““Don’t worry about him,” Mika said after we had been waiting a time. She sprawled on the ground, her back against the side of the hay barn. The horses stood tiredly in its shadow, neither inclined to wander off. “He’ll get the lay of the land and then he’ll come back.” I picked at a piece of grass, slitting it with my nail. “I can’t help it. I think that, if we live through this, I’ll sleep for two years, just so I don’t have to worry anymore.” Mika’s dark eyes glimmered in the dim light. “For two years, hmm? And whose bed’ll you pick to sleep away two years in?” My cheeks went hot. She had sharp eyes, I realized, a way of noticing things while you thought she was paying attention to something else. Good qualities, for a queen. “It’s not like that,” I mumbled. Mika arched her eyebrows. “Why not? He watches you, Sinda. Like you’re his best treasure, only he can’t think of a way to slip you into his pocket. Hasn’t he-of-the-throwing-daggers been brave enough to mention it?””
