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He’d said good night to Lady Cuddles, and woke up to Lady Gruon

"You don’t want to be around here during the next few rowled

Owl-eyed, To a deep breath, Jared rapped on the wagon door--than a request to enter--opened the door, and ducked the boot that hizzing over his head He got the door closed before the second boot, ai the boot, he rushed into the wagon, tripped over the other boot, and swore

She was sitting in the dark Naturally What good was sulking if you ht, then leaned against the door

After one good glare at hiled the boot "Didn’t your grandmother ever tell you it isn’t courteous to throw a boot at your escort?"

"Go sit on a pricker bush"

So much for courtesy

On the other hand, since she wouldn’t let hi back to enjoy himself, Jared shook his head and tsked sadly "It wounds my tender sensibilities to hear you say that"

"If you sat on a pricker bush, your sensibilities aren’t the only tender things that would be wounded"

Jared narrowed his eyes and tried to re himself "You let me fuss yesterday"

"That was yesterday I’m mad at you today"

"Why?"

"Why?" Lia’s voice rose to an outraged screech "Why? Because I let you fuss yesterday I let you treatit with food--"

"I didn’t stuff you," Jared gruue with you when you snarled everyone out of the wagon or when you got nasty with Toet nasty"

"--I didn’t say a hen you bundled ht Fine You needed to fuss But that’s no excuse for today"

"Today?" Jared raised his hand to rake his fingers through his hair and al it aside, he rubbed his hands over his face Was aggravation supposed to be one of the privileges of serving? "What did I do today?"

His ignorance seee her eventhan mine, but do you fuss about her? No"

Jared bristled "Blaed doesn’t need any help fussing about Thera"

"Doesn’t on yesterday, and we did But thisNot the littlest yip or snarl Then whenI said I wanted to walk, you bundled me up and chucked me in hereThat’s why I’m mad at you" Lia sat back, crossed her ar to do with yourto do with the fact that Thera has two legs that work and you don’t"

Her lower lip quivered

Jared took a deep breath and released it slowly He’d seen too ae to his temper and a stubborn refusal to respond But he suspected this wasn’t Lia’s usual way of dealing with opposition of any kind She had the safety of eleven other people weighing on her young shoulders, and she was feeling the strain

"Look," Jared said, trying to bring his voice back to soothing, "e stop to rest for thenow," Lia pointed out

Which reminded him of why he was there in the first place "That’s because I wanted to see if you illing to coe into an alert Queen

"What co hiht like to sit on the driving seat for a while But you have to promise not to throw your boots at me, and you have to promise to keep the blankets tucked around you so that you don’t get chilled"

"There’s notin here," Lia said calmly "So I’ll stay here"

Jared rubbed the back of his neck "Sure there is You can get some fresh air, see some of the countrysidehu for his liking "Having trouble with Boots and Button?" she asked sweetly

Jared raised his eyebrows "What kind of naed "They answer to them"

"What did you name the saddle horses?"

"Flirt and Handsome If the bay had been a stallion, I would have named him Stubborn, after you"

Jared s a stallion and I have in common"

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out

He liked the way she blushed, the way she suddenly turned shy

"So do you want to go out and hum to the horses or stay in here with , he would have been insulted by the speedy way she burst out of the nest of blankets