Page 66 of The Stolen Princess
“Can we get one of those bandages to gag her, so she shuts up?” Portlend asked.
“So much for getting her to trust you,” Winslow grumbled as he walked past Drake on his way to the river.
Drake tensed, glancing at Myka to see if she had heard the older man, but she was talking with Grady. He thought he’d been making progress with the bet, gaining ground, but clearly, Winslow was right. She didn’t trust him at all.
“I can’t believe how warm the weather has been here,” Grady said, looking up to the sky.
Myka coughed loudly, and Drake eyed her. She would probably fake choking or something like that next, but instead, she dropped her hand and went back to her eating.
“Kase didn’t think it was warm when we were in Denton,” Portlend said.
Myka dramatically coughed again.
“Well, he’s from Cristole, where the weather is warm all of the time,” Grady replied.
Another cough from Myka. Drake turned his head fully.Wasshe choking? She glanced up at him, clearing her throat, then looked away.
“You should see the clothes Kase packed,” Dawsick said with a laugh. “You’d think he was living the next month of his life in a blizzard. He only has warm stuff.”
Myka coughed again, and this time Drake caught on to her. Her coughs were too big and dramatic to be believable. He smiled to himself. How many times had Myka played this game with them? He remembered her weird hair flipping a few days ago. Had there been other conversations?
Drake couldn’t just let it go.
“Myka, are your eggswarmenough?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said through another cough.
Drake glanced at her. “Because I couldwarmthem up for you. If you want.”
“How kind of you.” She narrowed her eyes at him, coughing even louder.
“I only like eggs if they’re warm,” Grady added, and Drake had to suppress his smile as Myka coughed again.
Portlend stood, emptying his plate into the fire. “I saw some deer in the woods. I thought I might try hunting today. Then we could eat some venison.”
Drake looked at Myka and smiled. “I lovewarmvenison.”
She glared at him through her cough and stood. “Can I come with you?” she asked Portlend.
His face dropped like having the princess tag along with him would be the last thing he wanted. “No,” he said flatly, then he spun around and left.
Dawsick and Grady cleared their plates into the fire and set them on the table before walking away, leaving Drake alone with her.
“Do I have to keep saying the wordwarm,or are you done with that game?” he asked.
Myka raised her chin and looked away. “I don’t know why I couldn’t go catch a deer with Portlend.”
Drake’s eyebrows went up. “Catcha deer? Is Portlend out there with some kind of net?”
Her expression went sour. “You know what I meant.”
“Well, you can’t go because you tried to escape last night, and as punishment, you’re not allowed to do anything fun.”
She sighed. “I’ve never been hunting before. I think I’d be good at it. I’m an excellent shot.”
Drake scoffed. “I have a bullet hole in my arm that says otherwise.”
“I told you before, if I’d wanted to shoot you in the heart, I could have.” She raised a cocky eyebrow at him, making Drake feel hot. He didn’t know what it was about Myka, but she made every feeling inside of him spin out of control.
