Page 83 of The Queen’s Bodyguard

“Seventeen. I was acting as ambassador to an all-girls school abroad somewhere.” Theora cringed. “Sovereign, I sound like a baby. Turn it off.”

“I like it.” Argos crossed his legs beneath him on the couch and went back to his weaving. “Nothing beats your coronation speech, though.”

Theora hugged her ribs, the day in her mind as if she were currently living it. “I was so angry during that.”

“You were honest.”

“Yes,” she scoffed, “Venita lectured me about going off script after that one.”

“You were dealing with loss. It was something everyone could relate to…certainly something I could.” He paused in his task. “Sometimes it’s better to obey your instinct than to follow a plan.”

Theora gaped. His words felt…intimate. Vulnerable. And yet he continued to weave and listen, as if he hadn’t just stolen a piece of her heart away. She joined him on the couch, watching him thoughtfully. “Argos, are you teasing me?”

He raised a brow. “Not right now. You want me to?”

“No, I just—” Her heart felt like it was floating, and she couldn’t understand why. “You really listen to my speeches?”

“Is that strange?”

Theora suddenly felt emotional, placing her hand on her heart to keep it in. She had just…never heard something so endearing in her life and didn’t want to say anything to ruin it. You didn’t call a giant Warrior adorable. Except Argos wasn’t just any Warrior…“Not at all. I’m flattered, honestly. Do you really just listen to them for fun?”

He shrugged. “I guess you could say that.”

“What would you call it?”

Argos blushed a little, and Theora could’ve kissed him, it was so sweet.

“Boada calls it a siren song,” he said, staring at the weaving in his hand. “I guess I’m particularly drawn to…your voice.”

Now Theora felt herself blushing. “My voice?”

“Put it this way—usually complainers make me want to tear out throats. But I could listen to you complain all day. Not only that, but listening to you complain is almost…” He looked thoroughly embarrassed now. Unsure. “Endearing.”

Theora raised a brow. “I don’t know how I should feel about that.”

“It doesn’t just compel my magic, is what I’m saying,” he went on quickly. “No matter how annoyingly adorable and helpless you behave, my mind just won’t perceive you as prey.”

He thinks I’m adorable, she thought, her heart skipping. “I do appreciate that.”

“Are you going to give me a hard time now?”

“Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know.” He went back to his work quickly. “You don’t think it’s a bit sappy for a Warrior?”

“I think it’s…” Beautiful. She cleared her throat. “It makes your life easier, doesn’t it? To be so connected to the voice commanding you?” She paused, watching him for a moment. “Wait, what do you mean, my voice compels your magic?”

“What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’?” Argos’s hands stilled as he stared at her. “How do you think you’ve been commanding me all this time?”

Theora suddenly felt foolish but couldn’t place why. “With the rope.”

“What rope?”

“What do you mean, ‘what rope’? The one I claimed you with. The one Boada put a charm on for me, so she could lend me some of her magic.”

She’d barely finished her explanation before Argos broke down into laughter.

“Stop laughing!” She snatched up a pillow to smack him, but it only made her want to laugh, too, and she was trying to maintain at least a little dignity. “What’s so funny?”