Page 159 of Mark of Love (Love Mark 3)

The king shot me a surprised glance. “Thank you,” he answered, lifting his hand to the amber pendant before glancing at Olivander and asking, “Who is this soldier, and why is he talking to me?”

The warning glare Vander launched my way told me he was probably going to strangle me the first moment we were alone.

“Your Majesty,” he started, his voice strained. “This is a close, personal friend of mine. May I introduce Indigo of House Moast?”

“Moast?” King Tomrick quirked up a curious eyebrow. “Any relation to the married couple who served as dignitaries in Lowden during the—what was it—” Frowning, he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “The tenth reaping, I think it was.”

My jaw tightened as my teeth clenched. “My parents,” I managed to answer.

Both eyebrows lifted at this. The king ran his gaze over me. I had no idea what thoughts ran through his head, but they didn’t seem very complimentary.

“So sorry to hear about their deaths,” he finally murmured.

I nodded, not feeling his sincerity at all. “Thank you.”

From the carriage, a racket of scuffling and moaning and some kind of slurred, indecipherable words rose. Olivander and I both straightened, frowning that way.

“Uh…” Vander slid a curious glance toward Tomrick. “Do you need to check on that?”

“No.” The king stared stonily ahead, not even bothering to glance back at the carriage. “My bodyguard lost his tongue in the Great Lowden War. Sliced out by a filthy Graykey.” He spat on the ground when he said that part before adding, “He hasn’t been quite right in the head since.”

“Yet you continue to keep him on as a guard?” Olivander asked, his dismay more than evident.

The king twitched his lips in a tense smile. “In name only. Wasn’t like I could just put him down, now could I? He was always such a loyal servant before his unfortunate fate befell him.”

“I suppose,” the prince allowed, still glancing uneasily at the carriage.

I didn’t blame him. It sounded as if someone was struggling to break free, as if they’d been bound and gagged and were desperately attempting to escape.

“Well…” The king slapped his hands onto his knees and let out a satisfied sigh. “My thanks for the food and drink and pleasant respite, but I must be on my way now.”

He stood and turned toward the carriage, in a rush to escape.

As he opened the door, however, his bodyguard who was supposedly soft in the head began to hum. His voice was raspy and chopped as if he didn’t use his vocal cords often, but the tune was unmistakably “Singin’ in the Rain.”

“What the hell?” I exploded, leaping forward to grab the king’s shoulder and yank him back out of the way from the carriage’s open doorway.

“Indy!” Olivander shouted in horror, while the King of Lowden tr

ipped backward, over his stumbling feet, and landed on his ass in the dirt with an angry shout.

A scuffle ensued behind me, but I was too busy peering across the seat at the tongue-less bodyguard. He was doing nothing to exit the carriage, just sitting on the cushion with his hands placidly in his lap, shifting around as if in urgent need to get more comfortable. Or maybe he had to relieve his bladder.

Jesus. The man really was soft in the head.

His humming picked up volume though. I shook my head, confused. Why was he humming that song? My song.

“How do you know that song?” I demanded. But the guard paid no attention to me. He didn’t even look my way.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the king demanded from behind me to someone else. “Unhand me.”

I glanced back to find that half of his soldiers had rushed forward to protect him, so all of Olivander’s men hurried forward to intercede. As the High Cliff soldiers pinned down the Lowden soldiers with ease, a slew of blades at their necks, Olivander grabbed Tomrick to hold him back when he tried to charge me.

“I certainly hope you know what you’re doing, Indy?” He grunted when the king struggled against him and elbowed him in the gut to break free. “Because my father will have my head—literally—if this turns out badly.”

“Something’s wrong,” I announced, frowning around at the scene.

“No shit’s something’s wrong!” Vander shouted. “We just accosted the King of fucking Lowden. And I have no idea why.”

---