Damn.
With a pounding headache, I opened my eyes to a steaming pile of horse dung that had landed about a foot from my face. A handful of flies buzzed around it, and from the smell of things, it was pretty fresh.
“What the—?” I jerked upright from where I’d been lying face-first in the dirt, only to wince and clasp the back of my head as a shock of pain spiked through my scalp. “Motherfucker.” That really hurt.
Finding the source of the annoying throb with my fingers, I gently prodded the tender flesh before pulling my hand back around to the front so I could see the blood I’d just touched.
Someone had clobbered me good.
But who?
Still dazed and disoriented and wondering where the hell I was, I glanced around to find myself in a narrow passage between wood-built structures. Nothing occupied the alleyway with me except for a broken wagon without any wheels, an empty wicker basket lying on its side among other random odds and ends scattered about, and a mangy black cat curled up and napping against one wall. The cat opened one eye as if to check on me, only to close it again when it found me alive and sitting up.
“I don’t suppose you saw who hit me, hmm?” I asked.
The cat kept sleeping.
No. Certainly not.
I tipped my head to the side curiously, though, and the cat mirrored my move, tilting its face at the same angle.
“Right,” I murmured on a sage nod. “You’d never do anything so nefarious and inconsiderate. Please forgive my rude speculation.”
The cat sniffed as if it were sneezing—or snorting indignantly over my apology—then it laid its head back down and closed its eyes again. When it began to purr, I decided I had been pardoned.
I kept watching it sleep, though, wondering...
“Indy?”
Spinning toward the voice, I sucked in a breath when that caused more pain, and I scowled at the source of it.
Nicolette.
Well, that explained the head wound.
Wherever the Queen of Far Shore went, trouble typically followed.
“Oh my Lord, Indigo! Are you okay?” She rushed toward me, only for someone else to dart after her.
Her husband gave up the chase, only to sigh and fling his hands in the air. Then, setting them on his hips, he peered past her and shared a disgruntled glance with me, silently asking if she would ever in her life exercise caution or safety.
I shook my head, letting him know, no, I didn’t think she would. But the movement caused a fresh twinge of pure misery to echo through my brain.
“Damn, that hurts.” I gnashed my teeth as I clasped the injury again, as if to tuck all the pain and blood back inside my head.
I cringed, remembering the pile of shit nearby and had to check to make sure she hadn’t landed in it. But I have no idea why I even bothered to worry. No matter how much the world fell apart around her, Nicolette always managed to avoid disaster herself. And she’d missed the heap of dung this time too.
Around us, Far Shore soldiers filled the entrances at either end of the alley, where they stopped side by side, standing guard over their queen. I nodded toward them, pleased they were executing the very protocols I’d set up. Nicolette gave them no mind, however, too concerned about fretting over me.
“Let me see.” She reached for my wound, but I ducked my head to the side, out of her reach, certain she’d only make it worse if she got anywhere near me. Huffing at my reaction, she sent me a disgusted scowl and plopped her hands on her hips.
“Stubborn,” she muttered before demanding, “What happened? Your true love didn’t do this to you, did she?”
I blinked, her question sounding all wrong in my brain. “What?”
What the hell was she talking about?
That question made even less sense to me than the first, so I frowned, wondering if my hearing was okay.
“I swear,” she went on, “if your mate hurt you in any way—”
“Nicolette.” I lifted my hand to get her to stop talking for a single minute so I could just get my mind back in order. I swear, my brain felt scrambled; I couldn’t process a full thought among her questions, and nothing she was saying sounded logical or coherent.
“My God,” she rambled on, not stopping at all but talking more, blinking at me as if she understood me less than I understood her. “How hard did he hit you?”
I had no idea who’d hit me at all, but I could at least answer that one. “Hard,” I said and put my hands on the ground so I could push my way to my feet. “Where are we?”
“Whoa, hey. Easy there.” Nicolette caught my arm when I wavered as I stood, and suddenly her husband was at my side too, slipping a hand under my armpit and helping me the rest of the way up.
“We’re still in Pinsky,” Farrow answered for Nicolette, frowning at me slightly as if he too were concerned about my welfare. “You parted ways with us only about an hour ago.”
That didn’t seem likely. I never left Nicolette. Since I’d been assigned to be her personal bodyguard nearly five years before, she’d been my sole responsibility. Not even her running off, getting married, and taking rule over a neighboring kingdom had scared me away from my duties of watching over her.
So, why would I—?
“Indigo?” Catching the sleeve of my tunic, Nicolette gave me a jarring nudge, the frown between her eyebrows growing like it did whenever something worried her. “Do you not remember? You sensed your true love and took off after him.”
Him?
And why was she talking about my true love, anyway? I had no idea who that even was.
“He just called you by your name, love,” Farrow reminded her dryly.
“Oh. Right.” Frowning out her embarrassment, she cleared her throat before smacking me in the arm. “Don’t scare me like that. I thought you had amnesia.”
“Ouch.” I rubbed the spot she’d hit, and she immediately apologized.
“Sorry. I just want you to be okay.” Then she waved three digits in my face. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
I’d sensed my one true love once, about eleven years ago, in Warren—a village on the northern edge of Lowden—but I’d never gotten to see her face and thus lock on to her true essence. So after she’d passed out of my range, I’d lost sense of her and never felt her in my mark again.
Pushing that thought aside, I squinted at a metal bell that hung from the side of one of the buildings. A short piece of rope dangled below it, as if ready to be pulled so the thing could be rung.
And just like that, I remembered.
That bell had been the last thing I’d seen before I was attacked. I’d been wondering why in the world anyone would hang a bell there, of all places, right before something hard had bashed me on the back of the head.
The rest of it came flooding back to me then, and I sucked in a breath.
I’d been traveling to Pinsky with Nicolette and her entourage, on a royal tour of her new kingdom so she could get the lay of the land. For most of the trip, I’d taken up residence in her carriage, because after all, the queen’s quarters were the best accommodations in the caravan. There was no way she could eat all the fruits and desserts in there by herself, anyway, so I was being a good friend and helping her devour her snacks, you know, so they wouldn’t go to waste.
Except the closer we had traveled to Pinsky, the more restless and unsettled I became. It wasn’t until we’d arrived at the village and Nicolette said she wanted to walk through the bazaar while the market was in full swing that I understood what my affliction was, because it was there that I finally sensed the presence of my true love nearby for the second time.
I’d grown accustomed to the likely chance that I’d never sense her again. I’d finally grown comfortable in the life I had, serving Nicolette and leading her army. But all these years later, everything had changed in an instant. The moment my mark began to tingle and nag at my temple with its persistent awakening, a switch inside me flipped.
After that, I’d had a mini panic attack, because I wasn’t exactly prepared for this moment. But hell, this was the biggest, most important introduction of my life. I was about to meet the one person I would spend the rest of my days with.
I probably would’ve shaved first, put on my cleanest attire, dashed on some cologne, maybe gotten a haircut, and definitely not eaten so much food from Nicolette’s carriage all morning long. I needed a redo, so I could exude the best first impression a woman had ever received from a man.
Realizing my predicament, however, Nicolette and Farrow had forced me forward to just meet her already, whether I was ready or not, and I’d been floored when I’d finally gotten my first look, merely to realize my mate was actually a man—not a woman.
Well, it was a shock, to say the least.
I wasn’t sure what to think about being forever bound to a crabby old coot.
Simply looking at him made me feel complete.
Never.
Yet, I had questions.
So many questions. Because this seemed fucking wrong.
He belonged to me. And I belonged to him.
After getting over the surprise of his gender, and age, and overall hostile glower, I’d started toward him merely to introduce myself and maybe learn his name and discover what it was about him that kept calling to me. Get my questions answered, you know?
But for some unknown reason, he’d taken off before I could reach him. I knew he’d seen me coming, too. He’d looked right at me, and then he’d turned away, wheeling his cart of wares he’d been selling in the square and trundling off into a crowd of people. What was worse was that he didn’t have the mark. He didn’t know we belonged together. The hardest part about this mess of a situation would be to somehow convince him that we did.
I’d called after him, trying to gain his attention, so unless he was hard of hearing—which wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility, considering his age—he had flat-out ignored me. On purpose.
Not very polite.
For all he knew, I’d just wanted to buy a damn loaf of bread off his trolley. Why’d he have to do me that way?
Tilting my head, I frowned at his wagon, then closed my eyes and let the mark take over, guiding me in the right direction. Oh yeah, I was definitely locked on to his essence now. From this point on, no matter where he went, I’d be able to follow.
Curiosity took over as I tracked his trail, catching sight of him up ahead of me every so often. Seriously, why was he running? This made no sense.
His attire seemed to change every glimpse I caught of him, too. He’d lifted a green scarf to cover his head once, then had acquired a straw hat from somewhere the next time. When I saw him dart into an alley not long after that, my grin spread.
“Gotcha,” I whispered.
I was so sure I’d be able to catch up to him there with fewer crowds and obstacles obstructing my path. But when I reached the mouth of the backstreet, I found him leaping into the saddle of a waiting horse with way too much agility and grace for a man of his advanced years.
“Hey!” I yelled, growing frustrated by the injustice of the moment.
Besides, what had I done to scare him off in the first place?
I swear, I had literally heard my brain gong inside my head when I was struck.
I don’t remember hitting the ground, but I did open my eyes once, not long after that, I think, because I heard footsteps race off as whoever had hit me fled the scene. It couldn’t have been my one true love who’d struck me, either. He’d clearly been ahead of me, escaping, and the culprit had come up on me from behind.
Then something had licked my face, probably the damn cat who was even now approaching to wind its body between my feet and rub its tail up against my calf.
“Indy!” Hands suddenly clapped in front of my face, and I blinked the Queen of Far Shore into focus. “Say something,” Nicolette demanded impatiently, as if this wasn’t the first time she’d tried to get my attention. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m fine,” I murmured, shoving her hand out of my face so I could pat myself down to see if I’d been mugged. “Someone else hit me,” I finally answered. “Not my true love.”
Finding all my weapons and money still on me, I frowned. Huh. I guess whoever had attacked hadn’t been interested in robbing me.
Had they been in league with the old man, trying to help him get me off his trail?
That didn’t make sense.
But nothing made sense right now, so I wouldn’t scratch the idea off the list, either. This must mean it was likely my mate had an accomplice.
And why hadn’t he acted so old when he’d been avoiding me?
If it was the last thing I did, I’d find out the truth about him.
“Indigo.” Nicolette took my arm firmly. “Why don’t we take you back to the royal caravan waiting at the edge of the village and have a healer look you over? Alright?”
I didn’t have time for a fucking healer. My true love was getting away.
“No. I’m okay. Really.” But I let her lead me along anyway, because, come to think of it, it’d probably be smart to return to the waiting carriages and horses so I could gather some supplies and borrow a mount before taking off after the old man again.
But I only went a few steps before the cat tripped me up, darting between my legs and trying to keep up with me so it could tag along.
After catching my balance, I took a sweet treat from my pocket—something I’d stolen from Nicolette’s carriage—and I leaned down to feed the scraggly animal. Its coat wasn’t as pure black as I’d first assumed. All four paws and the tip of its tail were white, as was its belly and nose. The thing seemed cuter now that it was up close, as well as softer and maybe even younger too.
It sniffed the food with interest, then snagged it from my hand and wolfed it down whole before returning to my fingers, looking for more.
I smiled softly. “Sorry, little buddy. I wish I had another for you, but that was it.” Guilt swamped me as it kept sniffing and licking my hand. I wondered when the poor, pathetic thing had eaten last.
When I glanced up at Nicolette to ask if she was carrying any food on her, the cat took that moment to use my arm like a tree, and it climbed right up me, digging claws straight through the cloth of my tunic until it reached my shoulder, where it perched itself like it was some kind of pet bird.
“Uh—okay.” I guess that meant it was coming with me. Smiling slightly at my new companion, I reached up and patted its side, then held it steady there on my shoulder so it wouldn’t fall off as I rose to my full height.
Nicolette lifted a curious eyebrow as she blinked back and forth between us. “Looks like you made a new friend.”
“Seems like it,” I answered.
Strangely, the feline didn’t stink. It smelled kind of like vanilla beans mixed with campfire smoke. Two of my favorite fragrances.
At the opening of the alley, the guards under my command eyed me and the cat on my shoulder with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
“The queen’s returning to her cavalcade for a few minutes,” I instructed them. “Clear a path for her.”
They took off without question, and Nicolette, Farrow, and I walked along through the streets of Pinsky, with the villagers parting the way for us and gaping as if we’d lost our minds for strolling amongst them. I honestly couldn’t imagine how it all looked from their point of view. It was one thing for the new young queen to visit her people in their villages, but I’m sure it was quite another for her to be darting down a side alley and checking on men who’d been bashed unconscious.
I leaned toward her. “You’re the most unconventional ruler they’ll ever see, you know that, right?”
“Oh, pooh.” She waved an unconcerned hand. “They’ll get used to me.”
“They’ll have to,” Farrow threw in from the other side of her. “Because she certainly won’t change her ways.”
Not that he wanted her to; the prince consort was completely satisfied with the queen just the way she was.
“You really don’t have to walk me back to the carriages,” I told her, though. “You have your duties here to see to. Besides, I don’t plan on staying long, just gathering some supplies and a horse, and then going out on my own.”
When I realized I had no idea, a heated ball of regret formed in my chest.
Because I might never return.
I probably should’ve worried that she might forbid me from going. She was my queen; she could very well do that. Except Nicolette and I didn’t have that kind of relationship.
So I murmured a soft, apologetic, “Nic, I just found my true love. And he got away. I need to find him.” And discover what was going on with him, because nothing about him added up.
“I…” I shared a solemn glance with Farrow. He nodded as if he understood before he wrapped his arms around his wife from behind and kissed the side of her head in comfort.
Turning back to Nicolette, I winced when she blinked repeatedly and wiped at her cheek. “Why does it feel as if I’m saying goodbye to you forever?”
I focused on her for the first time since sensing my true love nearly an hour ago. Her gaze was wide with worry, and more tears glimmered in her eyes.
Taking her hand, I smiled softly. “Nic, Jesus. Don’t cry. I promise I’ll come back if I can. But until then, I recommend you consider the knight Renwick to take my place as commander of your armies.”
She sniffed but nodded. “Okay, but it won’t be the same without you. I do understand, though. I really do.” She glanced toward Farrow, who her mark had prompted her to leave her homeland and come to Far Shore for. Then her gaze softened, and she stiffened her shoulders bravely as she turned back to me. “I would be doing the same as you right now if I were in your boots. And yet…” Her brow furrowed. “I don’t know about this, Indy. I just have a bad feeling.”
I was just enough of a drifter that I was okay with pulling up my roots and taking off into the unknown. But I was going to miss Nicolette, so I experienced a painful moment of indecision.
I had a good life here. A home, a friend, a purpose.
I could stay. I could just ignore having ever seen the scowling old man and remain in Far Shore: the leader of an army, living in a castle, and happy with my companions.
“I’ll be okay,” I told my queen, pulling her into an impulsive hug, which made the cat on my shoulder screech in protest until it found its balance again and caused the villagers around us, watching the show we put on, to gasp in shock.
“You better be,” Nicolette instructed, only to pull back and point at the cat with a severe squint, instructing, “Keep him safe, you hear me? That’s a request from a queen.”
I smiled. “Thank you,” I told her. “Thank you for being the best ward a bodyguard could have, and the best friend a man like me needed. I’m going to miss you.”
“Then you better come back and visit,” Farrow instructed, tugging his wife back to his side so she would let me go.
Nodding to both of them, I stepped back, took in a final look at the people I was leaving, and then I turned away, ready to begin my journey.
