The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

doing out there? Probably just standing by the archway,
arms crossed and looking as bored as ever.
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “Kieran?”
“Poppy?” came the response.
“You don’t have to stay out there.”
“You’re supposed to be resting.”
“All I’ve done today is rest.” I popped a piece of cheese
into my mouth. “But you lurking on the other side of the wall
is not at all restful.”
“I’m not lurking,” he replied dryly.
“You’re standing just out of sight, keeping watch. I don’t
know if there could be a better example of lurking than
that,” I replied. “Or I could come out there. Not sure how
relaxed I would be in...” I grinned as Kieran appeared in the
doorway. Walking over to the corner of the room, he
dropped into the chair and looked at me. I gave him a little
wave. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He stretched out his long legs, loosely crossing
them at the ankles.
I stared at him. He stared at me. I picked up the small
plate from the platter. “Cheese?”
A faint grin appeared as he shook his head. “You’re
going to make this weird, aren’t you?”
“I offered you cheese.” I placed the plate back on the
bed. “How is that making anything weird?”
“You waved at me.”
I crossed my arms. “I was being polite.”
“The fact that you’re being polite is also weird.”
“I am always polite.”
Kieran lifted his brows, and I didn’t need to read his
emotions to sense the incredulity.
“I was going to offer you the last of the chocolate, but
you can forget about that now.”
He laughed as he leaned back. “So, what are you more
uncomfortable with right now? The fact that you tried to