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.”
“Oh. So you do remember? Thank God.”
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.
But an accomplice to what?
And why hadn’t he acted so old when he’d been avoiding me?
Why hadn’t he even wanted to talk to me?
I knew none of these answers, but I was going to figure all of them out.
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