Mark of Love (Love Mark #3) - Linda Kage Page 0,97
And how dare you let the stories I told you sway your mind about her, you idiot? I told you she was the one who wrote them all.” Shaking her head, she hissed, “Fool.”
But Indigo wasn’t done arguing his case. “She knew who we were. She knew where to find us. She knew my mark had discovered Quilla as my mate. And she was riding with a goddamn soothsayer. If she hadn’t already realized we were looking for the fucking amulets, she was going to find out eventually. Why not just go ahead and ask about them?”
“Are you two going to wrap this argument up soon?” I asked as the looming chasm between the mountains came into view. “Because it’s about time to put our acting skills to the test.”
Indigo—still looking like Qualmer—whipped his head up and cursed under his breath.
“And you’re calling me foolish,” he hissed to Melaina as he swept out a hand toward the canyon pass, “as we’re walking right up to our certain death here. Jesus. I’m telling you right now, taking Quilla through that canyon and right past all those guards is not wise.”
“We shall see,” was all Melaina answered in a prim voice.
Indigo edged his horse unicorn alongside mine. “You have all your daggers at the ready, right?”
“I’m prepared for whatever might happen,” I said without even glancing his way.
“Good. And just remember—size, strength, speed. None of that matters when going up against an opponent. All you have to be is smarter than them. You can overcome anyone by out-thinking them.”
I glanced his way. “Is that your strategy with me? Not trying any physical wooing, just mind games to sneak your way into my good graces in the hopes I’ll claim you as my mate in return?”
He grinned. “You’re not my opponent, and I don’t want to go to war with you, empress.” With a self-degrading laugh, he shook his head. “Besides, if I were trying to trick my way into your good graces, I’d probably only show you my better attributes and hide the rest. Think about that.”
I had. And I opened my mouth to accuse him of definitely only showing me his best points. Because, so far, I’d seen nothing about him that would draw a hard-limit no from me. Not even the fact that he was anti-Graykey. Hell, sometimes I was anti-Graykey. But he could also look past the stigma of the group as a whole and see each individual for their own attributes. And that was what mattered.
But he lifted his manacled hands, saying, “I’ve provided no illusions about myself. This is one hundred percent, unadulterated me. Warts and all. I’d rather you know the true me, the good and the bad, inside and out, so that when you do claim me as yours, it will be a decision made from your own mind, knowing exactly what you’ve gotten yourself into, with fully opened eyes.”
I didn’t have a disclaimer to that. I liked what he had to say too much. I liked how he respected my right to decide my heart for myself, even though the cocky part of him was sure I’d choose him, anyway. Except I didn’t want him to know that. He was already too confident.
So it was just as well that I wasn’t given a chance to respond since we’d just reached the canyon pass.
A handful of people had congregated in front of us, lining up to wait their turn for inspection and to pay their fees so they could enter the canyon. At the front, two uniformed soldiers stood guard, overseeing admission. Each traveler would expose their forearms, one of the men would splash water on them, looking for a mark, and then the traveler would toss their coin into a bucket and be on their way.
The process flowed seamlessly with everyone well accustomed to the process. Most didn’t even converse with the guards. When a party full of two wagons’ worth of people exited the canyon pass after having traveled through it from the other end, no one paid them any attention, as they would’ve been inspected for a mark when they’d entered.
I forced myself to breathe deeply through my nose as our turn to reach the front of the line approached. With a quick glance to my arm to make sure the knight’s armor was still covering my mark, I then checked on Melaina to ensure she still looked like a guard as well.