“Shush from the peanut gallery.”
“I’m out front,” he points out.
This time, Stabitha and I shush him at the same time and then share a chuckle.
“Which of the brothers are you with?” she asks.
My cheeks heat. Oh, I’m not that open. Scrap that, since when have I cared what others think of me? “All of them.”
Her mouth drops open, and she scans the horses. “How is that working out?”
“Brilliantly.”
“I couldn’t be bothered with one, never mind four. I already fight a battle with expectations about not being the cute little woman barefoot and pregnant waiting for my man to return from a hard day’s toil.”
“Girl, I feel you. Working in a male-dominated environment is hard.”
She blinks up at me. “You seem to navigate it well.”
“Me? I navigate nothing. That’s why I have these guys, so I can do the important things.”
“Like cake foraging and sausage sniffing,” Theo mutters with a nip to my ear.
I jerk in the saddle.
“Did I not sense a little tension between you and Robin?” I wonder.
Stabitha curls her lip. “He wishes. I’d eat him for breakfast and still have room for more.”
“I’d like you to eat me for breakfast,” Theo rumbles in my ear. “And lunch, and then dinner, followed by a midnight snack.”
“Those are the best kind,” I whisper.
“Don’t pretend we didn’t all see you sneaking out of Hood’s tent before dawn over the last week,” Barry says, appearing from the tree above us and swinging to the ground next to Stabitha.
She groans. “I have no privacy in this group.” Again, relatable. “Let’s just concentrate on getting these lovely folks out of the Forbidden Forest alive and not eaten.”
And for the next three turns, I learn about BUTT and become an honorary member. A mascot of nobility for all. I am undeniable.
Theo’s horse rears, and I clutch on for dear life with a yelp that announces our presence to everyone within a three-mile radius. I was never a fan of the element of surprise anyway.
“Why is your horse acting crazy?” I grit out.
Theo secures me in place with his muscular arms. “No idea, but it might have been your declaration of being undeniable, and the realm replying with, ‘here, hold my beer.’”
“Inside thoughts don’t count,” I snap.
“You said it aloud,” everyone around me choruses.
Fine.Fuck you, Idols. And fuck fate. I am still undeniable, and I won’t be bullied otherwise.
“It was a mouse,” Stabitha declares, dangling the tiny creature by its tail.
The horse stops overreacting, and the world rights itself once more. The face-eating beasts are terrified of squeaky rodents? Who knew?
“On that note,” Dave says as he too dangles from a tree. “You have reached the end of the forest and are now entering So Far Away.”
“Good luck,” Stabitha says before they melt into the trees as if they had never been here.
