Accusations

TOVA

When I got back to the stable, Birgir was waiting for me to help me unsaddle Bo. He looked at my face, seeing the unshed tears that bubbled right behind the surface and leaned down to whisper to me.

“What happened?”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about it. I couldn’t admit, even to my best friend, that the King had kissed me and found me lacking so much that he had abruptly left, not speaking another word to me. Instead, I busied myself by taking the saddle off Bo and running the curry brush down his back, an act I knew he loved. He nuzzled me and I felt better, even smiling now. Birgir still looked at me with concern.

“Did he hurt you, Tova?” he asked, quietly, even though the King had already left the stable.

“No, of course not, Birgir,” I smiled at him, reassuringly, but his look of concern didn’t leave his face.

“I will ask the King about it,” he warned me.

I shrugged. “Go ahead,” I said, calling his bluff. I would have caved when I was younger but th