The bird in question had paused momentarily at Robin’s outburst only to quickly resume its vicious nipping.
“Argh,” Robin huffed, actually rolling her eyes. “I never thought being a goose girl would involve so much yelling.” Flinging her cloak wide open, she dashed toward the pond, yelling as she went. “Shoo! Get away from him, you big bully!”
The sudden attack from a larger species completely frightened the gander, and it splashed across the pond to escape her wrath, honking as it went.
“Hah!” Robin yelled after it triumphantly. “That will show you!”
Her sweet moment of victory was cut short when she remembered she had a human audience. Turning around to face Ian, she felt a blush of embarrassment flood her cheeks.
To her surprise, Ian was not laughing at her. If she wasn’t mistaken, he almost appeared to be impressed.
“You cannot stand an uneven balance of power,” he said as though stating something obvious.
“I’m sorry?” Robin replied.
“You stood up for Onric when he was losing, and you just defended a henpecked goose. You cannot sit idly by when someone is being hurt.”
Robin felt the blush in her cheeks deepen. She could not tell if his words were a compliment or merely a fact. She pulled up the hood on her cloak in an attempt to hide her face. “What are you doing here at the pond?” she asked, throwing the attention away from herself.
“Looking for something special,” he responded vaguely, glancing around the meadow.
“Do you need help?” she asked.
“Perhaps. I...” He looked down, rubbing the back of his neck as though he were the embarrassed one. “You are going to laugh at me.”
Chapter 11
“Ijust fought down a gander in an epic show of force,” the goose girl said, looking up at Ian from under her hood.
Ian felt the corner of his mouth turn up in a smile. He hoped he would never forget the sight of her running at the goose, cloak billowing behind her.
Stepping closer, he perched on a large, flat rock at the side of the pond. He had not come here to seek her out, of course, but now that he had run into her... “Did you enjoy Silverfest in Lockwood forest?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” she responded. Her small face had softened into a natural smile, but her eyes were still confused as to his point. “It was my favorite day of the year.”
“Mine, too.” Maybe she would understand. “The thing is, it’s just going to be different this year. The way things are with... never mind that. I want to make sure that my younger siblings can have a special day and make the kind of memories I had growing up.” He avoided looking at her, afraid to see her reaction. “As lucky as we are to be royalty, we have to continually sacrifice so our parents can be at the service of the kingdom.” He glanced up.
Her lips were pursed and her eyebrows raised.
“That’s not what I meant!” He stood, waving his hands frantically in front of himself. “I’m not complaining or anything—I realize that I am in an enviable position.”
She nodded.
His shoulders fell. “Meena deserves to be a little girl for a while longer. Just because I had to grow up quickly doesn’t mean she does.” He crossed his arms, looking back at the judgmental girl before him. At the very least, he knew he was right on this point.
She observed him for a long moment through skeptical eyes.
Perhaps this had been a bad idea. A servant girl did not need to be burdened with his unimportant woes.
She opened her mouth to say something, but a loud squawk from the pond startled them both.
“Meat! Pie!” Her loud voice startled the gander once again. But she still walked toward the edge of the pond, this time slowly and gently approaching the smallest goose. “There now,” she cooed. “Don’t let that big ruffian get under your feathers.” Opening her cloak, she herded the little one back toward Ian. “Stay here where it’s safe.”
Surprisingly, the small goose stayed put, twisting its neck to contentedly groom its wing feathers.
Before she could speak, Ian hurried to apologize. “It was thoughtless of me to trouble you. I’m sure you have—”
“It is kind of you to care about your little sister,” she said, cutting him off. Her voice sounded wistful.
