Chapter 37
Thirty-seven
Edwin
My excitement ran so high, I felt giddy. I struggled to keep my face from revealing it, however. I’d worked very, very hard on this surprise, and I refused to let my face spoil it.
I’d discovered that if I offered James my hand, he’d take it, and I could lead him practically anywhere. This time was no exception. After breakfast, I offered my hand, and he slid his fingers into mine with nothing more than a questioning look.
“Some of the knights’ horses are aging,” I said, leading him toward the stables in the back of the palace grounds. “I’ve had some brought in for inspection so the knights can pick new mounts.”
“Oh, splendid, we do want to keep them well equipped. What of the retiring horses?”
“Stud and pasture, as per the norm. They’ve worked hard for us and deserve a good retirement. I also thought you might want to reward your knights, after all that’s happened—”
James let out a deep-felt sigh. “That’ll take more than a horse.”
Snickering, I said, “Well, yes, but the horse is a good start. I contacted the breeder who normally supplies the royal family’s horses and explained what I wanted to do, and he’s brought the very best destriers.”
James canted his head to the side. “If they’re very expensive horseflesh, maybe I’m wrong. The horses ridden by the royal family are worth a prince’s ransom.”
“Trust me, I know. The bill when it hit my desk almost induced a heart attack. I’m thankful your military budget for your knights covered it.”
What we didn’t say was the true fear the knights would need to be this well equipped.
James was doing everything in his power to avoid the events of his first life, to nip them in the bud before they could even form, but things had already happened out of order several times.
It was best to prepare for the worst, just in case.
We left through a side door of the palace, cutting through one of the formal gardens open to the public.
Very few places on palace grounds were public, but these gardens were used as a sort of waiting area for anyone wishing to speak with the royal family.
It wasn’t unusual to see twenty or thirty people milling about, biding their time.
What was unusual was seeing Prince Royce surrounded by several young lords. In fact, his back was right up against one of the ornamental trees, a book of some sort clutched to his chest and a smile of growing unease and panic pinned to his face.
Oh dear. We might have to rescue him.
“Shit,” James murmured, even as he let go of my hand and beelined for the prince.
I followed, not because James needed me for this but because I wanted to know what was going on.
I recognized Lewis Heaton first by his flaming red hair and the freckles to match. He spoke earnestly, his whole body leaning forward to emphasize whatever point he was making. “—Your Highness will be a much better fit for the throne than Prince Victor ever was, to be sure.”
“Anyone can surpass that mark,” James stated as he moved to join them.
All four men turned, taking in his approach. The lords’ expressions closed off, while Prince Royce melted with obvious relief. I knew the lords were apprehensive about James stepping into the vacancy Victor’s departure had created. I wished James would seize the opportunity but knew he wouldn’t.
No one else seemed to know, however, hence these three being unsure of his intentions.
“Good morning, Royce,” James said. “Lord Heaton, Lord Chuffey, Lord Maynard.”
They reciprocated with various renditions of “good morning, Your Highness.”
“Royce, I’m on my way out, but if I could have a word?”
Seizing upon the excuse, Prince Royce perked up visibly. “Yes, of course. Excuse me, everyone.”
Smoothly done, James. I trailed along behind until we were out of earshot, and a glance back confirmed the trio had already turned and walked in the opposite direction. Only then did I dare take James’s hand again.
James laced our fingers together and asked, “Royce, what was that about?”
“You rescued me without knowing?” Prince Royce gave him a thankful smile. “Bless you. They were, in short, trying to convince me to seize the opportunity to ascend the throne. They were not keen on hearing a no.”
“Ah.”
Ah, indeed. I could understand why people would seize upon Prince Royce, being the next biological son of the king and queen, but it was a nonsensical choice to me.
Prince Royce didn’t have any ambition for the throne.
He didn’t have the political savvy to rule well.
He’d make a marvelous puppet figure and that was all.
In fact, giving him the position would be dangerous.
It was why I agreed that if James wouldn’t take the throne, Princess Helena was the best choice. She knew how to manage the nonstop political intrigue in this gilded cage.
Prince Royce paused once we reached the gate of the garden, his shoulders slumping. “I shouldn’t have been born a prince. I wouldn’t be any good at being king. Few seem to care, though.”
“Oh, they care. They think you’ll be easy to manipulate because you don’t want to invest in ruling.”
Ouch, James. Accurate but brutal.
Prince Royce grimaced. “I wish I could refute you, but unfortunately…”
“Until our parents have designated a new heir to the throne, this is going to be a common situation. I suggest either permanently hiding in the hospital until it all blows over or coming up with a good response if someone corners you again.”
Prince Royce pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. I suspected he was already entertaining ideas of how to fake his death.
“I’ll hide in the hospital,” he finally said. “I don’t know of a good way to get people to leave me alone.”
“Probably the safer bet,” James admitted wryly. “Although run to me if you need to.”
“You’ll be my port in the storm?”
“I will.”
Relieved, Prince Royce smiled. “Thank you. I’ll take you up on your offer, so you best hold true to your word.”
James snorted, more amused than anything. “I will. But run for the hospital before someone else catches you. You were on your way there, were you not?”
Prince Royce looked about as if only just remembering his original purpose. “Oh! So I was. I’ll be off, then. Thanks again.”
For a man who preferred scholarly pursuits, he sure could move quickly when he was of a mind to. Look at him, he was halfway to his carriage already. Motivation was a powerful thing.
“Well, that side tangent out of the way, back to horses.” I continued leading James toward the stables.
“How many horses did you get, exactly?” James inquired.
“Seven.”
“Really? Seven horses for the seven knights stationed here?”
“No, six for the knights stationed here,” I corrected. We had four on a rotating basis up north, of course, so they didn’t count. “One for you.”
“Me? Ah, right.” James shrugged, expression sad for a flicker of a moment. “I do need a proper mount of my own, I suppose, until I can locate my soul horse.”
I kept my mouth firmly shut. We walked into the stables, and the shade from the roof overhead felt much cooler than the weak morning sun.
I blinked to let my vision adjust, nose filled with the scent of horseflesh, dung, and hay.
A few horses whickered to each other, the stable hands talking amongst themselves as they worked.
I stopped James at the first stall. “They’ve been put in these front stalls, from here down to the post.”
“Ah, splendid. We won’t have to walk the whole stables, then.”
Walking the stables would be a feat in and of itself. It held a hundred and twenty horses, at least. That didn’t even count the secondary stable used to accommodate guests’ horses as well.
James propped his elbows on the stall door and leaned in.
He let out a low whistle of admiration, eyes roving the tall bay inside.
“Splendid creature. Truly splendid. A fine destrier for any knight. I’ll let the knights sort out which horse they want to be theirs. Personalities go into that, after all.”
Indeed they did. “I’ll alert the knights that they can come and select their mounts this afternoon. I wanted you to review them all first and send back any you don’t think will suit.”
James snorted. “I’m sure the breeder sent his very best, knowing which household they were due for. This pretty mare is a good example.”
She looked incredibly strong even to my eyes, and I was no expert on horseflesh. James was likely right about the breeder sending the best. One horse on the list in particular was meant for a king.
Something hard and heavy hit a stall door, like a hoof striking wood. Startled, I snapped about, looking in that direction. What the hell?
Under my incredulous eyes, the stall door four down came completely off its hinges, flying until it landed against the opposite side. I stared at the door—it wasn’t a small or light thing!—quite aghast, but with a memory swarming to the surface.
Hadn’t James said his first meeting with his soul horse had started with the horse breaking out of his own stall…?
James whipped about, and I was positioned perfectly to see his face as a pure black destrier stepped through the opening. James’s green eyes flared wide and then went bright with unshed tears as this massive brute of a horse pranced right up to him.
“Titan,” he whispered, holding up both hands.
I swore to any god I could name, Titan remembered him.
The stallion stepped right into his hands, lowering his head to rest his forehead against James’s.
Both man and horse stilled, and for a perfect moment, just basked in each other’s presence.
It was so beautiful a picture, my fingers itched for pen and paper.
I’d do my best to draw this later, but for now, I soaked up every detail.
How James’s eyes were closed, the softest curve of his mouth showing his joy.
How Titan had also closed his eyes, tail swishing softly, the picture of contentment.
James stroked Titan’s proud neck softly, murmuring words I couldn’t quite pick out.
Titan’s ears flicked forward and swiveled, depending on what he said.
They were perfectly in tune with each other, and I now understood why James described him as his soul horse.
Never before had I seen two creatures in such perfect harmony.
James had described Titan to me many times, which was why I’d been able to find him. He was younger than James had said by a good three years, barely old enough to be trained.
And massive. My god, what had they fed this horse?! He stood several hands taller than every other destrier, and they weren’t small, either! James almost looked dwarfed standing next to this horse, and he wasn’t a small man by any stretch of the imagination.
James finally lifted his head enough to hold out a hand to me. In all our time together, I had never seen him smile like this—with such impeccable joy, as if the world was perfect for once.
“You found him for me, didn’t you.”
It wasn’t a question, and I just smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“I seriously love you.” James leaned in to kiss me, soft and flavored with joy.
I kissed him back but mostly just watched his face. This was exactly what I’d hoped for. James had been through so much, perhaps too much for any heart to take. Giving him something like this was all I could think to do to mitigate his burden. I was glad it had gone so well, as I’d hoped it would.
James addressed the horse as if Titan could understand every word. “Titan, this is Edwin. You must protect him as you would me, all right?”
I swore the horse actually did understand, the soft brown eye facing me taking me in from head to toe before the horse nodded his head.
“James, you’ve told me how intelligent he is, but…you didn’t exaggerate, did you?”
“If anything, I might have undersold his intelligence,” James admitted ruefully. “I have a feeling my goddess tweaked this horse some to give me an edge in battle. He saved my life more than once.”
Knowing how fond Vuheia was of James, I absolutely believed him. I scratched Titan’s chin, trying to get on his good side. “Hello, Titan. Let’s be friends, shall we? I know you and James adore each other, but share him with me sometimes, that’s all I ask.”
Nimus preserve me, the horse actually thought about it. Then wuffed as if to say Fine, if I must.
My rival was an equine. Could my life get any stranger from here?
Shaking the thought off, I told James, “I’ve cleared your schedule for the morning. So play with Titan to your heart’s content, but remember, I need you to sign things this afternoon.”
“I promise,” he said faithfully, even as Titan hooked his head over James’s shoulder, basically hugging the man to him.
Shaking my head, I waved those two on and turned, heading back to my office. I might be able to steal a few minutes and sketch the scene just now, before the details grew hazy. That said…
I’d have to come back out here and fetch James in again, wouldn’t I?