Page 17 of Iron Unicorn

When I thought about it, I realized that the Montana princess was the least active of her family. She rode horses, but not for as long or as enthusiastically. She restrained herself at many things, and the realization irritated me.

I should have noticed.

Rather than beat myself up over it, I focused on what I could do. “Once your nose finishes healing, we’ll start some physical therapy. It takes time and effort to improve. But you won’t have those restrictions now. I’ll do some research into good activities we can do. Until you find your new limits, you shouldn’t do anything strenuous alone.”

I foresaw getting into a fight with Montana over it, especially with the RPS, as they wanted to keep the Montana royals close to home whenever possible. However, as I already had one of Olivia’s cousins in the New York RPS, I would be able to bully them into doing what I wanted.

My status as a former Montana RPS agent would help.

Olivia regarded me, her eyes wide. The hope in her gaze hurt, and I braced for what sort of request she might make. “Do you think kayaking is feasible? I’ve done it a few times, and I really like it.”

If the princess wanted to kayak, I’d make it happen. I enjoyed the sport, as it offered a challenge. Depending on where we kayaked, the risks would be minimal with excellent payoffs of scenery and seclusion. “I’ll find out, but I don’t see why not. I can’t think of a reason you can’t build better physical fitness through kayaking. Horseback riding will be necessary. It seems the Texan royals are trying to pawn a horse off on me. They seem to have forgotten that I have a horse.”

“You have a wonderful horse nobody can ride because he’s old and tired. It’s a miracle he can still mount mares, Terry. When he isn’t in the field with the mares, he’s living his best life in the royal stables in one of the heated stalls so he’s as comfortable as possible. He gets turned out at his request, but he’s slowing down. You need a good horse. Texas can provide that good horse. And they should. They bloodied you up!”

“For a good cause.” After the dust settled, I’d find some way to thank the Texan monarchs.

Without them, she’d still be breathing out of her mouth, and the various consequences would haunt me for a while. Playing the ‘what if’ game hampered every RPS agent at times, but I’d play the game through with deliberate intent.

If such a thing could happen to Olivia, it could happen to another monarch, and it was our duty to learn to spot the signs so we could intervene.

“You didn’t even know the cause when they popped you one.”

“Honestly, I don’t remember them popping me one in the first place, so it’s no big deal. Let me tell you, though. Clueing in I was in some Texan city wearing a suit that I hadn’t bought for myself was quite the mental roller coaster. Queen Jessica got me good. But she’s paying for her sins with chicken soup she coerced her husband into making.”

“More like he coerced her into coercing him. Pat never needs coerced into cooking, and he’s usually positioning the situation so he gets to cook. It’s become a game between him and the royal chefs.”

Laughing, I checked over the meds she needed to take with food, sorted her evening dosage, confirmed that she was past the time she could take them, and put everything away in the small container meant for holding the current doses. Armed with her medications, I went to the kitchen to fix her up a bowl, brought the lot to her, and went to get her a drink.

Warming milk would earn skeptical glances from anyone else, but I knew what Olivia liked, and it was warmed milk. Her parents had made it for her as a child, and while their loss remained a bitter memory, the sweetness of the happier moments had worn away the grief bit by bit until the drink had become the equivalent of a warm blanket.

She could use the comfort until her nose healed.

Once she was hard at work making the soup disappear, I got my own, and I joined her in having warmed milk. Feeling alone in a crowded room sucked the life out of people, her included.

No, her especially.

Her changed features would create many problems, including a complete removal of everything familiar to her. We wouldn’t know how she would handle the changed reactions until she went out in public and someone recognized her.

Time would tell. Until then, I’d do my best to keep her smiling.

FIVE

“I have no idea who came up with healthy as a horse, but they’re just wrong.”

When ill,I stayed in bed except for the basics, hid my head under a pillow, and waited for the world to either pass me by or I felt well enough to face the day. I didn’t particularly care to identify which variant of disease went for my throat. The whole situation irritated me.

Of all the times to pick up a bug, it was when I was supposed to be standing on guard and keeping a princess out of trouble while she recovered. Instead, she bounced around the hotel room as though the surgeons had installed springs in her feet while I contemplated sleeping for the rest of eternity. Upon a quick check of my forehead to determine I broiled and might roast to death, she’d made her first Royal decision of the day.

She would play nursemaid, and I would stay in bed until I felt better.

I figured her plan would work until precisely nine, after which the Texan RPS would expect me to report in with an update on the situation. I peeked out from under the covers to determine I had six minutes to hunt down my phone and earpiece. I wasted three of those minutes glaring at the clock.

The rest wandered off, lost between a coughing fit and my general reluctance to escape the blanket’s warm embrace.

Olivia hopped into the bedroom, sat on the bed, and gave my shoulder a pat. “I stole your earpiece, figured out how to turn it on, and told the people listening in that you are down and out for the count, a bearer of plague and misfortune. Someone then tried to reassign my room so I wouldn’t catch your germs, and I dressed down the entire lot of them. It’s their fault you’re sick. If you hadn’t gotten clobbered, you’d be healthy. And not like a horse, because do you know what the least healthy animals are? Horses. I have no idea who came up with healthy as a horse, but they’re just wrong. Ask me how I know.”

“Your vet bill,” I dutifully replied.

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