Page 123 of Cooper

“Th-thank you?” I cut a glance at Natalia, and she’s not even trying to hide her laughter anymore. There are tears streaming down Eleneora’s face as she continues to laugh, and after a minute Gregor cracks a smile too.

“It’s okay, Cooper.” Natalia comes over and lightly kisses me. “I’m sure we can sell it back to the farm he bought it from.”

“What am I supposed to do with it until then?” I ask.

“I don’t know. We never had livestock.” She looks down and grins.

The goat seems tame, happy to chew on the edge of my khaki shorts as we stand here.

“Here, give him to me.” Natalia takes the leash, and then leads the goat out to the shed and wraps the leash around the doorknob. “It’ll be okay there until you figure out where to take it.”

“Until I figure it out?” I ask, cringing.

“You ask for goat,” Gregor says. “Is goat.”

“Jesus.” I shake my head.

“Come. We eat. Then you take Pieter away.” Eleneora nods happily, walking back into the house.

“We can’t take a goat back to the palace,” I tell Natalia.

“We? I don’t know what this we business is about,” she deadpans. “That’s all you.”

“How did he know we were going to get engaged today?” I ask, following her inside. “I didn’t even know until yesterday.”

She smiles. “I think maybe our parents know us better than we know ourselves sometimes. They knew I wouldn’t be happy coming back to this life. I think they also suspected I would never quit the Protectors. It’s part of who I am.”

“What convinced you?”

“I don’t know. This morning when I was dealing with Pieter and realized this is what I do. The rush it gave me to know I could protect my family. The sense of calm I felt when it was happening. I probably have a lot more to unpack with Dr. Saluga, but I don’t want to be anything but a Royal Protector. And I hope you want that too.”

“I do.” I pull her in for a kiss. “I love you, Natalia.”

“I love you too, Ryan.”

“I thought you only called me Ryan in bed.”

She smiles. “That was when you were just my boyfriend. Now that you’re my fiancé, it may be shifting a little.”

“I don’t care what you call me as long as you love me.”

“More than anything.”

EPILOGUE

Five Months Later

Natalia

The first dayof January marks the first day of a new year for most people, but within the royal family, it means much more. There are traditions that date back over fifteen hundred years, where the king blesses the country at exactly noon and makes predictions for the upcoming year. It’s sweet and meaningful, something I remember looking forward to when I was growing up. Even though the old king was a horrible man.

Today, however, marks a different kind of new beginning.

The official swearing in ceremony of three Royal Protectors.

Ryan Cooper, Dax O’Day, and me.

Natalia Farksa.

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