Page 20 of Iron Unicorn

The next few days would be difficult on that front.

“We have a pair of excellent school horses to start them with so you won’t have to hover as much as you fear. For the first six months, they’ll have one of our trainers, who wants to visit New York on my dime. You will get lessons as well, as I know you’ve been away from horses for a while. Olivia can help pick your spare once you return from your trip unless you fall in love with one of the spares on the ride. They’re all extra RPS horses, so if you do want one, just ask.”

Ah. Texas had a robust stable of RPS horses, and all the animals underwent excellent training, even better than what the Montana RPS managed. “That’s generous, Jessica. Thank you.”

“Your old horse is ready to retire, and you’re going to need at least two horses to keep up with Rachel. Since New York doesn’t have an RPS stable, I offered the Texan stables. I’ve already inquired with the scamp from Montana, and one of your stud’s foals will be sent in for training to be one of your future RPS horses. Your former boss failed to realize they’ve been breeding a lot of their RPS horses with your animal, so he feels you’re owed the cream of the crop.”

“I’m making sure the stable at the mausoleum is opened and has enough room for your horses,” my queen announced with pride. “I’m also going to get my brother a horse.”

Ah. I had heard about Prince Ian’s horse, a gift from Texas and an animal the RPS had dubbed the White Elephant, as the New York monarchs had been forced to allow Prince Ian to have the animal without any form of retribution.

The victory had gone to the Texans, and a young Prince Ian had been given something trulyhis. When the animal had passed, of natural causes associated with old age, the RPS had noticed his empathic tendencies had shifted from his horse to people.

A horse would do the prince a great deal of good, especially with New York’s status as stable and prosperous.

“What’s the timeline for giving Prince Ian a horse?” I asked.

“Not for a while,” my queen admitted. “I need to concoct a plan to get him out of New York for a while. Here’s the problem, some of which I know you already know. My brother’s depressed. He’s in love with one of the palace staff, she won’t give him even the time of day because of how my parents ran the place, and the only way I can do anything for him is if I kick him—and her—out of the kingdom for a while. Thank you for helping me figure out how to get her working in the palace, by the way. I need a good reason to kick him out, and I need a place to send him to. He’ll catch me if I try to send him to Texas. He’s too smart for that. So, I need to come up with a plan. Pat and Jessica are going to help with the horse, though.”

Depression in a New York Royal was a recipe for disaster, one we worked hard to avoid. I regretted I hadn’t been able to do more for Prince Ian. I understood my queen’s concern for her brother, however. He had taken to working a junkyard he’d purchased out of his investments, scrapping metal and repairing old beaters of vehicles. He lived in a tiny apartment not far from where he worked, creating constant problems with the snobby New York RPS.

I felt the RPS needed to do more than the basics with him, although all the reports I had indicated they were keeping an eye on the prince.

Once back in New York, I would evaluate the situation and see what I could do.

“I am hoping he can help us with our daughter,” King Patrick of Texas announced.

Uh oh. While Prince Ian was one of the best men for helping distressed royals in testy situations, where he went, chaos surely followed. Everyone waited for the moment Princess Deidre snapped, severed the betrothal with Prince Leonid, and returned to Texas. Half of the world expected her to do so with her tail between her legs.

I knew better.

Princess Deidre was her mother’s daughter—and she was also her father’s daughter.

The one cringing would be Prince Leonid, his kingdom, and the maid who would be forced into cleaning up Switzerland. The drama would spread to Sweden as well, as Prince Leonid had spent many years of his early life in the kingdom with his mother’s family.

Princess Deidre had learned Swedish to please her prince and his mother, but she’d gone on to learn ten European languages to be the best queen she could be.

I sighed. “She’s held on longer than I expected.”

“Her Royal Highness of Montana has delivered the betrothal severance documentation to Switzerland and Sweden already, as Sweden has close ties to Switzerland and would inevitably support their ally. This was at Deidre’s request. The contract gives Switzerland six months to begin the severance process in a peaceful fashion. Evidence of Prince Leonid’s infidelity was presented. Switzerland knows she will demand a DNA test of the child if they pressure her—and she will go public with it.” King Patrick smiled, and I recognized that a shark had entered the waters, eager and ready to shed blood. “My little girl will be coming home with her head held up in pride. She is a pristine princess who willnotbe belittled with infidelity. She has invoked the empath clause.”

I frowned, trying to figure out which empath clause we discussed. “Please expand. Clearly, I’m ill. I am not following.”

“When I put together Deidre’s betrothal contract, I included an empath clause. It stated that due to her heritage, if it was found that there was demonstrable evidence that Prince Leonid was not influenced by an empathy bond, with my daughter, she could sever the contract. She’s bonded, but not to him—and his behavior has made it clear there is zero chance of him being bonded to her.”

“She’s bonded to Eddie,” I stated.

When I’d initially heard about the situation, I’d been flabbergasted. Eddie was one of the Texan herd—except he wasn’t. Not in paperwork, not in blood.

He was a beloved son, and he would become a beloved son-in-law in time.

When King Patrick grunted, Queen Jessica patted her husband’s leg and said, “Yes, she is. Eddie has been showing serious symptoms since the day she turned eighteen and begun taking up her duties in Switzerland. But as Prince Leonid was displaying evidence of infidelity, she would have refused to go through with the wedding—and he had failed to do a proposal for the wedding. We suspect he understood someone would protest the vows to spare Deidre.”

I could think of a hundred and one royals who would protest for the fun of it.

Eddie wasn’t technically a prince, but everyone with half a brain understood he was a part of the Texan royal family.

“It’s a mess,” Olivia chirped. “Royalty around the world are up in arms about the situation. Deidre has her father’s sweetness, her mother’s determination, and buried talents. Once she blooms, she’s going to be a powerhouse, buteveryoneknows she’s holding herself back. She has her father’s common sense on that front. She’s figured out Prince Leonid is bad news for her in a marriage. Royalty around the world respect her for that. They respect her determination. She clearly doesn’t want to hurt Switzerland, but she is not going to be their queen—and everyone knows it except that idiot prince. Even now, he thinks he’s going to be coming up smelling like roses with an illegitimate heir and the prestige of a Texan queen.”

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