“Yes.” He nodded. “It’s refreshing. People usually say something nice they don’t mean. But you’re the opposite. You say cruel things you don’t mean, and it’s highly entertaining. You don’t have to hide what you enjoy from me, though. I would never use your preferences against you.”
“You’re mistaken, High Clifter,” I seethed. “I meant every word.”
He smiled, but his eyes turned serious before he murmured, “Yeah. Maybe you do. Just a little.” Then he shrugged. “But that’s okay. It only makes you more alluring.” His gaze strayed to his book on the ground, where his brow furrowed a moment before he turned back to me. “I had no idea what to expect when I met you. But so far, I’ve been delightfully surprised.” Chuckling to himself, he leaned his head back against the tree he was sitting against and ended the moment with a long sigh. “Who knew I’d go for an angry girl who could aggravate me to the point that I’d want to kiss all the fury out of her one moment before she made me ache to pull her into my arms and hug the pain and sorrow out of her the next? You’re like a dazzling empress I want to worship constantly in every way.”
I honestly didn’t know how to respond to that, so it was a good thing Melaina came cantering into the clearing, preventing me from having to.
“Hello, loves,” she called, waving her fingers. “Doesn’t look like anything too fun happened while I was away. Hmm? What a tragedy.”
With a chuckle, she dismounted, and the horse immediately trotted over to its last owner, nudging its muzzle against Indigo’s head.
“Hey, girl,” Indigo greeted with a smile as he patted her neck and shoulder. “Been missing me, have you?”
Melaina snorted. “Of course she doesn’t miss you. She’s just trying to tell you goodbye because she has a better owner now.”
Shifting her an amused glance, Indigo pulled a treat from his pocket that the mare immediately sought, eating straight from his hand. “That,” he agreed slyly. “Or she knows where the good stuff is.”
His unicorn/zebra thing suddenly appeared at his side, back in cat form. Meowing pathetically, the animal leaped into his lap, where Indigo good-naturedly pulled out a treat for her too.
I rolled my eyes. He was too soft for his own good. People probably took advantage of him daily.
Weak, I thought to myself as I pushed to my feet and focused on Melaina, even though something deep inside me didn’t agree with my own silent claim. Kindness could have its own brand of strength. A quieter, but deeper, and more loyal strength.
“So I learned how he knows so much about Earth,” I announced, nudging his book on the ground with the toe of my boot, noticing him flinch when I bumped it too hard for his comfort. “His great-grandmother was born on Earth and was pulled here to take someone’s place when they went through the portal permanently.”
I told her a bit about his history that he’d written. He’d lived in High Cliff with his parents until he was eight when the three of them went to Lowden as emissaries. They were only there a few moon cycles before the tenth reaping began, and both his parents were killed. I even told her it was her own son who killed them.
Melaina didn’t seem shocked at all to hear that. Studying her nails as if bored, she merely shrugged. “Who hasn’t Qualmer killed? He would’ve taken out both you and me, his siblings, and Taiki too if I hadn’t stabbed him in the eye.”
“Anyway,” I went on. “Indigo returned to High Cliff then to live with his grandfather, who was the earthling’s son. His grandfather told him all about Earth, and he calls the earthlings we trade places with Replace—”
“Indigo, hmm?” Melaina cut in with sudden interest. Her eyebrows shot sky-high. “Calling him by his given name now, are we, darling? My, my. You two certainly did get friendly while I was gone. Maybe I missed something interesting after all.”
“I snuck a kiss in when she wasn’t expecting it,” he was entirely too pleased to report.
“Did you?” Melaina turned to him. “And how did that go?”
Indigo shrugged, his grin rueful as he continued to pet the purring cat on his lap. “She didn’t kill me.”
“Yet,” I growled. “I still plan to. When you’re no longer useful.”
He grinned and blew me a kiss. “Kill me with kindness maybe.”
Huffing, I turned away and focused on Melaina. “How were sales?”
“Despite the anger and disdain you put into each loaf of bread you cooked, I was able to sell them all.” She upended a sack on the ground to let a pile of coins slide out and bounce across the grass. “I didn’t even let any of those parentless, little beggar brats that you would’ve let steal loaf after loaf abscond with any.”
“You give free bread to orphans?” Indigo asked, gazing at me softly. “That’s sweet. I knew there was innate goodness inside you.”
I sighed, determined to ignore him as Melaina sat before her bounty and began to count our proceeds. “Is it enough to make the ferry and canyon toll?”
“Canyon toll? Wait, you’re planning on taking the canyon pass to Tyler?” Indigo demanded, butting in and refusing to mind his own business.
I focused on my aunt. “We should stay here, get an early night’s rest, and put in a full day’s ride tomorrow, and then take the pass the day after that.”
“Um, hello?” Indigo had gotten to his feet and was stepping between me and my aunt, lifting his bound hands and waving at us to signify he had something to say. “No,” he told me simply when I spared him an irritated scowl. “We’re not taking the canyon pass. It’s too dangerous. There are High Cliff knights guarding each end. They check every person that enters, and a glamour won’t hide your mark. Every arm gets watered down so they can see right past them.”
“Calm yourself, sweetling,” Melaina told him with a charmed smile as she gathered the coins back into her pouch and cinched the bag closed. Rising to her feet, she slid her nails along his jawline as she explained, “We came up through that very same pass to get here and made it through just fine. We will this time too.”
He blinked at her in confusion, even as he tilted his face away from her touch. “You did? How?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she cooed.
“Don’t worry about it?” he shot back, his brow furrowing into a deep frown. “You’re talking about taking my mate through perilous territory, risking her life, and you expect me to blindly trust whatever scheme miraculously worked for you once to actually work again? I don’t fucking think so. It’s too risky. She’s not doing it.”
“Excuse me?” I cut in, stepping toward him and ready to relieve him of some vital piece of his anatomy for not trusting my own competency to evade execution. “You don’t make decisions for me.”
But the bastard completely ignored me. “What’s so important in Tyler that you have to go there, anyway?” he asked Melaina.
“Our ticket out of here,” she shot back, clearly growing vexed with his obstinance. “Forever.”
With a bewildered squint, he demanded, “Out of where?”