He laughed softly. “I promise, I would never do such a thing,” he said. He sobered quickly. “If you are walking, would you allow me to walk with you? I am trying to tire myself out, also. The night before an important bout, sleep does not usually come easily for me.”
She cocked her head curiously. “Are you nervous?”
“Excited.”
She smiled faintly at that admission. “Then of course you may walk with me,” she said. “I want to hear about your strategyon the morrow when you compete. There seems to be a good deal of strategy involved.”
Pleased she had agreed to walk with him, he turned around and began to walk, very slowly, in the other direction.
She followed.
“That is astute of you to notice,” he said. “Strategy depends on the opponent. Whether he will compete fairly or whether he is a trickster. Therearesome of those, you know.”
“I can imagine,” she said, walking beside him. “Have you ever been badly injured?”
He shook his head. “Never,” he said. “Certainly, I’ve had wood driven into my flesh. I’ve been knocked off a horse backward before. By my own brother, I might add, and when a man is unhorsed, his opponent wins his horse. I had to fight my brother for a year to get my horse back. He did not want to return him.”
“How unkind,” she said as if in complete sympathy. “Is he always so cruel?”
“Always,” Essien said dramatically. “Do you have any siblings?”
“Alas, I do not.”
“Good,” he said firmly. “You cannot know how utterly cruel and heartless they can be, although I will say that I would kill or die for my brother. He is a good man with a good heart. But he still vexes me, and he knows it.”
Catalina broke into soft laughter. “Is that not what a sibling is for?” she said. “To annoy you to tears?”
“Exactly,” he said. “You see? You may not have a sibling, but you know of the relationship between them. Of course, I am the younger brother, so I am the worse out of the two of us. I annoy my brother into madness at times.”
“But that is your duty. He must accept that.”
Essien guffawed, looking at her. “How clever you are,” he said. “I can see that you are on my side. I am comforted.”
“Good,” she said, grinning at him because he was still snorting. “I am an excellent ally against annoying older brothers.”
Essien suddenly dropped to one knee, grasping at her cloak. “My lady, this is the most marvelous news,” he said. “Marry me and defend me against my brother. You are the only one who can save me from him. And myself. Mostly myself. Christ, Iamcompletely annoying. Forget I said any of that.”
He stood up, brushing off one knee, as Catalina giggled uncontrollably. “How many times have you proposed marriage out of desperation such as that?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Never,” he said solemnly, hand over his heart. “You are the first. You are not betrothed, are you?”
Her smile faded, quickly. It was as if someone had doused a flame. One moment she was smiling and in the next, her face was as dead as stone. Where there had been laughter moments earlier, now there was silence. His smile faded, too.
“My apologies,” he said. “That was forward of me. Forgive me.”
She shook her head. “There is no need,” she said. “As it happens, I was informed tonight that I am, in fact, betrothed.”
He almost decided not to admit it, carrying on the charade until the moment was right, but he had a feeling if he didn’t confess what he knew, she wouldn’t take it very well. If he wanted to build a life with this lovely creature, forced as they were being, then he was going to have to take that first step.
Tell her.
He had to.
“I know,” he said softly.
She looked at him, brow furrowed. “You know what?”
“That you are betrothed.”
