“Excuse me?”
“Out with it,” Keir repeated through gritted teeth. “Somethin’ is botherin’ ye.”
“Aye,” said River. “Ye are.”
Keir gave her an unimpressed look. “Alright! It’s me fault for askin’! Darken the entire castle with yer foul mood if ye must but ken that when Archer asks me what’s wrong with ye, because he will, all I’ll be able to tell him is how unreasonable ye are.”
River couldn’t help but sputter, rage bubbling up inside her. “Unreasonable? Why should I wish to talk to ye about anythin’?”
Keir hesitated for a moment. “Because I’m here,” he said. “And I’m askin’.”
“Aye,” said River. “Why are ye askin’? Ye never cared to ask before.”
Once more, Keir didn’t speak, though he did draw a breath as if he was going to. He remained silent for a few long moments,seemingly struggling with himself, before he finally admitted the truth.
“Archer’s actin’…oddly,” he said. “Even for him. I wanted to see if ye kent somethin’.”
River couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head. “Ye realize ye could have just asked me instead of tryin’ to…to fight me like this.”
“I wasnae tryin’ to fight ye.”
“I disagree.”
They stared at each other in silence, until Keir was fed up with it. “Well? Do ye ken anythin’?”
“Nay,” said River. “If ye daenae ken, why should I?”
“Because he talks to ye more than he talks to me.”
“I daenae ken if that is true. I think he doesnae talk to anyone.”
Keir huffed out a laugh. “Aye, I suppose that’s true.”
Silence stretched between them once more, but this time, it was more companionable.
“Daenae fash,” Keir said then, looking out into the distance. “This is what he’s like.”
“I’m startin’ to see that.”
Just then, Layla rushed to the gardens, chased by Arya and Colby, shattering the fragile peace River had found—and the strange, even more fragile peace she had created with Keir.
The moment she appeared, though, something strange happened to his features, which contorted first with pain and then with something River could only recognize as longing.
She looked back and forth between them, understanding dawning on her.
“Do ye?—”
“Nae a word,” Keir hissed, turning a stern gaze on her.
“But if?—”
“Quiet.”
“I ccould?—”
“Stop it.”
Just as suddenly as Layla had arrived, she was gone, followed by two screaming children. River turned to Keir, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze, like a petulant child, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
