Free Pirate Princess by Catherine Banks Page B

said.
    “Speaking of marriage,” Esmeralda said, moving her horse closer to mine. “Technically we are supposed to have a ball for your seventeenth birthday so that all of the available men can come so you can start looking for a suitor.”
    “WHAT?” I asked in an almost scream.
    “You don’t want a boyfriend?” Faxon asked.
    I blushed and said, “I just didn’t know it was a formal thing and, uh, hadn’t really thought about it yet.” That was a lie. I thought about boys like every teenage girl did, but my options were slim at the Capitol.
    “Well, it’s a tradition and I thought I would let you know now that we’ll be having it while we are in Markleville,” Esmeralda said.
    “I don’t have a dress,” I said, hoping that would cancel the plans until we returned home, “I didn’t bring one.”
    “That’s fine. I will have one made for you,” Jared offered.
    How generous. Ugh. “But if I find a guy I like in Markleville, I won’t even be able to see him when we return to the Capitol,” I said.
    “That is where the true romance is supposed to begin,” Esmeralda said with a smile. “They have to try to keep you interested with letters and poems and gifts.”
    “It’s very tedious,” Jared said.
    “Only because you had to find others to write poems for you,” Faxon said.
    “I knew you didn’t write that poem!” Esmeralda said with a triumphant shout.
    “I’m going to skin you, Faxon,” Jared growled.
    “It’s time she learned the truth,” Faxon said.
    “I already knew,” Esmeralda said, “I just never had confirmation.”
    “How did you know?” Jared asked.
    “You haven’t written me a poem once since then. Every other guy who wrote me a poem continued to write them, not just one,” she said honestly.
    “Who else wrote you poems?” Jared asked with crossed arms jealously.
    “Yes, I’m really looking forward to this,” I muttered.
    Griffin laughed.
    “Not every man is like him,” Faxon said defensively.
    “I can’t believe you helped him,” Esmeralda said.
    “I’m a good friend,” he said with a shrug, “it’s a curse.”
    Up ahead on the left I could see the outline of buildings in the dark. Jared saw it too and said, “Finally!”
    We asked the horses to trot and stopped them in front of two small buildings right next to each other. They were square in shape and had one window each. “What is this?” I asked. I hadn’t seen anything like this before.
    “This is a place we built specifically for making the trip to Markleville,” Jared explained.
    I dismounted, took my saddlebags off Duke and then Faxon took Duke’s reins from me. He led his horse and Duke around back without a word to me.
    “Where’s he taking them?” I asked softly.
    “There’s a corral back there to hold them,” Esmeralda said as she walked up next to me. Jared and Griffin followed with the other three horses.
    “Esmeralda?” I asked quietly.
    “Hm?”
    “Why is he upset?”
    “Faxon?” she guessed.
    I nodded my head.
    “He was worried about you. As much as he was telling us that you were fine, I could see that he was worried. Jared offered to take you and he refused. He’s the best with healing magic so I think he wanted to keep you close to keep an eye on you and be right there if he needed to do anything.”
    “Yeah, but I’m fine and he is still acting weird,” I said.
    She put her arm around my waist and hugged me. “You’re the only child any of us has had,” she whispered, “I think he’s as attached to you as Jared and I are.”
    “He never even talked to me before this week,” I said in shock.
    “That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t watching you and worrying for you all the same,” she said with a shrug. “Men don’t like to admit when they care for something because they’re afraid it might get taken away or it will be used against them. Faxon has a lot of enemies and he doesn’t have many friends. Don’t take his friendship for granted.” The