Page 43 of Not Another Happily Ever After

“We can’t share the biscuits.”

I crack another smile. “So predictable are you.”

The corners of his lips curve down beneath his mustache. His conviction, however, remains unmoved.

Stubborn old man.I sigh.

“Excuse us, I’ll only be a moment,” I offer, squeezing the young boy’s hand before letting it fall back to his side.

For one fleeting moment, I wonder if Frog would object to such a request. Or would he see the child as he saw me that night in the garden, a person worth saving? It’s, of course, a stupid question, as the commander does not have time for such trivial requests.Or time to stand around the carriage he’s meant to be protecting apparently.

“He’s not here, Princess.”

I whirl around, feigning ignorance. “I’m afraid I don’t know to whom you are referring?” My unnaturally high voice betrays me.

Now even Myrrdin is grinning, though he at least has the decency to hide it behind a cough.

“Of course.” Merrek winks. “If you were, though, which you weren’t, looking for the commander, I would have told you he’d gone off ahead to find us somewhere to sleep for the night. But he’ll be back soon.”

“Ah.” I nod, pretending not to be relieved. “Well, that’s very good to know.”

“I bet it is.” The twins’ shoulders vibrate beneath their cloaks as my cheeks heat, fed by the rapid thrumming of my heart.

“No-I-that’s not what I meant. I…” I turn on my heels and hasten my steps. Suddenly a lecture from Rhidland doesn’t sound so bad.

The old man waits just outside the carriage door, his brows lifting in question.

“Don’t.” I raise my hand before he can think to ask.

His gaze flickers between me and the twins, but he lets go whatever suspicions linger on his tongue with a heavy exhale. “Right… As I was saying earlier, My Lady. We cannot give food to these people. These are not…” He pauses, eyes sweeping across the crowd. “They will demand more. And when you can’t give it to them…” He trails off.

I read between the lines well enough.

He fears for my life.

Little does he know its time is nearly spent.

I shake off the uneasiness coiling in my belly and hold my hand out expectantly. “I will speak to them, then. But first, the biscuits.”

“My lady?—”

I take Rhidland’s hands in mine, a well-practiced gesture that, to this day, still catches the old man off-guard. “He is only a boy. He won’t hurt me.” I squeeze, knowing exactly how unfair I’m being, tugging on the old man’s heart strings like this. But ifthere’s one thing he’s taught me over the years, it’s that I can be stubborn too.

“I’ve got her,” Merrek offers with a shrug. “Nothing gets past these eyes,” he adds, wiggling his copper brows.

Myrrdin scoffs, tongue in cheek. “You mean nothing with a pair of breasts.”

“Ooh, that’s rich coming from the guy that stopped an entire carriage so that a hairy eight legged blood sucker could cross the bloody path!”

“It was a purple-pinned Arachne! They’re incredibly rare. Almost non-existent. Like your brain,” Myrrdin adds with a self-satisfied smile.

“You’re just jealous cause mum loved me more.”

Myrrdin’s nostrils flare, his fists ready to knock the smug grin from Merrek’s face when Rhidland finally intervenes. His stony features reveal he’s had it up to here with the twins’ constant banter.

“You’d think twenty years watching over me would have prepared you for such a task,” I jest, lightening the mood.

He cuts me a knowing look, but I see the twitch in his lips. “I fear I may never be able to retire if these are to be my replacements.”