“But ye daenae remember me,” River said.
“That’s two questions.”
“It wasnae a question.”
Archer’s mouth ticked up at that into an approximation of a smile. There seemed to be a quick-witted, competitive side to her that he was already beginning to enjoy.
“Then I willnae answer ye, since it isnae a question.”
“I can always ask ye again later,” River pointed out. “But I can tell...I can tell ye daenae remember me.”
“Does that pain ye?”
It was a question he had meant to reserve for later in the game, but he couldn’t stop the words once they had been formed in his mind. The answer River gave him, though, surprised him.
“Nay,” she said, and she sounded entirely truthful.
Archer didn’t know why he had hoped to hear that it had pained her. Surely, a man didn’t want to cause his wife any pain, not even by accident, but now that River had confessed she didn’tmind it much that he had forgotten all about her, it stung more than he would have liked to admit.
He didn’t know what to say. How could he express his disappointment over something like this? All he could think of to ask was, “Why is that?”
“That’s a second question,” River pointed out, and Archer laughed despite himself.
“That’s true,” he said. “Fine, it’s yer turn, then.”
“How did the accident happen?” River asked.
Archer shook his head. “I daenae ken. I daenae remember it. What’s yer favorite color?”
River gave him an incredulous look. “Seriously?”
“Och aye,” said Archer. “I would very much like to ken that.”
River tried—and failed—to suppress a smile. “Blue. What’s yers?”
“Red. What’s yer favorite food?”
“A freshly baked bannock with a small mountain of butter and honey.”
“A very good choice,” said Archer.
“Why did ye wish to be close to me and decided to move yer entire room here?”
“I’m tryin’ to rebuild our relationship,” Archer said, though he had thought this was obvious. From the very start, River had understood his actions as suspicious, as something to be wary of, and even now, though she had relaxed a little, she was still cautious. On the one hand, it was a good thing; it meant she had good instincts. On the other hand, he couldn’t understand why she was so suspicious of him. “And I daenae like the thought of living so far from me wife. What do ye do in yer spare time?”
River watched him in silence for a while, as if she was trying to peer right into his mind. Then, she simply said, “I play with the bairns. I read to them. We go on walks.”
“Before the bairns,” said Archer.
River fell silent once more, considering his question for a moment. “I liked horse ridin’. I still do but I daenae leave the eastern wing much.”
“Why?”
“That’s three questions,” River pointed out. “Why did nae one tell me ye were injured for so many days?”
“I daenae ken,” said Archer truthfully. “I am just as surprised by that as ye are.”
River leaned back in her seat, a hand coming up to rest on her slender neck as she frowned to herself. She seemed to accept it as the truth, though, as she didn’t try to contradict him.
