Page 30 of Trickster King

Jessica resisted pouncing me, but she wasted no time getting her owed hugs and a kiss. “Empathy, huh?”

“Yep.” As the children had vanished off to get into trouble, I shrugged. “I was going to have your yams and chicken flown to you.”

“He offered to fly us over, and the RPS didn’t mind. Did you know he’s former RPS?”

I hadn’t, which startled me enough I stared at her.

“I hadn’t known, either. He’d served my father for a while, but then he got into politics because he wanted to make a difference. So, when you were taken, that really got to him. He’s on our allowed list of people to call if we want to get away now. They let me fly over for dinner, and I decided to behave for once before they changed their mind. Deidre came because I was about ten seconds short of a temper tantrum. Adam picked his favorite RPS agent of the hour to play games with, and at last check, Carl was waiting in the dining room for his share of the yams and chicken. His agents are prepared to risk their lives playing with him should he bore of waiting for his favorite food. I fear the agents will become bored long before he loses his patience.”

I laughed. “And Laurette?”

My wife pointed in Geoff’s direction, and I discovered the agent had made off with our daughter. “Ah. I missed her arrival.”

“You had owl eyes when you realized I’d come for my yams and chicken, and then Deidre ran out of the helicopter, and you were too busy making sure she couldn’t jump high enough to hit the blades. Avery had Laurette and went out the other side. Geoff intercepted, as he’s pretending he’s off duty for some reason.”

“He called in help, and he’s been babysitting me all day. He’s probably tired.”

My wife giggled, and she stole another kiss. “Are you upset from selling your horses?”

“I’m upset I rescued a horse I just sold for several million dollars,” I admitted. “It took me three hours to get over that, and then I decided my pastures were all getting fixed with the extras, we’re renovating the farmhouse, and I’m taking Eddie out to pick new furniture for his room, including a bed.”

“A busy day for someone who is supposed to be resting.” She narrowed her eyes, peering around to locate the subject of our discussion. “Where is he?”

“He ran off with Deidre with the same energy as someone who was recently fed cake.”

“You did not make a sick child cake.”

“He’s not sick. He’s having empathy issues. He had soup, and I made cake to comfort myself after finding out how much Twilight Rose sold for. He expressed interest in the cake, so he got the cake. His stomach is fine. He slept the entire trip to the ranch and until I finished his soup, so he’s got some charge on his battery. He’ll sleep well tonight, although I expect he’ll take up most of the bed while I hope I don’t fall off.”

“That bad?”

“It’ll get easier from here. The school will allow calls, and I promised he would be monitored when talking with Deidre or the other children so there’s no concern about him cheating on tests. The official verdict is fatigue, and we’re fairly sure it’s empathy driven. Shortly after I got there, he got on my lap and conked right out. I ended up having to carry him to the SUV while Randy and Geoff gathered his things.”

“And your back?”

“I’m surviving. I’ll go to the RPS clinic if it starts to bother me,” I promised. “They just love when I show up at the RPS clinic because my back is bothering me.”

She snorted. “And how goes the chicken?”

I checked my watch. “In about twenty minutes, I’ll get the chicken into the oven or on the grills. I’m doing a mixed batch this time. I’ll have some of each for you. We got too much, and I’m making it all, so expect to take a lot of leftovers to the palace.”

In reality, my wife would have enough yam and chickens to last her until I got back. I’d already written up directions for the palace chefs to thaw the batches I’d have them put in the freezer to feed the food-thieving tyrants until my return.

“So, you got over a million for Twilight Rose?”

“Three million after taxes.” I sighed, held my wife, and closed my eyes to enjoy the moment. “I got you two new trucks and trailers, and I got one truck and trailer for me with some of the extra. I’m having the whole ranch done because I have the money now, and I won’t have to worry about the cattle budget for a while. I cleaned out my rescue stalls.”

Jessica laughed and rubbed my back. “You poor thing, having to let go of your precious rescues. But now you have rescue stalls open, so you can go take Eddie to one of those evil markets you hate so much and pluck an animal or two out. Also, why did a heavily pregnant mare come into the palace today? Covered in ribbons? The RPS agents brought her directly into my office.”

I laughed, hugged her a little tighter before pulling away and kissing her forehead. “I’m more impressed she arrived already. She’s Twilight Rose’s dam, and I plucked her off the meat market for seven hundred. Were you told about the legislation I want yet?”

“No. I was too busy trying to figure out why my husband had sent me a pregnant mare.”

“No pregnant or nursing mares are going to the meat market in my kingdom. Other auction types are permitted, but we will ultrasound every mare to go to market to confirm there isn’t a pregnancy. We will not be butchering pregnant or nursing mares. The rule will be the foals must be weaned or unable to be saved due to deformities to go to the meat market. And I gave her to you because Twilight Rose earned me three million dollars, so it’s your turn to potentially get a champion. If the foal loves racing, we’ll try the developmental rehabilitation trick the ethical race owners are doing. I’ll handle the training. If the horse runs like the wind when I’m riding, they’ll win races with a proper jockey.”

“You’re never going to get over not being able to actually race often, are you?”

I shook my head. “Not after learning what it feels like to fly with a horse, no. At least the jumpers are game to handle my size and weight. You don’t mind handling the legislation? I’ll get mean about it.”

---