My heart did something inconvenient.
We rode down into the valley. The soldiers whooped ahead, spurring for home, and Darien let them go. He kept our pace slow for my sake, which I pretended not to notice because if I noticed it aloud I was going to have to feel things I was not prepared to feel.
"Not leading them in, Your Majesty?"
"No." He caught my eye and the terrible mouth crooked. "I'm too sore. Someone did not save me fast enough."
"I cannot always save you. You will need to stop being the damsel."
"Is that so?" His eyes roamed my face, my hair, the smudge of dirt I had reapplied for the benefit of the soldiers. "How's that mud feeling, Wren?"
"Better than knowing a woman saved your life twice."
His laugh was low and rolling and my traitor heart bumped hard against my ribs.
