Except what if I did put my trust in him and the whole love-mark thing ended up being a ruse after all?
It was a leap of faith I couldn’t risk.
“That’s it,” Melaina spoke up suddenly, making me jump because I’d forgotten for a moment that there were other people in the world aside from Indigo. “I’m done for the day,” she announced. “Let’s find somewhere to unpack and camp. Preferably somewhere near a brook so I can take a nice relaxing bath.”
Frowning, I exchanged a questioning glance with Indigo. He blinked and shot back, “But there’s still two or three good hours of sunlight left for traveling.”
“Boy,” she snapped, sending him a scowl. “I said I’m done. I’m hot, sweaty, tired, and sick of riding on a damn horse.”
I opened my mouth to comment about the weather, letting her know I wasn’t hot at all. I rather thought there was a bit of a chilly nip in the air. “It’s not that—”
But Indigo nudged me quiet. “If you’re willing to veer off course from the trail a little,” he told Melaina. “I know of a couple of hot spring aquifers in these woods.” He motioned to the forest on our right.
Hot springs was the magic word where Melaina was concerned. “Hot springs?” She perked to attention, no longer appearing so bedraggled, exhausted, or temperamental. “Yes. Show me now.”
With a chuckle, Indigo led us into the woods. “I lived not far from here, so I know the area well,” he explained as he traveled deeper into the trees.
“That was after your grandparents died, right?” I asked.
Indigo glanced at me in surprise. Then he gave a stuttering nod, as if my attention flustered him. “Uh, yeah.” Clearing his throat, he held back a tree branch so both Melaina and I could walk through. “I went to live with my mother’s brother, Everett, and his family just outside Tyler when I was fifteen until I joined the king’s army when I turned eighteen.”
“Hmm.” He seemed very dismissive of that fact, which made me wonder why. He was usually all too eager to tell us more than we wanted to know about his family. So I pressed the issue. “And how was that?”
“What?” His brows rose curiously as he glanced at me again.
“How was living with your mother’s family?” I asked pointedly.
“Oh! Uh…” He blinked as if his mind had gone blank. Then he said, “It was, you know…” He shrugged. “It kind of sucked,” he finally admitted. “Since I was a High Clifter, my uncle treated me like something lower than a human being, expecting me to serve him and his family in gratitude for their oh-so-wonderful benevolence because they’d agreed to take me in at all. I had to earn every scrap of bread I was given, and most nights, I slept on the floor next to the ovens in the kitchen with the dogs. But it was better than being homeless, I guess. So I probably shouldn’t complain.”
“Wait.” Melaina held up a hand. “I’m confused. We’re in the kingdom of High Cliff right now. How could they have an issue with their own countrymen? Their own fucking family?”
“Ah, but this part of High Cliff was the kingdom of Teller before that,” he explained. “And my mother hailed from House Teller, the very line that ruled here. So her brother was determined to think of himself as a Tellerite.”
Melaina hummed in understanding. “Still sore about losing the throne, huh?”
Indigo shrugged. “Well, it was only three generations ago. My great-grandfather, Havern, was the last Teller king before High Cliff overthrew him and took the land for themselves.”
“So, wait!” I spoke up, blinking. “Are you saying that if High Cliff hadn’t invaded, and Teller was still its own kingdom, you’d probably be a fucking prince right now?”
He snorted and shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t. But my first cousin, Axel—Everett’s son—now he’d be a prince. Besides, I wouldn’t even exist if this land was still under Tellerite rule. My grandfather, Mikkel—that would be Havern’s only son—was taken to the capital city in High Cliff to be raised after the Bjorn family took over. It was their attempt to assimilate him into their culture, so he’d be less likely to ever try to reclaim his birthright. Both Everett and my mother were born there, which wouldn’t have been the case if Teller had stood strong, and thus my mother never would’ve met my father.”
“So if your uncle was raised in the heart of High Cliff, why did he hate it so much?”
“He learned he should’ve been the heir to his own kingdom, and he turned resentful. He moved back to Tyler when he reached maturity, and there his resentment has grown ever since.” Shaking his head, he drew out a long, sad sigh. “All I can say is that it's a blessing I had moved out of his control before the Great Lowden War. I heard he didn’t take it well when High Cliff defeated Lowden, and instead of claiming the land as their own, as they did with Teller, they let the House of Gill take back the rule because the Gills had been reigning there before the Graykeys stole the throne from them. Uncle Everett would have taken his anger and resentment out on me, I’m sure of it. He’s always believed the House of Bjorn should’ve allowed the Teller line to keep control after their defeat.”
Melaina snorted and rolled her eyes. “Your uncle sounds like a brute.”
Indigo didn’t dispute the claim. He merely pointed to the right. “The best hot spring is just this way.”
The clearing that we’d reached looked like the perfect place to camp, though, so I paused. “I’m going to set up here for the night.”
“Sounds good.” Indigo nodded and glanced my way. “I’m just going to show her where the aquifer is. Be right back.”
He was gone just long enough for me to unpack my horse and get a fire started.
“Your aunt didn’t wait for me to leave before she began to undress,” he announced as he appeared in the clearing. “I think I’ll be traumatized for life.” Then he gave a quick grin and wiggled his eyebrows. “Hey, do you want me to show you where the springs are later on?”
“You’re not seeing me naked,” I answered dryly, before realizing he probably already had that first day we’d skirmished at the spring. So I scowled and added, “Not ever again.”
With a husky chuckle, he squatted in front of the fire, just across the flames from me. “Ah, well. I had to try, though, right?”
I snorted and poked at the burning tinder, trying to get the heat up.
“So what’re you cooking tonight?” he asked. “Hey, can you show me how to make that stick bread stuff? It looked and smelled amazing.”
I glanced up, surprised he wanted to learn how to cook something. I hadn’t been planning on making any loaves tonight, we weren’t going to sell anymore anytime soon, and they took longer to make than I wanted to spend in front of a fire right now.
But I found myself saying, “Um, okay. I guess. Yeah, I could show you.”
“Great.” He rubbed his manacled hands together eagerly. “What do you need me to do?”
It was bizarre to have such a willing student. I was used to Melaina’s company, and she preferred to boss me around; she never took any kind of instruction from me. But guiding someone else actually sounded nice. So while I gathered the ingredients, I had Indigo find the mixing bowls, measuring cups, cooking board, and stirring spoons.