I've never had to deal with emotions like this before. Micaiah has the type of personality that just draws people to her. She's always had plent of friends and admirers, and that's never bothered me like this before. She's always given special attention to some people as well, and I never thought twice about it. I know exactly why this bothers me so much too, and to be frank, it's jealousy more than anything else. I'd never tell her that, though. I'll go to my grave pretending like I don't know what she's talking about, if she were to try and accuse of it.
I don't like this "Black Knight". I wish I could say it's only jealousy that fuels my distrust, but there's something about him that just doesn't seem right. He saved Micaiah's life, though, and has given no real signs of anything suspicious, so I can't do anything about him yet. For now, my biggest problem is his interest in Micaiah. He might act all high and mighty, but that doesn't mean he's better at protecting her than me. He just happened to be there with her at a time that I wasn't, and that just so happened to be a time when she needed protecting. But you know what? I could even put that aside, if Micaiah didn't keep bringing it up again and again whenever I give the Black Knight a funny look. With all her comments on him, I can't help but worry that she might be developing feelings for him, and it kills me. She has enough to worry about without my jealousy bothering her too, so I've get my thoughts to myself for now. At least here, in my own thoughts, I can be honest with myself. Lately, I've busied myself with thoughts on how to convince Micaiah that I'm correct in distrusting the Black Knight. Perhaps if I could find out where he's been hiding all this time I could-
"Sothe?"
Her soft voice jolts me from my thughts. I wonder how she managed to sneak up on me, and the sharp worry that perhaps I'm losing my skills and that maybe he is better suited to protect her now, plagues me for a few seconds. I take a deep breath and hope my concerns don't show in my voice as I reply.
"Yes, Micaiah?"
"There's a small town along our current route, and I'd like to check up on how this war is affecting them, without dragging the entire army through there, of course. Will you come with me?"
I'm tempted to ask her why she didn't ask the "noble Black Knight" instead, but one look in her clear golden eyes dissolves my bitterness. It was dumb of me to assume she wouldn't realize I was acting strangely, she had known all along that I felt this way. She hadn't dared ask me outright, for fear of damaging my pride and hurting my feelings. So, this was her way of letting me know that I was still her number one. An apology, and a question of forgiveness.
"Of course."
It was a simple, curt reply, but it meant everything to the two of us. Full conversations seemed to flood between us in the silence that followed, and I knew that every was forgiven and would be put behind us like nothing had ever happened. We fell in beside each other, like old times, as we left and for the first time in days, I felt content.