Page 44 of The Prince of New York

I nodded. “I’ll be working with Rachel to develop her finesse. New Yorkers are pure flameweavers, Daphne, didn’t you know that?”

She snorted. “You’re a horse empath, you’re a concentrated empath, you’re an elementalist—and by that, I mean you can manipulateallthe elements. You probably have a hefty metalweaving ability founded off earthweaving, and you’re using water and air to help with your metalweaving, just like Terry does.”

“I’m not a horse empath, Daphne.”

I would ignore the rest of her commentary, hoping she would let it go for a change.

“You’re a horse empath. That stallion’s body language completely changed when you went to say hello to him. Trust me, that’s a horse empath thing. It’s possible the horse might be the empath, but that’s unlikely. Jutlands aren’t known for that.”

“WhatareJutlands known for? All I can tell is that he is big. Is he a draft?”

“He’s a draft. He’s probably broken to saddle and to carriage, and having a nice carriage for you and your lady to take rides in would be nice—and it would make him an excellent parade horse.”

At the rate Terry was going, New York would be taken over by the parade horses. “But where would I find good Jutland mares? Those bastards did this on purpose. Only they would give me astallionof a rare breed.”

“Ian, calm down. Yes, he’s intact. That’s fine. He seems like an angel, and angelic stallions are not a problem in a barn. If he’s been trained properly and has a good temperament, you can even keep him in your regular barn with your mares without issue. Some prefer having a stud barn to limit trouble, though. Terry will probably have a stud barn set up because of the Clevelands, so adding Thunder to the mix won’t be an issue. Also, you don’t have to keep his name Thunder unless you want to. His registered name might be an issue if you want to show him, as that isn’t something you can realistically change unless there’s a loophole. Terry made use of loopholes to rename his baby girl.”

I laughed at the mention of Terry’s yearling. “He’sthe horse empath, and he’s stepped into heaven at work when it’s time for him to go work in the stable for the day.”

“Let’s make a bet.”

Daphne would take me for everything I was worth and then some, but I appreciated she wanted to toy with me. “What bet?”

“If Dr. Stanton confirms that you are a horse empath, you will have to breed a Jutland for me. I’ll take the second breeding of the mare you acquire. To ease the sting of your defeat, I will help you find a Jutland mare and import her on my dime. I have terrorist money I don’t want to spend on myself, and my therapists are forcing me to spend it all on myself. If I am buying you a mare so I can have the second foal, I’m being selfish.”

“Daphne, are you all right?”

She slumped in her seat and bowed her head. “I’m really not. They’re scolding me on the headset over being reckless. We can’t leave until they run the plates, identify the owner of truck and trailer, and confirm we can use it to transport Thunder to the palace before returning it. I’m not supposed to be playing RPS agent anymore. I’minteriornow, Ian.”

Ah. She was the driver, and that meant the RPS was on edge. “Why don’t I drive? That way, you can play at being an alert RPS agent. Despite appearances, I can handle a truck and trailer.”

Daphne dove out of the driver’s seat with amusing haste. I got out at a more leisurely pace, laughing the entire time I circled the vehicle and swapped with her.

She buckled in, informed the RPS of the change of plans, and grinned the entire time.

I waited for her to confirm I could handle the rig and lower her hand to say, “Did you know that my parents refused to let me have my horse vetted at the palace stable? The day my horse came home, I immediately went to RPS training for handling a truck and trailer, and I was expected to haul my horse to his appointments. He was my animal and my full responsibility. I took care of his vetting, I took him to the farrier, I bought his food, cleaned his stall, hauled his hay, and did everything required for his care. The only time my parents brought in a stablehand to help was if I was sick or there was an actual emergency. When he died, they called in the vet so he could be euthanized on palace grounds. They also hired the contractors required to move his body to the pasture for burial.”

In hindsight, I supposed their treatment of my horse had been one of the sole demonstrations of genuine love I’d ever gotten from them.

They’d taught me what it meant to be fully responsible for another living thing, and they stepped in when Icouldn’thandle his care for any reason.

“Even terrible people can do kind and loving things from time to time. What did he pass from?”

“Complications from old age. My parents actually praised me for his care. He outlived the breed standard by five years, and there was nothing anyone could do for him when the time came to let him go. He hadn’t been precisely young when I’d gotten him, and apparently, he had been collected a great deal before he’d been gelded. Pat gave me the entire semen bank for him, and he recommended I wait to use it for line diversification.”

“We’ve done that with a few of our horses. We wanted the genetics, but the stud’s temperament was deemed non-viable. We’d collect, freeze, and breed to mares with better temperaments and the traits we want. We also freeze semen from average studs to diversify the breeding lines. We don’t need nor want every horse to be bred from the same champions. Line diversity is critical. I recommend that you start collecting Thunder’s semen and freeze it to help the Jutlands. That’s what they did to breed Terry’s new colt, and he’ll be critical for line preservation and diversification. Nowadays, if we have a horse with excellent conformation and poor temperament, we’ll collect a bunch of semen before gelding, that way we can try to match with mares with average conformation and excellent temperament, resulting in solid foals. They won’t ever beshowfoals, but they’re excellent for the breed. Weneedaverage horses of all breeds so that the champion lines aren’t inbred.”

If given a chance, Daphne would spend hours teaching me about horse breeding and diversification. “How about we cut a different deal. I want one of your Andalusians for Madelyn. She doesn’t have a horse, and if she ends up stuck with me, she’ll need one. An Andalusian will be perfect, especially if she has empathy, too. If you source me with two Jutland mares from different lines and no crossover with Thunder, I will give you three foals of my choosing from the first six breedings.”

“I’ll one up you on that. I will stage introductions for unbonded Andalusians. Spaininsiststhey owe me a favor, so I will use that favor to acquire you and Madelyn an Andalusian each. In exchange, you will give me three Jutlands from your first ten breedings, as I want three fillies. I will keep a filly, one filly will go to Spain, and one filly will go to Portugal. And if Portugal does as Portugal likes to do, don’t be surprised if another pair of horses shows up. They take favors seriously. Ideally, you’ll get one colt and the rest fillies, and we’ll source another stallion that hasn’t crossed lines with yours from overseas to breed your fillies. You let me worry about the mares and future stud prospects, though. I’ll teach you our methodology for breeding, that way you can have a breeding project to work on. Terry is going to need help with his Clevelands, so it works out.”

I could see her plan working quite well. “This isn’t much of a bet. It’s more of a deal,” I muttered.

Daphne shrugged. “It’s a good deal, though. But you mark my words, Ian. You’re a horse empath. I saw how that sweet boy in the back reacted to you. He needs you as much as you need him. Still, I hope we get authorization to go to the palace sooner than later. There are a lot of papers in the back, and I have a bad feeling about this whole mess. What are these terrorists up to thatyourparents risked cominghereto warn you about them? I’ll admit, I don’t really understand why they brought Thunder with them.”

“I think it’s exactly as they said.Theydidn’t really want to give me a horse, but their contact knows I used to have a horse and wanted to open a door for discussion. But who wants a chat with me? More importantly, why?”

“You’re the Prince of New York, Ian. You’re one of the most influential men in the world. I can easily understand how someone might think giving you a horse could open a door for discussion.” She frowned, and a moment later, she shook her head. “But it could also be as simple as revenge.”

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