he didn’twantto kiss me.
The deeper I reviewed his actions, the further convinced I was that he was purposely distant. There had been no mention of our connection, and I felt worried about what that meant. In all the books I read, the men confessed their desires, almost always after their first hand touch, and they did so so openly. There was never any doubt as a reader of where things were headed, but Mr. Evergreen had gone further than touching hands. We had kissed!
My insecurityrooted further, blossoming into a loud concern, weeding into my every thought, and by the time our group had reconvened for the morning, my mind was a wreck of busy, far-fetched explanations, from the chance that Mr. Evergreen had met someone else, to the fear that he had returned to Miss Swift’s sweet embrace.
The day began, and, as a whole, it was not awful by any means, but I was horrifically upset. I was upset that my swordsman had not found himself alone within my company, not even once, and I was upset that it hardly felt like the mark of a man who was interested in a lady. I tried not to dwell, but it made things worse, to the point that I carefully watched Ser Willoughby for further ‘confrontations’ with my Blade to determine if that was the obstruction, but they got on very well.
By the wrap of our day’s adventure, I felt physically sick, and by night, I barely slept.
On Wednesday, I could not surmount the wave of worry, and waiting another day before assaulting Evergreen with all the questions fermenting inside my soul felt equally impossible. Once I had quelled the worst of the nerves, I strolled near the yard where several men were gathered until I saw the Prince. As I stepped toward him, he drew a sword… a wooden sword. Evergreen was just beyond the fence in front of him, and he drew its twin in sync. It took far too long to process that they had begun a spar.
On my first pass through their area, neither man saw me, so I walked it again. Then theotherway. Then back. Then, I wandered significantly closer to their exact location. I was sure that Mr. Evergreen saw me when he looked over his shoulder twice, but the Prince noticed next, almost stopping. They didn’t step apart, though, to greet me or acknowledge my arrival, and I had no choice but to loiter very, very closely and clear my throat loudly when they failed to react.
