Legend of Kataria | Outcasts Book #1 (NEW VERSION)

Chapter 4

"Let's hope they are on the good side." 

That phrase and the way she had said it haunted Greeny as he followed his best friend back into the heart of the capital. What had she meant by that? What was her definition of 'the good side' and why was the morality of their king even coming into question? Russian Blue was a menace to society, disaster followed him wherever he went. Of course, King Morto would want to take action to keep his subjects safe. That was what a good ruler did. 

Why was Leah making it sound like there had ever been any doubt?

He was probably just reading too far into her tone like he always did. She wasn't always an easy manuscript to read, with her sentences and her words all jumbled and confused and the plot often indistinguishable, but there were times when her meaning was plainer than the sun in its orbit.

There was something about this Russian Blue character that she liked.

Was it the thrill of the chase? The mystery and intrigue of trying to guess who might be behind the pseudonym? Greeny had often heard the phrase, "women love a man of mystery" but this was the first time he had ever had a reason to use it in a context. Was that it, though? Was she determined to discover his identity first because she somehow found him attractive?

No, he scoffed at himself and the unsettling twinge of jealousy he felt knotting in his stomach. Don't be ridiculous. Of course, she couldn't. She doesn't even know what he looks like! He could be thirty, no forty, years older than her with a receding hairline and the face of a hippo. 

No, poor comparison. Leah loved hippos. 

So what was the magnetic attraction to solving this case? Why spend so much time and energy retracing footsteps to a case that even the best of the best could not unravel? 

What could she possibly have to gain from unearthing his identity?

"Well, I'm sorry this afternoon was such a bust," Leah said suddenly, jerking him from his roundabout thoughts as they once again reached the crosswalk and waited for the scarce traffic to pass. "I really was hoping we'd find something."

"Don't worry about it," Greeny replied. "I'm just glad you didn't go there alone."

Because who knows what might have happened if someone had been watching.

"Yeah..." she didn't seem as confident about that as he. "Well, can I at least buy you a muffin for coming all the way out here for me?" She gestured to the cafe and Greeny nodded.

"Could I guilt-trip you enough for a fruit smoothie instead?"

"Oh, you and your blatant disregard for all things sugar," Leah teased, scrounging around in her purse for her loose change. "I think I should have enough allowance left over for that," she told him. "If you're sure I can't talk you into a double chocolate, devil's food cupcake?"

"With double chocolate frosting and triple chocolate sprinkles?" Greeny finished with a teasing smirk. "Thanks, Leah, but I like being the lightweight that I am."

"Ha," she retorted as the light turned green and they were permitted to cross. "You keep telling yourself that, boxer. You're so intimidating a fly wouldn't even run screaming from a fight."

"Yeah, wouldn't have to worry too much about the fly," Greeny jested. "I'm too much of a pacifist to throw hands anyway."

"Unless someone challenges you at a math equation," she corrected, grinning over at him as they reached the sidewalk and Greeny opened the door for her. "And then woe-behold any challengers at the scholastic decathlon who dare go up against you."