A Game of Hearts

by Joanna Barker

The corner of her mouth twitched. As much as I liked to win our verbal tussles with deft wit, sometimes it was a greater victory when I made Marigold laugh. It went against her core belief that I had no sense of humor, and I enjoyed watching her fight that realization.

“You mustn’t say such things when I am trying to be obstinate,” I rasped, my voice weak. Tristan’s expression softened. “That is hardly fair. You are always obstinate.”