“I don’t have time today. Not that this matter is any of your concern, as I said.”
“Then I’ll train her,” Daegan finally looks at me fully, his eyes asking me for confirmation. I haven’t seen him since I stormed out on him in the dungeons. For a moment I forgot how mad I was at him.
“You will do no such thing. She’s remaining under my watch. I’m a captain of the King’s guard.”
A muscle in Daegan’s jaw twitches. “Okay. Then you teach her. But she should have a chance like anyone else. You don’t want your princess vulnerable, do you?”
Adrian looks like he’s fuming for a moment, but he shakes it off quickly, releases a sigh, then leans toward me, avoiding eye contact. “Stay here for a moment. I’ll be back.”
“Okay.” I can’t help but smile a little at my victory. I’ll ignore the fact that it’s only thanks to Daegan. Who I’m mad at.
“I didn’t need your help there,” I manage to whisper aggressively at Daegan before he follows Adrian.
“You’re welcome, princess.”
“I didn’t thank you, dick.”
Adrian glances back and sees some of the interaction, and though he can’t hear it, he still frowns as he walks off.
I sit on a bench as I watch them fade into the distance, Adrian leading the way on the tour. Now that I think about it, I probably should have gone on that tour. I haven’t been up here since I was young.
My stomach starts to feel jittery as I sit around with nothing to do, and it dawns on me that I should be doing something. Do people stretch or something before they train for battle? Should I be jogging around? I don’t know what to do with myself, so I stand, my feet spread apart, and bend down, touching my toes.
“If I had known we were going to be practicing sex positions, I would have come sooner.”
I whip my head up and spin to face my best friend. “How is that a sex position?”
“Your perky ass out in the air like that? Any man would be lucky to take you from behind.”
I stare at her.
She rolls her eyes, her whole head rolling with the movement. “Never mind.”
“You came,” I say with a smile, changing the subject.
“Yeah. Mostly just to keep an eye on you. You’ve been so weird and impulsive lately, I need to make sure you don’t make any stupid decisions.” She eyes me, twisting her mouth to the side. “I mean… anymorestupid decisions. Let’s not pretend that little jaunt to the inn wasn’t completely ridiculous. Whatever you were really doing.”
“I’ll take it.” If she only knew half of it. She doesn’t even know that I was fighting venomous spiders in a dark forest a few days ago.
“So what are you doing though, really?”
“I have no idea, honestly. Adrian is taking the dragons on a tour of the grounds, and I felt silly sitting around waiting. I think you’re supposed to warm up or something first.”
She scowls. “How are those pests always around?”
I laugh. “Pests? The castle grounds aren’t that large… I guess your afternoon with Raef went well yesterday, then?”
She laughs. “Oh yeah, that… I stuck with the story the entire time. Even found an old shed with some old broken carriages down by the stables. I think he actually started to believe me by the end. I really went into detail about last year’s show. The idiot.”
I laugh as she recalls more of the story, and then we watch random soldiers on the grounds, trying to figure out what they’re doing. Then we laugh more.
“We’re hopeless,” she says.
“No, we’re not.”
“Well, I am. I don’t have a lot of motivation for anything. Plus, you’d beat me in a battle all day.”
“What?” I look at her, perplexed. She can’t possibly think I’m tougher than her. I mean, muscle-wise, we’re both on the pathetic end, but she seems like she’d be scrappier.
