Page 3 of The Warlord's Wildflower
“I just don’t get howyou’reso comfortable,” Beatrice mutters at Maeve, who’s now lounging like a cat, stretching her legs out in the sun. “You don’t even do chores anymore.”
Maeve grins. “Perks of being the chief’s mate, Bea.”
Beatrice scowls, and I look away, unsure of what to say. The silence stretches. A bird chirps somewhere overhead. Then, she sighs. “I miss home. Even with all the rules. Even with how messed up it was.”
My throat tightens. “I… I think I miss it too. But I don’t know if it ever really was home.”
Beatrice tilts her head toward me. “You thinking about staying here forever, then?”
“I don’t know. It’s strange. Here, we get to choose things. Like, what we wear, when we rest. We don’t have to give as much.”
She nods slowly, then mutters, “But now we’re surrounded by giant Bulls.”
Maeve laughs, but I just twist my fingers in my skirt, thinking again of Fenric. His voice. His smile. The way his eyes lit up when I said yes.
Why would someone like him notice someone like me?
I’m not particularly pretty. Not brave like Maeve or witty like Beatrice. I’m quiet and shy. The kind of girl people overlook.
But he noticed me.
And now he’ll be in the tournament tomorrow, wearing my favor. I swallow hard, the fluttery feeling in my belly returning.
What if I go…and he doesn’t even remember? What if he does? What if—
“Oh, I almost forgot!” Maeve cuts off my thoughts. “Did I mention one of the commanders from the northern tribe is arriving tomorrow?”
I blink, pulling myself back into the present. “A commander?”
“Mm-hm. Apparently, he’s coming here to find a mate. Some kind of treaty thing. If he mates with someone from ours, the tribes can officially unite.”
Beatrice shoots to her feet like she’s been stung. “What?” Her voice cracks with fury. “So now we’re just…diplomatic offerings? Is that what we’re doing now?”
Maeve gives her a look. “Relax.”
“Relax?” Beatrice’s voice rises. “You said we’d be safe here! That no one would own us again! And now some stranger is riding in to pick out a wife like we’re livestock!”
“Hucows were living here before we arrived,” Maeve says evenly. “Some of them mated. Some didn’t. No onemadethem. They had freedom here long before we showed up.”
“But now we’re new blood,” Beatrice spits. “Fresh meat. You think this commander isn’t coming here with that in mind?”
I hug my arms tighter, sinking into myself. My thoughts swirl, and I don’t know how to shape them into anything I can say out loud. I don’t like fighting. My heart pounds in my ears, even though no one’s yelling at me.
I just…I wish they weren’t so angry. Or maybe I wish I were brave enough to speak up, or smart enough to make sense of what I’m feeling, because I don’t know if Beatrice is right or if Maeve is. Maybe both. Or neither.
My thoughts are all jumbled, overlapping with Fenric’s voice from earlier.
“Even the birds stop to listen when you sing.”
I stare down at my hands, knotted in my skirts. Another commander. Would he look at one of us and think,That one. She’ll do?Would she even be allowed to say no?
Maeve sighs, dragging a hand through her copper hair. “No one’s going to force anyone, Bea. The girl would have toagree.That’s the whole point. It’s just an introduction. Nothing more.”
I glance at Maeve, then down at my hands.
It’s hard to know what to think. Beatrice isn’t wrong. Back at Havenmoor, everything was about obedience. But, here…it feels different. Most of the time. Still, the idea of some stranger arriving tomorrow, just to look at us, makes my skin feel too tight.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
