Page 78 of Iron Unicorn

“The last I checked, your brother has been charmed, and he’s going to spring the boy on his wife. It’s her turn to be taken by surprise.”

Olivia laughed. “She’s definitely going to be surprised.”

“Think you can ask somebody to record it? I’d pay good money to see that.”

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll give a good reporter authorization to be at the airstrip when Will gets back. That should get the whole thing on film.”

I held my glass out to Olivia, and she tapped hers against mine. “We should spend a few hours discussing how we can make your brother pay.”

“Now you’re talking business.”

* * *

While the paparazzi shadowed us,they made use of telephoto lenses to get their pictures and kept their distance, allowing Olivia to relax while we talked about tormenting her brother. I recognized the woman got carried away, but I couldn’t help but smile at the absurdity of some of her suggestions. For the most part, she wanted to roll him around in some mud to get a better understanding of why Daphne liked it so much. I promised to be an active participant in her plans, although we might have to lure her brother to somewhere muddy and secluded to make it happen.

That got the princess speculating over which kingdoms had the best mud, how she might lure her brother into making the trip, and how long she’d torture him before relenting.

The whole thing amused me, and outside of offering a few improvements, I let her take the lead. I made certain to praise her when she came up with a good idea, gave her some juicy tidbits on how to evade pesky RPS agents like myself, and otherwise marveled at her creativity.

While she loved her brother, she needed to work out her frustrations over the situation with someone who would find humor in her commentary. The way I saw it, she needed a chance to be herself, and the real Olivia talked big about tormenting her little brother.

After she finished talking, she tormented him a little to keep him on his toes.

Once we feasted on steak and waited for dessert, I caught her attention through holding out my cupped hands while resting my elbows on the table. As I didn’t want to spoil making adult unicorns for her quite yet, I fashioned a new foal for her, posed as newborns often slept, in the fetal position. Mares would nudge their babies as a reminder they were no longer within the womb, but I knew my target well: she adored newborns who forgot they were free of their mother’s belly.

As always, the process of manifesting iron fascinated her, and she focused on my work with delight not even I could miss.

I waited for the metal to cool enough for her to handle before offering it to her. “As your brother is at the hotel, you can ambush him for this one to be treated with the other foal. It wouldn’t do for the wibbly wobbly babies to be lonely while you’re cavorting across Texas. Just don’t tell Melody I was working my talent while I should be resting.”

With one of her most radiant smiles, Olivia took the foal and began her customary inspection of the piece. “I won’t tell her, but my brother probably will. We can roll him in some extra mud as punishment for yapping.”

I could see His Royal Majesty of Montana tattling sometime after Jane’s operation. I assumed the operation and initial recovery would spare me from Melody’s wrath for a few days. “Perhaps you should demand that he send you on a vacation with a person of your choosing to somewhere that you will like. Set restrictions, including his presence in Montana, far from your chosen location.”

“How long do you think it will take to teach me how to surf?”

“It depends on how long it takes you to learn how to swim sufficiently,” I admitted. “I would say six months of lessons in the New York pool should be sufficient to keep you safe during an intensive surfing venture. It would generally be faster, but I want to teach you how to rescue someone out of the water if there’s an emergency, and practicing the maneuvers will take more time.”

“Six months might be enough time to get Rachel in shape to learn, too. I could pick a surfing beach, con Rachel into coming, too, and have you take time off work to teach me how to surf privately.”

I could think of a few private surfing beaches that would fit the bill nicely, and I happened to know who owned them. With a little work, I might even be able to get access to the beaches for us while my queen used one of the other beaches along the way. “It’s not uncommon for RPS agents to tack on a few days of vacation onto trips like that. We just arrange for a larger team, and we rotate everyone with vacation days, and we convince the monarchs to take a few extra days if feasible. They usually bite, as it keeps RPS morale high. I could probably sneak an entire week after teaching Rachel the basics of surfing and put her in the hands of the agents who taught me how to surf. It’s a good idea.”

Olivia licked her lips and stared at me over her new figurine. “I don’t suppose there are any places we could camp and surf?”

“An arrangement could be made.”

“I could make my brother buy us a new camping kit, transport our horses, and stable them while we have a week to do whatever we wanted. I want to learn how to surf.”

Did she think I would tell her no? “Then I guess our first step is to plan some sessions in the pool. You can force that mean brother of yours to send you to New York on his dime.”

“I like the way you think. We can also look into kayaking. I’m sure I can find a really expensive kayak and make him pay for a pair for us. But we’ll start with the pool. I would rather not drown.”

“Let’s avoid drowning,” I agreed. “But there’s no reason you can’t make him buy all your surf gear. Trust me when I say a good board will cost you a pretty penny. You’ll also want a wetsuit, too, especially if it’s colder when we go surfing. You’ll probably want a bikini when it’s blistering out.”

“I’ll make my brother begin with new swimwear for the pool. And I’ll make certain to be indecisive and make him buy me numerous bikinis. It will be the warning shot that his wallet is about to be the victim of a broadside attack.”

As her brother could afford it, I held no sympathy for him. “You better charge him an extra horse for while you’re in New York. That might be a good start.”

“You know? Icoulduse a few more horses. I’ve been wanting to try cross country races, but the longer trails have been a concern.”

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