I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy hadn't meant to spill so much to a perfect stranger but hearing someone commiserate with her had opened her mouth more than she would have otherwise. She would have been embarrassed if not for Juliet's reaction. She acted like it was perfectly normal.

"He's in the military, right? I heard that a lot of people from the base here got sent to the southwest. One of the other laundry girls was complaining about it the other day because most of the cute soldier boys were gone."

She let out a small laugh. That sounded like something Nia would say.

"Yeah, he is. I actually got a letter from him right before I bumped into you, which is probably why I was so distracted."

"Don't worry about it! I completely understand," Juliet reassured her as they walked into the bakery. The conversation momentarily stopped so they could make their orders and once Daisy paid they sat down at one of the tables inside before Juliet spoke again. "So how did you meet your husband?"

Daisy stuck to the cover story she always used. "We're cousins. When my family died he came out to help me on the farm and stayed for a few years before joining the royal army. I couldn't follow him sooner because I needed to wait for my ward to become old enough to go off to school."

The other woman blinked at her in surprise. "You had a ward? You don't look nearly old enough!"

"I'm only nine years older than him." Physically anyway. "I needed a new farmhand and he had been bounced around from family to family for a while so I said he could stay with me. His pay went toward his eventual school fees."

"Huh. So do you know many people around here? You only have a few months on me."

"I don't know anyone except the women at the flower shop," Daisy confessed.

Juliet laughed. "What a coincidence, I don't know anyone except the laundry girls. You can never have too many friends and I think you're in desperate need of distraction right about now. What do you say?"

She had never had someone ask to be her friend so straightforwardly before. She wasn't about to say no. She truly did need distractions right now.

"Please. I've been doing everything I can to keep busy for weeks but I'm running out of ideas and am still going crazy," she said fervently. "I work from 8 AM to 3 PM every day but Sunday. What's your schedule like?"

"I work from dawn until dinner. I'm willing to bet anything you make will be better than what's served in the servants' quarters. I can eat with you if that helps. I'll have to be back before curfew but a couple of hours is better than nothing, right?" Juliet asked.

Absolutely. A couple less hours a day where she had to try to keep herself from overthinking would be heavenly.

Daisy wasn't only worried about Leo's well-being. She was worried about the state of their relationship and what might be awaiting her when (she refused to think if) he came back.

"Definitely! I'll write down my address for you."

Juliet squinted at the piece of paper. "You live behind the military base?"

"Yeah, there's a specific row of houses for officers since it's within walking distance. My husband is a major," Daisy said with a shrug.

"Gotcha."

They continued with various other get-to-know-you questions and she noticed something rather odd as they did. Juliet was rather evasive about where she was from. What was it with the people around her being on the run from something?!

There was no other reason not to mention the name of your hometown when talking to someone. Leo was on the run and he hadn't even mentioned which country he was from. All Daisy knew what that he wasn't from Mirea because of something he said when they were trying to plan their wedding. Otherwise she never would have known.

She couldn't judge secretive people since she was one of them. But it was strange that she kept running into them.

The two of them kept talking until the bakery owner told them to buy something else or leave. Then Juliet finally headed back to the castle and promised she would come over the next day for dinner.

Daisy flopped onto the couch once she was alone again. She needed to get some chores done but her energy was completely spent. It was better to keep going than allow herself time to think though so she pushed forward and got everything done before showering and collapsing into bed.

Stupidly, it was hard to fall asleep without Leo here. They had only shared a bed once but now every time she crawled under the covers she thought about that night.

The way he had kissed her made her heart race just thinking about it. No one had ever kissed her that passionately. He had kissed her like he never wanted to let her go. Like he needed her.

He had said he needed her before. The night he finally confessed his true feelings. But she hadn't felt it quite as forcefully then as she did when he kissed her like that then held her hand in order to fall asleep as she spooned him.

He truly did need her. And after having to send him off to war a second time she was beginning to realize she might need him every bit as much. Not romantically—at least not yet—but she was hardly able to function while he was gone because she was so worried about what might be happening to him.

It was worse than the first time when she had farm duties and Ira to distract her at least a little. Now she was completely on her own.

Well, not completely. She supposed she had Juliet if she fulfilled her promise to come over every day and eat dinner together. That would be so much better than nothing. Having a second person to feed would also mean she had to spend more time preparing dinner, which would help too.

Daisy curled up under the covers and desperately hoped sleep would claim her soon. She had to get up early for work and had been sleep deprived ever since Leo left. She wondered if knowing he was in the house would automatically change that once he was back or not.

Somehow being apart from him now was fifty times worse than it had ever been the first time even though they were apart much longer then. It must be because she had barely gotten him back.

She missed him terribly and hoped he was doing okay. Even if he was strong, he was a lover not a fighter by nature.

She could still remember the sweet boy who used to bring her flowers every day before they could even really be considered friends solely because he thought she would like them. He may have grown up but he hadn't changed at his core. He was always looking out for her.

Leo was the only one who had ever done that. It was no wonder she missed him so much. But was there more to it than that? She had been dealing with an annoyingly fast heartrate every time she thought about their last night together.

Daisy tried telling herself it was only because she had never been kissed like that before and hadn't been kissed period in years before they recently started doing it. Aside from the first day she agreed to try and act like a real wife he had only pecked her on the lips until then. It was perfectly natural she would be affected.

But part of her wondered more and more if she was so affected because it was him specifically. She couldn't even explore her potential feelings properly without him here!

All this time she had thought of him as a child and nothing more but she had agreed to try and think differently for both of their sakes. And though he had asked for comfort on his last night in town (which was a somewhat childish thing to do) everyone needed that sometimes.

There was certainly nothing childlike about the way he kissed her. That was all man.

Daisy's face heated just thinking about it. She truly was hopeless, wasn't she? How had it all come down to this?

She might be falling in love with her much younger husband and he wasn't even here to see it. This wasn't the sort of thing she could write in a letter either. She needed to be 100% sure before she said anything too because she couldn't bear to get his hopes up only to let him down later.

Why did this have to happen now of all times? When was he going to come home? He had to make it back—he had promised—and she needed him more than ever. Sorting out her feelings was next to impossible while she also had fear for his safety hanging over her head.

What if she was in love with him only to find out he had died in battle? How was she supposed to bounce back from something like that? Daisy didn't know and drifted off slowly into an uneasy sleep as unanswerable questions continued swirling around in her brain.. Maybe she would feel better in the morning but she doubted it.