“And you have yourknight?”he cried. “Oh, shit!”
“W-What?” I asked. “Heavens. How old are you?”
“Oi! You’ve hit the Princess, you fools!”he yelled. The announcement drew several other young faces from different points of the crowd. They followed suit when he ran away, screaming, “You’ve struck the Princess! Run before they punish us!”
The boy left with another loud curse and suddenly I realized Elías’s distaste for such words was fair. I looked at Sam, then Mr. Evergreen.
“I think he thought you were my Blade,” I said, confused.
Evergreen shrugged. “Been called worse.” He pulled the ball from my hands and then dropped-kicked it after where the boys had gone.
I scrunched my face. “What just happened?”
Sam stepped by; he picked a trinket up off one of the stalls. “Boys being boys, no matter. Are you sweet on children then?” he asked.
“Like do I want them?” I asked. “Or do you mean do I like them?”
“It isn’t ‘yes’ for both?” he asked.
I paused, weaving my hands together and quickly looking to see if Evergreen had caught my blunder. He browsed the stock of the nearest table but I suspected that he was still listening.
“No, it’s yes of course,” I said. “I mean, we must have children, mustn’t we?”
Sam rolled his wrist. “You’ll make an excellent mother.”
“What evidence do you have of that?” I asked.
Evergreen moved on to the next fares. He peered back only once, either to see where we had fallen into line behind him as he shopped, or to judge my answers. My throat felt tight.
Sam said, “I just have a feeling. How many do you intend?”
“I’ve not given it much thought,”I said.
“I’ve always wanted five,” Sam replied.
“Five?”
Cyrus turned around. He handed the Prince an item from one of the shelves. It was a dancing wooden mare.
“Remind you of anyone?” he asked.
Sameer snickered and put it down.
Mr. Evergreen gave me the smallest of smiles. He said, “Does the Capitol still host pony rides in Town Centre?”
I nodded. “Is that tiny horse me?” I asked.
He smirked. “No.”
“Liar,” I said. “Then who did it remind you of?”
He dismissed it, pouting and unpouting his perfect mouth. “I can’t recall.”
I frowned, then I realized what he’d said. “Wait. Pony rides?” I asked.
“Yeah, with the little chariot seat?” he asked.
“You’ve been recently?”
