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She comes to a sudden stop, throws her hands on her hips, and glares at me. “Why?”
“Perhaps I can pull you out of your dark mood?”
She pulls her pouty lips into a forced smile and blinks at me. “Who said I'm in a dark mood?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“You’re wrong. I’m in a perfectly good mood.”
And I’m a stable boy.
“If you say so.”
“I do, actually, as it happens.”
“Good for you.”
“Oh, it is good for me. Better than good because I’m in a great mood.”
Does this woman insist on arguing with me about everything? Perhaps I should tell her the sky is blue and she could argue that it is in fact yellow? That would be a fun conversation.
I try a different tact. “Look, I know things didn't go so well with the peafowl yesterday, but I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure it's happened before.”
“It's not the peafowl.”
I arch an eyebrow. “It's not? What is it then?”
She folds her arms across her chest. “It's you,” she states simply.
“Me?” I ask on a surprised laugh. “What have I done?”
“You're following me and you're making me feel uncomfortable. I don't like it.”
“I'm not following you, and the last thing I want to do is make you feel uncomfortable.”
You're doing that all on your own.
“It sure feels like that to me. Why did you even need to be at that whole meet the peacock thing?”
“I represent my family and country, and as such, I'm invited to events like you meeting the peafowl.”
She rolls her eyes at me in irritation.
I press on. “Ledonia and Malveaux have a very special?—"
“—relationship,” she finishes for me, her jaw tight. “So I've heard.”
“Then you’ll understand why I was present.”
She twists her mouth, clearly not happy about it.
“Look. We didn't get off to the best start with what transpired between us at the ball and then the…err, bird thing yesterday,” I say.
“You think?”
“But we're here now and we're going to see a lot of each other over the next few weeks or so, right through to The Games. I suggest we find a way to coexist, if not harmoniously, then at least without acrimony.”
She arches her brows. “You like big words, don’t you?”
