‘Look, Ardee, I know you think I’m an ass and, well, I daresay I am, but I don’t plan always to be one. I don’t know why you even look at me, and I don’t know much about this sort of thing but, well . . . I think about you all the time. I hardly think about anything else any more.’ He took another deep breath. ‘I think . . .’ He glanced around again, just to check that no one was watching. ‘I think I love you!’
Sweet and awkward and surprisingly tender. In a world of swords and schemes, this was like someone trying to whisper over the sound of battle. Messy and honest.
