East

He chuckled. "I have a thousand and forty."

"That doesn't leave you many, comparatively speaking," I said. I had no clue the worth of a herd of horses, but I could guess a thousand of anything was a big deal, especially in an era like this. It was a large amount for a girl he knew nothing about and even more impressive when he appeared to be giving away nearly all of his wealth.

"She will be safe, as you wish," he said, not at all concerned about the loss of horses.

I suspected he wasn't doing it for her. He did it for me.

"Thank you," I said, anger melting. "You didn't have to do this."

"I did," he countered. "It was honorable."

And you are an honorable person. Even if his quick sword rattled me. It dawned on me, not for the first time but more insistently, that he had sacrificed a lot for me, even before we met. His way of life, his chance at a family, his horses and money. It seemed like … more than duty to me. I didn't know him well enough to believe with certainty this was true.

The warm emotions blooming in my chest and rattling my thoughts rendered me silent.

I watched him check on Flowers.

He chuckled. "How does someone so small take up so much room?"

I smiled. I was confused again without really understanding why. He had never hidden who or what he was. There should be nothing about him that baffled me.

"Batu … when you kissed me last night …" I paused, collected my thoughts, and continued. "Did any part of who I am bother you? I don't fit in. I'm not tough or strong like your women. I proved today I can't do anything productive in the camp. Did you think twice about who I was when you kissed me?"

He was facing me, taking in my words with intentness. "Why do you think I kissed you? Because you are beautiful?"

"Well … yes."

"You are peculiar, ugly one. I kissed you because of who you are."

I had kind of hoped he would say something different.

"If I wanted beauty alone, I would visit the harem," he added.

"Ugh!" I groaned. "You were doing so well! If you had stopped speaking before harem …"

"You value honesty." He gave a half-smile. "There are concerns where I cannot be honest with you, and thus I will always be honest when I can."

Batu had secrets?

"I am heading to the war camp," he added. He bent to wrap his weapons.

The idea of him in war made me uneasy. "You're going into battle?"