Thread of Gold

Ch. 20: grim's market

It was hard, Anna thought, to maintain your dignity while lying on the grass with a squirming cat on your lap. But she was going to damn well try.

She sat up, wincing. "This is Shambles."

"I know who he is," Ryne said.

"I'm very attached to Shambles." Anna clutched the cat to her chest. "We're good friends."

Shambles hissed, bit her hand, and then scampered off towards the castle. Anna glared. Ungrateful menace. Ryne just kept watching her with those glass-green eyes, his face revealing nothing.

"Why are you lying on the grass?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Anna muttered, rising to her feet. "And I'm not talking to you. I haven't forgotten about the grape incident."

He arched an eyebrow. "The grape incident?"

"Yes. When you made me feed you a grape."

Ryne looked amused. Well, amused for him, anyway, which was hardly amused at all. "Would it have been better if it was a strawberry?"

Anna brushed grass from her dress. She had to keep her hands occupied. Otherwise, they would find her knife. And that knife would find his neck. "In future," she said coolly, "I would remind you that I'm not actually your mistress."

She was being rude. She knew it. But Anna also couldn't help herself — something about Ryne Delafort made her want to smash his face into a brick wall.

Repeatedly.

His expression didn't change. "You kissed me once."

"A lapse in judgement."

"Was it?"

"Anna!" a voice called.

They both turned. Camille was hurrying across the lawn, her red hair ribbons fluttering behind her. She wore a matching red dress and shoes, although there was a wildness to her eyes today that Anna hadn't seen before; it unnerved her.

"What are you doing?" Camille demanded.

Anna frowned. "Now?"

"Yes."

"I was going to—"

"Doesn't matter." Camille seized her hand in a distinctly un-Camille-like gesture. "Come to Grim's Market with me. You know the area, don't you?"

Ryne's eyes narrowed. "What are you buying there?"

"This and that," Camille said dismissively.

Anna considered. She'd been planning to go to Grim's Market anyway — there were a few things she wanted, and someone she needed to see — but she hadn't planned to go until later that week. Camille's grip tightened.

"Please, Anna? We'll be back before nightfall."

Anna sighed. Oh, what the hell? It would save her the trouble of finding a carriage. And Camille really would need supervision in Grim's Market — it wasn't the sort of place that a gullible princess should wander around alone.

"Okay, then," Anna said. "Let's go."

"Oh, no," Tristan said, shaking his head. "Absolutely not."

Tristan stood in front of a carriage, his arms crossed over his chest. He wore polished boots today, the golden buckles the same shade as his eyes. Anna had never seen eyes like that before. Then again, she'd also never met someone that was as much of an asshat as Tristan, so there was a first time for everything.

Camille frowned. "You said you'd let me come with you."

"Yes," Tristan said emphatically. "You. Not her." He jerked his chin at Anna. "Don't you have bedpans to empty?"