By the afternoon, I’d exhausted myself of things to do, and so I stood and strode over to the table where Ava was sitting, curious about what she was working on and desperate for a distraction. I’d previously refrained from exploring my curiosity because I’d thought she was writing, and I wouldn’t have been able to read it anyway. When I got there, however, I found that she’d been drawing. The one she was working on now was an exact representation of Albus, so I picked up another she’d set face down to admire it too.
“That’s not finished!” she protested, immediately standing and making a reach for the paper in my hands. Having no desire to upset her, I handed it over without protest before I got to really look at it. But she didn’t look satisfied when I did. “You gave it up too easily.”
I let out a confused chuckle. “Is that not what you wanted?”
“Not really,” she said, gaining her playful smile as she held her arm out to dangle the paper away from me. “It’s just a drawing, nothing to get serious over. If you want to see it, you can wrestle it from me.”
“If you think I’m about to wrestle a princess,” I began, glancing from her glimmering eyes to the parchment.
“See, that’s just the problem,” she said matter-of-factly. “You’ve stopped calling me Princess, but you haven’t stopped treating me like it. Not completely.” She wiggled the drawing in front of my face, daring me to make a grab for it. “I can tell you’re still afraid of offending me. You joke, and you laugh at my teasing, but you don’t tease me back.”
“I don’t refuse to wrestle for fear of offending you, Ava,” I told her, too amused and comfortable to worry much about verbal banter. “I wouldn’t want to embarrass you when I win too easily.”
Ava snickered delightedly. “Only one way to prove it.” She held the paper away from me again, and playfully pushed my shoulder with her other hand. “Come on, stand up for yourself.” And with a smile, she pushed me again. “I’ll gladly show you the drawing if you can take it from me.” Another delicate nudge. “Have at it.”
I made a grab for the parchment, but she was waiting for it, and swiftly pulled it away. When I took a step toward her to get my reach closer, she blithely jumped sideways. I laughed, shaking my head in defeat and completely giving up my cautious ways. If she wanted bold, that’s what she was going to get. I darted at her, and before she could turn around to dash away, I grabbed her by the waist and threw her over my shoulder. She shrieked with laughter, dangling the paper in front of my eyes because she knew I couldn’t grab it without dropping her.
“Kiena,” she giggled, “you’ve got something on your face.” And she swiped her charcoal-smeared fingers across my cheek.
I laughed so hard it was difficult not to drop her, so I hurried a few paces and dumped her on the bed. Now she was cornered. She made a move to jump off the bed one way, but I would’ve been there by the time her feet touched down. She feigned the other way, but the result would’ve been the same. I was the victor of this round, and I held out my hand triumphantly.
“Give it here, you clever minx,” I teased.
Her eyebrows rose with surprise at my playful name-calling, but a mischievous smirk let me know that she enjoyed it. “As m’lady commands,” she assented, giving a sporty bow and extending the paper to me.
I grabbed it hastily in case she was planning on teasing me further, and held it in my hands to look at the drawing. She was a great artist, and the image of myself that met my eyes was beyond flattering. “You do me a compliment with this portrait, Ava.”
“On the contrary. You underestimate yourself, Kiena.” She scooted back until she was leaning against the headboard. “You’re very beautiful.” My eyes involuntarily darted up to meet Ava’s, and when my face burned red, I shyly looked away. “Why do you blush so much when I say and do things?”
“I’m not accustomed to anyone like you,” I admitted, holding the portrait in my hands for a distraction even though I was done looking at it.
“What am I like?” she asked, the hint of a smile in her voice. She took pleasure in making me blush, I was certain of it.
“Intelligent, and kind, and funny, and beautiful,” I listed honestly, mentally adding confident to that list. “Near impossible to find a person that’s all four. It’s a rare combination.”
“Rare,” she mused thoughtfully, and when I glanced up from the drawing, I saw her eyes look me up and down. “Yet here we are.”
“Here we are,” I repeated, looking away from her again, and when I realized she was calling me all of those things, I colored once more.
I didn’t mind calling her all that, I was sure it wasn’t unusual for people to attempt flattering her. But she wasn’t doing me any favors by flattering me. No favors by continually making me complacent to her royal title and treating me like an equal. No favors by tempting the desires I knew already existed within me. I cleared my throat uncomfortably, and turned to set the drawing back on the table.
“Smells like venison,” I said distractedly. “Should I go and fetch supper?”
So as not to give her the chance to say something flirtatious, I turned for the door immediately. Albus knew the word ‘venison,’ but when he made an attempt to follow me out directly to the food, I made him stay with Ava. The innkeeper recognized me, and even though he looked somewhat indignant about the fact that I was there for more food, he gave me a healthy portion and a large cup of mead. I carried the plate and cup back to the room, where Ava was waiting for me at the table.
She’d brought Maddox over and perched the bird on the back of her chair, so after I’d sat down, I cut a strip of meat from the steak. “Here,” I said, handing it to Ava, who then fed it to Maddox. I also pushed the entire cup across the table to her. “You can have all this too.”
Ava glanced into it, and then cast me a suspicious stare. “You’re the one’s been on edge all day.”
“I don’t like mead,” I told her, cutting a larger piece of meat for Albus, who’d been pawing at my leg ever since I’d sat down. “It’s too sweet.”
“Mead?” she asked in shock, and tilted the cup to her lips to take a reassuring sip. “Too sweet?”
“Aye,” I laughed in response to the look on her face. “I’m not fond of sweet foods.”
“What are you fond of?” She ripped a piece of stale bread from the loaf from this morning, dipping it in the mead to soften it. “This is very good though,” she said, pushing the cup back toward me as though she wanted me to be sure.
I shrugged and answered her question with, “Salt.”
Ava made a face, but watched amusedly while I took a gulp of the mead. Sure enough, it still had the aftertaste of honey, which caused my tongue to turn over in my mouth and successfully made Ava burst into laughter. “I love sweet things,” she told me, taking the cup back. “My mother used to tell me stories of the sweets they have in the Ronan Empire.”
I tried not to let my surprise at that show. It was the first time Ava had talked about that side of her. “Did she?”