Chapter 25
Marianna walked out to the stables, trying to hide the hurt welling up inside of her after she’d been omitted yet again from a family conversation. It hurt, but she knew that her brothers shared a bond that she’d never be able to achieve with them.
Walking down the long, central area of the stables, she paused to peer into the stalls of some of the magnificent horses. They were eating oats and enjoying their time away from the intense sunshine. She didn’t know how to ride the enormous beasts, but wanted to learn. There weren’t a whole lot of places to ride horses in the heart of Paris, where she’d lived with her mother before coming to Lativa.
Goodness, she missed her mother. This palace was beautiful, and Marianna would be the first to admit that she loved the sunshine in Lativa. Right now, Paris would be grey, cold, and dreary as the winter months pressed down with its heavy clouds. Here in Lativa, the temperatures were mild, and on the warm side. One needed a sweater during the evenings and a warm coat overnight, but it wasn’t anywhere as depressing as the gloom back home.
Home. That was the crux of the issue, wasn’t it? Marianna wondered how long it would take before Lativa felt like home. Back in Paris, she’s been just another high school student. But before she could finish high school, her mother had been taken from her. Her mother’s unexpected passing had ignited a chain of events that had culminated in a life that often felt lonely, confusing and miserable.
Sighing, Marianna leaned her chin on the top of the fence post, watching the more adventurous horses frolic in the pasture. They all seemed to be standing close together. Like they couldn’t stand to be separated. What would that be like? Back in Paris, Marianna had been part of a close group of friends. Here in Lativa, she was a princess. Bodyguards surrounded her wherever she went. No one approached her before or after classes because she had strong, intimidating men following her everywhere.
Even here at the palace, everyone was busy with their jobs. For a while, her brothers and sister-in-law had gotten together for dinners, just as a family. That had been nice. But now…everyone was so busy. Raj was out saving the economy, working with struggling companies and helping them to expand. He was focused on the job growth and increasing the median income of every family in the country. Joran was always gone, traveling with the military or the border guards or meeting with foreign diplomats. His job was to ensure the safety of everyone. And Khal…well, he was in charge of everything. The man didn’t have five minutes to spare and Marianna didn’t want to become just another burden to her oldest brother.
Tasha was sweet, but even her sister-in-law had interviews and was now heading up several charities. Marianna smiled as she thought of her tiny, new nephews. Rafi and Laith were adorable and so snuggly! She could spend hours sitting with them, playing and pretending to chat with them.
Something was off with Tila though. Her future sister-in-law was…sad. Yes, that was the right word. Marianna wondered if Tila needed a friend, but every overture that she made towards the lonely, confused newcomer to the palace had been met with nothing but polite smiles.
Apparently, not even Tila needed a new friend.
After a year of living here in Lativa, she was sick of being sad and lonely. It was time to do something about it.
“You like horses?” a deep, raspy masculine voice asked, startling her.
Marianna jerked her chin away from the fence post and turned to face the intruder. He was dressed casually in a dark suit with a yellow tie, a slight shadow of stubble on his cheek and jawline. The man was tall, maybe even taller than Khal, and Marianna didn’t like the feeling of standing next to this man. There was also the sense that the man was just…raw. Powerful, yes. But her sense of the man was different. Khal, Raj and Joran were all powerful men. This man…he was more than powerful, he was… formidable.
Which was similar to powerful, and yet, also different. She couldn’t really define why this man was different. She just could tell that he was.
However, he was talking to her, which was more than her siblings had time to do. So Marianna’s lonely, desperate soul was torn between telling the terrifying man to go away and desperately hoping that he might stay for a moment to talk with her.
Since he was admiring the horses, she decided that he wasn’t a threat.
Correction, he was terribly threatening, but she ignored the threat. She glanced at her guards, reassured that they were close by. Plus, if her guards weren’t pushing the guy away, he must not be a threat. Maybe a palace employee?
He slipped a pair of sunglasses on and Marianna adjusted the straw hat on her head. She wished she’d thought of grabbing her sunglasses. The sun wasn’t as bright as it would be during the summer months, but it was still intense.
“I love horses,” she replied, which was true.
“Which is yours?”
She sighed and turned away from the handsome man. He couldn’t be the stable master, as she’d started to suspect. If this man worked in the stables, he would know the answer to that question.
“I don’t know how to ride,” she admitted and even she heard the longing in her tone. But because the man next to her was so tall and dynamic, she didn’t want him to think of her as pathetic. “I’ll figure it out,” Marianna replied in a stronger voice. She didn’t look at him as she said that. He was a bit too…well, everything.
“Why don’t you just get on a horse and try it out?”
She laughed and shook her head. “No, I’ll arrange to have lessons. I don’t think any of the horses in the stables would appreciate me just…getting on their backs.” She squinched up her nose. “That would be rude.”
He laughed and Marianna felt something strange in the sound. His laughter seemed…rusty. As if he didn’t laugh very often.
“I think you have the wrong impression about horses. Once you find a horse that you connect with, they enjoy going out for a ride with you. And horses are more patient and intelligent than you might think.”
She sighed longingly as she looked out at the beautiful animals. “I don’t really understand horses,” she admitted.
“What do you want to know about them?”
Marianna swiveled her head, stealing a glance at the man. He really was handsome, she thought. Turning back to look at the grazing animals, she considered his question. And before she could think better of it, she blurted out the first question that popped into her mind. “What happens when a new horse is introduced to the stables? How do the other horses learn to like the newcomer?”
There was a long silence after that question and Marianna had to hold very still, not wanting this stranger, this handsome man, to realize how important the question was to her.
“A new horse should stay in his or her own pasture for a couple of weeks. There shouldn’t be any physical contact between the new horse and the herd.”
Well that was an interesting comment! “Why?”
“Because the herd needs to smell the new horse, to become familiar with them. Once they’ve all scented the new animal, only then should the new horse be allowed to enter the pasture with the other horses.”
“And what happens next? Do they all become friends? Do they just…accept the new horse? Or does the new arrival need to do something, say something, in order to be accepted?”
The man flashed a smile that Marianna caught out of the corner of her eye, but she pretended not to notice. “The king or queen of the herd will establish dominance over the new horse, or there will be a battle for the lead position. But eventually, the new horse is accepted into the herd. The newcomer will find a close friend and the herd protects the new horse from any perceived danger.”
A new man stepped closer and, startled, Marianna looked around. She suddenly realized that there were several more bodyguards nearby, as well as another strange man whispering in the tall man’s ear.
Finally, the tall guy, the man she’d thought was a stable hand, turned to fully face her. He reached out and, for some unknown reason, Marianna lifted her hand. The man raised her hand to his lips, kissing her fingers. There was a low growl from one of her guards, but Marianna was too focused on the man’s lips on her skin and the intensity of his gaze to react.
“It has been a too-brief pleasure, Princess,” and then he bowed and turned away.
Marianna watched, unable to pull her eyes away from the man. He was too handsome and too…who the hell was he?
Obviously, he was an important visitor to the palace, but she hadn’t been told of any diplomats arriving today. So, who was he?