AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Clingy?” he repeated incredulously before snorting. “I’m not being clingy. I never should’ve taught you that word. Besides, why are you being so maudlin?”
“I’m not being maudlin,” I cried.
Except that was an obvious lie. Attending a celebration down in Mandalay was usually the exact type of event I enjoyed, especially since I’d spent the last three fortnights helping plan for it. It was flat-out strange for me to plead a headache and hover near the castle during such an occasion.
But the truth was: I had no idea why I felt blue.
I just did.
I couldn’t tell Indigo that, though. He’d haul me off to the nearest healer and have me examined for some kind of malady within the hour. And I knew I wasn’t sick. At least, I didn’t think I was. My heart simply ached for some strange, unexplainable reason. And my head pounded, right at my temple.
“Well then, I’m not being clingy,” Indigo spat back childishly before turning away and humming under his breath as he flicked a disinterested finger at a particularly limp and dreary rose.
I scowled at his back. “Are you seriously watching me so closely right now because you believe I’m sad?”
“Of course not.” He shrugged airily even as he tossed me a challenging glance and leaned against a nearby tree. Crossing his arms over his chest, he added, “For, as you just said, princess, you’re not sad.”
“I swear,” I huffed. “You are the most impertinent bodyguard I’ve ever met; do you realize that?”
“I wasn’t chosen for my sunny disposition.” He shot me a smirk and began to pick at his teeth with his fingernail. “That’s just a side benefit.”
“Oh bother.” Rolling my eyes, I turned away and studied the roses before me, except I’d totally lost the desire to pick anymore. Glancing into my basket, I only found three buds lining the wicker bottom. Not even enough to fill one vase.
Damn, I really was mawkish today. And this sensation in my temple was beginning to annoy me.
I rubbed at the raw flesh and closed my eyes, trying to will the prickle away.
“Though if you were for some reason not feeling your usual, perky self,” Indigo started in again as if he knew exactly how hard my head pounded. I opened my lashes and glanced his way to find him crossing his legs at the ankles and tapping his chin as if he didn’t have a care in the world, which I knew was a total ruse. The damn man was always alert to everything. “Then it would behoove me to remain nearby since, you know, I am the best friend you’ve ever had. Only I can boost your maudlin moods.”
“Best friend?” Blurting out a surprised laugh, I demanded, “Says who?”
He lifted a single shoulder and scanned the forest before returning his cocky grin to me. “Says reality.”
I continued to chuckle as I found a nearby tree stump and set myself upon it, resting my nearly empty basket on my lap as I did. Smiling up at him, I admitted, “You do manage to entertain me frequently with all the absurd things you say. I’ll admit that.”
Inclining his head as if to thank me for the compliment, he studied me a moment before murmuring on a serious tone, “You know you can always talk to me, don’t you, Nicolette? I’m not just your bodyguard. You’re like a sister to me. If anything is troubling you—”
“But it’s not,” I cut in insistently, flashing my teeth to get him to cease talking about it, already. A headache certainly wasn’t something to make an issue about.
He sighed but then nodded, letting me know he’d stop, only to press, “But if it were—”
“Yes,” I cried in aggravation. “Of course I’d come to you with any concern. In fact, my menstrual courses are set to begin any day now. So I’ll make a note to tell you about every cramp and bloated—”
“You know what I mean.” He scowled at me, even as his face turned a bright crimson from the mention of female matters.
And I did know what he meant. But that was the problem. I had no concerns. No problems. Nothing worthy of any kind of depression. How did one talk about such an unseen, unknown enemy?
Forcing a smile, I said, “If you’d really like to bring me cheer, dear friend, why don’t you tell me one of your funny, peculiar stories again?”
Nothing distracted Indigo like his bizarre but highly entertaining tales.
I’d first met him five years ago when he’d come to Donnelly from High Cliff with Princess Allera so she could wed my brother Brentley.
Indigo had been a High Cliff knight at the time, protecting her, but he’d blended into Donnelly life nicely since then. And now, he was one of us.
Brentley had assigned him with the duty of seeing to my personal security about four years ago, and in that time, Indy and I had grown uncommonly close. He hadn’t been lying when he claimed to be my best friend. We squabbled nearly every day like siblings, fighting and disagreeing over pretty much everything. I adored him like no one else. So I was well aware that nothing would set him off like calling his stories funny or peculiar.
Which is exactly why I did so.
